2013 NBA Draft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Alex Len To Enter Draft

April 14th, 2013 at 8:41pm CST by Zachary Links

Maryland center Alex Len will enter the 2013 draft, a source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The sophomore is expected to hold a press conference towards the middle of the coming week at Maryland to make the announcement.

Len has long been expected to enter this year's draft and at one time was in the conversation to be the No. 1 overall pick. Things haven't quite played out that way for the Ukranian-born big man, but he's still very likely to be a lottery pick in this year's draft.

DraftExpress has Len going No. 11 in their latest mock draft while Chad Ford of ESPN.com has Len going eighth. The sophomore averaged 11.9 PPG with 7.8 RPG and 2.1 BPG in 2012/13 for the Terrapins. To keep up on all of the latest early entrants for the 2013 draft, take a look at Hoops Rumors' up-to-date list.

Dario Saric To Enter NBA Draft

April 14th, 2013 at 3:01pm CST by Zachary Links

Croatian forward Dario Saric has decided to enter the NBA draft in June, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The 19-year-old previously planned to spend one more season with the Adriatic League's KK Cibona Zagreb before joining the NBA but has apparently changed his mind.

Saric can still change his mind and pull out of the draft before June 17 and re-apply in 2014. He can use this time through to weigh his projected draft status, which NBA executives say could rise as high as the mid-first round. Marc Cornstein of Pinnacle Sports is set to represent Saric in the NBA.

The youngster has advanced passing skills and an improving perimeter shooting game. DraftExpress rates Saric as the No. 1 international player in his birth year (1994).

Trey Burke To Enter Draft

April 13th, 2013 at 1:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

Michigan point guard Trey Burke will enter this year's draft, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Burke will make a formal announcement Sunday. The 6'1" 20-year-old led the Wolverines to the NCAA championship game this year, sweeping every major national player of the year award in the process.

Still, both Chad Ford of ESPN.com and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com rate him as only the seventh-best prospect in the draft. He bounced back from a seven-point, 1-for-8 shooting performance in the national semifinals against Syracuse and fellow highly regarded point guard Michael Carter-Williams with a 24-point effort in the title game. Burke, a sophomore, averaged 18.6 points and 6.7 assists per game this season, and shot 38.4% from the three-point line.

There's no word on whether he's hired an agent, so if he hasn't, he could conceivably withdraw from the draft by Tuesday's deadline and return to school next season. That would be a long shot, though, especially since next year's draft field is expected to be much more crowded at the top.

Odds & Ends: Heat, Allen, Bucks, Muhammad

April 13th, 2013 at 12:35pm CST by Zachary Links

Here's this afternoon's look around the Association..

As it stands now, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel sees the Heat using the amnesty clause on Mike Miller. While the vet is a great locker room influence, it doesn't make sense for Miami to carry his contract. There's also the possibility that Miami finds a trade for Miller, but that could prove difficult.
The Bucks never made Ray Allen an offer to return when he was a free agent over the summer, writes Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times. “I considered Memphis and Minnesota. That’s the plate I was looking at. Those were the teams that were offering me to go play for them," the guard said.
More from Woelfel, who writes that two NBA executives who once considered UCLA swingman Shabazz Muhammad a legitimate top-three draft pick now have him outside their top ten. It's possible that the news that the Bruins star is actually 20 as opposed to 19 has hurt his stock.
Dwight Howard and Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni are divided on the club's offensive philosophy, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.

Odds & Ends: Mavs, Collins, Jackson, Jordan

April 12th, 2013 at 11:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban takes the blame for his team's subpar season, saying he failed to construct an adequate roster and promising he'll be more attentive this summer, observes Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com. "I'm not making any predictions," the owner said. "All I'm saying is we're not going to do a traditional rebuild. That's (why) we got all this cap room, so we wouldn't. We're going to be opportunistic."

Cuban also made headlines this evening for his desire to keep Vince Carter for years to come, but there are plenty of other newsmakers tonight:

Contradicting a report from earlier this week, John Finger of CSNPhilly.com writes that Sixers management wants to keep Doug Collins for as long as he has a desire to coach.
Collins will still receive his $4.5MM salary for next season if the Sixers fire him, but he won't get the money if he quits, notes Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News.
Stephen Jackson's discontent, which was apparently at the root of his release from the Spurs, didn't stem from the lack of a contract extension, but simply a desire for more playing time, according to Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News.
Lakers assistant coach Eddie Jordan is nearing a deal to become the next head coach at Rutgers, tweets Chick Hernandez of CSNWashington.com. Jordan is willing to take the job even if it means he'd have to leave the Lakers right away, reports Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times.
Mike Woodson has interest in Kurt Thomas rejoining the Knicks as an assistant coach next season, as Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal notes via Twitter.
North Carolina announced sophomore swingman P.J. Hairston is returning to school, tweets Andy Katz of ESPN.com. Hairston is No. 40 on Chad Ford's list of prospects for ESPN.com, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com has Hairston at No. 14 on his 2014 mock draft.
Before he gets into the latest edition of his mock draft, Chris Mannix of SI.com discusses Louisville's Russ Smith, whom coach Rick Pitino now says is "50-50" to go pro after it seemed earlier that he would enter the draft. At least one scout who spoke to Mannix thinks Smith would go undrafted in June.

Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors contributed to this post.

Jamaal Franklin To Enter Draft

April 12th, 2013 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

San Diego State junior Jamaal Franklin has elected to enter this year's NBA draft, forgoing his remaining year of college eligibility, the school announced today in a press release. Franklin will hire an agent, meaning he won't have the opportunity to withdraw.

Franklin, 21, projects as a likely first-round pick in June, ranked 18th among prospects by ESPN.com's Chad Ford and 25th by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com. The 6'5" guard played well in the NCAA Tournament, recording 20 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and four steals in San Diego State's loss to Florida Gulf Coast in the round of 32. For the season, Franklin averaged 17.0 PPG, along with 9.5 RPG, an exceptional rebounding rate for a shooting guard.

Franklin becomes the second underclassmen to declare his intent today, with Myck Kabongo of Texas also headed to the NBA. You can keep tabs on all of this year's early entrants right here.

Myck Kabongo To Enter Draft

April 12th, 2013 at 10:02am CST by Luke Adams

Sophomore guard Myck Kabongo has declared his intent to go pro, and will forgo his remaining two years of NCAA eligibility, the University of Texas announced today. Kabongo is scheduled to meet with local media later this afternoon.

Kabongo, 20, was forced to miss most of the 2012/13 season after the NCAA suspended him when questions arose about his relationship with NBA agent Rich Paul. The point guard ultimately appeared in 11 games for Texas, averaging 14.6 PPG and 5.5 APG, but the lack of court time this season likely put a dent into his draft stock.

ESPN.com's Chad Ford's ranking of Kabongo (No. 33) seems to suggest the sophomore still has first-round potential, though Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com has him down at No. 47 on his big board.

Draft Rumors: Dobos, McCollum, Muscala

April 11th, 2013 at 9:44pm CST by Chuck Myron

Hungarian center Laszlo Dobos is entering the draft, agent Giorgio Dimitropoulos tweets. The 19-year-old is 7'2" with a 7'8" wingspan, but he's been largely off the radar for draftniks — neither DraftExpress nor ESPN.com has ranked or profiled him. Unlike college underclassmen, who can't return to school if they don't withdraw by Tuesday, Dobos can leave the draft pool any time from now through June 17th and still return to CAI Zaragoza, his Spanish league team. Here's more on the draft front:

A pair of college seniors have signed with the Excel Sports Management agency, reports Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal. C.J. McCollum will have Sam Goldfeder as his representative, while Mike Muscala's agent will be Sean Kennedy (Twitter links).
An NBA assistant GM shared his list of the top 30 prospects with Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Sulia link). Not surprisingly, Nerlens Noel, Ben McLemore and Marcus Smart lead off, though the unnamed executive cautioned that it's "extremely early," and much could change between now and the draft.
Chris Mannix of SI.com implores Louisville junior guard Russ Smith to leave the draft field by Tuesday's deadline. Most teams peg him as a second-rounder, while others have him going undrafted, Mannix says. Mark Deeks of ShamSports thinks Smith's should stay in the draft, arguing that his stock isn't getting any higher (Twitter links).
The ideal draft scenario would allow the Timberwolves to draft Victor Oladipo, according to Jim Rand of the Star Tribune.

Traded 2013 Draft Picks Still Up In The Air

April 11th, 2013 at 11:07am CST by Luke Adams

With just a handful of games remaining in the 2012/13 regular season, most traded 2013 draft picks that included some sort of protection have been locked in, with teams' records ensuring those picks will either change hands or stay put. The Bulls, for instance, obviously aren't getting the Bobcats' top-12-protected pick, while the Jazz know definitively that they will receive Golden State's top-six-protected first-rounder.

There are still a handful of picks whose fate remains up in the air, however. For instance, the Suns and Cavaliers are watching the Lakers' place in the standings anxiously, since Phoenix will get L.A.'s pick if the Lakers miss the playoffs, while the Cavs will grab it if the Lakers earn a postseason berth. With the help of our projected draft order, here are the details on that pick and the rest of the selections that still may or may not change hands:

Team: Raptors (30-48)
Protection details: First-round pick sent to Thunder if not between 1-3 or 15-30.
Projected landing spot: 10th
Current outlook: The Raptors have a chance to jump into the top three in the draft lottery to keep their pick, but it's a real long shot. Assuming they finish with the league's 10th-worst record, the Raps' odds of landing a top-three pick will be about 4%.

Team: Trail Blazers (33-45)
Protection details: First-round pick sent to Bobcats if not in top 12.
Projected landing spot: 12th
Current outlook: With Dallas five games ahead of them in the standings, the Trail Blazers will finish with no better than the league's 12th-worst record. That bodes well for their chances of keeping their first-rounder, since the odds of the 13th and/or 14th teams leapfrogging the Blazers in the lottery (pushing them out of the top 12) are only about 4%.

Team: Lakers (42-37)
Protection details: First-round pick sent to Suns if in top 14. If not in top 14, Cavaliers can swap Heat first-round pick with Lakers first-rounder; Lakers then send Heat pick to Suns.
Projected landing spot: 15th
Current outlook: A game up on the Jazz, the Lakers are in the driver's seat in the race for the final Western Conference playoff spot, but they'll host the Warriors, Spurs, and Rockets in their last three games, so it won't be a cakewalk. The Jazz hold the playoff tiebreaker and finish with games against the Timberwolves (twice) and Grizzlies. John Hollinger's playoffs odds give the Lakers 73.5% odds to earn the 8th seed, but this could still go either way.

Team: Trail Blazers (33-45)
Protection details: Second-round pick sent to Nuggets if not in top 40.
Projected landing spot: 42nd
Current outlook: Unlike the team's first-rounder, Portland isn't likely to keep this pick. Even if the Blazers' losing streak continues and they don't win another game this season, two of the Raptors, Sixers, and Timberwolves would have to finish the year with a handful of wins to push Portland's pick into the top 40. That means the Nuggets will probably receive it.

Team: Clippers (52-26)
Protection details: Second-round pick sent to Pistons if not in top 55.
Projected landing spot: 55th
Current outlook: The Clippers are a half-game up on the Knicks in the NBA standings and are within a game of the Grizzlies and two games of the Nuggets, so this pick remains unsettled. If the Pistons land it, it'd be one more very small asset in an offseason where the team is expected to have a lottery pick and a ton of cap space.

Team: Grizzlies (53-25)
Protection details: Second-round pick sent to Lakers if not in top 55.
Projected landing spot: 56th
Current outlook: A late-season loss or two for the Grizz could mean this pick ends up in the top 55 and remains in their control, but I don't think either team is losing much sleep over it.

Gorgui Dieng To Enter Draft

April 10th, 2013 at 8:53pm CST by Chuck Myron

Louisville center Gorgui Dieng will enter the NBA draft, Cardinals coach Rick Pitino tells Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Dieng, the 6'11" shot-blocking junior, is fresh off a three-block performance for the victorious Cardinals in the NCAA championship game. Pitino said about a month ago that Dieng would be leaving if he's projected to go in the first round, and he ranks No. 24 on Chad Ford's ESPN.com draft board and No. 18 on Jonathan Givony's list of prospects for DraftExpress.com.

Dieng averaged 9.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game for the champs this year. He missed more than a month with a fractured bone in his left wrist, but his draft stock climbed from early-second-round status after he returned. He's a product of the SEEDS Academy, a development program in Senegal founded by Amadou Gallo Fall, a former Mavericks executive and current vice president of NBA development in Africa. Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors took an in-depth look earlier this season at Dieng and the effect of the SEEDS program.

He went scoreless in the national semifinals against Wichita State, but aside from his lack of offense, the most significant knock on Dieng could be his age, as he's already 23. That makes him significantly older than most of the underclassmen entering this year's draft.