The Philadelphia 76ers may have finally found their next head coach in San Antonio Spurs assistant Brett Brown. Philadelphia has made a formal offer to Brown, but the sides are still in negotiations regarding the specific terms of the agreement.
NBA news roundup: Sixers still working on deal with Brett Brown; Nick Calathes ready to join Grizzlies
Philadelphia has finally selected its next head coach, but now the Spurs assistant holds leverage in negotiations and may be hesitant to accept an offer. Meanwhile in Memphis, the Grizzlies have finalized a two-year deal with Nick Calathes.
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Who is Brett Brown?
The Liberty Ballers crew discusses the resume of the Spurs' assistant head coach.
Brown would look to replace Doug Collins, who resigned after missing the playoffs in 2012-13. Lead assistant head coach Michael Curry was considered a strong candidate for the job, and longest-tenured Sixer Thaddeus Young had recently vouched for Curry, saying he would “love” to see the Sixers promote from within. Curry is the Sixers’ one-year fallback if they cannot agree to terms with Brown, reports ESPN’s Marc Stein.
Brown will be the second Spurs assistant to land a head coaching gig if he does agree to terms with Philadelphia. Lead assistant head coach Mike Budenholzer also left the Gregg Popovich umbrella, accepting the Atlanta Hawks position.
One of the holdups in the deal could be influence from Brown’s inner-circle warning him against joining the franchise because of a “guaranteed” 60 losses in his first year as head coach, according to Stein.
Nick Calathes fields a two-year deal from Memphis
Nick Calathes' journey back to the States is set to be completed, and the former Florida Gator has agreed to a two-year deal with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Calathes was selected in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft after agreeing to a three-year deal to play in the Greek Basketball League and never made his way to the Dallas Mavericks. He signed a three-year deal with Russian VTB United League club Lokomotiv Kuban in 2012 but has an NBA opt out.
Calathes had a strong season with Lokomotiv Kuban and was named the 2012-13 Eurocup MVP while leading the team to a championship. He averaged 12.9 points, 6.7 assists and 5.9 rebounds.
The Mavericks traded the rights to Calathes to the Memphis Grizzlies for a 2016 second-round draft pick. Calathes' deal with the Grizzlies is expected to be worth just under $2 miillion.
Udonis Haslem's rehab is going well
Miami Heat big man Udonis Haslem underwent surgery on his right knee in July and is optimistic he will be ready to participate in training camp with the team. In his most recent visit with doctors, it was revealed that his knee wasn't as damaged as initially estimated.
Haslem said the procedure was mostly for “cleaning” purposes.
The 10-year veteran averaged career lows in minutes, points and rebounds per game last season with the Heat but proved to be a critical role player with his mid-range jumper falling from the baseline.
Knicks’ big man search continues
The New York Knicks continue to dig through the veteran's minimum big man bin and are now linked to Lou Amundson and Hamed Haddadi.
They have also been linked to Cole Aldrich, Jerome Jordan, Gani Lawal, Shavlik Randolph, Henry Sims and Wang Zhelin. The Knicks also held a five-man workout recently, taking an extended look at Lester Hudson, Bobby Brown, Sean May, D.J. White and Ovidijus Galdikas. Who is this Ovidijus Galdikas character? Posting and Toasting's Seth Rosenthal revealed the identity of the mystery "Lithuanian big man.":
Ovidijus Galdikas is a real Lithuanian big man. He’s 7’2” and 24 years old. He plays for BC Siauliai in Lithuania. He’s not, as far as I can tell, on the national team, so he’s not necessarily occupied at the moment. Here’s a highlight tape. He’s big!
New York currently has 14 players on the roster, and all signs indicate the team is seeking one last addition to fill out the last vacancy.
Luis Scola and the Pacers' pick-and-roll attack
The Indiana Pacers spent their summer adding to a roster that forced the Miami Heat to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. One of their key additions was veteran power forward Luis Scola, who the Pacers acquired in exchange for Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee and a lottery-protected 2014 first-round draft pick. SB Nation's Tom Ziller wondered aloud if Scola, along with an improved bench unit, could challenge the Heat as best team in the East. Satchel Price has written that if building a contender was like running a marathon, the Pacers made their final steps in the race this summer.
Now, Indy Cornrows has examined where the Pacers acquisition of Scola should pay off most: in their pick-and-roll offense. Tyler Bischoff explains:
The Pacers scored just .75 points per possession with the ball handler on the pick and roll last season, according to Synergy Sports. That ranked 24th in the NBA. When the Pacers ran a pick and roll and gave it to the roll man, they scored .91 points per possession, 25th best in the NBA.
Enter Luis Scola, who will immediately improve the Pacers pick and roll. As the roll man, Scola posted a points per possession of 1.03, a huge upgrade from Hansbrough who posted .86 points per possession as the roll man. Scola was better than David West and Roy Hibbert who were both under 1 point per possession last season.
Along with Scola, the Pacers have added C.J. Watson, Chris Copeland, Solomon Hill and Donald Sloan during the free agency period. Danny Granger should also make a full-time return after dealing with injury issues through 2012-13.
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