2013 NBA Draft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Notes: Len, Plumlee, Hardaway, Saric

April 30th, 2013 at 4:56pm CST by Luke Adams

A 2013 draft that was already considered weak may have gotten even weaker when Sunday's early entry deadline passed without a few top underclassmen declaring their intent, says Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. Taking into account the prospects that will be in this year's draft class, Deveney tries his hand at forecasting the first round in his latest mock draft. Here are a few more of Tuesday's draft-related links, courtesy of Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com:

Likely lottery pick Alex Len will be represented by Michael Lelchitski of Sports International Group, Inc., tweets Givony.
Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports has picked up another handful of clients, adding Mason Plumlee, Tim Hardaway Jr., Isaiah Canaan, and Jackie Carmichael to his agency, tweets Givony. Priority Sports has also added Gonzaga's Elias Harris, who will be represented by Brad Ames, Givony adds.
Nick Young of DraftExpress.com spoke to Dario Saric about entering the draft and what his future holds. Saric is considered the top international prospect in the draft by ESPN.com's Chad Ford.

Draft Notes: Roberson, Saric, Gobert, Karasev

April 29th, 2013 at 3:06pm CST by Zachary Links

The deadline for NCAA underclassmen to declare for the NBA Draft came and a few prospects waited until the last minute to disclose their intentions. Michigan State forward Adreian Payne and Baylor center Isaiah Austin publicly announced that they would be staying in school but today we learned that another prospect quietly decided to throw his hat in the ring. Here's more on that and the rest of today's draft news..

Colorado junior Andre Roberson has decided to forgo his final season of eligibility and make himself eligible for the draft, according to B.G. Brooks of CUBuffs.com. The 6'7" forward, who is projected to go late in the second round by DraftExpress, was just ten rebounds shy of becoming the school's all-time leading rebounder.
Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) looked at the top ten international players in the draft, starting with Croatia's Dario Saric. Other notable int'l prospects include French big man Rudy Gobert, Russian guard Sergey Karasev, and German guard Dennis Schroeder.

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2013 NBA Draft

Adreian Payne To Return To Michigan State

April 28th, 2013 at 9:10pm CST by Zachary Links

Michigan State forward Adreian Payne has decided to return to school for his senior season, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The 6'10" power forward would've been selected in the first round of the June draft according to Wojnarowski, though DraftExpress has him rated as a second round talent.

The forward struggled with his decision and went back and forth several times in recent weeks. Payne finally began to clue people in on his decision hours before the midnight deadline for draft entry on Sunday, according to sources. Payne averaged 10.5 points and 7.6 rebounds for the Spartans and will head back to school along with fellow talented underclassman Gary Harris.

Isaiah Austin To Return To Baylor

April 28th, 2013 at 7:20pm CST by Zachary Links

Center Isaiah Austin will return to Baylor for his sophomore year, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY (on Twitter). The freshman was projected to go No. 15 overall by DraftExpress in their latest mock draft.

Austin, a 7'1" big man, averaged 13 PPG in his frosh campaign along with 8.3 RPG and 1.7 blocks per contest. Another year (or more) in school will give Austin time to fill out his lanky frame which currently sits at just 220 pounds. The youngster holds tremendous potential and his 9'3" standing reach has NBA scouts salivating.

Ray McCallum To Enter Draft

April 28th, 2013 at 8:12am CST by Chuck Myron

University of Detroit point guard Ray McCallum will enter the NBA draft, tweets Aran Smith of NBADraft.net. The junior is ranked 40th on Chad Ford's ESPN.com list of the top 100 prospects, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him at No. 57.

McCallum displayed an all-around game in three seasons with the Titans, and averaged 18.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game this year. The Michigan native led Detroit to a 20-13 record and a berth in the NIT, but he struggled in his team's final two games, going 5-for-20 from the floor and totaling 21 points in 77 minutes over a pair of losses to Wright State and Arizona State.

Underclassmen like McCallum face an 11:00pm Central time deadline tonight to declare for the draft. Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv had McCallum on a list of four key undecided prospects, along a trio of power forwards: Isaiah Austin of Baylor, Adreian Payne of Michigan State and Andre Roberson of Colorado. We'll update our full list of early entrants throughout the day as players reach their decisions.

Draft Notes: Porter, Smart, Stokes

April 27th, 2013 at 8:35pm CST by Zachary Links

Sixteen teams are fighting for their chance to come away with the 2013 Larry O'Brien trophy, but the rest of the NBA is looking ahead to the draft in June. Here's the latest draft news..

Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld updates his mock draft, and has Georgetown small forward Otto Porter in the top three in place of Oklahoma State point guard Marcus Smart. That might change if Smart goes back on his decision to return to school, which he has until Sunday night to do.
Tennessee junior power forward Jarnell Stokes is returning to school, notes Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com. Stokes checks in at No. 68 on Jonathan Givony's DraftExpress list of the top 100 prospects.
Earlier tonight, I profiled Michigan standout Trey Burke in the latest installment of Hoops Rumors' Prospect Profile series.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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2013 NBA Draft

Marcus Smart To Return To Oklahoma State

April 26th, 2013 at 3:24pm CST by Alex Lee

APRIL 26TH: According to Aran Smith of NBADraft.net (Twitter link), "word on the street" suggests that Smart is second-guessing his decision to forgo the draft. While Smith says not to be shocked if Smart changes his mind, for now the junior guard remains on track to return to Oklahoma State. He'll have until Sunday night to finalize his decision.

APRIL 16TH: We just heard that the Oklahoma State basketball program scheduled a press conference for tomorrow afternoon and now we know why. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, Cowboys guard Marcus Smart will return to Stillwater for his sophomore season (Twitter link). This is a big surprise because, as Wojnarowski points out, Smart was on his way to being a top five selection in June. This makes an already weak top of the draft even weaker.

Chad Ford of ESPN thinks that Smart would have gone top three, tweeting that he is the first player since Blake Griffin to return to school with that high a draft projection. Ford calls Smart a "different" kid who values winning and college experience. With Smart out of the mix, Ford will elevate Trey Burke to the top point guard spot on his board (Twitter links).

Draft Updates: Theis, Gobert, Napier, Jefferson

April 26th, 2013 at 11:47am CST by Luke Adams

We heard earlier today that Miami's Shane Larkin will enter this year's draft, but he's not the only prospect making a decision on whether or not to go pro. Here are a few more Friday updates on potential early entrants:

German big man Daniel Theis has elected to enter the draft, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com (Twitter link), who has Theis ranked eighth among 1992-born international prospects.
Rudy Gobert, who may be this year's top international prospect, has officially entered his name in the draft, agent Bouna Ndiaye tells DraftExpress (Twitter link). We had previously heard that the French big man, who Givony projects as a potential lottery pick, would likely declare his intent.
Ndiaye also confirms that two of his other clients, Louis Labeyrie and Axel Toupane, have officially entered the draft, tweets Givony.
Junior guard Shabazz Napier has decided to return to UConn for his senior season, the school announced today (Twitter link).
Baylor's Cory Jefferson has also decided to return to school rather than go pro, as Jeff Borzello of CBSSports.com details.

Shane Larkin To Enter Draft

April 26th, 2013 at 10:41am CST by Luke Adams

Miami sophomore Shane Larkin will forgo his remaining two years of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2013 draft, Larkin's father tells Andy Katz of ESPN.com. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports had reported earlier this morning (via Twitter) that Larkin has several meetings with agents scheduled for next week.

Larkin has lined up a Sunday press conference at 5:00pm CST to announce whether or not he'd go pro, though as Katz notes, that announcement could be moved up now that his decision is known. NCAA underclassmen have until 11:00pm CST on Sunday night to officially enter the draft.

Larkin, 20, projects as a likely first round pick in June, with ESPN.com's Chad Ford ranking the Miami point guard 23rd among this year's prospects. Larkin ranks 27th on Jonathan Givony's big board at DraftExpress.com.

To keep tabs on all of this year's early entrants, check out our complete list.

Draft Updates: McDermott, Jean-Charles

April 25th, 2013 at 4:10pm CST by Luke Adams

Doug McDermott has elected to return to Creighton for his senior season, forgoing the 2013 NBA draft, reports Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com. McDemott had been weighing his options for weeks, but ultimately decided not to let the perception that 2013's class is weak affect his decision.

"If I'm going to play in the NBA, I'm going to play this year or next year," McDermott said. "I'm not buying into the fact that I had to go this year because the draft was considered weaker. [Kyle Korver] told me that I'm going to have to beat out guys whether I'm a first-rounder or I wind up going in the second round."

McDermott had been ranked 39th on Jonathan Givony's big board at DraftExpress.com and 50th on Chad Ford's at ESPN.com.

Meanwhile, a prospect that ranks slightly ahead of McDermott on both boards (35th and 47th respectively) has officially entered the 2013 draft. Agent Pedja Materic announced (via Twitter) that French Guyana native Livio Jean-Charles will go pro.

Jean-Charles recently turned heads at the Nike Hoop Summit, scoring 27 points and grabbing 13 boards in the World team's victory over the U.S. The 19-year-old power forward was named MVP of the game.