2014 NBA Draft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Nurkic, Sixers, ‘Melo

April 27th, 2014 at 8:43am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Sixers Michael Carter-Williams is the favorite to win this year’s Rookie of the Year award, but Tom Moore of Calkins Media believes that GM Sam Hinkie should examine the possibility of trading him for another lottery pick. Moore isn’t sure if Carter-Williams will become a star, and if Hinkie could land a top five pick for him, he believes that it would be worth considering.

And-Ones: Dinwiddie, Coaches, Heisley

April 26th, 2014 at 10:12pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link) reports that former Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley passed away earlier today at the age of 77. Our condolences go out to his family and friends. Heisley owned the team for 12 years and was responsible for moving the team from Vancouver, British Columbia to Memphis, Tennessee back in 2001. He sold the team in 2012 to an ownership group headed up by Robert Pera, but he had interest in purchasing another franchise soon after. Reports indicated that he was eyeing the Wolves and came close to buying the Bucks last year before his health deteriorated.

Prospect Profile: James Young

April 26th, 2014 at 7:07pm CST by Eddie Scarito

James Young, one of Kentucky’s six high school All-American recruits from a year ago, declared he was leaving school to play in the NBA. Young said in a statement that ”my time at Kentucky has been special to me, something I’ll always treasure, but I feel that I’m ready to take the next step to the NBA.” In recent mock drafts the consensus is that Young is a late lottery pick. DraftExpress has him going 15th, Bleacher Report slots him in 12th, and CBSSports.com places him 15th. Young is also currently ranked 15th on Chad Ford of ESPN.com‘s Big Board.

Coach John Calipari weighed in on Young, saying ”From Day 1, the NBA people who came to our practices in the preseason raved about him. He’s done everything we’ve asked of him all season, investing himself in his brothers for the betterment of the team, and I think we all saw the end result in the tournament and Final Four. Whatever team drafts James is not only getting a superb athlete, they are getting the ultimate teammate.”

At 6’6″ with a 6’11″ wingspan, Young has prototypical size for an NBA wing player, and has a 215-pound frame that should continue to develop over time. He doesn’t possess tremendous speed or a quick burst off the dribble, but Young is an exceptionally smooth athlete who can play above the rim and score in bunches. His numbers on the season were 14.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.7 APG, and 0.8 SPG in 32.4 minutes per game. His slash line was .407/.349/.706.

Young will have to shoot the ball well to succeed in the NBA because he showed little ability to fill up a stat sheet. He’s not much of a playmaker, which could be an issue at the next level. Young can struggle to get separation when he puts the ball on the floor, and he lacks creativity with his ball-handling and doesn’t change tempo or direction well. He’s an average passer, but he tends to make mistakes with the ball and averaged 1.9 turnovers a game, not great numbers considering he was rarely the primary ball handler at Kentucky.

Young’s ability to get shots off over defenders makes him a scoring threat, but it also limits his efficiency. The left-handed shooter struggled from the perimeter for long stretches this season thanks to the high amount of contested jump shots he attempted. According to DraftExpress, almost three-quarters of Young’s 199 catch-and-shoot jump shots this season were defended. He connected on 45% of his open shot attempts but hit only 32% while being guarded. Since uncontested shots are at a premium in the NBA, Young will have to improve his consistency in this area.

If he doesn’t improve his shot, 2-guards or wings who struggle with offensive consistency don’t have much value to NBA teams if they don’t contribute on defense. Young has some defensive tools, but he lacks natural instincts in this facet of the game. He has a low defensive IQ, and that isn’t always something a player can easily change.

One indicator of Young’s lack of defensive ability is his abnormally low steal rate for the position he plays. Despite all of Young’s athleticism he’s averaging less than a steal per game in over 32 minutes of action. ESPN’s analytics expert Kevin Pelton wrote (Insider subscription required) that “Historically steal rate has outsized the importance of physical tools in predicting how well prospects will translate to the NBA.”

Young is a solid rebounder for his position but is still figuring things out on this end of the floor. His fundamentals need work, as illustrated by Young’s tendency not to get in a proper stance, allowing smaller, less athletic players to get position on him. DraftExpress noted that Young’s poor fundamentals, average awareness, and lack of lateral speed doesn’t give him outstanding upside in this area as a pro, but he has the capacity to improve his effectiveness over time.

Young is far from a sure thing and lacks a complete skill set as a player, but he is only 19 years old and has a wealth of potential. Young has the foundation of necessary skills to be an effective scorer down the line, which is something in high demand in the NBA. His upside at the pro level has been compared to that of Arron Afflalo‘s. Like Afflalo, I believe it will take a few years for Young to blossom into an effective rotation player. While I don’t believe he’ll be a superstar at the next level, I do think his upside is higher than that of fellow shooting guards Gary Harris or Nik Stauskus in the long run. If he doesn’t markedly improve his defense though, he’ll limit his usefulness to being a sixth man. Unless he blows teams away during his pre-draft workouts, I have him being taken after Harris in the 10-15 range of the draft.

Draft Rumors: Saric, Diop, Hall

April 26th, 2014 at 2:27pm CST by Charlie Adams

Dario Saric officially declared for the draft today, but the verdict is still out on whether or not he’ll remain in the player pool past the June 16th deadline to withdraw. Let’s round up the latest on the 2014 draft:

Jonathan Givony of Draft Express released his latest mock draft last night, and he figures Andrew Wiggins will be taken with the first overall selection, followed by Joel Embiid and Jabari Pakrer, respectively.
Ilimane Diop, projected to be selected 17th by DraftExpress in the 2015 draft, went through the feedback process for this summer’s draft before deciding against declaring, revealed a tweet from Shams Charania of RealGM. Charania adds that the prospect from Senegal is undecided on whether he will declare next year.
Mercer’s Langston Hall has signed with agent Roger Montgomery of Montgomery Sports heading into the draft, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. The senior guard isn’t projected to be selected in either round.

Cray Allred contributed to this post.

Dario Saric Declares For Draft

April 26th, 2014 at 1:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

APRIL 26TH, 1:24pm: Raznatovic announced that Saric has officially declared for the 2014 draft (Twitter link, hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).

APRIL 16TH, 8:29am: Dario Saric‘s new agent, Misko Raznatovic, says his client will declare for the NBA draft, as he tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Still, Raznatovic isn’t sure whether Saric will withdraw by the June 16th deadline, as he did last year, or remain in this year’s field of early entrants, suggesting that if he and Saric feel that the 6’10” forward will go within the top 10 to 14 picks, Saric won’t pull out. Saric nonetheless believes that he’ll sign with a European team and remain overseas for another year or two regardless of whether he’s drafted this year, though he hasn’t made a final decision about that, as Raznatovic explains.

Saric is No. 9 in Givony’s prospect rankings, and No. 14 with Chad Ford of ESPN.com, though Ford says he’d have Saric higher if it were clear that he’d play in the NBA next season. That seems to indicate that Saric will be drafted high enough to meet Raznatovic’s threshold for remaining in the draft, making him a likely “draft-and-stash” player. Some teams have been burned when they’ve used high draft picks on overseas players unwilling to immediately come stateside, most notably the Magic, who spent the 11th overall pick in 2005 on Fran Vazquez, who’s yet to play in the NBA. Raznatovic insists that Saric won’t go down that path.

“I really believe that after talking for five minutes with Dario, that doubt will be gone,” Raznatovic said. “He cannot wait to become a NBA player, and this is his ultimate goal. He will be in the league no later than 2016, and with good chances to start earlier.”

The agent, who announced that he’d signed with Saric last week, is the latest to dispute a report late last month that Saric had agreed to a deal with a team in Turkey that wouldn’t allow him to go to the NBA until 2016. Raznatovic suggests that his ties to Dusan Ivkovic, another client of his who’s rumored to become the next coach of the Turkish team, fueled erroneous speculation that Saric was headed to Turkey.

Saric’s professional future has been clouded with mystery in recent weeks, with back-and-forth fueled by his father and a former agent, among others. Raznatovic downplays the significance of comments from Saric’s father, who’s advocated that his son stay in Europe, saying that the elder Saric isn’t anti-NBA and is just looking out for his son’s well-being. Raznatovic promises that the instability surrounding his client is over, though I suspect there will continue to be speculation about Saric until he signs with an NBA team.

Eastern Notes: Vasquez, Sixers, Magic

April 25th, 2014 at 9:35pm CST by Cray Allred

Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer details how Steve Clifford‘s preparation and demeanor has impacted his players and brought credibility to the Bobcats in his first season as coach. “He doesn’t screw around,” Charlotte’s president of basketball operations Rod Higgins tells Bonnell. “There’s no such thing as a loose shootaround, a loose practice, a loose film session. There are so many things you can’t impact [as a coach]. He makes sure not to waste an opportunity with what he can.”

Greivis Vasquez, headed for restricted free agency this summer, is “having a blast” as a member of the Raptors, writes Eric Koreen of the National Post.
Mark Deeks of SB Nation looks at the steps ahead for the Sixers, who have a wealth of draft picks and trade flexibility heading into the summer.
Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel looks at the Magic‘s odds of landing Dante Exum in the draft [subscription only], taking into account Orlando’s likely draft position and the Australian point guard’s willingness to play for a team other than the Lakers.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Pacific Rumors: Warriors, Kerr, Kings

April 25th, 2014 at 8:13pm CST by Cray Allred

The Pacific Division isn’t represented in any of tonight’s playoff matchups, but the winner of the Clippers/Warriors series will hope to stay relevant deep into the postseason. Here’s the latest from the west coast:

The Warriors will canvass their fans about the notion of changing their name from the Golden State Warriors to the San Francisco Warriors with a move across the bay forthcoming, team president and CEO Rick Welts tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
Sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com that they believe Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob would prefer Steve Kerr as coach rather than Mark Jackson, as Stein notes amid a 5-on-5 with other writers. We’ve heard before that Lacob holds Kerr in high regard, and there have been plenty of rumors surrounding Jackson’s job security, but it remains to be seen whether Lacob is inclined to pursue a change.
Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro discussed his mindset heading into this year’s draft with Katie Cracchiolo of Kings.com. Among other notes, the GM said that Ray McCallum‘s strong play at point guard won’t affect the team’s plans to select the best player available, regardless of position.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Draft Notes: Boatright, Kaminsky, Brooks

April 25th, 2014 at 6:54pm CST by Cray Allred

De’Mon Brooks of Davidson has chosen Keith Kreiter of Edge Sports to represent him heading into the draft, per a tweet from Shams Charania of RealGM. Charania adds that Brooks is a potential second rounder, although DraftExpress isn’t as optimistic, ranking the power forward as just the 86th best senior prospect. Here’s a roundup of the rest of tonight’s draft notes:

While UConn’s DeAndre Daniels chose to enter the draft this year, fellow Huskie Ryan Boatright has decided to return for his senior season, the team announced via Twitter.
Boatright wanted to declare, but took the advice of those who cautioned he might not get drafted, per a tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski says that advice was accurate, and it lines up with the projections of Draft Express and ESPN Insider Chad Ford, who didn’t have the point guard getting selected in either round in 2014.
Frank Kaminsky told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com that he will return to Wisconsin rather than enter this year’s draft. Kaminsky has been expected to wait to enter 2015 draft, where DraftExpress has him projected as a late first-rounder.
The big man tells Goodman he wavered somewhat on his decision. “It was a tough decision, but I think the best thing for me is to stay another year and develop even more,” the 7-footer told Goodman. “I made a commitment to the school and I don’t think I can turn my back on the people who have been there for me.”
An NBA scout tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that UNLV’s Khem Birch is a second-rounder at best who will need to work on his offense in the D-League (Twitter links).

DeAndre Daniels To Enter Draft

April 25th, 2014 at 12:49pm CST by Chuck Myron

Connecticut junior DeAndre Daniels is headed into the NBA draft, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The small forward is No. 28 on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress list of the top prospects, while he checks in 34th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com, putting him squarely on the bubble to become a first-round pick.

Daniels, who turned 22 earlier this month, was a key part of UConn’s title-winning team this year, averaging 13.1 points and 6.0 rebounds in 29.0 minutes per game. His three-point shooting has improved consistently over his college career, vaulting from 24.0% accuracy as a freshman, to 30.9% last season, and 41.7% this year.

A lack of consistency has plagued Daniels, who followed a season-high 31 points against Temple with just seven against Rutgers. He sprung for 20 points and 10 rebounds versus No. 1 overall seed Florida in the Final Four, then put up only eight points and six boards in the championship game against Kentucky.

Harrison Twins Decline To Enter Draft

April 25th, 2014 at 11:30am CST by Chuck Myron

Kentucky freshman twins Aaron Harrison and Andrew Harrison have decided to return to school next season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The guards were highly touted entering the season, and Andrew was a particularly hot prospect, checking in at No. 8 on both Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and Chad Ford’s ESPN.com Big Board in late October. Aaron was at No. 32 with Givony at the time, but Andrew and Aaron have slipped to 39th and 53rd, respectively, in Givony’s ratings. Ford has Andrew 31st and Aaron 33rd.

The brothers were torn and went back and forth on the idea of entering this year’s draft as Sunday’s deadline to declare approached, Wojnarowski adds via Twitter. They were reportedly leaning toward going into the draft as of earlier this month, but people around the league weren’t enamored with them. The Harrisons heard from several teams that they would be late first-round picks, but they feel they can up their stock with another year in school, tweets Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.

Andrew, a combo guard, averaged 10.9 points, 4.0 assists and 2.7 turnovers in 31.7 minutes per game for Kentucky this season. Aaron, who plays shooting guard, put up 13.7 PPG in 32.6 MPG. They’ll compete for shots and playing time on a loaded Kentucky team that returns potential 2014 draftees Willie Cauley-Stein, Alex Poythress, Dakari Johnson and others to go along with another strong recruiting class, so there’s certainly no guarantee the Harrisons will be in better position for the 2015 draft.