2013 NBA Draft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Notes: Moreland, Point Guards, McDermott

March 25th, 2013 at 3:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The talk of the NCAA Tournament so far has been No. 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast, one of 16 teams to survive the opening weekend of March Madness. While the Eagles don't have a legit draft prospect on their roster, plenty of potential lottery picks are still alive in the tournament, including Ben McLemore of Kansas, Trey Burke of Michigan, and Indiana's Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo. As we wait to see if those guys or others can improve their NBA stock in the next round, let's round up a few draft items….

As I noted this morning, Oregon State forward Eric Moreland has filed paperwork to become eligible for this year's draft. The sophomore told John Hunt of the Oregonian that he's "testing the waters," so he could still withdraw his name and return to school for his junior year.
Although conventional wisdom suggests we shouldn't put much stock into March Madness results, Peter Keating of ESPN.com (Insider-only link) writes that at least one study suggests that the NCAA tournament is a "meaningful simulation of NBA conditions."
TNT's David Aldridge takes a look at this year's class of point guards, which he expects to feature plenty of solid future pros, despite a lack of starpower.
In his latest draft piece, Sean Deveney of the Sporting News speaks to Harrison Barnes about the draft prospects of Creighton's Doug McDermott, who played high school ball with Barnes.
Joe Kotoch of Sheridan Hoops makes his picks for the players who helped and hurt their draft prospects during the first four days of the NCAA Tournament.

Draft Notes: Kentucky, Wiggins, Muhammad

March 23rd, 2013 at 12:03pm CST by Zachary Links

Here's a look at some draft news as we get set for another day of NCAA hoops..

While many are knocking the 2013 draft class, Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (Sulia link) talked to one evaluator who believes there will be multiple players in the class who will have solid 10-year careers. Projections for players can also change as they have been watched by scouts up until this point but will now be evaluated by GMs.
The 2014 draft figures to be stronger than this year's and one director of scouting tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that Kentucky could have as many as eight first round picks. Freshmen Willie Cauley-Stein, Archie Goodwin, and Alex Poythress are all projected to be first round pick's in this year's draft but they plan on returning to the Wildcats next season. Commits Julius Randle, Andrew Harrison, and Aaron Harrison will also be in the mix next season and UK could still net Andrew Wiggins and Aaron Gordon.
UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad is dogged by the baggage surrounding his age discrepancy and his sliding play, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.

Early Entrants For 2013 NBA Draft

March 22nd, 2013 at 2:36pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors' up-to-date list of early entrants for the 2013 NBA draft is below. These are NCAA underclassmen who have declared their intent to enter the NBA draft this season. This list will continue to be updated through the NCAA withdrawal deadline of April 16th and the NBA's early-entry deadline of April 28th, until the official list of early entrants is released on May 2nd.

Players are listed in alphabetical order. For an idea of where these prospects might land in June's draft, check out DraftExpress.com's top 100 prospects. If you have any corrections or omissions, please contact us.

Updated 4-28-13

Alex Abrines, Spain
Steven Adams, Pittsburgh (Freshman)
Giannis Adetokunbo, Greece
C.J. Aiken, Saint Joseph's (Junior)
Anthony Bennett, UNLV (Freshman)
Vander Blue, Marquette (Junior)
Lorenzo Brown, North Carolina State (Junior)
Reggie Bullock, North Carolina (Junior)
Trey Burke, Michigan (Sophomore)
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia (Sophomore)
Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse (Sophomore)
Allen Crabbe, California (Junior)
DeWayne Dedmon, USC (Junior)
Gorgui Dieng, Louisville (Junior)
Laszlo Dobos, Hungary
Jamaal Franklin, San Diego State (Junior)
Rudy Gobert, France
Archie Goodwin, Kentucky (Freshman)
Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan (Junior)
Mouhammadou Jaiteh, France
Livio Jean-Charles, French Guiana
Grant Jerrett, Arizona (Freshman)
Myck Kabongo, Texas (Sophomore)
Sergey Karasev, Russia
Louis Labeyrie, France
Shane Larkin, Miami (Sophomore)
Ricky Ledo, Providence College (Freshman)
Alex Len, Maryland (Sophomore)
C.J. Leslie, North Carolina State (Junior)
Amath M'Baye, Oklahoma (Junior)
Ray McCallum, Detroit (Junior)
Ben McLemore, Kansas (Freshman)
Tony Mitchell, North Texas (Sophomore)
Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA (Freshman)
Raul Neto, Brazil
Philip Neumann, Germany
Nerlens Noel, Kentucky (Freshman)
Lucas Nogueira, Brazil
Victor Oladipo, Indiana (Junior)
Kelly Olynyk, Gonzaga (Junior)
Norvel Pelle, L.A. City Prep
Otto Porter, Georgetown (Sophomore)
Marshawn Powell, Arkansas (Junior)
Phil Pressey, Missouri (Junior)
Andre Roberson, Colorado (Junior)
Dario Saric, Croatia
Dennis Schroeder, Germany
Tony Snell, New Mexico (Junior)
Walter Tavares, Cape Verde
Daniel Theis, Germany
Adonis Thomas, Memphis (Sophomore)
Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State (Junior)
Janis Timma, Latvia
Marko Todorovic, Montenegro
Axel Toupane, France
Josiah Turner, Canada
B.J. Young, Arkansas (Sophomore)
Cody Zeller, Indiana (Sophomore)

Categories:
2013 NBA Draft

Draft Notes: Muhammad, Smart, McLemore

March 22nd, 2013 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

As we look forward to seeing which high seed will fall next on day two of March Madness, let's round up a few items of interest related to this June's draft:

In a lengthy piece on Shabazz Muhammad, Ken Bensinger of the Los Angeles Times reveals that the UCLA prospect is actually a year older than previously believed — Muhammad is 20 years old, rather than 19.
ESPN.com's Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton both believe that the revelation about Muhammad's age could have a significant impact on his draft stock (Twitter links). As Ford notes in a second tweet, Muhammad still figures to go off the board early, but having lied about his age won't help with his character evaluation either.
According to Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (Sulia link), there may be more candidates for the first overall pick this year than in any draft since 1995. However, Bucher adds that the decision for whichever team lands the No. 1 pick will likely come down to Marcus Smart vs. Ben McLemore.
In his latest Insider-only draft blog at ESPN.com, Ford explores the question of whether Kentucky could end up having as many as nine NBA prospects on its roster in 2013/14.
Tom Ziller of SBNation.com presents a scenario for how the NBA D-League could become a viable alternative to the NCAA for prospects coming out of high school.

Odds & Ends: Hunter, Smart, Larkin

March 21st, 2013 at 11:06pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Here are a few more odds and ends to round up the latest on the Association tonight:

Scott Bordow of AZ Central writes that the interim tag on Lindsey Hunter as the Suns head coach will remain for the rest of the season. GM Lon Babby says that the team will wait until the summer to determine Hunter's future.
Marcus Smart of Oklahoma State suffered a sprain in his right wrist during the team's exit from the NCAA tournament today, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo. Though Smart struggled during the game, one scout maintained that the 6'4" guard is a top 5 prospect and would be "crazy" to not declare for the draft this year (Twitter link). ESPN's Chad Ford tweeted that Smart is still not a lock to leave and is contemplating a return to school next year.
In an ESPN Insider article, Ford says that University of Miami guard Shane Larkin will not make a decision about his future until after the team's season is officially over.
Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston talks about how rookie center Fab Melo has "come back to earth" a bit after posting up monster numbers in the D-League earlier this year. Though still raw, there is hope that the Celtics' center can use his time in the NBDL to improve his footwork and rebounding.
There are lingering questions about Richard Hamilton being able to return to action for the Bulls this season, notes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. With regard to the veteran shooting guard's back problems, coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters: "It’s not clearing up right now, so we have to wait.’’
As for Derrick Rose, Sam Smith of Bulls.com says that the waiting game continues as the superstar point guard continues to fuel speculation about his return.
Former Suns front office GM Steve Kerr says that while a return to management is unlikely, he would consider returning to basketball as a college coach (Michael Hiestand of USA Today reports).

Odds & Ends: LeBron, Raja Bell, Wall, Draft

March 20th, 2013 at 4:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are a few Wednesday afternoon odds and ends from around the Association:

Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com takes an extensive look at the decision that will face LeBron James, along with the teams that hope to sign him, in the summer of 2014. While Windhorst suggests that the Heat, Cavaliers, Lakers, and Bulls are among the clubs that could be in the mix for LeBron in '14, he stresses that the former MVP himself has yet to make any decisions about whether he'll even opt out of his contract with Miami.
If the Cavs hope to recruit James or any other major free agent in the summer of 2014, they'll need to put a more competitive product on the court in 2013/14, says Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
Despite not being playoff-eligible, Raja Bell has continued to search for an NBA job, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com (via Twitter). However, nothing has developed, and Bell appears likely to sit out the entire season.
John Wall continues to tell reporters that he feels he's worthy of a maximum contract, with Michael Lee of the Washington Post the latest scribe to get a quote from Wall on the subject. The Wizards point guard tells Lee he'd be disappointed if he can't work something out with the team before the 2013/14 season gets underway.
When we asked last night whether Wall deserves a max deal, the response was an overwhelming no. Lee's readers at the Washington Post agree, as their responses indicate.
ESPN.com's Chad Ford answers plenty of draft questions in his latest chat, noting that the situation at Kentucky will be very interesting to watch. Top recruit Julius Randle announced today that he'll become a Wildcat, and three current freshman suggested yesterday that they're leaning toward returning to Kentucky for their sophomore years.
The NBA has hired former Nuggets and Nets GM Kiki Vandeweghe as its vice president of basketball operations, the league announced today. Vandeweghe will report to executive VP of basketball ops Stu Jackson.

Draft Deadlines Facing NCAA Underclassmen

March 20th, 2013 at 12:59pm CST by Luke Adams

As he did a year ago, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com has written a piece breaking down the various deadlines NCAA underclassmen will face as they decide whether or not to declare for this year's NBA draft. Givony's extremely informative article begins with a list of the relevant dates, as follows:

April 10th: NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee Application Deadline
April 15th: NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee Response Deadline
April 16th: NCAA Early Entry "Withdrawal” Deadline
April 28th: NBA Draft Early Entry Eligibility Deadline (10:59 pm CT)
May 2nd: NBA Draft Early Entry Candidates Released
May 15th-19th: NBA Combine/Pre-Draft Camp (Chicago)
May 21st: NBA Draft Lottery
June 17th: NBA Draft Early Entry Withdrawal Deadline (4:00 pm CT)
June 27th: 2012 NBA Draft

As Givony explains, the major change instituted for the first time last year involves that NCAA "withdrawal" deadline. Prior to 2012, NCAA underclassmen wishing to test the waters and get a sense of their draft stock didn't need to finalize their decision until May, allowing them to work out for NBA teams before perhaps deciding to return to school. However, beginning in '12, the NCAA moved up its withdrawal deadline nearly a month. Now, if a player enters his name into the draft pool, he loses his future collegiate eligibility if he doesn't remove himself from consideration by April 16th — well before the NBA's deadline.

The NCAA doesn't allow college players or third-party representatives (even family members) to discuss the player's draft stock with NBA teams prior to the league releasing its list of early entrants in early May. Only a player's head coach can talk to NBA general managers to try to gauge the stock of the player.

Still, the NBA will once again make an Undergraduate Advisory Committee available to NCAA players. The committee allows players to get feedback on their draft stock from a committe of NBA executives that includes GMs, assistant GMs, and VP's of player personnel. Players don't have to declare their intent to enter the draft to receive that information. But as Givony points out, this feedback comes no later than April 15th, well before even the most plugged-in scouts and execs have an idea of how the June 28th draft will play out. Even the Committee itself admits this: "The Committee's evaluation is, of course, only an educated assessment and is not binding in any way or a commitment of guarantee that a player will or will not be drafted in a certain slot or at all."

According to Givony, the advisory committe is generally very conservative with its projections for players, so as not to encourage a prospect to leave school early only to be disappointed. Givony says Andrew Bynum, who was a lottery pick, was told he projected as a late-first or early-second round pick, while Kevin Martin was told he'd be selected late in the second round or go undrafted — he ended up being a first-rounder.

As he did last year, Givony suggests that it doesn't make sense for a player to declare for the draft prior to the 16th unless he's 100% sure he'll stay in. If a player waits on the decision, he'd have the option to declare his intent by the NBA's April 28th deadline, without putting his NCAA eligibility at risk. Givony writes that there doesn't seem to be much benefit to declaring early; even if the April 28th deadline still doesn't allow players a chance to work out for NBA teams, it allows them a little extra time to privately explore their options.

The upshot of the NCAA's current rule, Givony says, is that players considering entering this year's draft will be forced to make career-altering decisions without necessarily having a sufficient amount of information. That didn't stop 48 early entrants from entering 2012's draft class though, so I expect we'll still see plenty of underclassmen declaring their intent over the next several weeks.

Categories:
2013 NBA Draft

Kentucky Prospects Considering Return To School

March 20th, 2013 at 8:59am CST by Luke Adams

As we prepare for the NCAA Tournament to get underway in earnest tomorrow, one team is notably absent from the Madness: The defending champion Kentucky Wildcats. Not only did Kentucky fail to earn a spot in the field of 68 — the Wildcats also dropped their first game of the NIT, losing 59-57 to Robert Morris.

Despite a disappointing season, Kentucky still has plenty of candidates to be drafted in the first round of the NBA draft this June. Nerlens Noel, Alex Poythress, Willie Cauley-Stein, and Archie Goodwin all rank in Chad Ford's top 20 at ESPN.com. Although Noel still seems like a good bet to enter the draft and be a top-five pick, the other three freshmen sound unconvinced about being one-and-done, as they tell Kyle Tucker of the Louisville Courier-Journal.

"I don’t know if it’s a question whether I’m going (to the NBA) or not," Goodwin said. "I don’t think I’m ready to go. It’s no reason why I think any of our guys should really leave. We should come back next year … and just try to do better than what we did this year. Because the expectations we had for ourselves this year, we didn’t meet them at all. We didn’t come close. So I think think that’s what says we should all come back."

For the most part, Poythress and Cauley-Stein echoed Goodwin's sentiment, indicating they didn't feel ready for the NBA. However, as NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper notes, front offices don't always put a ton of stock in what prospects say after emotional losses, and Cauley-Stein hinted that while he may be leaning toward returning for his sophomore year, he'll consider all his options.

"I’ve just gotta look out for me and my family," Cauley-Stein said. "If it comes down to it, if my family needs me, then I’ll go [to the NBA]. But if not, I’ll stay and get a couple more years of education and develop myself [into] more of an all-around basketball player."

Ford currently ranks Poythress, Cauley-Stein, and Goodwin 13th, 16th, and 20th respectively on his big board, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com has them 16th, 21st, and 18th on his list. Should the trio decide to return to Kentucky for the 2013/14 season, it would be another blow to a draft class that's already being viewed as the weakest in the last several years.

Odds & Ends: Wall, Mitchell, Brooks

March 19th, 2013 at 7:18pm CST by Alex Lee

There are only four games on the NBA schedule tonight. With anticipation for the NCAA Tournament ramping up, we should expect the NBA draft updates to pour in. Here are a few links from around the league and the college ranks:

Whether John Wall is worthy of a max deal is still up for debate, writes HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy. It was reported earlier today that all signs point to the Wizards offering Wall a max contract. Kennedy indicates that while Wall and the Wizards have been stellar since his return, plenty of evaluators still have their doubts that Wall can take the jump to legitimate stardom. Wall will become a restricted free agent after next season, but says he would prefer to sign an extension before that happens.
We heard earlier today that North Texas forward Tony Mitchell intends to enter this June's NBA draft. Our Luke Adams noted that Mitchell seemed to take a step back this year in his sophomore season. CBS College Basketball Insider Gary Parrish agrees, writing that Mitchell projected as a mid-to-late first rounder last year and that his sophomore season undoubtedly hurt his draft stock and could cost him millions.
While his playing time has been drastically reduced in his second season, Nets guard MarShon Brooks has made the most of a recent uptick in minutes, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Assuming the Nets will continue to be aggressive in their pursuit of a title, Brooks, currently fifth in the team's guard rotation, could be a value trading chip down the line given the ability he showed as a rookie.
If you ever have the urge to check in on your favorite retired player, Sham Sports has a recently updated (and very entertaining) compilation of the whereabouts of former NBAers.

Tony Mitchell To Enter NBA Draft

March 19th, 2013 at 8:16am CST by Luke Adams

One year ago, Alabama forward Tony Mitchell left school early to enter the NBA, and went undrafted. Now, the North Texas forward with the same name intends to declare his intent and hope for a better result. According to Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com, Mitchell is expected to announce today at a news conference that he'll enter this June's draft.

Mitchell, 20, seemed to take a step back during his sophomore season at North Texas. After posting 14.7 PPG and 10.3 RPG, along with .567/.439/.739 shooting in his freshman year, he averaged just 13.0 PPG, 8.5 RPG, and .440/.300/.675 shooting this season.

Despite a disappointing year for Mitchell and North Texas (12-20), NBA executives still expect the 6'8" forward to be selected late in the first round this June, according to Goodman. That seems to match up with prospects lists by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com and ESPN.com's Chad Ford, who rank Mitchell 26th and 30th, respectively.

With a number of NCAA teams having finished their respective seasons now, and another handful to be eliminated from March Madness later this week, we should see plenty of underclassmen declare their intent to enter this year's draft over the next several weeks.