Lost in this is violation of coach’s code: You don’t pursue job belonging to someone else. Humiliating end for Larry Drew. Kidd’s shameless.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 30, 2014
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Bucks ownership masking this as a coach hiring, but belief is that it’s just matter of time until Kidd has full control in Milwaukee.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 30, 2014
A league source familiar with the Kidd situation described the Bucks’ claims that they only want Kidd as head coach this way, “B.S.”
— NetsDaily.com (@NetsDaily) June 30, 2014
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Rick Carlisle runs coach’s association, takes issues seriously. Ultimate coach’s coach. You can bet Kidd’ll feel disgust within fraternity.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 30, 2014
There was no organization in the sport where Kidd would have more stature or capital than the Nets. He burned it all.
— Ken Berger (@KBergCBS) June 29, 2014
Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
If you did the right thing and had a life this weekend, you might have missed Jason Kidd becoming one of the biggest buffoons in NBA history. You can get properly caught up here, here, and here, but I’ll give you the quick version:
Jason Kidd, after one mediocre season in Brooklyn, decided he wanted full control of the Nets. The Nets, wisely, said no. In the meantime, Kidd was talking to his buddy, Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, in the background about taking a job there. So when Brooklyn told Kidd to focus on coaching, he told Brooklyn to focus on his middle finger as he walked out the door and got an interview with the Bucks.
Keep in mind, Bucks coach Larry Drew and GM John Hammond didn’t know about any of this. They found out when we did. So as I was glued to Twitter at a bar on Saturday night, Hammond and Drew were getting texts from friends asking “WTF is up w/Kidd? U fired now?”
It’s hard to fully comprehend Jason Kidd’s out-of-control ego. Coupled with a total lack of self-awareness, it has thrown him way off course in his new career. The same ego that drove him as a player is now turning him into a monster of a problem on the other side of things.
Kidd has now alienated the Nets organization that gave him a chance to prove himself. He overplayed his hand and now the Milwaukee Bucks may be ready to push Drew and Hammonds out of a moving car just to give Kidd a chance to drive it into a lake. Kidd’s losing friends fast in the NBA, and one of his last ones is about to make a huge mistake with him in Milwaukee.
Meanwhile, we here in Celtics nation can sit back and laugh as we watch the value of those unprotected picks acquired in the Pierce trade grow. Starting in 2016, the Celtics have three straight years of Brooklyn picks (2016, 2018 are Boston’s outright, 2017 is the right to switch places), and this Kidd implosion could be what turns them into lottery picks.
Mikhail Prokhorov is already listening to offers for the Nets. He’s looking to turn a $223 million investment into a billion dollar jackpot after seeing what the LA Clippers sold for. Prokhorov’s stake also includes almost half the Barclays Center, which becomes increasingly valuable as it becomes home to the New York Islanders and also gains footing as a major venue for other shows and events in New York City.
He’s already cutting back on the spending as it is, in his efforts to improve the team’s value and bottom line.
Now, Prokhorov has indicated to suitors he will not be so free with the cash, sources said.
Prokhorov, who bought a controlling stake in the Nets in 2010, has quietly indicated he will keep his payroll under the luxury-tax threshold starting in the 2015-16 season, one source with direct knowledge of the auction said. “It will take a year to get to the salary cap,” the source said.
Throw this Kidd mess into the picture and you wonder if Prokhorov will say enough is enough with the NBA and try his hand at something else. His wanton spending didn’t work at all. Hiring Kidd blew up in his face. If someone is willing to pay him a billion dollars and quadruple his return, he might just toss up the deuces and say dasvidaniya, Brooklyn.
If Danny Ainge can make the right moves over the next two years, the Celtics could be in the enviable position of adding lottery picks to a good team… bolstering a roster with young talent under no pressure at all to contribute immediately as a superstar.
As this Kidd mess comes to a head in Brooklyn and Milwaukee, Ainge must be sitting in his office with a mile-wide Cheshire grin. The long-term plan put in place with the Pierce/Garnett trade is playing out better than he could have ever imagined.
The rest of the links:
ESPN Boston: Bradley and the back up(s) plan | Boston.com: Trade Rondo? Celtics should make every attempt to build around him | CSNNE: Bulpett & Welsh: What to expect from C’s offseason
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