Hello and welcome to the Evening News.
As the playoffs continue, we’ll keep you updated every evening. What’s happening today?
Here’s the latest from around the league:
Karl unexpectedly fired by Nuggets
Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Denver Nuggets have surprisingly fired George Karl, the NBA’s reigning Coach of the Year.
Karl had one year left on his contract and had been pushing for an extension for weeks after guiding the superstar-less Nuggets to a 57 win season. He had coached in Denver for nine seasons and, in 2010, became the seventh coach in league history to record 1,000 wins. Rumors surfaced last week of Karl’s displeasure with the team’s decision to let GM Masai Ujiri leave for Toronto.
Karl began his coaching career in 1984 with the Cleveland Cavaliers and guided the 1995-1996 Seattle SuperSonics to the NBA Finals. He is a two-time cancer survivor and has served as a head coach in the all star game on four separate occasions.
Both the Clippers and Grizzlies are expected to pursue Karl heavily. While sources maintain that Brian Shaw is the leading candidate in Los Angeles, Karl will reportedly be “strongly considered” for the position.
According to Fox Sports’ Chris Tomasson, the Nuggets brass had been clashing with Karl all season long.
In a series of tweets, Tomasson listed all of management’s gripes with Karl:
“Management blamed George Karl for losing Golden State series. Believed he panicked by matching up small rather than by playing Nuggets game . . . Management wanted George Karl to play JaVale McGee more after they paid him all this money. Wanted him to start over Koufos but Karl said no . . . Management believed George Karl played Andre Miller too much. Wanted to see Evan Fournier get more development during regular season . . . Management wouldn’t have minded George Karl develop younger players in general more even if would have meant winning few less games than 57.”
Several of Karl’s players shared their thoughts on his firing today.
Ty Lawson told the Denver Post’s Benjamin Hochman via text message: “All of this is crazy and unexpected, don’t know what to say.”
When NBA.com’s David Aldridge asked Andre Iguodala how Karl’s firing would impact his impending free agency, Iguodala responded, “Good question. Need some time to let it sink in.”
Kenneth Faried, perhaps the most outspoken of the bunch, tweeted: “So we lost a GM now a coach what’s next!?”
Dario Saric considering withdrawing from NBA draft
Chad Ford of ESPN reports that Croatian forward Dario Saric is leaning toward withdrawing from the 2013 NBA draft.
The 19-year-old Saric is projected to be a lottery pick by many experts and has received significant interest from the New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Dallas Mavericks.
Saric has enjoyed his time in Croatia, where he recently was named the Finals MVP after leading Cibona to the championship with 15.7 points per game and 9.3 rebounds in the playoffs.
Saric believes he would benefit from another year in Europe and does not believe that he is quite ready for the physicality of the NBA.
We had him going 15th to Milwaukee in our latest mock draft.