NBA Rumors Round-Up
NBA Rumors: Phil Jackson Was Helping Nets
Alan is an expert gambling writer who works as one of the chief editors for Basketball Insiders. He has been covering online gambling and sports betting for over 8 years, having written for the likes of Sportlens, Compare.bet, The Sports Daily, 90min, and TopRatedCasinos.co.uk. His particular specialisms include US online casinos and gambling regulations, and soccer and basketball betting. Based in London, Alan holds an MA in English Literature and is a passionate supporter of Chelsea FC.
All posts by Alan DraperUpdated10 hours ago on April 20, 2024
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When Phil Jackson decided to take the job with the Knicks last week, it had two consequences for the Nets: It meant one of the most respected men in NBA history was joining their archrivals … and it ended a two-year long informal relationship between the Nets ownership and the NBA’s most successful coach.
Nets insiders tell NetsDaily that the team’s Russian owners and Jackson were often in contact over the last two years, as Mikhail Prokhorov, Dmitry Razumov, etc. found their way through the NBA thicket … and on more than one occasion, they discussed a job for Jackson in the Nets organization, but talks never progressed beyond the informal and were restricted to coaching.
Jackson had also done consulting work for the Detroit Pistons, but that was publicized. This went much more under the radar.
ESPN’s Marc Stein tweeted an interested point last week. Jackson has a wrap for picking his jobs strategically and positioning himself for success, whether it be with the Chicago Bulls just before the explosions of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen’s careers, or with the Los Angeles Lakers just as Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant became a championship caliber duo. However, as an executive, he’s only worked with some of the league’s most difficult situations.
They don’t get much tougher than the Knicks’ gig. Clearly his time helping other franchise’s is done now, because his hands are quite full.
Kyrie Irving’s left biceps injury could be bad enough to end season. MRI on Monday in Cleveland.
Via Mary Schmitt Boyer/Jodie Valade of the Cleveland Plane Dealer on Twitter
This is a damning blow to the Cavaliers’ playoff chances, which were already slim to begin with. They’re four and a half games back of the eighth seeded Atlanta Hawks, who have won three straight. The Knicks are only three and a half behind them and have won six straight themselves. It was going to be quite difficult already, but with Irving out another trip to the lottery seems inevitable.
His third season will go down as great individually but extremely disappointing from a team perspective. The Cavaliers will try to offer him a max contract extension this summer. If Irving refutes things will get interesting, but with him only having the ability to become a restricted free agent next offseason, it could be a long, drawn out saga.
The Wizards quickly realized the mistake in rushing to obtain backup point guard Eric Maynor with a two-year deal – including a player option on the second year – last July on the first day of the free agent negotiating period. Maynor was out of Coach Randy Wittman’s rotation six weeks into the regular season and shipped off to the Philadelphia 76ers on Feb. 20 as part of a three-team trade that landed veteran point guard Andre Miller from Denver.
After eight games with the 76ers, Maynor is now out of the league.
The report said that Maynor is hoping to catch on a rebuilding team with a spot for him beyond this season, but with the regular season winding down Maynor will likely have to wait until this offseason before finding his next team. The market won’t be as strong as it was offseason, though, as he really had a disappointing campaign this season.
