NBA Rumors: Latest Rumblings on Marc Gasol, Bradley Beal and More
The Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets all still have their eyes on this season’s Larry O’Brien Trophy, but future championships will hang in the balance during the offseason.
Some of the NBA’s brightest stars will be free agents, proven coaches will be on the market and the draft class is loaded with impact talent.
With so much at stake, there are bound to be rumors circulating around the league. Here is a look at the latest speculation surrounding Marc Gasol, Bradley Beal and Scott Brooks.
Marc Gasol
Gasol has spent his entire career with the Memphis Grizzlies, but the two-time All-Star and former NBA Defensive Player of the Year is sure to field plenty of offers this summer.
After all, he averaged 17.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this season and led the Grizzlies to the second round in the loaded Western Conference playoffs.
Michael Wallace of ESPN.com noted: “The San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks all are developing proposals to present to Gasol when the free-agency recruiting period opens July 1, according to multiple league sources.”
It should come as no surprise that so many teams are interested in Gasol, but each of these squads is particularly intriguing.
The San Antonio Spurs may have an opening down low if Tim Duncan retires, the Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most popular teams in the league and could contend for the playoffs with a core of Gasol, Kobe Bryant, Julius Randle and the No. 2 pick in the draft, the Dallas Mavericks need interior help alongside Dirk Nowitzki and a pairing of Gasol and Carmelo Anthony would make the New York Knicks dangerous in the East.
Gasol hasn’t given his free agency much thought given his comments, per Wallace:
"I haven't put all the scenarios on the table yet. I'm still trying to figure out what I could have done different to [help us] beat Golden State. That's where my mind is the last 72 hours. I know that's not the point you guys want to hear, but that's the reality. I woke up this morning with that feeling over and over again of, “What could I have done better?”
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Gasol is one of the faces of the Grizzlies and could become a franchise legend if he stays there his entire career. However, the Spurs, Lakers, Knicks and Mavericks are sure to inspire interest this offseason.
Bradley Beal
Beal is likely going to be a Washington Wizard for quite some time, but he and the team will face something of a dilemma this offseason.
Ken Berger of CBS Sports explained: “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.”
Beal is eligible for an extension of his rookie contract this offseason, and Berger pointed out it was the same situation Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs found themselves in last summer. Leonard ultimately chose to hold off on signing the extension to preserve more cap room for the team.
Berger pointed out that “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.”
It is great to speculate about players such as Kevin Durant potentially joining Washington in the future, but that is still only a wish at this point. Beal is already on the Wizards roster and is only 21 years old and a proven commodity. He is younger than some of the prospects in the 2015 NBA draft and already has three seasons and playoff experience under his belt.
Working this out so Beal is still in the nation’s capital and Washington has some cap flexibility would be the perfect scenario for the Wizards, but keeping Beal needs to be a priority. Otherwise, he will develop into a star somewhere else.
Scott Brooks
Brooks’ tenure as the coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder came to an unceremonious end this season when his team missed the playoffs, largely because of injuries.
The question now is where—or if—he will coach next season.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports noted: “Former Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks plans to pass on interview chances with the Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans and appears inclined to sit out the 2015-16 season, league sources told Yahoo Sports.”
Wojnarowski said Brooks wants to coach again one day but will instead look into television opportunities and spending more time with his family this year.
It is not a surprise that teams with openings are interested in Brooks since he boasts a .620 career winning percentage, three trips to the Western Conference Finals and a trip to the NBA Finals on his resume. Those teams apparently have to look elsewhere this offseason.
From Brooks’ perspective, he may simply need a break after receiving criticism for not winning a title with a core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka (and James Harden when the Thunder made the Finals). Even though injuries to Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka derailed Oklahoma City’s 2014-15 campaign, Brooks was still criticized.
Brett Pollakoff of ProBasketballTalk described the perception of Brooks from fans and commentators:
"Those who believe in Brooks as a head coach will champion his ability to have his team contending for the past five seasons, and will blame injuries for the fact that the Thunder only made it to one NBA Finals and have yet to win a title.
Others, however, will look to Brooks’ lack of ingenuity on the offensive end of the floor, and will say that his sets only worked at times because Durant and Westbrook are arguably two of the game’s top-five players, and were capable of making things happen in isolation when things broke down.
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While Brooks was on the receiving end of second-guessing during his time in Oklahoma City, he is bound to receive plenty of coaching offers when he is ready to come back to the league.
