2016 NBA Draft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Smart, Teague, Draft

June 9th, 2016 at 6:48pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Hawks point guard Jeff Teague relayed today that he played the entire 2015/16 campaign with a torn patellar tendon in his knee and that he “could barely jump or stop,” Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com writes. Teague won’t require surgery this offseason and is expected to be ready to go when training camp commences, Mazzeo adds. “He is kind of, for lack of a better word, managing his knee,” coach/executive Mike Budenholzer said. “I don’t know if it is knees and ankles. I would say it is hard to know what he shares and what he doesn’t. I think he was relatively healthy and he was good so many nights and he is such a good player. I do think he was managing it a little bit like a lot of NBA guys do.”

Teague, 27, appeared in 79 games in 2015/16, averaging 15.7 points and 5.9 assists and shooting 43.9% from the field and 40% from 3-point range. He has one year remaining on his current deal and is a potential trade candidate this offseason. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Celtics held two group workouts today, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com tweets. The first group was comprised of Alex Caruso (Texas A&M), Juan Hernangomez (Spain), Damian Jones (Vanderbilt), Thon Maker (Australia), Georgios Papagiannis (Greece) and Rasheed Sulaimon (Maryland), Forsberg notes. The second group included Robert Carter (Maryland), Stefan Jankovic (Hawaii), Shawn Long (Louisiana-Lafayette), Mamadou Ndiaye (UC Irvine), Nik Slavica (Croatia) and Troy Williams (Indiana).
The Heat have granted the Grizzlies permission to interview assistant coach Keith Smart for a position on the staff of former Miami assistant David Fizdale, who was recently named Memphis’ head coach, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel relays. Memphis was denied permission to interview Heat assistant coach Dan Craig, who is expected to take an elevated position on Erik Spoelstra‘s staff next season, Winderman adds.
The Hornets have workouts scheduled for Friday with Cat Barber (NC State), Nathan Boothe (Toledo), Jake Layman (Maryland), Isaiah Miles (St. Joe’s), Tyler Ulis (Kentucky) and Stephen Zimmerman (UNLV), Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (on Twitter).

Western Notes: Clarkson, Spurs, Felton

June 9th, 2016 at 5:32pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Jordan Clarkson, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, wants to remain with the Lakers and be a part of turning the franchise around, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News relays. “We had two tough years, but I don’t want to be a guy that is afraid and will run away from challenges,” Clarkson said. “I want to be a part of the situation when it turns around because I was here when it was down. I never want to leave.”

The young guard also expressed his willingness to take on whatever role the franchise requires of him, Medina adds. “I will do anything a team asks me to do,” Clarkson said. “If it’s to come off the bench, I would impact the game by coming off the bench. If I were to start, I would impact the game as a starter. I would impact the game either way.”

Here’s the latest from out West:

The Spurs have explored trading up in the first round of the NBA Draft, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (on Twitter). It is unclear which teams San Antonio has contacted or who the team may be targeting if it was able to improve is draft position via trade. The Spurs currently own the No. 29 overall pick this June.
Former SMU forward Markus Kennedy has a workout scheduled with the Mavericks on June 14th, Kennedy (no relation) tweets.
Point guard Raymond Felton, who is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, said that his preference is to re-sign with the Mavericks, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays (Twitter links). “Of course, this is where I want to be. I’d love to come back here, so hopefully we can make that happen,” Felton said. “It’s a process. … I’m out of it now. My agent and the organization, it’s their situation now.“
The Nuggets have workouts set for Friday with DeAndre Bembry (St. Joseph’s), Joel Bolomboy (Weber State), Cheick Diallo (Kansas), Taurean Prince (Baylor) and Antwan Scott (Colorado State), the team announced via press release.

And-Ones: Terry, Zanik, Bucks, Loubaki, Draft

June 9th, 2016 at 2:52pm CST by Luke Adams

Jason Terry, who intends to play one more year before retiring, would like to join a contending team for the coming season. But even he doesn’t get an offer he likes from a contender, it sounds like Terry would prefer to sign with a lottery team rather than calling it a career, as Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes.

“Just looking for another opportunity to get back on a contender,” Terry said. “But if that opportunity doesn’t present itself, still being able to go in and have an impact in the locker room on the younger players and provide quality minutes off the bench. My body feels great. My mind is still sharp.”

Terry added that he’s also hoping to land in a situation where he can “shadow” his team’s head coach and general manager, as he prepares for his post-playing career.

Let’s round up a few more odds and ends from across the NBA…

We heard in May that the Bucks would hire Justin Zanik as their general-manager-in-waiting, and the team made Zanik’s hiring official today, announcing it in a press release. While Zanik’s title for now is assistant general manager, the plan is for him to eventually take over for John Hammond as Milwaukee’s GM.
French shooting guard Luc Loubaki, who entered this year’s draft class back in April, has withdrawn his name from consideration after undergoing meniscus surgery, writes Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The 19-year-old had been viewed as the 37th-best player in his international draft class according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com.
ESPN’s Chad Ford has plenty of new draft-related content for us, providing workout updates on Ben Simmons, Dejounte Murray, Malachi Richardson, and Malik Beasley, and updating his big board, which features Marquese Chriss moving up to No. 6 overall and Murray sneaking into the top 10. Both pieces are Insider-only articles.
As LeBron James fights to get the Cavaliers back into contention against the Warriors in the NBA Finals, our sister site, Pro Football Rumors, passes along some intriguing comments from one NFL general manager, who believes LeBron would have been an all-time great tight end if he had chosen football instead of basketball.

Southwest Notes: Carter, Duncan, Pelicans

June 9th, 2016 at 11:23am CST by Luke Adams

Vince Carter and Paul Pierce were both top-10 picks in the 1998 NBA draft, but while Pierce remains undecided on whether or not he’ll continue his career, Carter said that he hopes to play two more seasons, per Fred Kerber of The New York Post (Twitter link). Carter, who would have a 20-year career if he can play for two more seasons, is under contract with the Grizzlies on a partially guaranteed deal for 2016/17.

Here’s more from out of the Southwest division:

Another NBA veteran debating whether or not to call it a career? Spurs big man Tim Duncan, who turned 40 in April and would be on track to play a 20th season if he decides to return. As Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News details, most observers expect Duncan to retire, but the future Hall-of-Famer has made surprising decisions in the past — he’ll have to officially make the call on his 2016/17 player option by June 29th.
Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops points out (via Twitter) that former Atlanta general manager Danny Ferry was a “big fan” of Kent Bazemore during his time with the Hawks, and suggests that the Pelicans could pursue Bazemore as a free agent this summer. Ferry was officially hired by New Orleans on Wednesday as a special advisor.
Evansville center Egidijus Mockevicius, who had previously-reported workouts with Brooklyn and Chicago, also auditioned for the Mavericks, according to agent Pedro Power (Facebook video link via Jo Jo Gentry of 44Sports). Power added that his client will have a workout in Los Angeles, though it’s not clear if it will be for the Lakers or Clippers.

Draft Notes: Labissiere, Poeltl, Murray

June 8th, 2016 at 10:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Here are the latest news and notes regarding the 2016 NBA Draft, which will be held on June 23rd in Brooklyn, New York:

The Nuggets have workouts scheduled on Thursday for Josh Adams (Wyoming), Kay Felder (Oakland), Brice Johnson, (North Carolina), Chris Obekpa, (UNLV), Malachi Richardson, (Syracuse) and Guershcon Yabusele (France), the team announced via press release.
The Suns held a group workout today for Johnson, Richardson, Alpha Kaba (France) and Maodo Lo (Columbia), the team announced in a series of tweets. Working out individually for Phoenix today was Skal Labissiere (Kentucky) and Jakob Poeltl (Utah).
Kentucky combo guard Jamal Murray said he intends to work out for just four teams: the Celtics, Suns, Timberwolves and Pelicans, Jay King of MassLive tweets. The teams on Murray’s list hold picks No. 3 to No. 6 in June’s draft, King notes.
The Wolves will bring in Damion Lee (Louisville) and Ryan Arcidiacono (Villanova) as part of a group workout on June 14th, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN notes (Twitter links).

Eastern Notes: Telfair, Pacers, Weaver

June 8th, 2016 at 5:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Despite possessing solid assets like Paul George and Myles Turner, the Pacers are a team in search of an identity entering the summer, Keith P. Smith of RealGM writes in his offseason primer for Indiana. Given the team’s stated desire to play at a faster speed on offense, the scribe questions the hiring of Nate McMillan as head coach since McMillan’s teams have consistently ranked near the bottom of the league in pace.

Smith also notes that Indiana would be better served to add a starting-caliber shooting guard this summer and shift Monta Ellis to a sixth man role, given his declining three-point shooting and diminishing trips to the foul line. Ellis, 30, still has three years and approximately $33.68MM remaining on his current deal.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Nets have hired Will Weaver, who served as a special assistant to Sixers coach Brett Brown the past two seasons, to work in the same capacity under new head coach Kenny Atkinson, NetsDaily relays.
The Raptors held workouts today for Daniel Hamilton (UConn), Kyle Collinsworth (BYU), Perry Ellis (Kansas), James Webb III (Boise State), Guerschon Yabusele (France) and Chinanu Onuaku (Louisville), the team announced.
The Pistons are holding free agent workouts this week and some notable attendees include Phil Pressey, Jordan Crawford, Greg Whittington and Chris Douglas-Roberts, Rod Beard of The Detroit News tweets.
The Nets brought in veteran point guard Sebastian Telfair for a workout on Tuesday, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops relays (via Twitter). Telfair last played in the NBA during the 2014/15 campaign, appearing in 16 games for the Thunder.

Draft Notes: Celtics, Beasley, Papagiannis, Hawks

June 8th, 2016 at 12:11pm CST by Luke Adams

It’s a busy day for Celtics pre-draft workouts, as the team is working out a six-player group and taking a closer look at two more prospects in individual workouts. Those solo workouts belong to Kentucky’s Jamal Murray and Gonzaga’s Domantas Sabonis, per Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com (Twitter link), and it sounds like it was a good showing for Murray — he hit a record 79 of 100 three-pointers during his session, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. In our community mock draft, Hoops Rumors readers have Murray coming off the board seventh overall and Sabonis being picked 13th..

As for Boston’s larger workout group, in addition to Farad Cobb and Cheick Diallo, whose participation had previously been reported, the Celtics are also working out Terry Allen (Richmond), Zach Auguste (Notre Dame), Adam Pechacek (Czech Republic), and Adam Smith (Georgia Tech), according to Forsberg.

Let’s round up a few more draft updates from around the league…

Because former Florida State shooting guard Malik Beasley is coming off stress fracture surgery on his right leg, he won’t be able to work out for teams prior to the draft, but can meet and interview with them, according to ESPN.com’s Chad Ford (Twitter link). A report last week indicated that Beasley would be paying a visit to the Bulls today.
Greek big man Georgios Papagiannis, who worked out for Phoenix on Tuesday, has upcoming workouts with the Celtics, Bulls, and Pistons, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. The 7’2″ center currently ranks 50th on Jonathan Givony’s big board at DraftExpress.com.
Former Wichita State guard Ron Baker is schedule to have a pre-draft workout with the Hawks this Friday, reports Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter).
Oregon’s Elgin Cook, the 77th-ranked prospect on DraftExpress.com, recently workout for the Raptors and will audition next for the Nets, who are hoping to trade for a pick, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.

Atlantic Rumors: Rambis, DeRozan, Karasev, C’s

June 7th, 2016 at 11:00pm CST by Luke Adams

New Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek has said he’ll have final say on his assistant coaches, but it certainly sounds as if Phil Jackson expects to see former interim coach Kurt Rambis on Hornacek’s staff, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News details.

“Kurt fits, he fits in a number of ways,” Jackson told SNY.tv during a Knicks event in Chelsea. “He was a teammate of Jeff’s in Phoenix at one point in their careers. He’s also a team guy. He has a great idea of what we’re trying to get accomplished and I think he can help Jeff feel his way through this club and find a best way for them to play.”

In addition to speaking positively about Rambis, Jackson noted that while his Knicks don’t currently have a draft pick, “we think subsequently we might” (link via Brian Lewis of The New York Post). That comes as no surprise, considering multiple reports have indicated New York is pushing hard to land a pick in a trade.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

As Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders explains, Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan earned $850K in incentives in 2015/16 based on his free throw attempts, assists per game, and Toronto reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. Now that certain bonuses in his contract are considered “likely,” DeRozan’s cap number for his player option next season has increased to $10.35MM. However, that point ultimately figures to be moot, since DeRozan will turn down his option by next Wednesday’s deadline.
NetsDaily.com (Twitter link) is hearing from an overseas source that Sergey Karasev is expected to return to Russia to play for his father Vasily Karasev in St. Petersburg. The coach of the year in the Russian league, Vasily was adamant last month that his son won’t be back with the Nets next season.
Celtics director of player personnel Austin Ainge believes it’s “still too early” to get a real sense of how the trade market during the draft might play out, writes Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com. However, that doesn’t stop ESPN’s Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton (Insider link) from exploring potential trade options for Boston’s No. 3 overall pick and the team’s other seven selections.
Meanwhile, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said the team has “seven or eight guys” targeted as potential options at No. 3, assuming Boston keeps the pick. Petraglia has the details and the quotes at WEEI.com.

And-Ones: Maxiell, Maker, Hernangomez

June 7th, 2016 at 10:23pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Former NBA player Jason Maxiell has inked a deal to play ball in the Philippines with Tropang TNT, international journalist David Pick reports (on Twitter). The 33-year-old power forward last played in the NBA during the 2014/15 campaign when he appeared in 61 games for the Hornets and averaged 3.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per outing.

Here’s the latest from around the league:

The Nuggets have workouts scheduled on Wednesday for Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia), Juan Hernangomez (Estudiantes), Demetrius Jackson (Notre Dame ), Diamond Stone (Maryland ), Tyler Ulis (Kentucky), Stephen Zimmerman (UNLV), the team announced via press release.
The Jazz have workouts planned on Wednesday with Chase Fischer (BYU), Dejounte Murray (Washington), Max Hooper (Oakland) and Brandon Taylor (Utah), the team announced.
Thon Maker is expected to work out for the Spurs in the near future, Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News relays (via Twitter).
The Knicks, Wizards and Suns have worked out former UConn guard Sterling Gibbs, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (on Twitter).
Hernangomez, who is the No. 26 overall player in this year’s draft according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, indicated that whether or not he joins the NBA next season depends on which team selects him, Kennedy tweets.

Southeast Notes: Dragic, Lee, Wizards

June 7th, 2016 at 8:03pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Heat went to a small-ball approach this past season out of necessity to due injuries, but the experiment may continue in 2016/17 in order to better maximize the talents of Goran Dragic, Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post writes. “[Coach] Erik [Spoelstra] did a great job putting something together that was very coherent and opened up the floor for our best players,” team executive Pat Riley said. “It’s not a secret that some things did look different after that. How he decides to play next year will be determined by what he sees in October in training camp. When you talk about uptempo basketball … your offense is only as good as what you do at the defensive end. If you want to explode out of there, then you’ve gotta make some stops and rebound the ball.”

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Wizards held workouts today for Dorian Finney-Smith (Florida), Tim Quarterman (LSU) and Mike Tobey (Virginia), J. Michael of CSNMid-Atlantic.com relays.
Also working out for the Wizards today were Nathan Boothe (Toledo), David Walker (Northeastern) and Abdel Nader (Iowa State), Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets.
Hornets swingman Courtney Lee, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, says he can see himself playing in the league for many years to come, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (via Twitter). “I think I can ride it out for another seven to eight years. You can play in the league a long time if you can put the ball in from [3],” Lee, 30, said.
With a number of young big men on the roster, the Hornets may be best served to allow Al Jefferson to depart as an unrestricted free agent this summer and concentrate on adding outside shooting instead, Keith P. Smith of RealGM opines in his offseason preview for Charlotte.