2017 NBA Draft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Notes: Ellington, Carmelo, Gay, Draft

May 9th, 2017 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

While a few of his Heat teammates – including Dion Waiters and Josh McRoberts – hold player options for the coming season, Wayne Ellington doesn’t have the same sort of control over his future with the team. Ellington’s $6.27MM salary for 2017/18 is non-guaranteed, so he’ll have to count on Miami keeping him on its roster. And as he tells Tom D’Angelo of The Palm Beach Post, Ellington is hoping to stick around.

“This is the place that I want to be,” Ellington said. “This is the place that feels like home to me; that feels really good to me. I feel like the things that we accomplished on the court show that. So we’ll see what happens, man, but I have a good feeling.”

Ellington scored a career-high 10.5 PPG off the bench for the Heat this season, making 2.4 three-pointers per game at a 37.8% rate. As D’Angelo notes, the club would like to clear as much cap room as it can this summer to pursue outside help and retain its own free agents, but Ellington looks like a solid bargain at $6MM+, so it would be a surprise to see him go anywhere.

Here’s more from out of Miami:

One person in touch with the Heat tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald that he doesn’t expect the Heat to pursue Carmelo Anthony as a trade target this offseason. As Jackson explains, Anthony’s onerous salary and trade kicker make him an unappealing option for the club.
Rudy Gay may be a more realistic target for the Heat, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. However, Winderman doesn’t think Miami would be in on Gay if he’s hoping to match or exceed the $14MM+ salary he’s turning down for 2017/18. Miami’s plans for Justise Winslow and the club’s ability to bring back James Johnson would also be complicating factors.
Since the Heat often trade first-round picks and rarely finish in the lottery, the team’s scouting department doesn’t have many chances to target top prospects in the draft. So with an opportunity to pick in the lottery this season, Miami can’t afford to swing and miss, Winderman writes in a separate Sun Sentinel piece. “We probably don’t draft a guy who’s really a project and feel like he’s two or three years away,” said Chet Kammerer, the Heat’s VP of player personnel. “We are not going to gamble quite as much as some other organization because they have two picks in the first round every year. So they look at it a little bit different.”

Draft Notes: Blackmon, Ford, Fox, Colette

May 8th, 2017 at 7:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Indiana guard James Blackmon has decided to remain in the draft, Jon Rothstein of FanRagSports.com reports. Blackmon confirmed on his Twitter feed that he will sign with an agent. Blackmon, who averaged 17.3 PPG and shot 42.3% on 3-point attempts, is essentially betting on himself and could wind up overseas if not in the D-League. He is not ranked among the Top 100 by DraftExpress or ESPN Insider Chad Ford. Blackmon joins two other Hoosiers who have declared for the draft — forward OG Anunoby, a potential lottery pick, and center Thomas Bryant. Indiana junior guard Robert Johnson will decide this week whether to remain in the draft, Rothstein adds.

In other draft-related nuggets:

Washington guard Markelle Fultz remains atop Ford’s latest Big Board with UCLA’s Lonzo Ball holding the second spot. Gonzaga center Zach Collins moved from No. 11 to No. 9 and Duke guard Luke Kennard advanced from No. 17 to No. 15. Previously unranked Louisville guard Donovan Mitchell, who recently hired an agent, moved into the first round at No. 22.
Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox believes he’s the top defensive guard in the draft, as he told ESPN’s Chris B. Haynes in a Q&A session. “For me, it’s not about offensive scoring, I want to shut the other guy down,” Fox boasted to Haynes. Fox is considered a sure-fire Top 10 pick, ranked No. 5 by both DraftExpress and Ford.
A handful of NBA scouts and executives polled by Gery Woelfel of WoelfelsPressBox.com believe there are nine impact players in the draft. That front-office group named 21 potential lottery picks and generally view this draft as much deeper in quality than the 2016 version.
Utah forward David Collette is expected to return to school, Rothstein tweets. The junior forward averaged 13.6 PPG and 5.1 RPG last season. Collette, a Utah State transfer, did not make the Top 100 lists.

And-Ones: Combine, Lowry, Cavs, Agents

May 8th, 2017 at 3:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Many of this year’s top prospects, including Lonzo Ball, Jayson Tatum, and Josh Jackson, won’t be participating in this week’s draft combine in Chicago, continuing a trend that has been established in recent years. While it’s hard to blame many players for their decisions when top prospects in 2015 and 2016 didn’t see their stocks negatively impacted by skipping the combine, it’s a letdown for team executives, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.

“Chicago has become a disappointment,” Chet Kammerer, the Heat’s vice president of player personnel, said of the combine. “We’ve negotiated over the years. At one time, everybody came. At one time, we had competition. We have three on three. We had five on five. And it slowly has deteriorated.

“I get the list and already there’s eight guys of the top 20, probably, who are not going to show up at all,” Kammerer continued. “So it’s so disappointing. And it’s not the competition, it’s the fact you have nothing there as far as the physical, the medical. … So now you have to do individual medicals, because they didn’t come to the combine, to get a full medical report on a player. And all the testing they do there will not be done.”

As Bobby Marks of The Vertical noted last week (via Twitter), the NBA and NBPA have agreed to work toward a solution for this problem, but in the interim, this week’s combine will lack the star power of some past events.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

With Kyle Lowry headed for unrestricted free agency, Tim Cato of SBNation.com identifies some potential landing spots for the All-Star point guard, suggesting that the Spurs would be a great fit if their cap situation were a little more flexible.
Given the way the Warriors and Cavaliers are constructed, competing for a title in the present has become something of a futile exercise for the NBA’s other 28 teams, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who focuses on LeBron James and the Cavs in an examination of the league’s current landscape.
In an interesting piece for HoopsHype, Alex Kennedy takes an inside look at the chaotic lives of agents who are responsible for representing players — and who end up doing much more than just negotiating contracts for their clients.
While “blow it up” is a common refrain from Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, he admits that’s easier said than done, and that it doesn’t make sense for every non-contender. O’Connor runs through most of the NBA’s teams, identifying which clubs are in a better position than others to “blow up” their rosters.

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2017 NBA Draft

Draft Notes: Collins, Comanche, Combine, Jazz

May 6th, 2017 at 6:16pm CST by Arthur Hill

Gonzaga big man Zach Collins is quickly rising up draft boards, tweets Jon Rothstein of Fanrag Sports. The 7’0″ freshman didn’t play a lot this season, but he has become a favorite of NBA scouts. Collins averaged 10.0 points and 5.9 rebounds in just 17.2 minutes per night for the national runners-up. He is ranked 12th in Jonathan Givony’s latest list of the top 100 prospects at DraftExpress and 11th by ESPN’s Chad Ford. Collins is the top-rated center on Ford’s list, while Givony has him one spot behind Jarrett Allen of Texas.

There’s more draft-related news today:

Sophomore big man Chance Comanche of Arizona has announced via Twitter than he plans to remain in the draft. He averaged 6.3 points and 3.6 rebounds this season and is a long shot to be drafted.
Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders examines players who have gone on to NBA success after not receiving invitations to the draft combine. This year’s edition will be held this week in Chicago.
Kentucky guard Hamidou Diallo may be the best athlete at the combine, an NBA executive tells Rothstein (Twitter link). Diallo is projected to go early in the second round by both Givony and Ford.
Three Michigan players are headed to the combine, writes James Hawkins of The Detroit News. Moritz Wagner and D.J. Wilson, who entered the draft without hiring agents, both received invitations, along with senior Derrick Walton. Another Wolverines senior, Zak Irvin, also has draft aspirations but wasn’t invited to the combine.
Wagner will be among six players working out for the Jazz on Sunday, according to a tweet from the team. Joining him will be LSU’s Antonio Blakeney, UCLA’s Aaron Holiday, Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Georgetown’s L.J. Peak and BYU’s Eric Mika.

Donovan Mitchell To Hire Agent, Stay In Draft

May 6th, 2017 at 10:08am CST by Joshua Fischman

Louisville sophomore combo guard Donovan Mitchell will forgo his final two years of college eligibility and remain entered in the NBA draft, he announced via Instagram on Friday.

Previously, Mitchell said that he would test the draft process. After gathering sufficient information, he has decided to leave school. Multiple NBA executives say that Mitchell will likely be selected in the first round, Jeff Goodman of ESPN Insider reports.

As a sophomore, Mitchell averaged 15.6 PPG in 32.3 MPG, way up from his freshman averages of 7.4 PPG in just 19.1 MPG. Although Mitchell shot a mere 40.8% from the field in 2016/2017, he added the three-point shot to his arsenal, converting 35.4% of his 6.6 deep attempts per game. The Cardinal also averaged 4.9 RPG, 2.7 APG, and 2.1 SPG as a sophomore.

Mitchell will sign with agent Ty Sullivan of CAA, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (link via twitter).

Poll: Who Should Be Drafted First Overall?

May 6th, 2017 at 9:02am CST by Joshua Fischman

With the NBA draft nearly a month and a half away, potential lottery teams like the Celtics, Suns, and Lakers, and basketball fans alike debate: who should be taken first overall? A pair of freshman point guards from Pac-12 schools, Lonzo Ball of UCLA and Markelle Fultz from the University of Washington, dominate the discussion.

In 25 games, Fultz averaged 23.2 PPG, 5.9 APG, and 5.7 RPG, while shooting 47.6% from the floor. Although Fultz’s Huskies finished 9-22 and did not qualify for the postseason, the 6’4″ prospect was named First Team All Pac-12 for his performance.

Ball, too, was named to the First Team, after averaging 14.6 PPG and 6.0 RPG on 55.1% shooting, while leading the nation with 7.6 APG. Ball’s Bruins finished 31-5 and were eliminated by Kentucky in the Sweet 16.

In an Insider-only piece at ESPN, Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton discuss potential sleepers to be selected first, but ultimately decide that it comes down to Fultz and Ball. After making the case for both players as the potential No. 1 pick, the duo diverges, with Ford leaning toward Fultz and Pelton preferring Ball.

What do you think? Should Ball or Fultz be drafted first? Or should someone else entirely go No. 1?

Vote below on which player you believe merits the honor of being the first name called on draft night. After placing your vote, share your thoughts in the comments section!

Fultz, Fox Headline Official NBA Draft Combine List

May 5th, 2017 at 1:45pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA issued an official announcement today confirming 67 participants for this year’s draft combine in Chicago, and while many of the very best prospects won’t be in attendance, a couple notable names headline the field. Point guards Markelle Fultz and De’Aaron Fox are expected to attend, per the league.

Many top prospects in recent years have skipped the draft combine, having determined that making an appearance there was unlikely to improve their stocks. That turned out to be true for both Ben Simmons and Karl-Anthony Towns, recent No. 1 overall picks who didn’t attend the combine.

As such, it was no surprise when reports indicated that Lonzo Ball and seven other top-10 prospects wouldn’t be present next week in Chicago. However, Fultz is considered a consensus top-two player in the 2017 class, and Fox isn’t far behind, on the heels of a strong showing in the NCAA tournament.

For the full list of participants, check out the NBA’s press release (linked above) or the full list at DraftExpress.com, which also includes details on which players are expected to participate in five-on-five action at the combine.

The combine will run from May 9 to May 14, after which NCAA early entrants testing the waters will have 10 days to decide whether or not to stay in the draft.

Draft Notes: Lottery, Fox, Tatum, J. Jackson

May 5th, 2017 at 9:07am CST by Luke Adams

While this year’s draft class features a clear-cut top two in Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball, the consensus rankings breaks down after that, says ESPN’s Chad Ford (Insider link). As Ford explains, some teams would likely target Kansas forward Josh Jackson with the No. 3 pick, but others – like the Sixers, Magic, Timberwolves, and Knicks – may be more inclined to nab Kentucky sharpshooter Malik Monk once Fultz and Ball are off the board.

Jackson or Monk come in at No. 3 for most of the lottery teams, Ford writes that Dennis Smith Jr. might be the best fit for the Nuggets after the two top point guards. Meanwhile, Ford also suggests that Ball could be a better fit than Fultz for some teams near the top of the lottery, including the Lakers, who “appear to be enamored” with the UCLA product.

Here are a few more draft-related notes worth rounding up:

Most of this year’s top 10 prospects won’t be in Chicago next week for the NBA’s draft combine, but De’Aaron Fox is expected to attend, a source tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Outside of Fox, Markelle Fultz is the only other top prospect whose combine intentions haven’t been reported, though it would be a surprise if Fultz participated.
Duke prospect Jayson Tatum isn’t getting any real buzz as a candidate to be picked first overall, but in an appearance on The Sidelines podcast with Evan Daniels, Tatum made the case for why he should be.
North Carolina’s Justin Jackson has officially gone pro, forgoing his remaining NCAA eligibility by hiring agent Jim Tanner, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link). Jackson is viewed as a potential lottery pick.

Utah’s Kyle Kuzma To Remain In Draft

May 4th, 2017 at 4:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Utah forward Kyle Kuzma, who had been testing the NBA draft waters without an agent, has opted to hire representation and keep his name in the draft, he tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. According to Goodman, Kuzma is signing with Zach Kurtin of Priority Sports, forgoing his remaining NCAA eligibility.

“I decided to leave school now because of the benefits it will give to my development, both on and off the floor,” Kuzma told Goodman. “Utah was a great place for me to grow, and Coach K (Larry Krystkowiak) and the staff definitely had a major role in that for me.”

Kuzma, who will turn 22 this summer, is coming off a junior year in which he established new career bests in PPG (16.4), RPG (9.3), and a handful of other categories. The 6’9″ forward barely cracks Chad Ford’s top-100 list at ESPN.com, but comes in at No. 68 on Jonathan Givony’s big board at DraftExpress.com.

According to Ford, Kuzma’s rebounding ability and his floor vision will appeal to teams, but his inconsistent jump shot and lack of elite athleticism will likely prevent him from being a first-round pick.

Kuzma is expected to attend next week’s draft combine, per Goodman.

Draft Updates: Pinson, Knicks, Ntilikina, Jeanne

May 3rd, 2017 at 2:27pm CST by Luke Adams

UNC forward Theo Pinson, who had been testing the draft waters, will return to North Carolina for his senior season, the school announced today in a press release.

“It was a dream of mine to play college basketball at the best school and in the best league in the country, and it is a dream of mine to play in the NBA as well,” Pinson said in a statement. “The best path for me to reach the league and have a long career there is to have a great senior season and I am so excited to have that opportunity to play another year for Coach Williams and finish my degree as well.”

Here are a few more draft-related odds and ends, including more news on players withdrawing their names:

The Knicks are currently projected to pick seventh overall, meaning top point guards like Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, Dennis Smith Jr., and De’Aaron Fox may be off the board. However, the Knicks like French point guard Frank Ntilikina and would consider him at No. 7, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post, who reports that GM Steve Mills is overseas scouting the 18-year-old this week. Berman also notes that Ntilikina is among the many top prospects who will miss this year’s draft combine.
Jonathan Jeanne, a 7’2″ center from France, has been invited to the NBA’s draft combine and has tentatively accepted, despite his season not being over, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com. Jeanne, who is the No. 36 prospect on DraftExpress’ big board, is an international early entrant, so he’d have the option of withdrawing his name if he doesn’t get great feedback at the combine in Chicago.
Randy Onwuasor, a Southern Utah shooting guard, has elected to take his name out of the draft and will return to school for his senior year, coach Todd Simon tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Valparaiso junior Tevonn Walker will also be heading back to school for another year, according to Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports, who reports that Walker is withdrawing his name after testing the draft waters. The 6’2″ guard wasn’t expected to be selected if he’d stayed in the draft.