NBA Rumors Round-Up
NBA Rumors: Pacers Won’t Fire Vogel
Following his graduation with an Honors in Business Administration, Nick redirected his focus from conventional stocks and bonds to the world of sports team performance investments. He employs a unique blend of advanced statistics and historical data to construct intricate sports investment models, pinpointing value opportunities and consistently yielding profits. Nick's contributions extend beyond a single platform, as his work can be discovered on outlets such as Pistons Powered, Winners And Whiners, and numerous other publications.
All posts by Nick RaffoulUpdated15 Oct 2021
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After consecutive losses in the Eastern Conference finals, Frank Vogel will return to coach the Indiana Pacers next season, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Indiana management has never considered replacing him, sources told Yahoo Sports.
Vogel’s job status had become fodder for debate because of an unsteady late-season slide that extended into the playoffs, but Pacers president Larry Bird and general manager Kevin Pritchard have remained strong believers in him, sources said.
Most of the stories surrounding Vogel’s possible removal as coach, league sources told Yahoo Sports, had been coming from unemployed coaches trying to angle themselves into contention to replace him.
The Pacers weren’t able to advance to the NBA Finals, but that doesn’t mean Vogel is on the way out. He still has done an excellent job with this team, has support from his players and seems to be a better fit for Indiana than any of the coaches who could replace him.
In late April, Pritchard tried to put an end to the rumors from anonymous sources that Vogel was on the hot seat by tweeting: “Larry Bird just told me his sources say Frank Vogel’s job is safe.”
This report confirms that Pritchard and Bird never considered replacing Vogel, and that the rumors were circulating because unemployed coaches wanted the Pacers job.
Vogel is 167-100 during his stint in Indiana, including consecutive Central Division titles and a 56-win season that earned the Pacers the East’s top seed this year.
The team’s late-season collapse was ugly, but this team should continue to be a perennial contender. Vogel is a solid coach, and the Pacers have a talented core in place. Some moves will be made, but clearly the Pacers don’t think a coaching change is necessary.
Lamar Odom, Phil Jackson’s first player acquisition, will start his comeback at the Knicks’ training facility Monday.
Jackson signed Odom on the final day of the regular season with a non-guaranteed pact for the upcoming season, giving the Knicks time to evaluate the troubled power forward from Queens.
“He’s coming to town this week,” Jackson said in his first comments on Odom. “We know he’s a really good basketball player. He wants to put himself back together, and he has a chance to do that by having the whole summer to work at it and getting himself back in basketball condition to play. He told me that’s what he wants to do. Having a relationship with him, it’s a pretty good risk-reward situation for us.’’
The Knicks signed Odom to a non-guaranteed contract that paid him $8,232 for the 2013-14 season and could pay him as much as $1,448,490 next season if his contract becomes guaranteed.
Berman mentions that Odom can be traded as cap relief if the experiment in New York doesn’t work out, but it’s important to note that the forward cannot be traded until July 16, 2014.
The article also states that Odom will train at the Knicks’ facility and could play in the Las Vegas Summer League, which would be an excellent way for the veteran to get in shape and prove himself.
Odom didn’t play in the NBA last season, but he averaged 4.0 points and 5.9 rebounds in his last NBA stint with the L.A. Clippers in 2012-13. Over the course of his 14-year NBA career, he has averaged 13.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists.
Odom played for Phil Jackson during their time with the L.A. Lakers, and his familiarity with the triangle offense is likely one of the reasons he was signed. When Jackson has implemented the triangle offense in the past, he was always made sure that he has players and coaches around who know the system, so that they can help the others and make the transition easier.
As previously reported, Adrian Griffin is on the short list of candidates still in consideration for the Utah Jazz’s head coach position.
Not only that, but the Bulls assistant coach has impressed Jazz brass enough to merit a second interview, a source confirmed.
The article goes on to state the Griffin has “a very, very good shot” at becoming the next head coach of the Jazz.
Griffin is considered one of the top assistant coaches in the league right now, and he has been linked to a number of head coaching jobs.
Griffin worked as an assistant under Scott Skiles with the Milwaukee Bucks and, most recently, with Tom Thibodeau on the Chicago Bulls from 2010 to 2014.
His work with the Bulls and Thibodeau intrigues many teams, and he seems to be doing well in interviews if teams are bringing him back in for a second meeting.
Quinn Snyder, who is an assistant with the Atlanta Hawks under Mike Budenholzer, has also been mentioned as a serious candidate for the Utah job. Jim Boylen, Alvin Gentry and Lionel Hollins have also been linked to the opening.
Griffin, who is 39 years old, played for five different NBA teams between 1999 and 2008.
