San Antonio – Former Nuggets coach Michael Cooper is hoping to land a coaching job with another team next season.
Cooper was 4-14 as interim coach of the Nuggets before being replaced Jan. 27 by George Karl. The Nuggets hired Cooper before the season as an assistant to Jeff Bzdelik. After they hired Karl, the Nuggets reassigned Cooper to the front office. He has also done scouting.
While Cooper is under contract with the Nuggets through next season, with a team option for another season after that, Denver general manager Kiki Vandeweghe has given him permission to interview for other coaching jobs.
“It’s up in the air, we’ll see,” Cooper said Wednesday. “My ties are still with the team. But my passion is to coach.”
Cooper said his agent has taken calls from several teams but Cooper declined to disclose which ones. The former Los Angeles Lakers star coached the Los Angeles Sparks to two WNBA championships and is receiving interest from the WNBA’s Chicago team.
“I understand that he has a passion for coaching,” Vandeweghe said. “You always want to do what your passion is. He’s a competent scout and talent evaluator. He can help us in a lot of different capacities. But I know he wants to do other things and we’ll help him do that. I never stand in the way of anyone.”
Prospect workouts set
The Nuggets are scheduled to begin working out draft prospects May 13 in preparation for the June 28 draft.
Denver has the 20th and 22nd picks in the first round as well as the 52nd overall pick.
The Nuggets have scheduled workouts with Providence forward Ryan Gomes and Tennessee-Chattanooga forward Mindaugas Katelynas next week.
“We have a lot of guys to look at,” Vandeweghe said. “What typically happens is you can’t get a lot of guys in early because they think they are lottery picks. But you have to try to get in as many guys as you can early.”
Players projected to be selected among the top picks often do not schedule individual workouts.
Gomes led the Big East in scoring (21.6) last season. Katelynas was the most outstanding player of the Southern Conference Tournament and averaged 11.8 points and 8.9 rebounds. The 6-foot-9, 225-pounder played well at the recent Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational, which features the top college seniors.
Footnotes
Karl shook up his lineup for Game 5 against San Antonio and gave the start at point guard, with moving to off guard. It was Boykins’ first career playoff start. … Nuggets forward Eduardo Najera, a former Oklahoma star, commented on the resignation of OU baseball coach Larry Cochell, who made racially insensitive comments in off- camera interviews with ESPN. “I was surprised by the comments,” Najera said. “I met him. He was a nice person, but I’m surprised that he said that.” … Nuggets assistant and former head coach Doug Moe lives about five minutes by car from the team hotel in San Antonio, in the neighborhood where former Spurs star David Robinson and current coach Gregg Popovich have homes. “I told (Nuggets owner) Stan (Kroenke) that they could all stay at my house,” joked Moe. “He said that they were doing just fine.”
