NEW YORK – Glen Taylor's had so much bad luck in the lottery and the draft itself that he wasn't particularly optimistic about Tuesday night's proceedings in a hotel ballroom in Midtown Manhattan.
In 2010, his Timberwolves had the second-best lottery odds and dropped to fourth (selecting Wesley Johnson). The next year, they had the best odds and dropped to second (selecting Derrick Williams).
Of course, in 2009 they famously selected Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn with the fifth and sixth picks, respectively. The seventh pick was a young fellow whose work you may be familiar with: Stephen Curry.
And so after finally securing the top selection in the 2015 draft – and the enviable choice between Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns – what did Taylor openly discuss?
The possibility of trading the pick.
Really?
It's historically unlikely, Taylor admitted, but something that will be “part of any conversation.”
“You never know what it could mean, if you could get the right one or two guys that could change your team,” Taylor said. “When you already have a bunch of young guys, you have to look at this type of stuff. But I think it's a very hard decision to make.”
Taylor knows first-hand, since last summer he negotiated directly with Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert on the trade that sent Kevin Love to Cleveland for a package that included the Cavs' No. 1 pick, Andrew Wiggins.
“They didn't want to do that,” Taylor said. “I can tell you, because I ended up negotiating with their owner. They didn't want to do that, because you just don't know how good Wiggins could be in the future and you're going to hear about that forever and ever and ever. So I think it's probably highly unlikely, but I think it's part of the discussion.”
And the discussion goes something like this: On a young team that already has the last two No. 1 picks on the roster – Anthony Bennett and Wiggins – do you really need another teen-ager who's going to need 3-4 years to grow into a potential All-Star? And in Minnesota, where it's been historically difficult to attract free agents, there are only two ways to get All-Stars: 1) draft them and keep them; or 2) trade assets for All-Stars already under contract.
“We've got so many young guys,” Taylor said, “we would be better off not even being close to the lottery again.”
Given the team's recent draft history, it's a good problem to have.
Bulls-Thibs standoff. It's been five days since the Bulls were eliminated from the playoffs, and there has been no movement in their head coaching standoff with Tom Thibodeau. The Chicago front office has yet to formally contact its top target, Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg, and no NBA team has requested permission to speak with Thibodeau, a league source told CBSSports.com Wednesday.
As we've discussed, this isn't going to be quick or easy.
Nonetheless, they're freaking out in Iowa over the possibility of Hoiberg leaving Ames for Chicago. Earlier this month, Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard tried to prepare Cyclones fans for the possibility, saying Hoiberg's eventual departure for the NBA was a matter of when, not if.
“He has always said from Day One that his lifelong goal has been to coach in the NBA,” Pollard said. “It's for him to decide when.”
When Pollard missed a portion of Iowa State's annual tailgate tour on Tuesday, panic ensued – and so did speculation that Pollard had been in Atlanta meeting with the university's coaching search firm. Hoiberg's silence on the possibility of leaving Iowa State for the Bulls – in much the same way Billy Donovan had been silent on leaving Florida for Oklahoma City – has complicated matters further.
Finding Thibodeau a job falls under the purview of his representatives at Creative Artists Agency, but the Bulls also have a vested interest. As time goes by and openings in New Orleans and Orlando get filled (Denver, sources say, is not an option for Thibodeau), the Bulls get closer to choosing between two unappealing options: 1) Keeping Thibodeau, who has two years and about $9 million left on his contract; or 2) Firing him and paying two coaches.
Sure, the tidiness of a deal including draft-pick compensation would be nice, but the Bulls have more tangible motivation for finding a mutually beneficial resolution. Most head coaching contracts, including those negotiated for past Bulls head coaches, have an offset clause usually amounting to a dollar-for-dollar discount on the money owed based on the coach's salary with his new team. So if Thibodeau were able to get a job at his current salary or more, the Bulls wouldn't owe him anything. Not even a going-away party.
For now, the gears continue to grind on one of the NBA's most intriguing offseason storylines – slowly.
Dealing with Beal. One of the underrated summer storylines is that involving the Washington Wizards and Bradley Beal, who is eligible for an extension of his rookie contract this summer. It's the same situation Kawhi Leonard was in with the Spurs last summer, when San Antonio and Leonard's agent, Brian Elfus, agreed to hold off for a year to preserve cap room for the team.
That kind of cooperation works in San Antonio, but how will it play in Washington with Beal? The Wizards have made it clear they are committed to signing Beal to the max, but the timing is everything from the standpoint of preserving cap room to chase free agents such as Kevin Durant in 2016.
If the Wizards don't do the extension this summer, Beal would have two options: Become a restricted free agent next summer (assuming the Wizards extend a qualifying offer, which of course they will), or sign his $7.5 million qualifying offer and become unrestricted in 2017. Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld and Beal's agent, Mark Bartelstein, have yet to initiate extension talks, but they will soon.
