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Bill Oram: Amid the damage control, what I’ve heard about the Blazers and Michael Malone is that Tom Dundon tried to set up a call with Malone but was rebuffed because the job is not formally open. Also that Blazers were looking to pay about half of what he got from UNC.
League sources — granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the coaching search — also say former NBA coach Michael Malone was contacted before he took the University of North Carolina job, as well as former Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, who is no longer a candidate. And before he took control of the Blazers, Dundon spoke to former Toronto executive Masai Ujiri. “This isn’t Russian hockey players who don’t speak English,” a league source said. “In the NBA, everyone talks to everyone else. He says he didn’t make job offers … but it’s the narrative that is circulating … and it’s wrong. It’s bad business.”
Should Orlando move on from Mosley, keep an eye on veteran free agent coaches Taylor Jenkins and Tom Thibodeau drawing interest. Another name to monitor would be Bulls coach Billy Donovan, who will have the option to remain with Chicago or pursue another coaching position. It’s also worth noting that former Magic assistant coach James Borrego, who’s currently the interim head coach for the New Orleans Pelicans, will also be available this summer. Lastly, prior to Michael Malone accepting the North Carolina head coaching job, many within league circles believed he was a coaching candidate for Orlando if the franchise pivoted away from Mosley after its season concluded.
After firing Hubert Davis on March 24, UNC quickly identified a top group of candidates: Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, Michigan’s Dusty May and Malone, according to multiple sources familiar with the search. Lloyd and May’s resumes spoke for themselves in terms of modern-era college success. Malone was the relative outlier, or so it seemed. In actuality, he’d spent plenty of time around the program last season when visiting Chapel Hill to see his daughter, Bridget, a member of UNC’s volleyball team.
Through Pat Sullivan — one of Davis’ assistant coaches, whom Malone knew from their overlapping NBA days — Malone attended multiple UNC practices. The first time, a manager led him to the traditional second-level viewing area, only for Davis to call for Malone to join him on the floor. Davis even had Malone address the team, something Malone said he deeply appreciated after being fired by Denver just one year ago. Malone brought a notebook to those practices, his basketball juices flowing as he scribbled. “He said, ‘I was not trying to be critical, I was being curious’ — and that’s just the way he is,” said incoming UNC athletic director Steve Newmark. “He’s a basketball junkie.”
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But Malone, at least at first, declined UNC’s efforts. The 54-year-old assumed Newmark called as a courtesy. He was focused on NBA jobs, he told Newmark. College wasn’t really on his radar, but he stayed in touch, asking follow-up questions, leaving the possibility open. “Every time I said no, I was regretting that,” Malone said. “I thought, I think I’m making a mistake.” Once Lloyd and May removed themselves from consideration at the Final Four, Newmark and director of basketball operations Eric Hoots — who were in Indianapolis for the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) convention — asked Malone if they could fly to his home in Colorado to visit.
UNC’s full-court press eventually won Malone over. But so did the fact that his daughter, after hearing his name mentioned for the job, told Malone explicitly: Dad, I want you to come. “So I did,” Malone said, while joking that came with the understanding that he and Bridget cannot run into one another late at night at Pantana Bob’s, a local bar. Lastly, UNC sold Malone on being a reverse Larry Brown, of sorts. Brown — who played at UNC under McGuire and Smith — remains the only head coach ever to win both an NBA and NCAA championship. Malone’s already checked the NBA box, but now has another opportunity to forever etch himself in hoops lore.
North Carolina is set to pay new head coach Michael Malone more than $50 million across six years, according to a copy of his contract obtained by ESPN, putting him among the top five highest-paid coaches in the sport. The Tar Heels made the hire of the former Denver Nuggets coach official Tuesday. Malone, whose daughter plays volleyball at UNC, was recommended by a search committee led by executive associate athletic director Steve Newmark and director of athletics Bubba Cunningham, the school said in its statement. The university's board of trustees approved the terms of the hire on Tuesday.
Alex Kennedy: Mike Malone's daughter is a volleyball player at UNC, as @GoodmanHoops notes. This may help explain his shocking college-basketball pivot to coach the Tar Heels.
Pete Thamal: Can confirm from ESPN sources that Michael Malone is set to average more than $8.3 million per year on his six year deal. That will put him among the top five highest in the sport, as Bill Self made $8.8 million this year. @murphsturph first reported.
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"I think he's going to do a really good job because he can coach the guys and teach them how to play the game the right way." "I'm happy for him." Nikola Jokic on Michael Malone taking the North Carolina job
Bennett Durando: Nikola Jokic: "I think it's a little bit different ... But he definitely has the poise and the brain to do it. I think he's gonna do a really good job because he can actually coach the guys. He's gonna have time to coach the guys and teach them how to play the game the right way"
Bennett Durando: Jamal Murray: “Shoutout to Coach Malone. I think he’ll be great. I think he’ll be a great college coach. I think his daughter is there as well. So I think it’s a win-win for him, and I think he’ll enjoy his next chapter of his coaching career.”
Bennett Durando: David Adelman was surprised to see the Michael Malone news, happy for his former boss. "He belongs coaching, and that's what he should be doing."