Aaron Craft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Fallout: Sixers, Saric, Heat, McGary

June 27th, 2014 at 3:10am CST by Chuck Myron

The Sixers never made a run at trading for the No. 1 pick in spite of the rumors to the contrary, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). That seems hard to believe given the volume of chatter about Philly’s supposed pursuit of Andrew Wiggins, whom the Cavs wound up taking with the top pick. Still, the Sixers wound up with Joel Embiid, who had been the front-runner to go No. 1 before he broke his foot. Philadelphia will have to wait on Embiid, who went third overall, as well as No. 12 selection Dario Saric, whose rights they obtained from the Magic. There’s news on Saric among the continuing reverberations from Thursday’s draft:

Saric says he might come to the NBA in one year rather than two, as had been the assumption, but he’d have to discuss it with Anadolu Efes Pilson, his team in Turkey, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
The Heat didn’t consult with LeBron James on their trade to acquire Shabazz Napier, though his affection for the former Connecticut point guard was no secret, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
The Thunder promised Mitch McGary that they’d draft him at No. 21, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Rumors had suggested the Hornets and Bucks instead had given him a promise. Charlotte had interest, tweets Jeff Zillgitt, but Oklahoma City snapped him up before the Hornets could take him at No. 24.
Serbian shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, whom the Suns took at No. 27, is one or two years away from joining Phoenix, GM Ryan McDonough said, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic notes (on Twitter). No. 50 pick Alec Brown is also expected to play in Europe next season rather than sign this summer with the Suns, according to Coro.
Undrafted Canisius guard Billy Baron is drawing interest from several teams who’d like to bring him to training camp in addition to summer league, Wojnarowski reports (on Twitter).
The Rockets are highly interested in Patric Young, while the Hawks, Thunder and Grizzlies eye LaQuinton Ross and the Raptors, Pacers and Spurs are keen on Aaron Craft, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (All Twitter links). It’s unclear if the interest is in regard to training camp or merely summer league.

Southwest Notes: Nowitzki, ‘Melo, Pelicans

June 20th, 2014 at 4:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Zach Randolph is No. 10 in the latest Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, but it seems like he’ll be off-limits to other suitors come July, as agent Raymond Brothers and the Grizzlies appear to be making significant progress toward a deal. That might have the effect of driving up the value of other free agents amid a class that’s highlighted by players with option clauses and restricted free agents. Here’s the latest on the Grizzlies and their Southwest Division rivals:

Dirk Nowitzki has encouraged the Mavs to consider signing Carmelo Anthony, but he nonetheless believes that ‘Melo ending up in Dallas is not a realistic outcome, as Bryan Gutierrez of ESPNDallas.com observes. Still, a recent report indicated that the Mavs are among the three top teams on Anthony’s list of preferred destinations.
Executives around the league believe it’ll be an active offseason for the Pelicans, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. That’s in spite of more than $54MM in salary commitments for next season and comments from GM Dell Demps, who said in April that he wants to see more of the team’s existing core together.
Aaron Craft, Markel Brown, Viktor Gaddefors, Jordan Morgan and Ojars Silins are among the draft prospects who’ll work out for the Grizzlies on Sunday, the team announced.

Draft Notes: Embiid, Exum, McDermott, Stauskas

June 19th, 2014 at 12:07pm CST by Chuck Myron

Joel Embiid has suffered a right foot injury, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, and there’s fear that it’s broken, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Cavs discovered the injury during his physical exam with the team, it’s prompted Cleveland to want to work out Dante Exum, Wojnarowski says (Twitter link). Agent Arn Tellem tells fellow ESPN scribe Chad Ford that Embiid probably won’t be doing any more workouts before the draft (Twitter link). He was to have auditioned for the Bucks later this week, Goodman notes on Twitter, though the Bucks haven’t heard from Embiid’s camp about whether the workout is canceled or not, according to TNT’s David Aldridge (on Twitter). Tellem told Andy Katz of ESPN.com that he’ll know more about the injury on Friday, as Goodman notes in his piece, so while the top of the draft hinges on tomorrow’s news on Embiid’s foot, here’s more on the wider field of prospects:

Representatives from the Kings, Nuggets, Wolves and Warriors observed Doug McDermott and Nik Stauskas work out Wednesday in Chicago, Ford tweets.
C.J. Fair will audition Monday for the Mavericks, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
The Magic are bringing Kendrick Perry in for a second workout, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Perry will also audition Saturday for the Wolves, along with Roscoe Smith, Joe Jackson and Taylor Braun, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops.
Isaiah Austin, Aaron Craft, T.J. Bray, Eric Moreland and Daniel Miller are the previously unreported prospects who are showing off for the Raptors today, the team announced via press release. Austin is fresh off an audition on Wednesday for the Clippers, according to Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link).
Jabari Brown, Markel Brown, Devin Oliver, Khyle Marshall and Xavier Munford are among those working out for the Celtics today, notes Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Oliver reportedly auditioned for the Celtics last week, too.
The Kings will audition Michael Dixon on Monday, Scotto tweets.

Draft Notes: Gordon, Napier, Spurs, Raptors

June 5th, 2014 at 8:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The draft is three weeks from tonight, and players continue to travel around North America to show off for teams and make the best of their chances. Here’s the latest:

The Jazz are among the teams on Aaron Gordon‘s workout schedule, tweets Sean Cunningham of News10 Sacramento.
Shabazz Napier is set to audition for the Bulls today, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
The Spurs are working out Cleanthony Early, Glenn Robinson III, and Isaiah Austin today, according to Goodman (via Twitter).
The previously unreported prospects showing off for the Raptors today are the similarly named DeAndre Kane, DeAndre Daniels, K.J. McDaniels and C.J. Fair, the team announced.
The Suns worked out Aaron Craft, Markel Starks, Tarik Black and Casey Prather on Wednesday, reports Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (on Twitter).
Bryce Cotton will audition for the Sixers next week, as agent Harold B. Woolfalk tells Tyler R. Tynes of the Philadelphia Daily News.
The Knicks are set to get a look at Arkansas State forward Kirk Van Slyke today, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).

Draft Notes: Smart, Randle, Jazz, Knicks

June 1st, 2014 at 9:10pm CST by Zachary Links

Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders cautions us not to overlook Julius Randle. Randle, a surefire lottery pick and possible top five selection, has the killer instinct and confidence that NBA talent evaluators love. That fire is something Randle has had dating back to his high school days and he continued that at Kentucky. Here’s a look at the latest draft news..

Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart knows that he’s a polarizing prospect heading into the NBA draft, writes Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune. A year ago, Smart might have been the No. 1 overall pick. Instead, he stayed in school and played out a sophomore season that raised more question marks than anything. Still, Smart is a talented point guard and a tenacious defender and appears to be a mortal lock for the lottery.
The Jazz will work out second-round candidates Aaron Craft, LaQuinton Ross, Roscoe Smith, and Cam Bairstow tomorrow morning, tweets Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune. Ross and Smith will be the first two underclassmen that the Jazz have brought in (link). Ross has a connection to the state of Utah as his father, Chris Russell, played at Utah State.
UNC’s James Michael McAdoo and Middle Tennessee State’s Shawn Jones worked out for the Knicks today, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.

Draft Notes: Craft, Wiggins, Bochoridis

May 4th, 2014 at 7:40pm CST by Zachary Links

Stanford star Josh Huestis‘ doesn’t have the gaudy numbers of other NBA Draft prospects, but he brings a lot to the table and is determined to hear his name called in June. Soon after he checked in with Hoops Rumors to talk about what he can bring to an NBA club, it was reported that the Jazz will likely bring him in for an audition. Here’s today’s draft news..

When asked by 97.1 The Fan if he has had any contact with NBA teams or a feel for how he’s regarded in NBA circles, Ohio State standout Aaron Craft replied that he has “an agent” and such matters are “his thing,” according to Zac Jackson of FOX Sports Ohio. Craft is currently ranked No. 71 on DraftExpress‘ top 100 and No. 54 on Ford’s (Insider sub. req’d).
Joe Kotoch of SheridanHoops.com released his first 2014 mock draft. Kotoch’s top five of Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid, Julius Randle, and Dante Exum doesn’t stray much from most projections but there are some interesting picks later on. Of course, the upcoming NBA lottery will tell us a lot about where certain prospects could be heading.
Enea Trapani of Sportando caught up with Greek shooting guard Lefteris Bochoridis for a Q&A. Borchoridis declared himself eligible for the draft late last month despite not being featured in the top 100 rankings of ESPN’s Chad Ford or DraftExpress. The 6’5″ Bochoridis has averaged 5.2 points in 19.4 minutes per game for Aris BC in Greece this season. The guard can still withdraw between now and June 16th and won’t be automatically draft-eligible until 2016.

Draft Rumors: UCLA, Robinson III, Craft

March 22nd, 2014 at 6:47pm CST by Cray Allred

Coach Steve Alford says NBA scouts have attended 88 of 100 UCLA practices this year, per Myron Medcalf of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets that the scouts would presumably be interested in projected first-round picks Kyle Anderson and Zach LaVine, along with Jordan Adams, who is projected as a second round selection. Here’s a roundup of draft rumors:

An NBA scout tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that Michigan’s Glenn Robinson III is a solid late first round pick (Twitter link).
Few front office executives expect Ohio State’s Aaron Craft to be drafted, according to Bob Finnan of The Morning Journal.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim tells Zagoria that college players base their decision to enter the draft solely on their expected draft position, not how they performed in the NCAA tournament. “I’m not going to be specific about anybody but my experience is guys look and if they see they fall where they’re favorable [they leave]…If you go 15th in the draft, you’re nothing. You might be out of the league in two years,” said Boeheim. “It used to be a first-round draft pick you had a chance. That’s nothing. Those guys are out of the league. Half the guys taken in the first round the last three years are not even in the league. You gotta be in the top seven, eight, 10 picks to make sure you’re going to be playing in the NBA.”
Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress points out that Boeheim’s estimates are pretty far off (Twitter links). Only 7% of first round picks from the last three years are out of the league today, and the No. 15 pick specifically has produced a good number of high-impact players in recent years.

Draft Notes: Wiggins, Embiid, Lakers

March 14th, 2014 at 6:12pm CST by Alex Lee

An NBA executive told Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (via Twitter) that how college players perform in the NCAA tournament plays a large role in how NBA scouts view them leading up to the draft. As more teams secure their spots in March Madness this weekend, let’s take a look at the rumors surrounding this year’s draft class:

The same exec told Amico that junior LaQuinton Ross and senior Aaron Craft of Ohio State are both on his draft board in the early second round (Twitter link).
As Jonathan Givony of Draft Express tweets, Andrew Wiggins has surpassed his Kansas teammate Joel Embiid atop his latest mock draft. As we learned last night, Embiid’s back issues will undoubtedly put the microscope on the talented center when it comes time for medical testing at the draft combine.
Scouts agree with Givony’s projection according to Adam Zagoria, as the SNY insider cites ESPN’s Chad Ford and NBA scouts in a tweet indicating that Wiggins has risen back to the top of many draft boards in light of his 71 combined points in the Jayhawks’ last two games.
One executive that likely saw Wiggins hang 30 on Oklahoma State yesterday was Lakers’ GM Mitch Kupchak, who is in Kansas City this week for the Big 12 tournament according to Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. Along with Wiggins and Embiid, Ding mentions the Cowboys’ Marcus Smart as a potential target, also adding that scouting director Jesse Buss (youngest son of Jerry) and assistant scouting director Ryan West (son of Jerry) aid Kupchak in the team’s draft process.

Cray Allred contributed to this post.