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2017 NBA Draft

Lakers Taking, Making Calls Involving No. 2 Pick

June 15th, 2017 at 2:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers have been “taking and making calls” in recent weeks about the possibility of trading their No. 2 overall pick, a source tells Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times. According to Ganguli, in addition to having trade scenarios presented to them, the Lakers have offered their own.

With Markelle Fultz expected to come off the board first, the Lakers would likely have their choice of players like Lonzo Ball, De’Aaron Fox, and Josh Jackson at No. 2. The club has shown real interest in all three of those players, bringing them to Los Angeles for workouts and meeting them elsewhere.

[RELATED: Lonzo Ball to meet with Lakers again on Friday]

If the Lakers decide they’d be happy with any of those players – or another top prospect – it would make sense for the team to attempt to move down a little in the draft order and pick up some extra assets in the process. There have been rumblings that the Kings (No. 5) might like to move up to land one of the top point guards in the draft, and at least one report has suggested the Suns (No. 4) are hoping Ball falls to them.

As for what sort of asset the Lakers might be able to acquire if they agree to move down, there are a number of possibilities. While picking up an extra draft pick or a player would be the most logical move, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the club tries to attach a player with an expensive contract – such as Luol Deng or Timofey Mozgov – to their No. 2 pick in any deal.

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Draft Rumors: Jackson, Kennard, Isaac, Smith Jr.

June 15th, 2017 at 10:18am CST by Luke Adams

Although foot issues have prevented former Duke guard Frank Jackson from working out for teams in recent weeks, he has been visiting and meeting with several clubs, per Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Deveney reports that the Hawks, Knicks, and Jazz have all brought in Jackson.

Elsewhere in his piece, Deveney provides updates on OG Anunoby and Luke Kennard, writing that the Lakers are holding out hope that Anunoby will fall to them at No. 28, though he’s receiving interest from plenty of teams picking earlier. As for Kennard, one scout who spoke to Deveney wasn’t overly bullish on Kennard’s ability to sneak into the top 10.

“I understand that everyone wants shooters,” the scout said of Kennard. “No one questions that the kid can shoot. But I can’t see him becoming a good defender. You just hope that he develops into a neutral defender, that he does not hurt you. He might go in the lottery in this draft because of the way he can shoot, but in most drafts he is more down in the late teens.”

Here are a few more draft-related rumors and notes from around the league:

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Draft Notes: Josh Jackson, Fultz, Smith Jr., Heat

June 14th, 2017 at 10:38pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kansas forward Josh Jackson paid a visit to Kings today, but didn’t go through a workout, tweets Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Jackson is expected to be one of the first players selected next week and probably won’t be around for Sacramento’s pick at No. 5. There have been rumors that the Kings would like to move up, but a report today said they aren’t willing to give the Sixers the fifth and 10th picks to get No. 3.

There’s more from a full day of draft workouts:

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Lonzo Ball To Meet With Lakers Again Friday

June 14th, 2017 at 7:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

Potential No. 2 pick Lonzo Ball will have his final pre-draft session with the Lakers on Friday, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. The workout will not take place at the team’s facility, according to Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).

Ball wants Lakers officials to see his work ethic and training methods, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. Representatives from the team met with Ball’s UCLA coaches this week (Twitter link).

The 19-year-old guard worked out for L.A. seven days ago, with mixed reports coming out of that session. Ball said the messages he received from the Lakers were “very positive,” but some media reports indicated the team wasn’t overly impressed by Ball’s performance and had concerns about his conditioning.

Ball is listed as the second pick in the latest mock drafts from ESPN’s Chad Ford and DraftExpress. Despite the rumors coming out of last week’s workout, most league executives expect him to wind up in Los Angeles.

The Lakers have a workout scheduled for Thursday with Washington point guard Markelle Fultz, who is widely expected to be the first player selected.

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And-Ones: World Peace, Lillard, Blatt, Calathes

June 14th, 2017 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran NBA forward Metta World Peace, who said at season’s end that he doesn’t expect to be back with the Lakers in 2017/18, has an uncertain basketball future and intends to put off a decision on his next move until August. As Emiliano Carchia of Sportando details, World Peace told Italy’s La Gazzetta Dello Sport that he’s leaving the door open to the possibility of playing in China or Europe if no NBA opportunities arise for him.

The man formerly known as Ron Artest has maintained in recent months that he’d like to play 20 professional basketball seasons before he calls it a career. World Peace, who will turn 38 this fall, has spent 17 seasons in the NBA and also played in China and Italy in 2014/15, so he’ll need to play for two more years to meet that goal.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Damian Lillard created some speculation fodder during a Twitter Q&A with fans today when he answered a question about where he’d sign if he had to leave Portland. “If [the] Blazers said they didn’t want me… Utah Jazz or Lakers,” Lillard replied (via Twitter). Lillard is under contract through 2021, so Blazers fans should have nothing to worry about anytime soon.
  • Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer makes the case for why 2017’s NBA draft looks primed for more draft-pick trades than usual.
  • After coaching Darussafaka in Turkey this past season, David Blatt is meeting Darussafaka officials in Istanbul this week to resolve his release from the team and pave the way for his return to Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, per international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link). Blatt coached the Israeli club for several seasons before joining the Cavaliers in 2014.
  • Nick Calathes, a former second-round pick who spent two seasons with the Grizzlies, is content to continue his playing career in Greece, as he tells EBasket (English link via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). “The NBA is still on my mind. Obviously I want to play at the highest levels. But in this moment the Panathinaikos is my priority,” Calathes said. “I am not in a hurry to go to the NBA. I love Panathinaikos and I am doing well here. So I am not pushing for something else.”
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Central Notes: Pistons, Bucks, Wade, Pacers

June 14th, 2017 at 10:53am CST by Luke Adams

A pair of Michigan prospects are among the players to work out for the Pistons this week, with both Derrick Walton Jr. and Zak Irvin getting a look from the club. Walton was part of a Tuesday workout group that also included Tony Bradley (UNC), Melo Trimble (Maryland), Davon Reed (Miami), Peter Jok (Iowa), and Luke Fischer (Marquette) (Twitter links via Rod Beard of The Detroit News and Keith Langlois of Pistons.com).

Meanwhile, Irvin’s pre-draft workout will take place today, as the Pistons audition a group that also features Tyler Lydon (Syracuse), Marcus Keene (Central Michigan), Bryce Alford (UCLA), Derek Willis (Kentucky), and T.J. Cline (Richmond), per Langlois (Twitter link).

As Detroit weighs its draft options, let’s round up a few more items from around the Central division…

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Official List Of Early Entrants For 2017 NBA Draft

June 14th, 2017 at 8:49am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially announced that 73 early entrant prospects will be eligible to be selected in the 2017 NBA draft next week. Although the number of early entrants (73) is larger than the number of picks in the draft (60), the list of early entrants is still significantly smaller than it was at the entry deadline in April. At that point, 182 early entrants had declared for the draft. More than 100 have withdrawn since then after testing the waters.

Here’s the complete list of early entrant prospects for the 2017 NBA draft:

College underclassmen:

International:

  • Simon Birgander, F/C, Clavijo (Spain)
  • Luka Bozic, SF, Zagreb (Croatia)
  • Vlatko Cancar, SF, Mega Leks (Serbia)
  • Wesley Alves da Silva, SF, Paulistano (Brazil)
  • George de Paula, PG, Paulistano (Brazil)
  • Isaiah Hartenstein, PF, Zalgiris (Lithuania)
  • Jonathan Jeanne, C, Nancy (France)
  • Alpha Kaba, F/C, Mega Leks (Serbia)
  • Tidjane Keita, SF, Cegep de Thetford (Canada)
  • Frank Ntilikina, PG, Strasbourg (France)

The NBA’s official list of early entrants doesn’t include junior forward Darin Johnson of CSU-Northridge or sophomore guard Maverick Rowan of North Carolina State. Those players were listed on the league’s initial list of early entrants, and weren’t named among the players who withdrew last month. It appears that Johnson and Rowan pulled out of the draft after the NCAA’s withdrawal deadline in May, but before the NBA’s withdrawal deadline on Monday, which would cost them their NCAA eligibility going forward.

For details on which prospects originally declared for the draft, then withdrew their names, be sure to check out our previous unofficial early entrant list.

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Lakers Scheduling Second Workout With Lonzo Ball

June 13th, 2017 at 10:30pm CST by marksuleymanov

10:50pm: Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum SportsNet (via Twitter) reports that Markelle Fultz will work out for the Lakers on Thursday and while there’s no official date, Ball will have a second workout.

10:30pm: After completing a pre-draft workout with UCLA product Lonzo Ball last week, team president Magic Johnson is in the process of scheduling a second workout with the standout guard, according to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).

Ball worked out for the Lakers last Wednesday and reports coming out of the session were mixed. For his part, the 19-year-old Ball relayed a positive message after running drills and enjoying a meal with Lakers brass the night before.

“They said they want me to come in, if I get picked, and be a leader,” Ball said (via NBA.com). “Play with a lot of pace. The stuff they were saying was very positive, and it kind of fits my game.”

However, a report from Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report claimed that while Ball’s workout was fine, he did not “blow away” the Lakers with his performance. In a separate report from Mark Medina of The Orange County Register, the Lakers were reportedly concerned with Ball’s conditioning.

The Lakers have long been connected to the California native; in addition to being a local product, Ball’s outspoken father, LaVar Ball, has said that his son would only work out and play for the Lakers. While the general consensus remains that the team will utilize its second overall pick on Ball, a series of reports have suggested that his performance has not set that in stone.

Ball posted numbers of 14.6 PPG, 7.6 APG and 6.0 RPG through 36 games in his lone season at UCLA.

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76ers Notes: Fox, Monk, Korkmaz, Workouts

June 13th, 2017 at 6:57pm CST by Joshua Fischman

De’Aaron Fox of Kentucky is slated to work out for the 76ers this weekend, reports Keith Pompey of Philly.com. The workout is tentatively scheduled for Saturday. Fox worked out for the second-pick-possessing Lakers on Tuesday. Philadelphia holds the third overall pick. Pompey also adds that former Miami shooting guard Davon Reed will work out for the Sixers on Friday.

Here’s more professional basketball from the City of Brotherly Love:

  • Malik Monk (Kentucky) will work out for the Sixers on Thursday, according to Derek Bodner of The Ringer (link via Twitter).
  • Other prospects scheduled to work out for Philadelphia on Thursday include Dillon Brooks (Oregon), Dylan Ennis (Oregon), Jack Gibbs (Davidson), Josh Hart (Villanova), Tidjan Keita (France), and Darryl Reynolds (Villanova), also via Bodner (link via Twitter). This workout will be separate from Monk’s.
  • Furkan Korkmaz, who was drafted by Philly a year ago but has yet to play an NBA game, will play for Turkey’s under-20 team, which overlaps with the Las Vegas Summer League schedule, reports Bodner (link via Twitter). Still, Korkmaz is undecided on whether he will play for the 76ers during the summer league, adds Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com (link via Twitter).
  • The Sixers are considering using at least a couple of their four second-round picks on draft-and-stash options and Jonah Bolden (Australia) is one of the prospects they are most closely following, reports Orazio Cauchi of Sportando.com. Bolden played one season for UCLA before beginning his professional career in Europe’s Adriatic League.
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Southeast Notes: J. Johnson, Heat, Hawks, Hornets

June 13th, 2017 at 5:09pm CST by Joshua Fischman

When James Johnson was asked about whether his affection for the Heat could translate into a team-friendly contract in free agency this offseason, the forward took a measured stance Sunday, reports Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. Johnson reiterated his love the organization, while maintaining that a business decision must be made:

“I love this place so much and the opportunity they gave me. I couldn’t thank them enough. Down the line, it’s hard in this phase of my career to try to find somewhere that you call home or you want it to be home and things like that. So you know the love I have for this team is up there. But it’s just something I got to let the agent and Pat [Riley] discuss and try to figure out, and then just give my last say so at the end.”

Johnson enjoyed a career season in 2016/17, averaging 12.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 3.6 APG.

Here’s what else you should know from the Southeast division:

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