James Borrego to Be Named Associate Head Coach of New Orleans Pelicans

James Borrego is reportedly headed to Louisiana…

The New Orleans Pelicans are hiring the 45-year-old Mexican American professional basketball coach as associate head coach, according to ESPN.

James BorregoBorrego, who was the head coach for the Charlotte Hornets from 2018 to 2022, turned down several other opportunities to be a top assistant to take the job with the Pelicans, sources said.

The Pelicans will also retain assistant coach Jarron Collins, who was head coach Willie Green‘s top assistant the past two seasons, sources said. Collins was one of the final candidates for the head-coaching vacancy for the Detroit Pistons.

New Orleans had an open position on the coaching staff after assistant Ryan Pannone left earlier this spring to take a spot on the Alabama men’s basketball coaching staff.

Borrego and Green, who just completed his second season as the Pelicans’ head coach, have history together. Borrego spent two seasons as an assistant coach in New Orleans, from 2010 to 2012, when the team was still known as the Hornets. Green played for New Orleans in the 2010-11 season.

Following his stint in New Orleans, Borrego went to Orlando, where he spent 2012 to 2015 as an assistant for the Magic. During the 2014-15 season, Borrego served as the interim head coach. That season was also Green’s only year playing for Orlando and his final season as a player.

The Pelicans are eager to incorporate Borrego’s offensive philosophy into a lineup that will feature Zion WilliamsonBrandon Ingram and CJ McCollum next season. While injuries played a major part, the Pelicans finished 20th in offensive rating last season and were second to last in 3-pointers attempted per game.

During his final season in Charlotte, Borrego’s Hornets were sixth in the league in 3s attempted, eighth in offensive rating and fifth in the league in pace.

Borrego led the Hornets to a 43-39 record in 2021-22 and back-to-back trips to the play-in tournament but was let go in April 2022.

Willy Hernangomez Named Tournament MVP as He Helps Lead Spain to EuroBasket Gold

Willy Hernangomez is celebrating a valuable performance…

The 28-year-old Spanish professional basketball player, who plays for the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans, scored 14 points as Spain topped France 88-76 on Sunday to win the EuroBasket gold medal.

Willy HernangomezFor his performance throughout the week, Willy was named the tournament MVP.

Meanwhile, his brother Juancho Hernangomez scored 27 points in the gold medal game.

It was Spain’s fourth European championship in its past six tries, all those golds coming under coach Sergio Scariolo.

“It’s easy to say that we are extremely happy,” Scariolo said. “We got into this championship in eighth place in the power ranking, and we managed to climb, step by step. … It’s been amazing now to see we are above all those great teams.”

Spain EuroBasket 2022 TeamLorenzo Brown scored 14 points and had 11 assists for Spain, while Jaime Fernandez scored 13.

Evan Fournier led France — which also dropped the gold-medal game at the 2020 Tokyo Games to the U.S. last summer — with 23 points, while Thomas Heurtel scored 16 and Guerschon Yabusele added 13.

“Spain played better from start to finish,” said Fournier, who plays with the New York Knicks. “They had a clear game plan, and we did not execute ours well enough. … We never really had control of the game. They just played better, man, period.”

This was supposed to be a rebuilding summer for Spain. Pau and Marc Gasol, the longtime leaders of the program, retired from international play following a quarterfinal loss to the U.S. at the Tokyo OLympics. Sergio Gonzalez also decided last summer was the right time to walk away, after 16 years with the national team. Sergio Llull and Ricky Rubio, two more of the team’s veterans, couldn’t play because of injuries.

The winning tradition continued anyway. Spain is now the reigning Basketball World Cup (won in China in 2019) and EuroBasket champion. It has also medaled in 10 of its past 11 EuroBasket appearances.

“It’s hard to explain with words how I feel,” said Willy Hernangomez. “I’m feeling extremely proud of my teammates, of my coaching staff, of all the Spanish federation from the top to the bottom. We much deserve this gold medal.”

But this young team also had the exuberance of youth: As Scariolo and Willy Hernangomez were trying to hold a postgame news conference, the rest of Spain’s roster crashed the session, armed with water bottles, and soaked the MVP and their coach.

“That’s the dark side of having a young team,” Scariolo said, as he happily dabbed at his face with a towel. “I don’t see Pau Gasol throwing water around.”

Juancho Hernangomez was 6-for-6 from 3-point range in a six-minute span of the second quarter, helping Spain extend what was a 23-14 lead into a 45-26 edge with just about three minutes left in the half.

It was perhaps a mildly unlikely source for a 3-point barrage. He had made a total of 12 3s in his eight previous games in this year’s EuroBasket tournament, and his high in any NBA game is six.

“We needed him today and he was there for us,” Willy Hernangomez said.

An 11-0 run helped France cut what had been a 21-point deficit to just 47-37 at the half — and the momentum carried into the third quarter.

Yabusele’s jumper with 6:52 left in the third got France within 49-46, and everything seemed to be shifting.

But Spain held on. Juancho Hernangomez’s seventh 3-pointer with 7:29 left made it a 71-61 game, and the outcome wasn’t in doubt again.

“I cannot be happier as a basketball coach,” Scariolo said.

Pau Gasol Named to Spain’s Preliminary Squad for Upcoming Tokyo Games

Pau Gasol is thisclose to a fifth Olympics appearance…

Spain has included the 40-year-old professional basketball player, who currently plays for FC Barcelona of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague, in its preliminary squad for the Tokyo Games.

Pau Gasol

Gasol was among the 18 players called up by coach Sergio Scariolo to prepare for the Summer Olympics. Only 12 players will make the final squad.

The two-time NBA champion and four-time All-NBA team selection is trying to play in his fifth Olympics. He was included after overcoming a long injury layoff and a successful return to Barcelona this season.

He will turn 41 before the Games open on July 23.

Gasol’s brother Marc also made the list, as did Ricky Rubio. Both were key for Spain when it won the world championship two years ago in China. A total of eight world champions are on the preliminary list.

Other names in the squad include Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodríguez, Alex AbrinesSergio Llull and newcomer Usman Garuba, who is projected to be a first-round pick in the NBA draft next month.

Another sibling pair — Juancho and Willy Hernangomez– were included.

Rubio and Juancho Hernangomez are teammates on the Minnesota Timberwolves. Willy Hernangomez played this season for the New Orleans Pelicans.

The team will begin its preparations on Friday in Madrid.

Spain is a three-time silver medalist at the Olympics. It won the bronze at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

Lopez ThisClose to Signing with the New York Knicks

Robin Lopez is in a New York state of mind…

The 27-year-old half-Cuban American professional basketball player, a free-agent center, will sign with the New York Knicks as long as DeAndre Jordan, as expected, chooses the Los Angeles Clippers or Dallas Mavericks and not the Knicks, according to ESPN sources.

Robin Lopez

Lopez has picked the Knicks over the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal reportedly valued at $12 million a year.

If he ends up in New York, he’ll be the second free agent picked up by Phil Jackson and the Knicks in the 2015 offseason. Earlier Thursday, New York agreed to a two-year, $16 million contract with Arron Afflalo.

Lopez is known as a strong defender and rebounder, two areas in which the 17-win Knicks struggled last season. The 7-foot center averaged 8.7 rebounds per 36 minutes last season, including 4.2 on the offensive end.

New York now awaits Jordan’s decision with the insurance of a Lopez agreement in hand. The terms of Lopez’s agreement are not yet known.

Lopez played the past two seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers. He was selected 15th overall by the Phoenix Suns in 2008, playing his first four seasons there. The New Orleans Pelicans acquired him via sign-and-trade in 2012, with Lopez starting all 82 games that season. The Blazers acquired him in a three-team trade before the 2013-14 season.

He recorded 29 double-doubles and set a franchise record for offensive rebounds in his first season with the Blazers. He missed 23 games last season due to a broken hand suffered in December but still averaged 9.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, anchoring Portland’s interior defense.

A seven-year veteran, Lopez holds career averages of 8.2 points and 5.0 rebounds in 465 games.