SB Nation Tampa Bay: All Posts by Kevin Zimmerman

Arizona basketball: Aaron Gordon dunks, but he wants to be a point forward

2013-06-17T22:09:40Z

The above is a video clip from a recent Team USA practice. It's what you see of Aaron Gordon now.

Most people see the Arizona Wildcats incoming forward as being all that and only that, but Gordon wants more. In an interview with Sporting News, Gordon tells Michael DeCourcy that the Blake Griffin comparisons are more limiting than accurate. It's to-be-determined if Gordon's insistance that he's more than an insanely athletic power forward is true.

It's not unclear in how confident and driven he is, however.

When asked what he thinks of the common comparisons of his game to that of NBA star Blake Griffin-both are big, strong and phenomenally athletic-Gordon answers, "I think, I can play point guard and he can't. "He's an incredible player; he's the No. 1 pick," Gordon said. "I can't be too mad if people are comparing me to a No. 1 pick. But I can play point guard."

Those are big words. Gordon said that he'll do whatever it takes to "thrive" at Arizona and fit with the depth of wings or big men. Whatever he is, he thinks he'll figure it out.

Is it cocky? Maybe. But it's also refreshing to hear a player commit to specific goals. This isn't the common case of a player wanting to improve in all areas. That's code for a lack of direction or even a smokescreen for laziness. Gordon doesn't spew generalizations.

"I can stand here and hit open shots all day long. What I need to do is figure out a way to get my shot in the shooting pocket quicker and smoother in the flow of the game. Once I get that, then I think I'm there."

Direction is good to have. And if Gordon moves to Tucson with Miller wanting to truly help him with those goals, all the better.

Miller told The Sports News that Gordon isn't just making this stuff up.

If Gordon makes the USA U19 squad, there's even more experience he'll bring to Tucson while playing with talents already NBA-ready such as point guard Marcus Smart. The Oklahoma State guard would've likely been a top-5 pick but pulled himself out of the draft, to most experts' surprise. Also on the list of 16 players fighting for 12 tickets to Prague are fellow Pac-12 signee Nigel Williams-Goss, who will attend Washington, Arizona recruiting target Justise Winslow and Oregon Ducks guard Damyean Dotson.

So Gordon will make a case for himself as not only a physical presence but a ballhandling big.

But in the meantime, he'll continue to embarrass guys with physics-defying dunks.

Scouting Ashley and Hollis-Jefferson

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Brandon Ashley couldn't make the initial cut for the national team.

In Draft Express' breakdown of the camp, Jonathan Givony writes that Hollis-Jefferson excelled as a defender who had the ability to stay in front of opposing point guards and hold his own against big men in the post. He struggled offensively, however. The Wildcats small forward was hampered by his inability to stretch the court and also couldn't score off the dribble.

Givony was especially critical of Ashley, whose body is undeveloped in relation to where he was a few years ago. Ashley often floated around the perimeter and without a skillset of a small forward was rendered a ghost because of it. But the biggest issue was Ashley's motor, which apparently ended up in him getting beaten on the boards.

Rich Rodriguez films a cowboy movie

2013-06-17T19:51:58Z

Arizona football coach Rich Rodriguez is busy filming a cowboy movie at the Old Tucson studios, which is weird.

Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett trade to Clippers is reportedly 'close to being done'

2013-06-17T18:50:18Z

The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers are reaching the finer points of a deal that would send forward Kevin Garnett and coach Doc Rivers to Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Times' Brad Turner.

Boston's Jason Terry and Courtney Lee were part of the most recent discussions, according to ESPN's Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne. Either of their $5.2 million contracts could be shipped along with Garnett as the Celtics have put aside their aspirations to acquire Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe.

Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reports Boston is now willing to find financial relief rather than push for draft picks in the deal.

For more on the trade talks: Visit Celtics Blog and Clips Nation

Additionally, it appears that Los Angeles small forward Caron Butler could be joining a package that includes center DeAndre Jordan and a first-round draft pick, Turner reports. Butler's $8 million per year deal expires after next season and combined with Jordan's $11 million would nearly align with Garnett's $12.4 million and either of Lee or Terry's deals that each have two years left.

More from SB Nation:

• Flannery: Finally, The Manu Game | How the Spurs won

• Spurs take Game 5, now just one win from the title

• Ziller: 6 minutes of hell for LeBron James

• Anti-NBA mock draft: Evolution of ESPN's Top-100 Big Board

• NBA mock draft: Best-case scenarios | Scouting reports | Big Board

Sergey Karasev will remain in 2013 NBA Draft

2013-06-17T17:14:19Z

Sergey Karasev raised eyebrows by returning to Russia before going through a gauntlet of pre-draft workouts, but his agent told Draft Express on Monday that the swingman will remain in the 2013 draft.

Just 19 years old, Karasev never appeared to waver in coming out for the draft, but the Russian small forward returned to Moscow in early June, leading many to believe that he received a first-round guarantee. RealGM reported that Karasev remained open to interviewing with NBA executives representing teams from the No. 9 pick to the No. 22 pick but would not conduct any workouts for teams.

The 6'7, 200-pound forward projects well in the NBA as an accurate shooter and playmaker despite his athletic limitations. The youngster's basketball smarts earned him a spot on the Russian national team that competed at the London Olympics.

NBA teams got a good amount of scouting Karasev when he played for the World Select squad at the Nike Hoops Summit in April. And even though he hasn't gone through individual workouts, Karasev is still drawing enough interest to keep his name in the draft.

More from SB Nation:

• Flannery: Finally, The Manu Game | How the Spurs won

• Spurs take Game 5, now just one win from the title

• Ziller: 6 minutes of hell for LeBron James

• Interview: Behind the lens of Team Wade

• NBA mock draft: Best-case scenarios | Scouting reports | Big Board

Katz: Jason Gardner will join Josh Pastner in Memphis

2013-06-17T16:34:58Z

Katz: Jason Gardner will join Josh Pastner in Memphis

Former Arizona Wildcats guard Jason Gardner will join Josh Pastner as an assistant coach for the Memphis Tigers. Gardner is an assistant with Loyola University Chicago.

Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett talks between Celtics and Clippers not dead

2013-06-17T16:29:04Z

As quickly as the rumors spread Saturday that the Celtics would send Kevin Garnett to the Clippers and let coach Doc Rivers join him in Los Angeles, they died. But talks between the two teams are still alive, reports Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.

Discussions sputtered when the Clippers refused to include guard Eric Bledsoe in a deal that reportedly also involved big man DeAndre Jordan and a draft pick. Over the past day, Wojnarowski's sources believe Boston has grown more open to a compromise that won't include Bledsoe.

And the Celtics are realizing that bringing Rivers back might not be in their best interests.

"There's no putting the genie back in the bottle," an NBA executive old Wojnarowski. "You can't pretend this didn't happen and just go back to work."

Los Angeles reportedly will offer Rivers a five-year contract upon the Celtics nullifying a non-compete clause in his contract. Garnett must also waive a no-trade clause in his contract for the deal to go forward, but he reportedly was ready to do so when talks heated up on Saturday.

For more: Visit Celtics Blog and Clips Nation

Rivers has been mulling over a return in Boston despite having three years left on his deal. It is believed he wanted no part of a rebuilding situation, but that might be unavoidable for general manager Danny Ainge.

ESPN initially reported that Celtics swingman Paul Pierce was to be included in a trade, but now it's believed that the more likely scenario is Boston buying out Pierce's contract.

Whatever the case may be, the Clippers are hoping to make enough roster changes to entice free agent point guard Chris Paul to return.

More from SB Nation:

• Flannery: Finally, The Manu Game | How the Spurs won

• Spurs take Game 5, now just one win from the title

• Ziller: 6 minutes of hell for LeBron James

• Interview: Behind the lens of Team Wade

• NBA mock draft: Best-case scenarios | Scouting reports | Big Board

Monta Ellis tells Bucks he'll become free agent, according to report

2013-06-17T15:54:20Z

To hardly anyone's surprise, Milwaukee Bucks guard Monta Ellis will forgo the final year of his contract worth $11 million in search of a longer deal, according to sources of ESPN's Chris Broussard.

By opting out, Ellis becomes an unrestricted free agent, and the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks and Lakers have interest in adding Ellis to their rosters.

Adding to the rumor mill is Broussard's report of Ellis potentially teaming up with free agent center Dwight Howard, who has said he'll look at his options with the Los Angeles Lakers and elsewhere.

More: Visit Brew Hoop for more on the Bucks

In Milwaukee, it's a matter of what the Bucks and newly-hired coach Larry Drew want to do. Milwaukee is rumored to have interest in either re-signing Ellis or point guard Brandon Jennings, but those reports have flip-flopped. The younger Jennings is a restricted free agent this summer and will likely garner a smaller contract, as Ellis is looking a max deal square in the face.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported a week ago that the Bucks offered Ellis a two-year extension to his contract through 2015-16 if he picked up the player option. Over the course of the three years, it would have paid $36 million.

Ellis led Milwaukee by averaging 19.2 points, 6.0 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game in 2012-13.

More from SB Nation:

• Flannery: Finally, The Manu Game | How the Spurs won

• Spurs take Game 5, now just one win from the title

• Ziller: 6 minutes of hell for LeBron James

• Interview: Behind the lens of Team Wade

• NBA mock draft: Best-case scenarios | Scouting reports | Big Board

Nuggets hire Pelicans executive Tim Connelly as VP of basketball operations

2013-06-17T15:28:41Z

The Nuggets hired Tim Connelly away from the New Orleans Pelicans to become the Denver's new executive vice president of basketball operations, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. Connelly has been the Pelicans -- previously the Hornets -- assistant general manager since 2010.

The move by Denver is the first step in replacing a front office that lost general manager Masai Ujiri to the Toronto Raptors and then saw potential in-house replacement Pete D'Alessandro become the general manager for the Sacramento Kings. D'Alessandro worked under Ujiri as the vice president of basketball operations.

Visit Denver Stiffs for more on the Nuggets

Connelly, 36, is considered one of the rising new-look front office executives, having jumped into the league as an intern with the Washington Wizards in 1996. He worked his way to director of player personnel with Washington until leaving for the New Orleans opening a few years ago.

Connelly's first move will either include filling in the other front office positions or hiring a new head coach.

Owner Josh Kroenke fired George Karl after nine seasons despite Karl leading Denver to 57 wins and winning the NBA Coach of the Year award.