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Dan Woike: Lakers with another workout today Taevion Kinsey – Marshall Taylor Funk – Utah St Adama Sanogo – UConn Jamarius Burton – Pitt Tosan Evbuomwan – Princeton Nathan Mensah – San Diego St
The NBA has decided to double down, recently expanding this rule to cover sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and endowments. That means everyone from Saudi Arabia to Blackrock to Princeton University to the California State Teachers Retirement System can now own a minority stake in an NBA franchise, although each investor has to be individually approved by the league office. This decision will expand the demand for NBA franchises and should be one of the driving forces behind the continued growth of league-wide valuations.
The Knicks on Wednesday announced the hiring of Blatt, who played at Princeton alongside Steve Mills, their president of basketball operations. It’s a strictly front-office position for Blatt, who also announced his retirement from coaching on Wednesday, four months after he said in a public letter that he had multiple sclerosis. “I look forward to the next step in my career as I officially retire from coaching and pursue other opportunities in basketball,” Blatt said in a statement.
Adam Zagoria: The Brooklyn Nets have signed guards Devin Cannady of Princeton and CJ Massinburg of Buffalo. They now have 20 on the roster.
The dunks against Eastern Michigan and Kentucky. The block against Princeton. The effort against Texas Tech. Williamson keeps providing these moments consistently which make it hard for the NBA entities stalking him to let that excitement peter out. Even as they try to keep their cool and remain unemotional about draft prospects like Zion, they find themselves getting lost in the highlights and possibilities. “A lot haven’t had the time to truly dig into the minutiae it takes (with evaluating one-and-done draft prospects),” a Western Conference executive told The Athletic. “But those highlights leave you daydreaming too often.”
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Blatt is definitely in the running because of his relationship with Mills, his former teammate at Princeton. "Steve has tried to hire Blatt twice," says one Knicks source. "He really likes him as a coach. The question is will Steve hire him now? If it's Blatt, that's Steve's choice. I don't know if he'd want to put himself out there."
He pitched himself to Jackson as a defensive-minded coach who, while playing collegiately at Princeton, was reared on the joy of a deliberate, five-man offense and therefore amenable to embracing Jackson’s beloved triangle. He reminded Jackson that he initially went to Cleveland in 2014 to coach a young, undisciplined Cavaliers team, a work in progress. That was before James suddenly returned as the homecoming King, when the Cavs were essentially the Knicks, minus the veteran shotmaking of Carmelo Anthony.
Phil Jackson views David Blatt favorably, according to sources. It’s also worth noting that Blatt played basketball with Knicks GM Steve Mills at Princeton. Blatt was fired by the Cavs in January and was replaced by Tyronn Lue.
Q: And Mike Brown? Metta World Peace: “When Mike Brown was here, the offense was with [assistant] Eddie Jordan. It was Princeton. It’s a great offense. I would use some of those things. Q: Really? He got fired five games in his second season. Metta World Peace: “I know that’s what I was going to say. The Princeton offense is weird. It will put the superstar player off the ball at times we don’t need that superstar player off the ball. At times with the Princeton offense, it would put Kobe away for an entire game. It’s the right way to play if you have the right type of team. But when you have a superstar, you can’t put Kobe in that situation. You need him. He brings a lot to the table. He has heart. He’s hit 36 game winners. So you want Kobe to be in rhythm so at the end of the game, he can win the game.
Sources told ESPN.com on Friday that Blatt, an American-Israeli who rose to prominence coaching abroad after playing at Pete Carril's Princeton, is poised to land either with the Warriors as an assistant or with the Cavaliers as their head coach after barging his way into Cleveland's search in recent days. "It will be Golden State or Cleveland," one source said.
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David Blatt is a Boston native, Princeton graduate and veteran European coach who's coached Euroleague teams in Israel, Russia, Turkey, Greece and italy as well as Team Russia. In that nomadic journey, he's won championships in three leagues and in 2007, as Team Russia coach, won the FIBA European championships. Now, reports Walla, an Israeli news site, he is considering joining the Nets as an assistant coach under Jason Kidd. According to a translation of the Hebrew language site, Blatt is expected to make his decision within 10 days, perhaps less. A league source, asked about the rumor, responded, "nope."
Former MSG president Steve Mills has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Billy Hunter as the executive director of the NBA player's union, the Daily News has learned. The Princeton educated Mills, who played for legendary coach Pete Carril, is well respected among players as well as league and team executives. He is currently the CEO of Athletes & Entertainers Wealth Management Group.
I can't tell you where on the list of candidates he sits, but the NBA players union apparently has expressed interest in former NBA executive Steve Mills. A Princeton grad who also served as an executive VP for the Knicks after his time in the NBA's Olympic Tower, the advantage Mills would bring to the negotiating table is a deep understanding of how the owners think and negotiate, considering he was on their side for the better part of his career. Mills was working for the league when the players union selected its last former NBA executive as its leader, so I'm confident he knows what not to do.
Chris Broussard: Lakers insist they chose D'Antoni over Phil. Say triangle offense similar to Princeton and would not have been good fit for roster.
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