And now it is official. Rick Carlisle has signed the contract and his now the new head coach of the Dallas Mavericks.
The deal is for four years and $17.5 million, slightly more than $4 million a season and slightly more than former coach Avery Johnson was making.
The press conference to introduce Carlisle to the media and the masses is Wednesday.
-- Jeff Caplan
After days of wrangling over contract details, the Dallas Mavericks reached a verbal agreement with Rick Carlisle on Friday night to become the club’s new head coach, a source confirmed.
The source said the four-year contract is worth more than $4 million a season — slightly more than former coach Avery Johnson’s per-season salary — and would be signed by late Friday or today. A news conference to formally introduce Carlisle as the franchise’s ninth head coach probably won’t be held until Wednesday, the source said, because of Carlisle’s duties as an analyst for ESPN.
Donnie Nelson, the Dallas Mavericks' president of basketball operations, isn't worried, but he does seem to be growing weary of a protracted negotiation process with Rick Carlisle, the Mavs' top choice to take over as head coach, and his agent Warren LeGarie.
Not only did a press conference to introduce Carlisle as the franchise's ninth head coach not happen on Friday as the club had hoped, an agreement remained elusive.
"All I can say is lawyers happen," a fatigued-sounding Nelson said Friday evening. "You can dispute every detail if you want."
LeGarie is apparently taking his time and addressing different points within the contract before Carlisle signs it. The deal is believed to be for four years. LeGarie, who is also busy dealing with another client, the in-demand Mike D'Antoni, did not return phone messages Friday.
On Wednesday, both sides seemed confident that a deal was nearing completion. The Mavs believed they'd be able to cease negotiations on Thursday and introduce Carlisle on Friday. That introduction will be put off until next week so the deal can be completed -- if it's completed.
Asked if he's still confident that Carlisle will be the next coach of the Mavericks, Nelson paused for several seconds and then said: "I'm not confident of anything at this point. You just have to be patient."
At this point it's difficult to discern how close, or how far apart, the two sides are.
Carlisle, 281-211 in two seasons with Detroit and four with Indiana, remains the only known candidate to have interviewed for the position. LeGarie said Wednesday that Carlisle is not interested in seeing what other opportunities might arise elsewhere, saying that Carlisle believes he found a fit with the Mavs.
-- Jeff Caplan
Cavaliers coach Mike Brown endorsed Rick Carlisle Thursday as a good fit for the Dallas Mavericks, saying, "He's a very good coach," and "his track record speaks for itself." Brown worked under Carlisle at Indiana and Brown praised his former boss' work during the 2005 season when the brawl at Detroit unraveled that team, yet the Pacers still managed to get into the playoffs and beat Boston in the first round.
-- Jeff Caplan
At lunchtime, still nothing to report on the Rick Carlisle situation. The Mavericks are still expected to get this deal done at some point, possibly today, although no press conference will be held today even if he does sign.
A press conference would be moved back, perhaps to Saturday or maybe more likely to Monday.
And, oh yeah, another possibly delay: Carlisle's agent, Warren LeGarie, is also the agent for Mike D'Antoni, who's a little busy at the moment.
-- Jeff Caplan
Rick Carlisle is not the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, at least not yet. Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson just confirmed that no deal was struck today.
Nelson, writing in a text message, did not elaborate as to why the deal did not get finished today, meaning that as of now, no press conference to introduce Carlisle as the franchise's ninth head coach is expected to be held Friday. When asked if the contract process remains on track to finish by Friday, Nelson did not immediately respond.
Although negotiations have seemed to drag, both sides have always reported steady and positive progress being made as the days have passed.
The delay could be due to the travel situation of Carlisle's agent Warren LeGarie, who was traveling from Greece Thursday and returning home to San Francisco. He said he received the contract from the Mavs at midnight yesterday (4 p.m. CDT Wednesday) and was about to give it a close read.
So there might have been some details LeGarie and Carlisle were not able to hash out today. LeGarie did indicate on Wednesday that because of the late hour in which he received the contract the deal might not get completed as soon as both sides had hoped.
"We're still moving forward," LeGarie said Wednesday. "It may be delayed by a day, but we're still moving forward."
Carlisle remains the only known candidate to have interviewed with Nelson and owner Mark Cuban. The former Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers coach accumulated a 281-211 record in six seasons with the two clubs. He is known as a demanding coach and a micromanager, but a strong X's and O's coach whose teams play hard-nosed defense.
His offensive resume is not as strong as his defensive and if he does become the Mavs' next head coach he will have to show that he can loosen up his offensive control and allow point guard Jason Kidd to play his up-tempo style. In Avery Johnson's rigid offensive system, Kidd did not excel.
-- Jeff Caplan
Latest word now is that the deal might not get done today (Thursday) which might push any official introduction back a day to Saturday. The team had planned to hold a press conference on Friday if both sides sign off on the deal today. As of right now, that's still up in the air. Carlisle's still the man, it's just taking a bit longer.
One delay might be that Carlisle's agent Warren LeGarie has been working overseas and was scheduled to return to San Francisco from Greece today. In Greece last night, he received the contract from the Mavs at midnight (4 p.m. CDT Wednesday). He was going to give it a thorough reading then, so there might be some details he and Carlisle need to talk over.
Mavs officials have not returned calls since Tuesday and LeGarie has been unreachable so far today. More details to come later.
-- Jeff Caplan
Straight from the Mavs:
Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki was named All-NBA Second Team, the NBA announced today. It is the eighth consecutive season Nowitzki has been named All-NBA and the third time he has garnered Second Team honors (2001-02, 2002-03).
“It is always an honor to make the All-NBA Team,” Nowitzki said. “And to be recognized along with so many talented players means a lot to me.”
Nowitzki averaged a team-high 23.6 points (ranked 7th in the NBA), a team-high 8.6 rebounds, a career-high 3.5 assists and 36.0 minutes in 77 starts. He shot 47.9% from the field, 35.9% from 3-point range and 87.9% from the free throw line (10th in NBA). Nowitzki finished the season with 20 games of 30+ points and 25 double-doubles.
In five postseason games, Nowitzki averaged a double-double of 26.8 points and 12.0 rebounds (both team highs) to go with 4.0 assists and 1.4 blocks in 42.2 minutes per game.
Nowitzki remains the only Mavericks player in franchise history to be named All-NBA First Team (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07) and is one of only three players (Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan) to be named to an All-NBA Team in each of the past eight seasons.
Nowitzki is joined on the Second Team by Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs), Amaré Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns), Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns) and Deron Williams (Utah Jazz).
The Dallas Mavericks plan to announce Rick Carlisle as the franchise's ninth head coach at a press conference Friday as long as the two sides sign off on the completed contract as expected.
Carlisle's agent, Warren LeGarie, is working in Greece and said he had just received the contract from the Mavs at midnight, 4 p.m. CST Wednesday, and was just getting ready to give it a thorough reading. The contract is expected to be for four years. Financial terms are not known at this time.
"We're still moving forward," LeGarie said.
Carlisle, the former coach of the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers, has been the Mavs' man since Avery Johnson was fired a week ago. Carlisle, 48, is the only candidate known to have interviewed and is the only coach on the market with head coaching experience -- not counting Mike D'Antoni who still works for the Phoenix Suns but appears headed to the Eastern Conference. Jeff Van Gundy took his name out of the running early on, stating that he's not interested in jumping back in next season.
The Mavs wanted a head coach with a sound defensive structure and a creative offensive mind. Carlisle definitely brings the former, but the latter will have to be judged by how he opens things up for poing guard Jason Kidd to excel with Dirk Nowitzki and the rest of the cast.
Carlisle, 281-211 over his career and 30-32 in the playoffs, is considered a demanding, hard-driving coach who can be a micromanager and has something of a history of wearing thin on his players. However, he has had extremely strong beginnings with both of his previous clubs.
A native of Ogdensburg, N.Y., Carlisle played collegiately at Maine and then Virginia, where he spent his first season with Ralph Sampson. Drafted by the Celtics in the third round in 1984, Carlisle won a title in Beantown in 1985-86. The 6-foot-5 guard spent five seasons in the NBA, three with Boston, one with New York and one with New Jersey.
Carlisle will inherit a Mavs team that returns just eight players under contract, including Nowitzki, Kidd, Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Erick Dampier, Jerry Stackhouse, Brandon Bass and Eddie Jones, so plenty of holes remain to be filled and with no financial flexibility to make a big splash.
The Mavs have appeared in eight straight playoffs, but are coming off consecutive first-round losses and have lost three straight playoff series going back to the 2005-06 NBA Finals. Owner Mark Cuban removed Johnson as head coach last Wednesday after three-plus seasons. Johnson left saying the team had stopped listening to him, a similar situation Carlisle found himself in when he left Indiana after the 2006-07 season.
Johnson's coaching staff remains under contract for next season. Carlisle could bring in his own staff or choose to keep any of Johnson's assistants -- Paul Westphal, Joe Prunty and Mario Elie.
-- Jeff Caplan
Mark Cuban has posted his summary of the season, his outlook for the future, and his thoughts on the Jason Kidd trade on his blog. It's certainly worth reading.
As far as his feelings on Kidd, he wrote:
"Do I think we might the right deal, you never know till you know, but I
know I would make the same deal again. i also know what I learned from
Nash leaving. As great an offensive coach as Nellie is, Nash wasn't
playing at MVP levels with us. A change of scenery and coaches and
system, some payback motivation and he became a very, very deserving 2
time MVP.
"My hope, is that with the changes that have taken
place with our Mavs, we will see the same effect with JKidd this coming
year, and that will lead to another great year and another and a Mavs
championship along the way. If it doesn't work, we hopefully have
limited our downside."
-- Jan Hubbard
Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson took a minute Monday afternoon to update us with the status of the Rick Carlisle situation. Here's what he had to say:
On how the talks are going: "Negotiations take awhile. There's no timetable."
On when the hiring will happen, if at all: "When everyone feels it's right."
On the possibility of any snags: "We're keeping our options open, as they are. But it's going in a good direction."
-- Jeff Caplan
The way I hear it Rick Carlisle and the Mavs are still talking (negotiating). Not sure what the hold up is if Mark Cuban is indeed going to hire Carlisle, presumably because there's no one else to hire with any NBA coaching experience. Well, there's Jeff Van Gundy, but apparently he's not interested, at least not for next season (anyway he's dog-gone good, funny even, as a color analyst).
Maybe Carlisle wants an extra year thrown in for added security or something. I don't know, but indications are that he's still the man -- and the only one interviewed -- and some time here soon it will become official -- unless one of those dreaded snags becomes a gaping hole that can't be reconciled.
As for Avery Johnson, will he coach somewhere next season? Guess that depends on what other firings occur. Chicago and NY don't seem likely at this point with the apparent love affair between the Bulls and Mike D'Antoni, who was granted permission by the Suns to talk to both the Bulls and Knicks. The Knicks haven't moved on Mark Jackson yet; there's a notion that the Knickerbockers might not have a great interest in Avery at this time.
As for Carlisle, the stories you hear go both ways, some say he's a poor communicator and players end up frustrated and agitated. Other stories suggest he's had a raw deal at times, especially having to deal with loose canons like Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson -- on the same team. Remember, Carlisle coached the Pacers during the brawl in Detroit. That pretty much was the beginning of the end for Carlisle at Indiana (heck, he's not so bad himself as a studio analyst).
Donnie Nelson continues to preach that Carlisle has a nice combo of defense and creative offense. Well, the latter part seems up for debate, too.
-- Jeff Caplan
By all indications it does appear the Mavs will hire Rick Carlisle soon. He's had two interviews, meeting with Donnie Nelson and Mark Cuban, plus one report said he also met with Dirk Nowitzki. Figure if Dirk gives the thumbs-up then everybody's happy.
When will it happen? Not sure. Peter Vecsey of the NY Post reported on Saturday that the two parties had already come to terms. Nelson disputed that, but it does appear that negotiations are underway, if not well underway. This could happen in the next few days, perhaps Monday, although that has not been confirmed.
Cuban apparently doesn't want to wait to see if Flip Saunders exits Detroit -- of course, they're on their way toward a long playoff march -- or Mike D'Antoni leaves Phoenix or if Washington decides to let go Eddie Jordan. If the Mavs wait too long on any of those head coaches, they might lose Carlisle in the process.
-- Jeff Caplan
Donnie Nelson just broke his silence with the local media and said that Rick Carlisle has not yet been hired. He has had two interviews and Nelson said they are very impressed with his basketball IQ as well as the man.
Nelson didn't divulge any specifics in terms of a time line or when an offer might be made.
But, at this time, Carlisle, the only interviewee, looks to be on the fast track to taking over the Dallas Mavericks.
-- Jeff Caplan
According to venerable NY Post NBA columnist Peter Vecsey, the Mavericks and former Indiana Pacers and Detoit Pistons coach Rick Carlisle have agreed to terms. Mavericks officials have been unreachable since Friday afternoon. President of basketball operations Donnie Nelson has not returned multiple messages and owner Mark Cuban is not returning email messages. Mavericks sources have not been able confirm the story.
At least one report indicated that Nelson had interviewed Carlisle on Thursday, but without Cuban, who was in Chicago on Wednesday watching the Cubs play from a Tribune Co. box. Cuban remains hot after that franchise which the Tribune Co. is hoping to sell by the end of the year.
Cuban didn't take long to replace Avery Johnson if Vecsey is on the money. Donnie Walsh, who recently took over the Knicks' operation had hired Carlisle in Indiana and some thought he and Carlisle might reunite in the Big Apple, although Mark Jackson has been thought of as the leading candidate for the Knicks position. Carlisle had also reportedly interviewed recently with Walsh.
Carlisle, 49, coached the Pistons from 2001-03, going 100-64 in the regular season and 12-15 in the playoffs. He also was named the 2001-02 NBA Coach of the Year.
After Carlisle was fired by Detroit and replaced by Larry Brown after the 2002-03 season, he was hired by Walsh to take over the Pacers, where he compiled 181-147 in four regular seasons and 18-17 in the playoffs.
His best season in Indianapolis was his first. In 2003-04 the Pacers posted a 61-21 record -- the best mark in franchise history -- and reached the Eastern Conference finals.
Carlisle's reputation is that of a solid, demanding head coach with an emphasis on defense. His rigid style has also been known to grate on players. There was some thought that Carlisle might be too similar to Johnson.
The Mavs also had interest in Jeff Van Gundy, but he is reportedly not interested in coaching next season. That didn't leave many options. It's still believed that Phoenix Suns coach Mike D'Antoni won't be sticking around there and that he's high on the Chicago Bulls vacancy. If Detroit's Flip Saunders or Washington's Eddie Jordan, whose Wizards bowed out of the playoffs Friday night, were to lose their jobs, they'd become instant candidates.
Nelson has talked about patience on this search. We'll see.
-- Jeff Caplan
-- Jeff Caplan
I had asked Mark Cuban, seeing how he was in Chicago on Wednesday, the day Avery Johnson got the boot, if he was on Cubs business. No surprise, Cuban ignored that portion of my email.
But, indeed, he was in Chicago on Cubs business. The Tribune Co. still has the team up for sale and Cuban is still interested. Just get him a jacket.
-- Jeff Caplan
Former Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson spoke with the media Thursday morning for 25 minutes. Here's the transcript.
Opening statement:
First of all, I want to say thank you to all of our players that have played here for me in the last 3 ½ years, four including my assistant stint. All of our players that put on a Maverick uniform, they cooperated, they were coachable and we have a lot of great memories here with our players. I want to thank Mark for taking a shot and a swing on me four years ago as an assistant, to think enough of me to bring me in immediately, he and Nellie, to make me an assistant head coach without any experience. I’ve enjoyed my time here working with Mark. We had a lot of great moments. And we had a lot of fun. I want to thank every coach I had a chance to coach with and work with. All of them, the coaching staff from this year, previous coaching staffs, we had a lot of great memories. My assistant, Leslie Tracy, who’s been here with me and Sarah [Melton, director of media relations] and I could go on and on down the list of a lot of tremendous people I had a chance to work with. That’s what this whole deal is about, relationships.
I also want to thank the fans for their support. We sold out a bunch of games. We had a lot of fun in the AAC. And contrary to some segments, we had a tremendous amount of success here. We can get up every morning and look ourselves in the mirror, every player that played, coach, and also myself. We can look ourselves in the mirror and really be proud of what we took over when we took over this team and the direction we went in. We can feel very proud of what we did, each and every day. Every decision that I had a chance to be a part of, I can really feel good about it. But now, it’s time to move on. There are no hard feelings, there’s no bitterness. I’m a man of integrity and honesty and like I said, I can look at myself in the mirror with every decision I made and feel really proud of it. So again, I want to thank Mark, every player, every coach, everybody I had chance to work with, Donnie. I know it wasn’t a tough…easy deal for Donnie to come visit with me yesterday. And Keith Grant. But it had to be done.
QUESTIONS
YOU SAY A PARTING OF THE WAYS HAD TO BE DONE. WHY?: “I think in terms of what I came from a blueprint of what I knew how an organization should be ran from top to bottom; I knew what type of players should be drafted, free agent signings, how the coach should function. I had a really good blueprint with all my successful years down south [San Antonio]. And we were able to come here and really make some headway. We were able to change the culture and attitude. I had a chance to work under a phenomenal coach in coach Nelson. But as coach Nelson said, he felt he couldn’t take it any further. And a lot of the players we brought were players at that particular time that I recommended and he thought I should have an opportunity to take them forward. He had lost Nash and he couldn’t get over that. So again, we had a chance to change the culture and take it. Now it’s time for somebody else to take it to the next level and somebody else to work with management and players, and that’s OK. It’s just time for somebody else.
In his exit interview with the media on Wednesday, Dirk Nowitzki answered all questions directly and, it certainly seemed, honestly. He talked about possible changes in the offseason and a variety of other topics. He even suggested that he might now be back because he might be traded, which, I can assure you, will not happen. Here are some excerpts.
-- Jan Hubbard
A few excerpts from former Mavs coach Avery Johnson's Wednesday appearance on Randy Galloway's radio show:
On the big move:
I would say more than anything I knew that after this year we were probably going in a different direction. Mark has been awesome to me and my family. This was probably something that needed to be done. This is something that needed to happen. It happened. We all need to go our separate ways. There is no animosity, bitterness or nothing. We just needed to go in a different direction.
On how it went down:
Mark was on the cell when Donnie and I were meeting, and you talk about friendly...absolutely. You talk about the whole body of work we put together... Why would anybody in their right mind be angry with me? We’ll put our resume in the last three years up against anybody.
