2015 NBA Draft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Notes: Garcia, Pauli, Looney

April 27th, 2015 at 9:59am CST by Chuck Myron

We’re inside of two months to go until the draft, and Sunday represented a key deadline. It was the final day for prospects to formally enter the draft, and a couple of names trickled in early this morning after they apparently made their decisions in the final hours, as we detail amid the latest draft news:

Spanish shooting guard Marc Garcia submitted his name for the draft, his representatives at Octagon Basketball revealed, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Givony ranks the 19-year-old as the fifth-best prospect among players from overseas who were born in 1996, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com has Garcia as the 83rd-best prospect overall.
Oriol Pauli, another Octagon client from Spain, has also entered the draft, the agency says, as Givony tweets. Pauli, a 20-year-old small forward, is No. 38 among Givony‘s top international prospects born in 1994, but Ford doesn’t list him in his rankings.
Lottery prospect Kevon Looney has hired both Aaron Goodwin of Goodwin Sports Management and Todd Ramasar of Stealth Sports to represent him, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Ford ranks the power forward from UCLA as the 10th-best prospect in this year’s draft and Givony lists him 18th.
The league will likely release its official list of early entrants for the draft in the next day or two, but click here to see all of the players reported to have entered, as well as the top college underclassmen who reportedly won’t be in this year’s draft.

Draft Notes: Winslow, International Prospects

April 26th, 2015 at 10:27am CST by ChrisCrouse

The 2015 draft has its fair share of athletic small forwards who can defend multiple positions, David Aldridge of NBA.com opines. Aldridge ranks Duke product Justise Winslow as this year’s top small forward and some scouts agree.

“Outside of Winslow, the other guys really kind of underperformed,” an anonymous Pacific Division scout told Aldridge. “I think [Winslow’s] going to be real good. Like most guys, he’s got pretty good shooting mechanics and he’s going to get better when he gets to the NBA. Because of his defense and his IQ, he’ll find a way to get on the floor.”

Aldridge has Arizona products Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson right behind Winslow in his small forward rankings. Hollis-Jefferson is considered one of the best wing defenders in the draft, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors writes in his profile of the 20-year-old.

Today is the deadline for a prospect to declare for the 2015 draft and here’s some players who have made formal decisions:

Latvian center Andzejs Pasecniks has declared for the NBA draft, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Givony ranks the 19-year-old as the No. 70 overall prospect, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider Subscription required) slots him at No. 98 overall.
Andrey Desyatnikov has declared for the NBA draft, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). The Russian born 7’3″ center is not currently ranked within Givony’s or Ford’s top 100.
Wael Arakji has also declared for the NBA Draft, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Givony ranks the 6’4″ Lebanese point guard as the No. 100 overall prospect, while Ford does not include Arakji in his rankings.

Isaiah Taylor Will Stay At Texas

April 25th, 2015 at 9:36pm CST by Arthur Hill

Isaiah Taylor will skip the NBA draft and return to the University of Texas, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN. Taylor is ranked 47th in Chad Ford’s list of the top 100 draft prospects. Jonathan Givony of Draftexpress.com had Taylor ranked 76th before he decided to bypass the draft.

The point guard, who will be a junior next season, will provide a nice asset for new coach Shaka Smart, who received a seven-year deal to coach the Longhorns earlier this month. As a sophomore, Taylor averaged 13.1 points and 4.6 assists per game, but missed most of non-conference play with a broken left wrist.

“Glad to be a Longhorn! Feels good,” Taylor posted in an Instagram message. “Looking to get this new era started. Love the guys on the team. Spending another year with my teammates and coaching staff is a great feeling.” (Hat tip to Raphielle Johnson of CollegeBasketballTalk.com).

Atlantic Notes: Russell, Brown, Jack, Knicks

April 25th, 2015 at 8:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers are hoping to land Ohio State guard D’Angelo Russell in June’s draft, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “That’s the word around the league,” according to an unidentified NBA executive. “You know the Sixers. They won’t come out and say it. But he’s the guy they want.” The source adds that Philly might have to land the first or second pick in the May 19th lottery to be assured of getting Russell. They finished the season with the league’s third-worst record. Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Duke’s Jahlil Okafor have been widely considered the top two choices, but the Sixers have a wealth of young big men and are in need of backcourt help.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

If the Sixers want to keep coach Brett Brown beyond his current contract, they should start extension talks this summer, writes Tom Moore of Calkins Media. Brown is currently in the middle of a four-year deal that stretches through the 2016/17 season. His record through two years is 37-127, but that’s with a collection of young players and castoffs as Philadelphia has emphasized collecting assets ahead of winning, Moore notes.
Jarrett Jack is turning out to be a valuable pickup for the Nets, contends Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com. Jack was acquired from Cleveland last summer in a three-team trade when the Cavaliers were trying to clear enough cap room to sign LeBron James. Mazzeo said Jack has been the Nets’ best point guard in their playoff series with Atlanta. He sparked an 18-0 surge that helped Brooklyn pull out today’s Game 3. Jack is signed through the 2016/17 season, making $6.3MM per year.
Knicks president Phil Jackson said this week that the team needs “a player that wants to go to the basket,” reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. If New York doesn’t fill that need through the draft, it could use approximately $25MM to chase free agent guards like Goran Dragic, Rajon Rondo and Reggie Jackson this summer.

Aleksandar Vezenkov To Enter Draft

April 25th, 2015 at 5:19pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Bulgarian forward Aleksandar Vezenkov, also known as Sasha Vezenkov, intends to enter the 2015 NBA draft, Alexander Sotirov of Sportal.bg tweets (hat tip to Enea Trapani of Sportando). Vezenkov spent the last four seasons with the Greek team Aris BC. The 19-year-old is a projected second-rounder in June’s draft. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranks him as the No. 32 overall prospect, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider Subscription required) slots him at No. 44 overall.

Vezenkov is a likely draft-and-stash pick, and his game needs refining before he is ready to be productive in the NBA. While he is a solid outside shooter with good court vision, Vezenkov needs quite a bit of work to become a passable NBA defender. With further seasoning Vezenkov could be a competent role-player off the bench in the NBA, but he’ll need to add strength if he hopes to survive the rigors of an 82 game season in the league.

In 21 appearances for Aris BC this past season, Vezenkov averaged 19.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 32.7 minutes per contest. His shooting numbers were .525/.439/.779.

And-Ones: Martin, Fontecchio, Jazz

April 24th, 2015 at 10:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Jazz have some roster decisions to make regarding Trevor Booker, Joe Ingles, and Jeremy Evans this offseason, Randy Hollis of The Deseret News writes. Ingles can become a restricted free agent if the team tenders him a qualifying offer, Evans will be an unrestricted free agent, and only $250K of Booker’s $4,775,000 salary for 2015/16 is guaranteed. For their part, all three players want to return to Utah next season, and laud the organization and its coaching staff, Hollis notes. “The Jazz organization, they do a good job. It’s very family oriented, they do a lot of stuff for the fans. I mean, it’s just great,” Booker said. “Washington was a great experience, but I definitely enjoyed my time here in Utah a little more [than his previous four years in Washington with the Wizards].”

Out of the three, Evans is the likeliest not to return, with the forward only appearing in 38 games, and averaging just 2.4 points and 1.9 rebounds in 7.0 minutes of action per contest, Hollis adds. “I feel like they have the confidence in me and I trust them that they’re going to make the right decision. That’s what they’re here for,” Evans said about Utah’s front office. “If I’m here, I’m gonna be so happy; I feel like this is my home. If not, I know it’s still going to be a bright future and I wish everybody the best.”

Here’s more from around the league:

LSU sophomore power forward Jarell Martin has signed with agent Andy Miller of ASM Sports, Darren Heitner of SportsAgentBlog.com tweets. Martin is the 25th-best prospect on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and the No. 28 overall prospect according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required).
Oklahoma State senior swingman Le’Bryan Nash has hired Matt Babcock and Adie von Gontard of APAA Sports Group to represent him, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). Nash is ranked as the No. 98 prospect by ESPN.com.
Italian forward Simone Fontecchio, 19, will enter the 2015 NBA Draft, according to his agent Max Resini, Givony tweets. Fontecchio spent the last three seasons with Virtus Bologna of the Italian League. DraftExpress ranks the 6’6″ swingman as the No. 89 prospect in this year’s draft.

Prospect Profile: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

April 24th, 2015 at 4:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Arizona sophomore Rondae Hollis-Jefferson‘s decision to enter this year’s NBA draft is one that is open for second-guessing. While the forward is perhaps the best wing defender in this year’s draft, serious questions abound regarding Hollis-Jefferson’s offensive skills, or lack thereof. The player certainly has lottery pick potential, but in a draft peppered with talented wings, Hollis-Jefferson may have been better served to spend one more season with the Wildcats.

The 6’7″, 220-pounder is currently ranked as the No. 23 overall prospect by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) places him 24th overall. With 2016’s NBA draft class projected to be much weaker than this year’s, Hollis-Jefferson, barring an unforeseen regression in 2015/16, would likely have been a top-15 pick, though that is merely my speculation.

Hollis-Jefferson is an extremely athletic player who is a monster in transition, and is an elite finisher at the rim. The sophomore is also adept at absorbing contact when attacking the basket, and his 7.1 free throw attempts per 40 minutes pace adjusted ranking is the most of any small forward in this year’s draft. The rest of his numbers are quite solid, with Hollis-Jefferson averaging 11.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.2 steals in 28.7 minutes per contest as a sophomore. His career numbers are 10.2 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.5 APG, and 0.9 SPG, and a career slash line of .496/.205/.697.

But it’s the Hollis-Jefferson’s jump shot that is his Achilles heel, and what is relegating him to the bottom half of the first round this year. With the NBA placing more and more value on “3-and-D” players, Hollis-Jefferson’s anemic 20.7% shooting from beyond the arc does him no favors in the eyes of talent evaluators. While some players can “fix” their outside shooting form, it’s not necessarily something that can be counted on. Plus, it would likely take a number of seasons for the team drafting Hollis-Jefferson to see any repair efforts bear fruit on the hardwood. With patience not a staple amongst NBA teams, talent evaluators aren’t likely to be very forgiving in their pre-draft assessments of Hollis-Jefferson’s game.

The 20-year-old will be able to match up athletically with most wing NBA players, as his combination of strength, quickness and explosiveness is difficult to find, Givony notes. Hollis-Jefferson is a solid rebounder for his position, though he will need to bulk up to continue that trend in the NBA, since his athleticism will be somewhat neutralized when he is surrounded by the abundance of talent in the league. The player also needs to improve his ball-handling, since he doesn’t handle heavy ball pressure as well as he should.

Offensive woes aside, Hollis-Jefferson’s true value is on the defensive end of the court. The forward is second all time in the Pac-12 for career defensive rating (88.6) and fifth in the conference this past season in defensive win shares (2.9). He is capable of guarding four positions, which makes Hollis-Jefferson especially valuable with the league’s increasing focus on pick and roll offense, and the switches that defenses are required to make on the fly in order to counter those attacks.

Hollis-Jefferson can certainly contribute as a role-player in an NBA rotation, perhaps as early as next season. But unless he can make himself a passable threat on offense, he is looking at a career as a role-player. The young wing reminds me quite a bit of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and not just because of the hyphenated last name. Both players are high-energy defenders who can dominate in transition, but hamper their teams in half court sets with their offensive limitations. The best case scenario for Hollis-Jefferson is that he can carve out a career similar to that of Gerald Wallace. For a team selecting toward the end of the first round that potential should be enough to make drafting Hollis-Jefferson worthwhile, but teams picking in the top 20 should pause before nabbing him that high.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Chris Walker Declares For Draft

April 24th, 2015 at 1:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

Sophomore power forward Chris Walker is entering this year’s draft, the University of Florida announced (Twitter link; hat tip to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com). Evan Daniels of Scout.com reported earlier this week that the 20-year-old wouldn’t be back at Florida and would either transfer or enter the draft. Walker isn’t in the top 100 prospects for this year with Chad Ford of ESPN.com or Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Ford lists the once-heralded college recruit as the No. 61 prospect for 2016, while Givony has him as the No. 20 sophomore for this year.

Walker was No. 7 in the final 2013 Recruiting Services Consensus Index, one spot ahead of Noah Vonleh, who went ninth overall to the Hornets in last year’s draft. Givony projected Walker as a 2015 lottery pick when he decided against entering the 2014 draft, and the same was true at the start of this season, when Givony slotted him 13th. Ford had Walker as the No. 12 prospect at that same time. By mid-January, he was at No. 39 on Givony’s board, and the slide continued.

The 6’9″ Walker saw only 4.8 minutes per game as a freshman, and while his role grew this past season, he still scarcely saw the sort of playing time that usually comes to a top-flight talent. He put up 4.7 points and 3.5 rebounds in 14.6 MPG, and his final appearance was a seven-minute, two-point outing against Kentucky in an SEC Tournament loss that ended a 16-17 season for coach Billy Donovan‘s Gators.

Nedim Buza Enters Draft

April 24th, 2015 at 12:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

Small forward Nedim Buza has entered this year draft, agent Alexander Raskovic tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). The 6’8″ native of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the 38th-best prospect according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, while Givony ranks him 53rd. Buza entered last year’s draft, too, before withdrawing in advance of the deadline to do so. He made last year’s decisions in tandem with OKK Spars Sarajevo teammate Adin Vrabac, who’s since moved on to play in Germany, though Vrabac decided last week to enter the draft again this year.

The 19-year-old Buza, who turns 20 next month, had an expanded role this season with OKK Spars Sarajevo, a club in his home country, averaging 12.0 points and 5.1 rebounds in 26.5 minutes per game. He kept up his decent three-point shooting, nailing 35.3% of his attempts. Buza is coming off a six-point, 13-minute performance in the recent Nike Hoops Summit.

Buza scheduled workouts with the Bucks, Timberwolves and Nuggets last year, Raskovic said then, and he figures to draw more predraft auditions this year. He’s not automatically draft-eligible until 2017, so he can pull out again by June 15th if he wants.

Buddy Hield Declines To Enter Draft

April 24th, 2015 at 10:35am CST by Chuck Myron

Oklahoma junior shooting guard Buddy Hield will pass up a strong chance to be drafted in the second round this year to instead return to Oklahoma for his senior year, he announced today through the school. Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks Hield as the 37th-best prospect, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him at No. 41.

The 6’4″ 21-year-old’s production plateaued somewhat this season after a significant jump between his freshman and sophomore years. Still, Hield’s 17.4 points per game this year led the Big 12, as did his 35.9% three-point percentage and 93 made three-pointers. He rebounded well for his size, grabbing 5.4 boards in 32.4 minutes per contest.

Ford points to defense as an area in need of improvement for Hield and suggests he should attack the basket more often. His rate of free-throw attempts per field goal attempt rose from .191 to .261 this season, so continued improvement in that regard figures to help his stock. He’ll have no shortage of exposure next season, with Oklahoma looking strong again for 2015/16 after a run to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 this year.