2016 NBA Draft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Butler, Bazemore, Blatt, Rambis

May 11th, 2016 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg saw the controversy that stemmed from Jimmy Butler‘s criticism of his coaching style as simply a phase of growth for their relationship, and the pair had a “strong” exit meeting, sources told K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. The Bulls would insist on at least one marquee player, one rotation-caliber player and multiple first-round picks in any trade scenario involving Butler, according to Johnson, suggesting that the team’s appointment of the swingman as its representative at next week’s draft lottery is a sign that he’ll be sticking around.

See more from the Eastern Conference:

Soon-to-be free agent Kent Bazemore said his body wasn’t 100% this year and that he couldn’t play above the rim as he’s usually capable of doing, but he’s eager to regain that ability with a full summer of training, observes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Bazemore, who had a breakout season despite the limitations, wants to re-sign with the Hawks. “I would love to return here,” Bazemore said. “I think the past two years I’ve taken a tremendous leap. Not only my professional year but personally. I’m growing more into myself and figuring out life. This place [is] a special place in my heart. I grew up right up the street in North Carolina. Super close to home. Not close enough. Has its perks here. The weather is great. Golf is great. God is great.”
Carmelo Anthony likes David Blatt, who’s drawing sincere consideration from the Knicks for their head coaching job, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. Anthony likes and respects interim coach Kurt Rambis, but he has reservations about him and believes the ex-Cavs coach would be better for Kristaps Porzingis than Rambis would be, Berman hears. Blatt interviewed last month with team president Phil Jackson and GM Steve Mills, but owner James Dolan wasn’t in the meeting, a league source told Berman.
The Knicks are looking to trade for a second-round pick, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link). New York is without a pick in either round.

And-Ones: Schröder, Harris, Selden

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

Hawks point guard Dennis Schröder was amenable to a reserve role this season but reiterated his desire to be the starter going forward, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com relays. “In the future, I want to be a starting point guard,” Schröder said. “Everybody knows it. But in the situation I was this year, I was fine with it. I played my minutes, and I just tried to get better. When the coaching staff and everybody decides I get the team [and start], I’m going to be ready for it.”

When coach/executive Mike Budenholzer was asked about the possibility of Schröder displacing Jeff Teague as Atlanta’s starter, Budenholzer was diplomatic in his response, the ESPN scribe notes. “We value both Jeff and Dennis,” Budenholzer said. “They have both been incredibly good for us. Part of the reason we have had success is we have had two really good point guards. I am not ready to say anything other than how much we love them both. They are a big part of why we have been successful.” Teague was reportedly in high demand from a number of teams prior to February’s trade deadline.

Here’s the latest from around the league:

Point guard Devin Harris underwent successful surgery today to repair damage to his left big toe and left thumb, the Mavericks announced. No timetable was given for Harris’ return to basketball-related activities. Harris appeared in 64 games this season and averaged 7.6 points, 1.8 assists, 0.9 steals and 20.0 minutes per outing. His contract runs through the 2017/18 season with a partially guaranteed salary for the final year.
Kansas junior combo guard Wayne Selden won’t participate in draft combine workouts this week after undergoing surgery to repair a small meniscus tear in his right knee, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports. Selden, who is the No. 44 overall player according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, will still participate in the interview portion of the event with Miami senior shooting guard Sheldon McClellan taking his place on the court for the scrimmage portion of the combine, Charania notes.

Arkansas F/C Moses Kingsley Withdraws From Draft

May 9th, 2016 at 5:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

Arkansas junior big man Moses Kingsley has pulled out of this year’s draft, the school announced. That’s in spite of a surge from 123rd to 76th in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider prospect rankings between the time he declared a month ago and today. Still, the news isn’t entirely surprising, since his name wasn’t on the list of invitees to this week’s NBA combine that the league released last week. The 6’9″ 21-year-old remains outside the top 100 in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress ratings.

It’s unclear whether Kingsley worked out for any NBA teams, as he was allowed to do while in the draft pool. He had until May 25th to pull out and retain his college eligibility, but it appears he’s decided to put an early end to his predraft process.

A highly touted prospect coming out of high school, Kingsley will look to build on this season’s breakout performance. He put up 15.9 points and 9.3 rebounds in 29.5 minutes per game after playing just 11.1 minutes per contest his freshman and sophomore years, in spite of having been 47th in the 2013 Recruiting Services Consensus Index, two spots ahead of Zach LaVine.

Draft Updates: Ferrell, Ndiaye, Moore, Hawks

May 9th, 2016 at 4:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

A major draft-related event takes place this week, as scouts, executives and these prospects will gather for the NBA combine in Chicago from Wednesday through Sunday. Teams will start working out players in earnest after that, though some auditions have already taken place. Here’s the latest on that front with the June 23rd draft little more than six weeks away:

The workouts that former Indiana University point guard Yogi Ferrell has with the Lakers and Clippers are slated for May 16th and 18th, respectively, tweets Jonathan Goodman of ESPN.com, advancing an earlier report from Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Ferrell will also work out for the Suns on the 20th, Jazz on the 22nd, Bulls on the 23rd, Hawks on the 25th, Mavericks on the 26th, Pistons on the 31st, Wizards on June 2nd, Nets on June 8th, and Knicks on June 10th, Goodman reveals. Ferrell is trying to work his way into the second round, with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranking him No. 66 while Chad Ford of ESPN.com rates him only 99th.
Massive UC Irvine center Mamadou Ndiaye will work out for the Rockets and Lakers, Goodman tweets. Givony, who ranks him the 30th-best prospect among juniors, lists Ndiaye at 7’6″, while Goodman says he’s 7’5″. Ford, who also lists him at 7’6″, ranks him the 136th-best prospect overall.
Utah State small forward Jalen Moore will work out with the Grizzlies on May 16th, the Timberwolves on the 18th and the Nets on the 23rd, as he tells Goodman (Twitter link). Moore is Givony‘s 69th-best junior and Ford‘s 190th prospect overall.
The Hawks worked out Taurean Prince, Justin Jackson, Nigel Hayes, Pascal Siakam, Alex Hamilton and Wes Washpun on Saturday, a source told Jake Fischer of SI Now (Twitter link).

Draft Notes: Purvis, Edwards, Jacobs, Bluiett

May 6th, 2016 at 10:17pm CST by Eddie Scarito

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

Purdue sophomore small forward Vince Edwards worked out for the Wolves on Wednesday, has scheduled a workout with the Celtics for next Friday and is expected to work out for the Grizzlies in the near future, Nathan Baird of The Lafayette Journal & Courier reports. Edwards is the ranked as the 24th-best sophomore by Jonathan Givony of Draft Express.
Xavier small forward Trevon Bluiett has a workout scheduled with the Pacers, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays (on Twitter). The 20-year-old is the No. 19 overall sophomore in his class according to Givony.
UNLV freshman swingman Derrick Jones, who is ranked No. 99 overall according to Givony, has a workout scheduled with the Nets on May 18th and another with the Celtics on May 20th, Zagoria reports (Twitter link).
USC junior point guard Julian Jacobs intends to hire an agent and will forgo his remaining year of NCAA eligibility, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets. The 22-year-old is certainly taking a risk, since he is no lock to be selected in June’s draft. Jacobs is the 75th best junior overall per Givony’s rankings.
UConn junior point guard Rodney Purvis is withdrawing from the NBA Draft and will return to school for his senior campaign, Goodman reports (via Twitter). Purvis, who is ranked No. 79 among juniors, averaged 12.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists this past season for the Huskies.

And-Ones: Barnes, Clippers, Briscoe

May 5th, 2016 at 10:32pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Despite the reports that the Warriors are planning to make a run at Kevin Durant this offseason, Harrison Barnes, who is set to become a restricted free agent, said during a podcast appearance opposite Tim Kawakami of The Bay Area News Group that he doesn’t take such chatter personally. When asked if he has accepted that Golden State may try to sign Durant this summer, Barnes noted it wasn’t the first time he’s dealt with rumors. “For sure. It was after my first year, was that when Dwight Howard was thinking about leaving? So it was funny, Andrew Bogut texted me and asked me, are we going to L.A.? Because he was going to come here,” Barnes said. We joked about that. And last summer it was [the] Kevin Love thing, is he going to come here? So me and David Lee were joking about the fact that we might have to buy winter coats.”

“You always kind of take it with a grain of salt,” the forward continued. “We’re a great team. And this is a place where people want to play now. Front office is going to do their job, and they’re going to go and try to recruit the best talent, that’s what they’re going to do. You don’t really get too personal about it, or say oh my gosh, they’re looking at other players. Because that’s how business goes.”

Here’s more from around the league:

Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers noted that the franchise wants to establish its own D-League affiliate in the near future, Rowan Kavner of NBA.com relays. “We’re going to discuss it, for sure,” Rivers said. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to do it by the start of the [2016/17] season, but it’s something we want to do. We’re a ways away from it, but we’ve had discussions with some outside forces that could make that happen, possibly.” Los Angeles was one of 11 NBA teams without its own D-League affiliate this season.
Kentucky point guard Isaiah Briscoe worked out for the Spurs on Wednesday and has workouts scheduled with the Clippers this week and the Lakers after the scouting combine is complete, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress tweets.
Creighton junior point guard Maurice Watson Jr. has withdrawn from the 2016 NBA Draft and will return to school for the 2016/17 season, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). Watson is the 70th-best prospect among juniors, according to Givony’s rankings.
San Diego State sophomore small forward Malik Pope has workouts scheduled for later this month with the Celtics and the Jazz, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets. Pope is the No. 25 sophomore according to Givony and the No. 46 player overall according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com.

NBA Announces Draft Combine Invitees

May 5th, 2016 at 4:08pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA released its official invite list for the 2016 NBA Draft Combine (h/t to Cody Westerlund of CBSChicago.com), which will be held in Chicago from May 11th-15th. The players who were invited to the combine were determined by lists submitted from every team in the league. If a player was not invited to Chicago’s event, it doesn’t bode well for his prospects on draft night. Although, as ESPN’s Jeff Goodman points out (Twitter link), there were five players drafted in 2015 who did not attend last May’s combine.

The combine’s activities will consist of player interviews, testing and five-on-five scrimmaging. A total of 63 draft hopefuls will participate, though projected No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons is not among those headed to Chicago. Other notable voluntary combine absences include Dragan Bender, Domantas Sabonis and Dejounte Murray, who, like Simmons, is represented by agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports.

Listed below in alphabetical order is the complete roster of scheduled combine participants:

Ron Baker — Wichita State
Wade Baldwin — Vanderbilt
Cat Barber — North Carolina State
Malik Beasley — Florida State
DeAndre Bembry — St. Joseph’s
Ben Bentil — Providence
Jaron Blossomgame — Clemson
Joel Bolomboy — Weber State
Malcolm Brogdon — Virginia
Jaylen Brown — California
Robert Carter — Maryland
Marquese Chriss — Washington
Elgin Cook — Oregon
Isaiah Cousins — Oklahoma
Deyonta Davis — Michigan State
Cheick Diallo — Kansas
Kris Dunn — Providence
Henry Ellenson — Marquette
Perry Ellis — Kansas
A.J. English — Iona
Kay Felder — Oakland
Dorian Finney-Smith — Florida
Michael Gbinije — Syracuse
Daniel Hamilton — Connecticut
A.J. Hammons — Purdue
Josh Hart — Villanova
Nigel Hayes — Wisconsin
Buddy Hield — Oklahoma
Brandon Ingram — Duke
Demetrius Jackson — Notre Dame
Justin Jackson — North Carolina
Brice Johnson — North Carolina
Damian Jones — Vanderbilt
Skal Labissiere — Kentucky
Dedric Lawson — Memphis
Jake Layman — Maryland
Marcus Lee — Kentucky
Caris LeVert — Michigan
Thon Maker — Orangeville Prep/Athletic Institute
Patrick McCaw — UNLV
Isaiah Miles — St. Joseph’s
Jamal Murray — Kentucky
Malik Newman — Mississippi State
Georges Niang — Iowa State
Chinanu Onuaku — Louisville
Marcus Paige — North Carolina
Gary Payton II — Oregon State
Jakob Poeltl — Utah
Taurean Prince — Baylor
Zhou Qi — China
Malachi Richardson — Syracuse
Wayne Selden — Kansas
Pascal Siakam — New Mexico State
Diamond Stone — Maryland
Caleb Swanigan — Purdue
Melo Trimble — Maryland
Tyler Ulis — Kentucky
Jarrod Uthoff — Iowa
Denzel Valentine — Michigan State
Isaiah Whitehead — Seton Hall
Troy Williams — Indiana
Kyle Wiltjer — Gonzaga
Stephen Zimmerman — UNLV

Categories:
2016 NBA Draft

Celtics Notes: Ainge, Olynyk, Draft

May 4th, 2016 at 4:14pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Team executive Danny Ainge says the Celtics plan on working out 80-100 players in advance of June’s NBA Draft, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com relays. “We’ll put them through a lot of different situations,” Ainge said. “We’ll see how bigs are at guarding guards, and guards defending bigger players, some of the roles they would have to play if they were Celtics. … We’ll get a good look at what they can do in a lot of different scenarios. With our picks, it is in a player’s best interest to work out for us. But for us, we want to see as many players as possible so that we can draft the best fit, the best player that’s available.”

Ainge also noted that he expects to be on the phone with other teams talking trades more often than in previous seasons because of the team’s wealth of draft picks, Blakely writes. If Boston is unable to package some of its picks to acquire more talent, the Celtics will look at drafting players from overseas with the intent that they won’t join the NBA for a few seasons, the scribe adds.

Here’s more from Boston:

Boston is gearing up for a busy offseason, as Ainge detailed and as Jay King of MassLive relays (Twitter links). “There are scenarios where our team could be better, and be significantly better, and there are scenarios where we have younger players that are maybe not as good from a win/record standpoint, but with the development that standpoint being a much, much higher ceiling,” Ainge said.
Center Kelly Olynyk intends to consult with additional doctors prior to making a decision regarding surgery for his injured right shoulder, Blakely writes in a separate piece. The big man is hoping to avoid going under the knife this offseason, telling Blakely, “It’s always an option when you have an injury of certain degrees. If you can make sure it’s healthy without it, then it’s healthy without it.”
The Celtics are holding predraft workouts today for Dorian Finney-Smith (Florida), Quincy Ford (Northeastern), Marcus Georges-Hunt (Georgia Tech), Sheldon McClellan (Miami), Mike Tobey (Virginia) and Jameel Warney (Stony Brook), as Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com relays (via Twitter).
Dayton shooting guard Charles Cooke will work out for the Celtics on Saturday, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets.

Western Notes: Williams, Abu, Pope

May 3rd, 2016 at 10:22pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Mavericks are pleased with the production they received this season from point guard Deron Williams, despite the veteran struggling with nagging injuries throughout the campaign, and they would like to see him remain with the team next season, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays. “I thought his year was extremely productive, you know, other than some of the health issues he had to work through,” coach Rick Carlisle said of Williams. “We most likely wouldn’t have won a game in the playoff series had he not played in Game 2 and come out and gotten 11 points in the first four minutes, or whatever it was. I mean, that was the only time we had a lead in the entire series, and his game in Utah was the one that got us in the playoffs. You know, he was a 20-plus point scorer that night, and it was his second game back from being out two weeks. So, I want to see him healthy. You know, when players get healthy, they’re happy, they compete better and they’re going to play better. But I thoroughly enjoyed working with him. He’s a pro and his family are terrific people. And of course, we’d like to see him back.” Williams reportedly plans to turn down his player option worth more than $5.621MM and hit free agency to seek a multiyear contract this summer.

Here’s more from out West:

The Spurs‘ success has made their personnel in high demand around the league, and while the team is happy for the success of its personnel, it does create more offseason work since the franchise needs to replace those it has lost, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. “Like right now we have a couple of guys we have got to replace,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “[GM] R.C. [Buford] and I will think about that at the end of the season. But it does cause some disruption and work to try to get it back.” San Antonio has lost front office staffers Sean Marks to the Nets and Scott Layden to the Wolves since February, with both men being named GM of their respective teams.
North Carolina State sophomore power forward Abdul-Malik Abu will work out for the Timberwolves this weekend, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv reports (via Twitter). Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranks him as the No. 25 overall sophomore after a campaign that saw him average 12.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 28.3 minutes per contest to accompany a shooting line of .490/.000/.630.
San Diego State sophomore small forward Malik Pope has a workout scheduled with the Clippers for this weekend, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter). Pope is the No. 25 overall sophomore according to Givony and the No. 46 player overall according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com.

Northwest Notes: Donovan, Jazz, Barton

May 3rd, 2016 at 6:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Thunder coach Billy Donovan made a successful transition from the college coaching ranks to the NBA this season, with Oklahoma City notching a 55-27 record for the season. Donovan, reflecting on his rookie campaign, chalks up much of his success to film study and input from a number of current NBA coaches, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today writes. “I watched an enormous amount of NBA film in the preseason and an enormous amount in the playoffs,” Donovan told Zillgitt. “I always felt from an NBA perspective, just because of the amount of time coaches spend on the game, they’re a lot further along than college coaches in terms of the nuances.”

Donovan also offered up praise for Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, noting that without their willingness to sacrifice, the team’s offense wouldn’t be effective, Zillgitt adds. “The one thing that helps with that is that Kevin and Russell are unselfish players,” Donovan said. “I know they score a lot of points. I know they get recognized for their ability to play isolation basketball. Sometimes they get criticized for it, and I’ve never really understood it because they’re willing passers. When you’re a willing passer, that’s what you’re looking for as a coach. We have to play to our identity and because Russell and Kevin are so good offensively, we give them that opportunity to beat their man. That’s a good thing. You need to be able to take advantage of that as a coach and let them take advantage of it as a player.”

Here’s more out of the Northwest Division:

The Jazz have predraft workouts scheduled on Wednesday with Wyoming guard Josh Adams, Louisiana Tech guard Alex Hamilton, Fairfield small forward Marcus Gilbert, Texas A&M swingman Jalen Jones, Arkansas-Little Rock point guard Josh Hagins and Utah small forward Jordan Loveridge, the team announced.
Nuggets swingman Will Barton had a strong 2015/16 campaign that saw him notch career-highs in scoring (14.4 points), field-goal percentage (43.2%), 3-point percentage (34.5%) and rebounds per game (5.8), but the 25-year-old needs to improve his defense and reduce his turnovers if he hopes to continue to progress as a player, as Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. Barton is signed for only about $3.5MM each of the next two seasons.