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And-Ones: Borrego, Draft, Crawford

June 16th, 2015 at 10:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Walter Pitchford, a center from Nebraska, and Gardner-Webb combo forward Jerome Hill are the two U.S. players who withdrew from the draft in advance of Monday’s deadline to do so, the league announced. The deadline to withdraw while still maintaining college eligibility was more than two months ago, so neither is able to return to NCAA ball. Neither had much chance to be drafted this year, so the outcome of their respective decisions Monday, at least as far as next season is concerned, is likely the same, with either the D-League or overseas play probably in the future for them. Still, both will have the chance to go through the draft process again next year, when they’ll be automatically draft-eligible.

Here’s more from around the league:

Also withdrawing from the draft were Spanish small forward Alberto Abalde and Oriol Pauli, Ukrainian centers Vladislav Korenyuk and Sergiy Zagreba, Lebanese point guard Wael Arakji, Greek shooting guard Eleftherios Bochoridis, Georgian forward Beka Burjanadze, Senegalese center Moussa Diagne, Croatian shooting guard Ognjen Dobric, Spanish shooting guard Marc Garcia, Spanish forward Juan Alberto Hernangomez, Slovenian point guard Aleksej Nikolic and Kazakhstani power forward Alexandr Zhigulin, the league announced in the same press release. Several other overseas prospects also withdrew, according to Monday reports that the league confirmed.
Former University of Washington center Robert Upshaw has been cleared to resume workouts after his heart issue scare, Reid Forgrave of FOXSports.com relays (Twitter link). Upshaw has already worked out for the Mavericks, and will show his wares for the Rockets on Wednesday, Forgrave adds.
Clippers guard Jamal Crawford has hired Wasserman Media Group to represent him, Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter link). Crawford was previously with Andy Miller of ASM Sports.
Former Magic interim coach James Borrego is finalizing a deal with the Spurs to join coach Gregg Popovich‘s staff as an assistant, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (via Twitter).
The Hornets held workouts today for Treveon Graham (VCU), Alan Williams (Santa Barbara), Trevor Lacey (NC State), Sir’Dominic Pointer (St. John’s), Shannon Scott (Ohio State), and Seth Tuttle (Northern Iowa), the team announced (Twitter links).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Pacific Notes: Mudiay, Lakers, Hollis-Jefferson

June 6th, 2015 at 8:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

Emmanuel Mudiay, who worked out for the Lakers today, told Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times that he identifies with Kobe Bryant‘s passion for the game. “Kobe, I admire his determination,” Mudiay said. “That’s what made me a fan of his. He’s got a dog in him and that’s kind of how I approach the game. You got to be a dog.” Mudiay, widely considered to be a top four pick in this year’s draft, is also reportedly working out for the Timberwolves, Sixers and Knicks. He reneged on a commitment to play college ball at SMU and spent the past season with the Guangdong Southern Tigers in China, making him somewhat of a mystery to American fans. The Lakers got an up-close look at his talents, with coach Byron Scott and GM Mitch Kupchak monitoring the workout.

There’s more draft news from the Pacific Division:

Mudiay wasn’t the only player working out for the Lakers today, tweets Chad Ford of ESPN.com. Also present were Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein, Devin Booker and Dakari Johnson, while Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell will work out for the team soon. Of the group, only Russell is expected to be in the mix for the number two overall pick that the Lakers own.
Arizona’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was comfortable and confident after Friday’s workout with the Suns, according to Matt Peterson of NBA.com. After averaging 11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds as a sophomore with the Wildcats, Hollis-Jefferson is hoping to attract the attention of a lottery team. The Suns hold the 13th overall pick. “[It doesn’t matter] if you’re the underdog or if you’re being talked about or mentioned more,” he told reporters. “You should be ready no matter what.”
The Suns held several other workouts Friday, according to Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic (Twitter links). The group included Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell, Georgia State’s R.J. Hunter, UNLV’s Rashad Vaughn and Christian Wood, Utah’s Delon Wright, California-Santa Barbara’s Alan Williams, Arizona’s T.J. McConnell, Wyoming’s Larry Nance Jr., Temple’s Will Cummings, Bosnian player Nedim Buza and D-League player Jarvis Threatt.

Western Notes: Hornacek, Blazers, Draft

June 3rd, 2015 at 10:37pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Now that Fred Hoiberg has been officially named as the Bulls’ new coach, there has been speculation linking Suns coach Jeff Hornacek to Hoiberg’s vacated post at Iowa State, Andrew Joseph of The Arizona Republic writes. But Hornacek, who played his collegiate ball for the Cyclones, declined an opportunity to interview for the position, Joseph notes. “[GM] Ryan [McDonough] and I came here for a purpose. We think we’ve got a good young crew that we can build with. We’ll work on getting some more veteran guys to help them but we’ve got a job to do here and that’s our plan,” Hornacek said when asked about the possibility of him departing Phoenix.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

The Trail Blazers held workouts today for Montrezl Harrell (Louisville), Corey Hawkins (UC Davis), Stefan Nastic (Stanford), Christian Wood (UNLV), Kenneth Smith (Louisiana Tech), and Luis Montero (Westchester Community College), Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com reports (Twitter link).
St. John’s University swingman SirDominic Pointer worked out for the Thunder today, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets.
UC Santa Barbara forward Alan Williams displayed his wares for the Mavericks today, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes (on Twitter).
Wisconsin forward Sam Dekker worked out for the Suns today, Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops tweets. Phoenix is considering taking Dekker with the No. 13 overall pick this June, Scotto adds. You can check out our prospect profile for Dekker here.

Pacific Notes: Curry, Clippers, Draft

June 2nd, 2015 at 9:41pm CST by Eddie Scarito

While Stephen Curry won’t be worrying about how he will afford to put food on his table anytime soon, his contract with the Warriors is one of the biggest values in the NBA, and the MVP can be considered one of the most underpaid athletes in all of professional sports, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. There were a total of 50 NBA players who earned more than the $10,629,213 that Curry did last season, including 11 point guards, Kennedy notes. On his way to winning the MVP award the 27-year-old appeared in 80 contests, averaging 23.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 7.7 assists in 32.7 minutes per game.

Here’s more out of the Pacific Division:

The Clippers need to make changes to their existing roster but won’t be able to add any big ticket free agents this offseason thanks to their difficult salary cap situation. Arash Markazi and Ben Alamar of ESPN.com run down some hypothetical blockbuster trades that Los Angeles could potentially make if it wished to shake up its roster this summer.
University of Illinois shooting guard Rayvonte Rice has a workout scheduled with the Suns, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
The Lakers held workouts today for Alan Williams (UC Santa Barbara), Norman Powell (UCLA), Cliff Alexander (Kansas), Mitch McCarron (Metropolitan State College), Byron Wesley (Gonzaga), Matt Stainbrook (Xavier), and Josh Smith (Georgetown), the team announced (on Twitter).
Kings forward Carl Landry underwent surgery today to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist, the team announced. Landry will begin rehabilitation immediately and is expected to be out of action for approximately four to five months.

And-Ones: Deng, Pistons, Jazz

May 31st, 2015 at 10:54pm CST by Will Joseph

The Heat hopes Luol Deng, who’s undecided about his more than $10.15MM player option, sticks around for at least one more season after he gave the team exactly what was needed — solid shooting and rebounding — Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post writes. Deng said, according to Lieser, that it was a challenging season because it was his first with the team and there was a lot of turnover. Deng, 30, averaged 14 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and shot 46.9% from the field, which, as Lieser points out, are all similar to his career averages. Lieser adds that keeping Deng for one year is mutually beneficial to the player and team, considering his age and the expected rise of the salary cap next season.

“Lu’s a very unique player — you can’t put him in a specific box,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’s a great off-the-ball, active, energy-type guy, and when you have more playmakers out there, the better he looks and the better he makes those guys look. When we put all that together, you’ll see a more comfortable, confident, aggressive Luol Deng.”

There’s more from around the basketball world:

The Pistons, who own the eighth pick in the draft, have about six “primary” players they are eyeing to take with the selection, according to president of basketball operations and head coach Stan Van Gundy, David Mayo of MLive.com writes. Forwards must dominate that group, Mayo adds, because the team has Andre Drummond at center and depth at both guard positions. Van Gundy likes perimeter floor stretchers offensively who can defend the pick-and-roll, writes Mayo, who lists these players as potential options: Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson, Frank Kaminsky, Kelly Oubre and Kristaps Porzingis. “I think there’s a lot of guys that are good players and have a lot to offer,” Van Gundy said. “But I think every team may view those guys a little bit differently in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, besides the fit for their team and how they want to play. That’s why I think right now for us that there’s got to be a fairly large group of people that we keep an open mind about.”
Nedim Buza, Lucas Dias Silva, Alan Williams, Sam Thompson and TaShawn Thomas will work out with the Jazz, the team tweeted from its official account.

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Pacific Notes: Suns, Bryant, Draft

May 27th, 2015 at 9:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Suns GM Ryan McDonough believes there is quite a talent dropoff in this year’s NBA Draft after the team’s pick at No. 13 overall, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. Phoenix hasn’t targeted a specific player, and if it retains the pick, will likely target the best player available, Coro adds. “As a non-playoff team, I think you need help everywhere,” McDonough said. “So we’ll take the best player, even if that goes against what some people think we should do in terms of conventional wisdom. I think, unless you’re a championship-level team, you always take the best available player. Our philosophy is if he’s better than the guys who are on your current roster, maybe he beats him out and you move one of the guys on your current roster. I think some mistakes, in the history of the draft, are made drafting for saying, ‘Oh, we need this. Let’s do the best player who does whatever.’ When you draft that guy, you tend to reach sometimes.”

Here’s the latest from the NBA’s Pacific Division:

McDonough also indicated that the Suns may be more willing to deal away their first round pick than in years past, Coro adds. “At some point, there is a saturation point for young players as you try to put together a team that is capable of competing and making the playoffs in the Western Conference,” McDonough said. “I think it [trading the pick] is something we’re more open to than in the past but, at the same time, we like the players that we think will be there at 13.“
In an radio appearance with ESPN’s Colin Cowherd (hat tip to Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel), Jared Dudley spoke about NBA free agents not wanting to play with the Lakers‘ Kobe Bryant. Dudley said, “Most guys don’t want to play with Kobe. He gets in this thing where he doesn’t pass and then overpasses and then tries to get triple-doubles every night. …. That’s why I think it will be a while for the Lakers to get good because they’ve got no stars. I would be surprised if Kevin Love goes there.”
Former Minnesota guard Andre Hollins has a workout scheduled with the Clippers, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets.
The Kings have workouts scheduled for Friday with Corey Hawkins, Mikh McKinney, Shaquielle McKissic, Alan Williams, Charles Jackson, and Will Davis II, the team announced.