2016 NBA Draft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Decisions: Lee, Briscoe, Dorsey, Blackmon

May 25th, 2016 at 11:30am CST by Luke Adams

Kentucky forward Marcus Lee won’t be eligible for the 2016 NBA draft, with the school announcing today in a press release that he’ll remove his name from consideration. While Lee isn’t headed to the NBA, he’s also not returning to Kentucky, as head coach John Calipari confirmed that the senior-to-be will transfer to a school “out west” to be closer to his family.

“We talked it through together and discussed the team next season, which he said had no bearing on his decision,” Calipari said. “I also told him he was a semester away from graduating. With that said, he was still adamant that, after the combine experience, a year off and regrouping would be the best thing. As always I support my players and their decisions.”

Lee isn’t the only player to make a decision this morning. Here are a few more updates on underclassmen in advance of today’s deadline to retain NCAA eligibility:

Lee may not be returning to the Wildcats, but Isaiah Briscoe will be. As the 6’3″ guard explains to Evan Daniels of Scout.com, he is withdrawing his name from draft consideration and returning to Kentucky for his sophomore season, since he thinks it’s the right call for his long-term future.
Tyler Dorsey has joined teammate Dillon Brooks in making the decision to return to Oregon for the 2016/17 season, sources tell Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Dorsey, who will be a sophomore, worked out for Utah and Denver while he was testing the draft waters.
Indiana’s James Blackmon Jr. has decided to return to school for his junior year, a source tells Jeff Rabjohns of Peegs.com. The decision has since been confirmed by Indiana. Blackmon will be looking to rebound from an ACL injury after undergoing surgery in January.
Blackmon’s teammate, Troy Williams, won’t be joining him in Indiana next season — Williams had decided to stay in the draft, a source tells Gregg Doyel of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). Rothstein confirms (via Twitter) that Williams is forgoing his remaining college eligibility and signing with agent Stephen Pina of ASM Sports.

Draft Decisions: Hayes, Brooks, Newman

May 25th, 2016 at 9:23am CST by Luke Adams

The deadline for NCAA underclassmen to withdraw from NBA draft consideration and retain their college eligibility is today at 11:59pm eastern time, and some prospects are taking that decision down to the wire. As Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com notes, there are 14 players who have yet to hire agents – signaling they’ll remain in the draft – or announce their intentions to return to their respective college teams. Those decisions will become public over the next 14 hours or so, but in the meantime, we have a few updates on underclassmen to pass along. Let’s dive in…

Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes has decided to return to school for his senior season, according to an Associated Press report (link via The Star Tribune). “Getting the opportunity to gather information about the NBA and visit with professionals at that level was a really valuable experience for me,” Hayes said. “Playing in the NBA still remains an important goal for me, but that can wait another year.”
Oregon sophomore Dillon Brooks, who worked out for the Nuggets this past weekend, is expected to return to the Ducks for his junior year, sources tell Goodman. Brooks led Oregon in scoring this past season, with 16.7 points per game.
Mississippi State guard Malik Newman will withdraw from the draft and retain his college eligibility, his father Horatio Webster tells Goodman. However, Newman may not return to the Bulldogs for the upcoming season — Goodman hears from multiple sources that the sophomore-to-be will “strongly consider” transferring to another D-1 school.
Three players from Florida schools have withdrawn from the 2016 draft, according to Goodman, who tweets that Jahmal McMurray (South Florida), Dallas Moore (North Florida), and Marc-Eddy Norelia (Florida Gulf Coast) will return to their respective schools for the 2016/17 season.
Be sure to check out our full list of early entrants for the 2016 draft, including those who have withdrawn from consideration.

Draft Updates: Tuesday Night

May 24th, 2016 at 10:19pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Underclassmen who submitted their names for draft consideration have until tomorrow — May 25th — to decide whether or not to remain in the draft. If those players don’t withdraw from consideration by Wednesday’s deadline, they’ll forgo their remaining NCAA eligibility and will be available to NBA teams in June. Here’s the latest news and notes regarding the 2016 NBA Draft:

Seton Hall sophomore guard Isaiah Whitehead intends to remain in the draft and will sign with agents Andy Miller and Stephen Pina of ASM Sports, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets. Whitehead is a projected second round pick, with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress slotting him as the No. 59 overall player.
Villanova junior swingman Josh Hart is withdrawing from the draft and will return to school for his senior season, Evan Daniels of Scout.com tweets.
Northwestern State junior point guard Zeke Woodley intends to withdraw from the draft and return to school for his senior campaign, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter).
Freshman center Moustapha Diagne is withdrawing from the draft and will attend junior college next season with an eye on making the jump to division one the following year, Goodman tweets.
Gonzaga junior center Przemek Karnowski is withdrawing from the draft and returning to school for his senior season, Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com relays (Twitter link).
Center Amida Brimah and guard Rodney Purvis have withdrawn from the 2016 NBA Draft and are returning to UConn for their senior seasons, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays.
San Diego State sophomore small forward Malik Pope is withdrawing from the draft and will return to school for his junior season, the player announced on his Twitter feed.
Thon Maker is being viewed as a potential first-rounder after his excellent showing in front of NBA personnel in New York City, Zagoria tweets. The 19-year-old is currently slotted No. 40 overall by Givony.
Washington State’s Josh Hawkinson, Conor Clifford and Ike Iroegbu are withdrawing from the draft and will return to school for the 2016/17 season, Goodman tweets.

Eastern Notes: Casey, Payton, Wittman

May 24th, 2016 at 7:46pm CST by Eddie Scarito

If the Raptors had failed to make it past the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs, coach Dwane Casey would have likely lost his job, league sources told Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. The other notable development in Toronto during the postseason is the stellar play of center Bismack Biyombo, who is likely pricing himself out of a return to the Raptors with the team only holding the big man’s Non-Bird rights, Lowe notes. Some rival executives are wondering if the team will try and trade center Jonas Valanciunas this offseason in order to create the necessary cap room to re-sign Biyombo, the scribe relays.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Magic point guard Elfrid Payton could be one of the players who will benefit most from the arrival of new coach Frank Vogel, and the young playmaker is pleased with the hire, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays. “I’m pretty excited,” Payton said of Vogel coaching the Magic. “I trust [GM] Rob [Hennigan], so whatever he’s with, I’m with. … Coach and I spoke briefly. Everybody [on the team] seems pretty excited about the hire.”
The Pistons could benefit by adding depth at point guard via the draft and potential targets for the team include Wade Baldwin (Vanderbilt), Demetrius Jackson (Notre Dame) and Tyler Ulis (Kentucky), David Mayo of MLive opines. The top two point guards, Kris Dunn (Providence) and Jamal Murray (Kentucky), are expected to be off the board when Detroit selects at No. 18 overall. Mayo notes.
Former Wizards coach Randy Wittman relates well to veteran players, gets his roster to buy in defensively and has a career record that compares favorably to Vogel, new Kings coach Dave Joerger and new Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek, J. Michael of CSNMid-Atlantic writes in his look at Wittman’s chances of landing another head coaching slot.

Celtics Notes: Mickey, Bender, Stevens

May 24th, 2016 at 6:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics are armed with a wealth of picks in this June’s draft, but the team also remains high on last season’s crop of rookies, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com writes. Team executive Danny Ainge believes that a number of Boston’s young players could blossom if given more playing time, Forsberg relays. Ainge also noted that he has received trade inquiries from other teams regarding power forward Jordan Mickey and point guard Terry Rozier, the scribe adds.

“I really believe it’s an opportunity league. There are many players that are sitting on benches on other teams that are stacked with talent that just don’t get an opportunity. We have some on our team,” Ainge said. “We think [2015 second-round pick] Jordan Mickey has a bright future and [2015 first-round pick] Terry Rozier has a bright future and we’ve gotten calls from other teams about them that say, ‘Those guys aren’t getting an opportunity in Boston, we want to get those guys to come play for us.’ But we’re going to try to be patient with them as well, and other young guys.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Brad Stevens said he doesn’t regret sitting the younger members of the team, with the coach adding that playing time needs to be earned in the NBA, Forsberg relays in the same piece. “No, because it’s earned. I mean, who are you sitting?” Stevens responded when asked if he had any regrets about his rotation. “This is professional basketball and I think that we had five good [guards/small forwards]. Marcus Smart is obviously young, but otherwise guys that have been in the league for a while and earned that time at those spots, when you start talking about the 1 through 3. … Usually we stayed with those five guys when we were healthy.“
The team also intends to scour the market for undervalued players, an approach that has served the team well in recent seasons, Forsberg also notes. “It really is an opportunity league and I think the last couple of years — the Jae Crowders of the world, Isaiah Thomas, guys that we’ve acquired via trade like Jonas Jerebko — they love the fact that they’re getting an opportunity to play and with that opportunity they’ve shined,” Ainge told reporters.
Maccabi Tel Aviv forward Dragan Bender told the Celtics that he would come to Boston for a workout after the Israeli season ends, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe relays (via Twitter). Bender is the No. 3 overall prospect according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.

Draft Workouts: Nuggets, Suns, Clippers, Jazz

May 24th, 2016 at 4:14pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets are well-armed heading into this year’s draft, holding three picks in the top 20 and another two in the second round. With so many selections under team control, Denver figures to take a closer look at a wide variety of prospects in the next few weeks. The team announced today in a press release that they’re bringing in the following six players for a Wednesday workout: Vanderbilt guard Wade Baldwin, Providence forward Ben Bentil, Virginia forward Anthony Gill, UNLV forward Derrick Jones, Colorado-Mesa center Ryan Stephan, and California guard Tyrone Wallace.

Denver is hardly the only NBA team with a full workout schedule, so let’s round up several more updates…

The Suns are conducting workouts with six forward prospects on Tuesday, and announced the full list of participants, via Twitter. Jaron Blossomgame (Clemson), Shaq Goodwin (Memphis), Jake Layman (Maryland), Taurean Prince (Baylor), Pascal Siakam (New Mexico State), and Jarrod Uthoff (Iowa) are working out for Phoenix.
In addition to A.J. English, whose scheduled workout was previously reported, the Clippers will take a closer look at Gary Payton II, Malcolm Brogdon, Danuel House, Marshall Plumlee, and Josh Scott on Wednesday, tweets Dan Woike of The Orange County Register.
The Jazz will also hold a six-player workout on Wednesday, with four guards and two big men taking part. According to the team (via Twitter), Georgia Tech’s Marcus Georges-Hunt, Gonzaga’s Eric McClellan, Notre Dame’s Demetrius Jackson, UNC’s Marcus Paige, Virginia’s Mike Tobey, and Australian Thon Maker will be in attendance for that workout.
Former St. Joe’s wing DeAndre’ Bembry was among the players to work out for the Hawks on Tuesday, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
Alex Kirshner of Testudo Times adds the Nets and Mavericks to the list of teams that have recently worked out Maryland junior power forward Robert Carter.
The Celtics will work out Weber State’s Joel Bolomboy a week from Wednesday, sources tell A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com (via Twitter).

Draft Decisions: Ndiaye, Edwards, Cooke, Brown

May 24th, 2016 at 10:13am CST by Luke Adams

Underclassmen who submitted their names for draft consideration have until tomorrow – May 25th – to decide whether or not to remain in the draft. If those players don’t withdraw from consideration by Wednesday’s deadline, they’ll forgo their remaining NCAA eligibility and will be available to NBA teams in June.

For many prospects projected to come off the board early, that decision is a no-brainer, but we’ll see plenty of lower-level prospects announce today and tomorrow that they’ll be returning to school for at least one more year. Here are some of the latest draft decisions made by early entrants:

Junior center Mamadou Ndiaye tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that he plans to remain in the NBA draft, forgoing his final year of college eligibility at UC Irvine. Despite the decision, Ndiaye isn’t a lock to be drafted.
Purdue’s athletics department has announced that 6’8″ forward Vince Edwards will return to the Boilermakers for the upcoming season, removing his name from draft consideration. “We are excited that Vince is returning for his junior year. The feedback he received in his workouts will only help him continue to improve and become one of the best players in the Big Ten in the upcoming season,” head coach Matt Painter said in a statement.
Dayton guard Charles Cooke has elected to return to school rather than staying in the draft, coach Archie Miller tells Goodman (Twitter link). The Flyers’ leading scorer has one year of eligibility left.
New Mexico guard Elijah Brown will head back to school for his junior season, according to Goodman (Twitter link).
Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan and Kentucky’s Marcus Lee are among the players who are still undecided on whether or not to withdraw from the draft, according to Scott Agness of VigilantSports.com and Goodman, respectively (Twitter links).

And-Ones: Diallo, English, Telfair

May 23rd, 2016 at 10:08pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Cheick Diallo has worked out for the Hawks today, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets. Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors mentioned Diallo as a first round possibility in Atlanta’s Offseason Outlook. Atlanta has the No. 21 overall pick in addition to two second-rounders.

Here’s more on the upcoming draft

A.J. English has worked out for the Lakers , Zagoria reports (Twitter link). The Iona product will work out for the Clippers on Wednesday and the Mavs on Thursday
Malik Newman will work out for the Knicks on Tuesday, Zagoria reports (Twitter link). Newman previously worked out for the Bucks and Nets.
Coach Rick Pitino told Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link) that he expects Chinanu Onuaku to remain in the draft.
Makai Mason will withdraw from the draft and return to Yale, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets.
Ethan Telfair, the brother of former NBA player Sebastian Telfair, has withdrawn from the draft and will return to Idaho State, Goodman tweets.
The Kings will work out Venky Jois, Nick Faust, Mamadou Ndiaye, Mike Tobey, Codi Miller-McIntyre and Anthony Beene on Tuesday, reports James Ham of Comcast SportsNet (Twitter link).

Draft Notes: Ingram, Maker, Briscoe

May 23rd, 2016 at 8:52pm CST by ChrisCrouse

One league executive told Chad Ford of ESPN.com that Brandon Ingram’s future in the NBA will be at the shooting guard position. “Back when the Pacers used to play Paul George at the 2, I felt like that was his best position,” the executive told Ford. “I feel the same way about Ingram. That’s where he can be devastating and his lack of strength won’t come back to haunt him. If he becomes a superstar, I think it will be because he developed the ability to play that spot.” Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors profiled Ingram earlier today.

Thon Maker will play the five spot as he develops in the league, one anonymous GM tells Ford, as he writes in the same piece. Ford speculates that the Celtics, Nuggets, Sixers and Suns may look to draft the Australian. All four of those teams have multiple first round picks.
Most scouts aren’t optimistic about Perry Ellis’ chances of hearing his name called on draft night, though some have him going in the second round, Ford adds in the same piece.
Isaiah Briscoe has worked out for the Wolves today, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets. Briscoe will also work out for the Hawks on Tuesday, Zagoria adds.

Suns Notes: Ellenson, Bogdanovic, Qi

May 23rd, 2016 at 7:55pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Henry Ellenson is an option for the Suns at No.4 or No. 13 should he fall that far and Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic details how the 6’11” power forward turned himself into a perimeter threat. “I wasn’t always taller than [opponents]…I played point guard all the way up to eighth grade,” Ellenson said. Arthur Hill of Hoops Rumors profiled the big man prior to the draft lottery.

Here’s more out of Phoenix:

Phoenix continues to monitor Bogdan Bogdanovic with the hopes of him joining the team next season, Coro writes in a separate piece. “Physically, he keeps getting stronger,” Suns Assistant GM Pat Connelly said of the 2014 first round pick. “His feel for the game keeps improving.”
The Suns worked out power forward Zhou Qi from China and former Arizona State center Eric Jacobsen over the weekend, Coro writes in a separate piece. Qi might be an ideal draft-and-stash candidate, Coro adds, but it’s undetermined whether Qi would be interested in such an arrangement.
The Suns will work out six more players today. Michael Bryson, Stacy Davis, Demetrius Jackson, Damion Lee, Abdel Nader and Retin Obasohan will all be in Phoenix, per the team’s Twitter feed.