Brian Windhorst on candidates to coach Team USA: I would say Steve Kerr, who’s been an assistant the last few years, Erik Spoelstra, who did some work with the team earlier this summer with coaching, selecting, and I think Monty Williams will present himself as a strong candidate as well, if he wants the job going forward. Also, there is an advantage of having a college coach, because he’s sort of a neutral party. And they if they took that route, you might see Jay Wright.
Brian Windhorst Rumors
Brian Windhorst: With Jerami Grant in quarantine and Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday & Khris Middleton in Finals, Team USA currently has 6 players.
Kawhi Leonard out for rest of Clippers-Jazz series?
Brian Windhorst: Kawhi Leonard is expected to miss Game 5 against the Jazz tonight with a knee injury suffered in game 4, sources tell @ramonashelburne & me. His status for rest of series is in doubt as well.
Brian Windhorst, an ESPN reporter who has known James for more than two decades and has written several books about him, told me, “The burden that Rich faces is that people question his legitimacy. They want to delegitimize him because of his race, because of his lack of education, because he used to sell jerseys out of the trunk of his car. If that’s the best they can do, they have to do a lot better.” When I asked him about James’s role in Klutch, Windhorst cut me off: “Is there some secret arrangement? So what if there is? If he tosses LeBron some sort of kickback, so what?” He added, “Rich may have been pulled up on his feet by LeBron, but he grew his own wings.”
Bulls, Blazers discussing Gary Trent Jr trade
Rob Schaefer: Brian Windhorst just said on ESPN he’s heard the Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers have discussed trade involving Gary Trent Jr. in last 24 hours. Trent, like Lonzo Ball and Lauri Markkanen, is set for restricted free agency this summer
Brian Windhorst: “I was talking to a GM this morning, and he basically described it as this: Kyle Lowry’s free agency is happening right now. The expectation is that Kyle Lowry will have a new contract by the end of this week. It’s either gonna be to stay in Toronto, whether it’s signed or an understanding that that’s gonna happen. It’s going to be Miami or it’s going to be Philadelphia. Those are the three options that the expectation is out there.”
