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2015 NBA Draft

Kelly Oubre To Enter Draft

April 1st, 2015 at 10:43am CST by Chuck Myron

10:43am: Oubre’s father tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that his son is indeed declaring for the draft (Twitter links).

10:04am: Lottery prospect Kelly Oubre is planning to enter this year’s draft, a source tells Evan Daniels of Scout.com (Twitter link). The Kansas freshman small forward has disappointed this year, but he’s still the 12th-best prospect in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles and No. 13 on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress list.

The 19-year-old’s inconsistency is a sign that he’d benefit from another year with the Jayhawks, Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors wrote as he rated him 11th in our Draft Prospect Power Rankings, but it’s long seemed likely that he’d turn pro. He played fewer than 10 minutes in five of the team’s first seven games and finally broke out with a 23-point, 10-rebound performance in 25 minutes against Lafayette, an eventual NCAA Tournament team, in late December. The 6’7″ Oubre saw more playing time in other games as the season wore on, but he never scored as many points or pulled down more rebounds. He wound up averaging just 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in 21.0 minutes per game, troubling numbers offset to some degree by respectable 35.8% three-point shooting.

Oubre was a projected top-five pick in both the Ford and Givony rankings prior to the season, though he was a more modest No. 8 in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index coming out of high school last year. He had the burden of replacing Andrew Wiggins at his position for Kansas, but Oubre’s team went just as far in the NCAA Tournament as Wiggins’ Jayhawks did, with both losing in the round of 32. This year’s Kansas squad also featured Cliff Alexander, Givony’s No. 33 prospect and Ford’s No. 39, though it’s unknown whether he’ll join Oubre in the 2015 draft.

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Melo Trimble Staying Out Of Draft

April 1st, 2015 at 10:42am CST by Chuck Myron

Maryland freshman point guard Melo Trimble has decided to remain in school for another year and won’t enter the 2015 draft, the school announced. The 20-year-old was in line to become a mid-second-round pick, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranked him as the 44th-best prospect. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress already projects him as a 2016 draftee, listing him 32nd in his mock for that year.

The 6’3″ Trimble led a strong Maryland team in scoring with 16.2 points on just 9.7 shots in 33.5 minutes per game. He nailed 41.2% of his three-pointers, though ball distribution wasn’t his forte, as he averaged just 3.0 assists against 2.5 turnovers per outing.

The Terrapins entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed but fell to No. 5 seed West Virginia in the round of 32. Trimble had a strong tournament, with a triple-double against Valparaiso in Maryland’s opening game and 15 points, seven assists and seven rebounds versus the Mountaineers. He’s set to play next season with Maryland recruit Diamond Stone, currently a high school senior and the projected No. 4 pick in Givony’s 2016 mock.

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Tyler Harvey To Enter Draft

April 1st, 2015 at 8:58am CST by Chuck Myron

Eastern Washington junior shooting guard Tyler Harvey is set to declare for this year’s draft, a source tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). He’ll hold off on signing with an agent, Goodman adds, so it would appear as though Harvey will be able to withdraw by April 12th and retain his NCAA eligibility even if he makes a formal announcement before that date. The 21-year-old is the 41st-best prospect and the third-best among shooting guards, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress rates him much lower, at No. 84. Givony has been projecting him as a 2016 draft entrant and has him at No. 45 on his 2016 mock.

Harvey was the leading scorer in NCAA Division I with 23.1 points per game this season. He achieved that on 15.3 shots in 36.9 minutes per contest with 43.1% three-point shooting. His long-range accuracy is his calling card, and he’s been remarkably consistent, having made between 43.1% and 43.4% of his three-point attempts in each of his three college seasons. The 6’4″ Harvey averaged 4.0 made three-pointers per contest this year.

Eastern Washington won the Big Sky Conference tournament to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in March but fell to Georgetown in its opening game, in spite of 27 points from Harvey. The school has produced one other NBA player, Rodney Stuckey, though he played under a previous head coach.

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And-Ones: Cavs, Stephenson, Payne, Dekker

March 31st, 2015 at 9:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

J.R. Smith, and not Iman Shumpert, was the player whom LeBron James most wanted the Cavs to obtain from the Knicks, according to Brian WIndhorst of ESPN.com (audio link), who spoke on the B.S. Report podcast with Grantland’s Bill Simmons, as RealGM transcribes. Of course, Cleveland traded for both in the January deal that sent out Dion Waiters.

“He [James] is so excited about the talent on this team,” Windhorst said. “He loves playing with [Timofey] Mozgov. He loves Smith. He was the guy who pushed for that trade. The Cavs were trying to get Iman Shumpert; that’s what the conversations were and of course the Knicks were saying ‘We’ll give you Shumpert, but you have to take J.R.’ They went to LeBron and he said ‘No, you get J.R. and if you get Shumpert with him that’s great.’ He, I think, really loves their top seven.”

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Lance Stephenson says that despite his struggles during his first season in Charlotte, he doesn’t regret signing with the Hornets, Steve Reed of The Associated Press writes. “I love this system. I love my coaches. I love my teammates,” Stephenson said. “Some people come into systems and fit right in. Some people it takes time. I feel like with me I’m going to take time.” In 58 appearances this season Stephenson has averaged 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in 26.4 minutes per night.
  • Murray State sophomore guard Cameron Payne is leaning toward entering this year’s draft, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Payne averaged 20.2 points and 5.7 assists while shooting 37.7% from three-point range this season. The 20-year-old is ranked No. 23 by Chad Ford of ESPN.com and No. 32 by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
  • New No. 1 prospect Karl-Anthony Towns, Justise Winslow, Frank Kaminsky and Jerian Grant are among those who helped themselves during the second week of the NCAA Tournament, according to Ford, who writes in an Insider-only piece. Still, no prospect has boosted his stock more during the tournament than Sam Dekker, whom Ford believes has risen into the back end of the top 20 prospects.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Jherrod Stiggers To Turn Pro

March 31st, 2015 at 3:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

University of Houston junior guard Jherrod Stiggers will forgo his senior season and turn pro, reports Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston, making him eligible for the NBA draft. However, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll be drafted, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him unranked as a prospect, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com doesn’t have a draft profile page for him. Stiggers was nonetheless the leading scorer the Cougars, who compete in the American Athletic Conference.

Stiggers put up 14.2 points on 12.4 shots in 35.6 minutes per game this season, and he nailed 34.3% of his three-point shots. The Cougars, under former NBA assistant Kelvin Sampson, finished 13-19 this season.

The 6’4″, 22-year-old Stiggers has already hired an agent, according to Berman, so he can’t withdraw his name and play in the NCAA again even if he has a change of heart. He seems destined to land in the D-League or on an overseas team, though it wouldn’t be surprising if he drew at least some predraft workouts from NBA teams and played in the summer league.

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Jordan Mickey Entering NBA Draft

March 31st, 2015 at 12:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

LSU sophomore power forward Jordan Mickey has decided to enter this year’s NBA draft, as he tells Randy Rosetta of The Times-Picayune. Still, there’s a decent chance the 20-year-old won’t hear his name called on June 25th. He’s just 69th in the prospect rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 80th.

The news is no surprise, as Goodman reported a week ago that Mickey was leaning toward declaring for the draft, though the school released a statement around the same time in which the 6’7″ All-SEC honoree cautioned that he hadn’t yet made up his mind. Mickey dealt with injuries this season, but he still averaged nearly a double-double, putting up 15.4 points and 9.9 rebounds in 34.9 minutes per game, with an impressive 3.6 blocks per contest, too. Mickey’s stock nonetheless slipped from this time last year, when he decided to return to school amid rankings that projected he’d go in the late first round or early second round this year.

He’ll join fellow LSU sophomore big man Jarell Martin in this year’s draft, as our log of 2015 early entrants shows. The Tigers lost current Bucks power forward Johnny O’Bryant to the draft last year, but combo forward Ben Simmons, who’s No. 2 on Givony’s 2016 mock draft, has committed to the school for next season. Mickey and Martin helped lead the team to a ninth seed in the NCAA Tournament this season, though LSU lost its first tournament game to eighth-seeded N.C. State.

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2015 NBA Draft Early Entrants

March 31st, 2015 at 9:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The college season is over for all but a few of the top American early-entry candidates for the NBA draft, leaving most of them to face decisions about whether to turn pro or return to school. Some of them have already begun to make their intentions known, and more will surely follow, along with early entrants from overseas, as the draft approaches.

We already passed along the key dates for early entrants, with the most important deadlines falling on April 12th, when underclassmen must withdraw from the draft to retain eligibility, April 26th, the final day for all early-entry candidates to declare for the draft, and June 15th, the last day non-college prospects can withdraw.

The NBA’s official list of early entrants won’t come out until after April 26th, but until then, we’ll use this post to keep track of reports on prospects and their decisions. We’ll archive them all in a running list here, which will be accessible anytime under “Hoops Rumors Features” on the right sidebar.

The players below are in alphabetical order. For an idea of how they stack up against one another, check out the lists of the top prospects on DraftExpress and ESPN.com, as well as the Hoops Rumors Draft Prospect Power Rankings. If you have any corrections or omissions, please contact us.

The following players are top early-entry candidates who have decided to return to college. This doesn’t encompass every underclassman who’s decided to keep playing in school, but rather those whom either DraftExpress or ESPN.com listed as among the top 60 prospects when they made their respective decisions to return.

Note: Neither of these lists take into account seniors or overseas players who turn 22 in 2015, since they’re automatically draft-eligible. That also applies to Emmanuel Mudiay, who automatically entered the draft when he played professionally in China prior to January 1st this year.

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Draft Notes: Harrell, Poeltl, Dunn, Portis

March 30th, 2015 at 10:50pm CST by Charlie Adams

We heard this afternoon that Montrezl Harrell and Terry Rozier, a pair of Louisville standouts, would be entering this summer’s draft. As the NCAA season nears its finish, we’ll see plenty more announcements of players forgoing the remainder of their college eligibility to declare for the draft early. Chad Ford of ESPN (Insider link) rounds up the players who have officially thrown their names into the ring, as well players who might return to school next year. Ford hears that among others, potential lottery picks Jakob Poeltl, Kris Dunn, and Bobby Portis are still undecided about declaring. Still, there’s plenty of time before players must make up their minds, so we’ll have to wait to see if any top flight prospects return to school in an attempt to bolster their stock even further.

Here’s more on the draft:

  • Ford takes a look at Harrell’s stock in the upcoming draft in another ESPN Insider piece. While there are concerns about the Louisville big man’s size, he could go as high as No. 15 if he performs well in pre-draft workouts, according to Ford, who notes that teams are impressed by his motor and ability to finish at the basket.
  • Yannis Koutroupis and Cody Toppert of Basketball Insiders run down a list of players who have seen their draft stock potentially affected by their tournament performance. Karl-Anthony Towns and Sam Dekker find their names on both scribes’ lists of studs, while the duo isn’t so high on how the bunch from Arizona performed, particularly freshman Stanley Johnson.
  • Despite the presence of both Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel on the Sixers’ roster, Mike Sielski of the Philadelphia Inquirer thinks Philly should still take Towns or Jahlil Okafor this June if the team gets a chance.
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And-Ones: Towns, Okafor, Vaughn, Jazz

March 30th, 2015 at 4:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

Duke center Jahlil Okafor has long been considered the favorite to become the top pick in the 2015 draft, but for the first time since Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has been compiling his prospect rankings for this year, he’s slipped to No. 2, as Givony notes via Twitter. That means Kentucky forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns has overtaken Okafor in his rankings as well as the ones Chad Ford of ESPN.com puts together. Of course, there’s still nearly three months to go until draft night, and much can change between now and then. It nonetheless sets up what would surely be a dream matchup in the NCAA tournament final for NBA scouts and executives if Kentucky and Duke are to win their respective semifinals on Saturday. There’s more draft news amid the latest from around the league:

  • UNLV freshman shooting guard Rashad Vaughn has signed with agent Omar Wilkes of Octagon Sports, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Vaughn last week denied a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that he was planning to declare for the draft, but signing with an agent wouldn’t allow him to return to school, which suggests that Vaughn is indeed draft-bound.
  • Three dozen of 59 NBA executives who spoke to Chris Broussard of ESPN.com support playoff realignment, with the vast majority of the opposition coming from Eastern Conference teams (Twitter link).
  • Elijah Millsap landed his three-year deal with Jazz thanks to an agent who is four years younger than he is, and Cameron Chung of the Sports Agent Blog chronicles the sudden emergence of 23-year-old Daniel Hazan and his Hazan Sports Management agency.
  • The glut of high-level point guards in the NBA is a severe impediment to teams that don’t have one, as Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com examines in an Insider-only piece, suggesting that clubs like the Knicks and Sixers should prioritize finding point guards in the offseason.
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Damian Jones To Stay Out Of Draft

March 30th, 2015 at 2:47pm CST by Chuck Myron

Vanderbilt big man Damian Jones has decided to return to Vanderbilt for a junior season rather than enter this year’s NBA draft, sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The 6’10” 19-year-old was in line to become a second-round pick. He’s listed as the 43rd-best prospect on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress board while Chad Ford of ESPN.com has him 54th.

Jones showed improvement this year, notching 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 29.1 minutes per game for the Commodores. He was his team’s leading scorer, but Vanderbilt went .500 in SEC play and failed to make the NCAA Tournament, and he put up just eight points in the team’s season-ending loss to Stanford in the NIT quarterfinals last week.

The school and coach Kevin Stallings have produced Festus Ezeli, John Jenkins and Jeff Taylor in recent years, and each of them was drafted from the 23rd through 31st overall picks. Jones has improved his stock since he left high school in 2013, when he was just 82nd in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index.

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