Unless you’re a passionate follower of European basketball, you probably don’t know much about new Phoenix Suns coach Igor Kokoskov. The native Serbian has been an assistant coach in the NBA for the last 18 years, and will take over the Suns’ job once the Utah Jazz are eliminated from the playoffs.
Kokoskov blew away Suns general manager Ryan McDonough and owner Robert Sarver during the interview process with his ideas for improving the NBA’s worst team on both sides of the court.
Kokoskov earned worldwide acclaim for leading Slovenia to the 2017 EuroBasket championship, beating heavily favored Spain along the way. That team featured high scoring guards Goran Dragic and Luka Doncic, and utilized a free-flowing offensive system that led to open shots all over the court.
After winning the championship, Kokoskov called Doncic a “future superstar” in the NBA and a likely top 3 pick in the 2018 draft. Well, that draft is almost here and the Suns enter next week’s lottery with the best odds to win the No. 1 overall pick.
Kokoskov would love to add a playmaking shot creator like Doncic to young shooting star Devin Booker, but will the Suns’ front office be willing to pass up franchise center Deandre Ayton if they do pick first on June 21st? Based on the system Kokoskov is bringing to Phoenix, Doncic could be seen as a more valuable addition.
That could set up possible trade scenarios if Memphis is picking second, since the Grizzlies already have veteran Marc Gasol at center. Would the Grizzlies be willing to move down a few spots to add future assets and maybe pick up a much-needed forward like Michael Porter Jr. or Jaren Jackson Jr. at five or six?
Obviously, we’ll all have to wait to see how the lottery shakes out on May 15, but the price to move up from where the Bulls currently stand at No. 6 to No. 2 would probably be prohibitive. In the Memphis scenario, they’d probably be asking for Bobby Portis and the No. 6 and No. 22 picks. If Ayton turns out to be the next great center, that price might be worth it, but it’s unlikely the Bulls front office wants to tie their future to a big man who didn’t always dominate at the college level.
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Plus, at this early stage of the rebuild, the Bulls are still in talent acquisition mode, not 100 percent sure of the ceilings for some of their young players. Making a three for one trade isn’t the kind of move teams in the Bulls’ situation would consider given all the uncertainty on the roster. If you guess wrong on a prospect like Ayton, it could set the franchise back for years.
Whichever team wins the lottery next week will be holding all the cards when it comes to deciding the order of the first few picks. Almost every mock draft I’ve seen has Ayton going No. 1, and the University of Arizona product would obviously be a popular choice in Phoenix. But when you hear Kokoskov’s glowing comments about Doncic, we might get more intrigue than expected if the Suns are making the first pick.
Around the Association
Coaching moves continue to make news around the league. The Knicks’ choice of former Memphis head coach David Fizdale is receiving very positive reviews. Fizdale is popular with a number of the league’s top players, including LeBron James, after a long and successful stint as an assistant coach in Miami.
Still, it’s hard to imagine James giving a bad Knicks team serious consideration when he hits free agency on July 1, and franchise player Kristaps Porzingis could miss most or all of next season following ACL surgery. Fizdale will soon learn what his predecessors have already discovered. The dysfunctional manner in which the Knicks organization conducts its business makes it extremely difficult to put together a winning team.
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Big news out of Detroit, where the Pistons cut ties with head coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy, who had one year and $7 million remaining on his original five-year contract. Van Gundy only led the Pistons to the playoffs once over the last four seasons, and his mid-season trade for Blake Griffin put the franchise in a bad salary cap position.
Whoever coaches the Pistons next will have to find a way to make things work around the highly-paid trio of Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson. Van Gundy traded Detroit’s first round draft pick this year, along with Tobias Harris and Avery Bradley in the deal for Griffin, so the Pistons don’t have a lot of options available to try to improve the roster this summer. Van Gundy’s front office decisions will have a big impact on the future of the franchise for years to come.
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The Bucks are casting a wide net in their search for a head coach to make the most of a young, underachieving roster. Word out of Milwaukee has former Hawks coach and front office boss Mike Budenholzer as the Bucks’ top choice, and that makes sense considering the style of play Budenholzer used just a few seasons ago to make the Atlanta Hawks a 60-win team with a modestly talented starting five consisting of Al Horford, Paul Millsap, DeMarre Carroll, Kyle Korver and Jeff Teague.
Of course, the Bucks’ future all depends on Giannis Antetokounmpo continuing his ascension as one of the league’s transcendent players (and finding a consistent jump shot!). But the right coach should be able to design a system built around the talents of Giannis, Khris Middleton and Jabari Parker, and the Hawks’ model designed by Budenholzer could work well in Milwaukee. The key will be adding another shooter or two to prevent teams from collapsing on Antetokounmpo in the post and taking away his driving lanes. The Bucks hold the No. 17 pick in next month’s draft and should have a number of trade options with all the young players currently on the roster.
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I mentioned Horford’s success in Atlanta, and we’ve been seeing growing appreciation for the veteran big man’s talent during the Celtics’ current playoff run. Horford may not be the most physically gifted player in the league, but his versatile skill-set and high basketball IQ make him a perfect fit for Brad Stevens’ system in Boston.
Horford scored the winning basket in the Celtics’ Game 3 win in Philadelphia and he made clutch plays throughout Boston’s opening round seven-game battle against the Bucks. While everyone seemed ready to crown the 76ers as the rising power in the East, what Boston has been able to do without injured stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward has been nothing short of remarkable. And Horford has been an integral part of that success with his veteran leadership and clutch play. Big Al might have been the last pick in the All-Star player draft (it was either Horford or LaMarcus Aldridge according to reports), but he’s indispensable to what the Celtics are doing in the playoffs.
And, the future couldn’t look brighter in Boston. Young wing players Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have played beyond their years and both look like future All-Stars. Give credit to Danny Ainge for going against the grain by selecting Brown higher than most experts predicted in 2016 (No. 3 overall), and for snookering Philadelphia into giving up a future lottery pick to move up from third to first to select Markelle Fultz last summer.
We don’t have any idea what kind of player Fultz will eventually become after a mysterious shoulder injury caused him to lose his jump shot this season, but Tatum could be the best player from a very talented 2017 rookie class, and he’s only scratching the surface of his potential as an elite scorer on the NBA level.
Yes, the 76ers should be set for a long run of success if Joel Embiid stays healthy and Ben Simmons finds a jump shot (notice a trend here!), but with Ainge’s front office expertise and Stevens’ coaching magic, I like Boston’s chances of becoming the East’s best team for the foreseeable future.
Of course, I reserve the right to change my opinion if LeBron signs with the 76ers!
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Speaking of LeBron, after his one-man demolition of the East’s top seed, what does the future hold for the Raptors?
Dwane Casey’s job could be in jeopardy after getting wiped out by the Cavs for a third straight season, especially after he benched All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan for the 4th quarter of Toronto’s Game 3 loss in Cleveland.
Like most veteran teams, the Raptors’ payroll is top heavy with the likes of DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka and starting center Jonas Valanciunas. With the Celtics and 76ers ready to compete for conference titles as soon as next season, it looks like LeBron has slammed another championship window shut, this time north of the border.