Andrew Wiggins Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Notes: Dinwiddie, Smart, Kentucky

April 1st, 2014 at 7:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Colorado junior Spencer Dinwiddie is leaning heavily toward leaving for the NBA, writes Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. The 6’6″ guard, who tore the ACL in his left knee on January 12th, will likely will forgo his final college season, unless the NBA evaluation he receives back says he does not have a chance to go in the first round of the draft, reports Goodman. Dinwiddie was averaging 14.7 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 3.8 APG at the time of his injury. He is currently ranked as the 46th best prospect by Chad Ford of ESPN.com.

More news related to draft matters:

Marcus Smart is close to signing with Wasserman Media Group, notes Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). Zwerling also notes that Jay-Z and Bill Duffy are candidates to sign Andrew Wiggins.
As many as eight Kentucky players might declare for this year’s NBA Draft. Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders breaks down each candidate and what their draft prospects are. Koutroupis has also released his latest mock draft.
Chad Ford (Insider subscription required) breaks down which players have moved up and which have moved down his draft rankings based on their NCAA Tournament performances.

Draft Rumors: Saric, Wiggins, Exum

April 1st, 2014 at 9:00am CST by Chuck Myron

The father of lottery prospect Dario Saric reiterated to Tomislav Gabelić of 24sata that he doesn’t feel his son is ready for the NBA, suggesting that Spanish team Real Madrid is in contention to sign the 6’10” forward, as David Pick of Eurobasket.com notes (Twitter links). That lends credence to the notion that his rumored deal with Efes Pilson of Turkey never came to fruition. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress recently wrote that Dario Saric is almost certain to enter the draft, and while sources confirm to Pick that Saric is indeed draft-bound, they believe he’ll nonetheless sign with a European club, becoming a “draft-and-stash” player. There’s more on Saric amid the latest on the draft, as we detail:

The stumbling block for many European teams that would pursue Saric is that only a few of them can afford his buyout from KK Cibona, the club for which he currently plays, tweets Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. Saric’s father also confirms that agent Robert Jablan no longer represents his son, who is without an agent, Carchia notes via Twitter.
An earlier report indicated that Andrew Wiggins was expected to sign with agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, but Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com hears that Paul never recruited Wiggins. Instead, Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports and one other agency are contending for Wiggins, Haynes writes.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports lists his top 10 international prospects, with Saric right behind Australian point guard Dante Exum, who occupies the No. 1 spot.

And-Ones: Nowitzki, Draft, Parker

March 31st, 2014 at 7:19pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Dirk Nowitzki eschews an agent and has mentor Holger Geschwinder negotiate his contracts for him, but the Mavs star isn’t fond of free agency, as he tells TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Nowitzki reiterates that he fully intends to re-sign with Dallas this summer.

Wiggins Notes: Celtics, Agent, Durant

March 31st, 2014 at 5:38pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The 2014 NBA Draft won’t be held until June 26th, but the fact that it’s still almost three months away won’t dampen the excitement and anticipation of executives and fans around the league. The rush of underclassmen declaring their intent to be a part of the process has already begun. You can check out our latest early entrants list to stay up to date with who teams will have to choose from on draft night. One of the more exciting prospects to declare was Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins. You can check out our prospect profile on him here.

More talk about Wiggins:

The Celtics are hoping for a little luck when the lottery order is determined now that Wiggins has officially declared for the draft, writes Jeff Pini of Boston.com. The Celtics currently have the fifth-worst record in the NBA and have a strong chance of landing a top-three pick in the draft.
Wiggins is expected to hire Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group as his agent, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News (Twitter link). Paul was formerly with C.A.A. before forming his own firm. He currently represents LeBron James, Tristan Thompson, Eric Bledsoe, Kevin Seraphin and Cory Joseph.
Wiggins started the season as the probable first overall pick, and if a knock on Wiggins’ game developed over time, it was that he could be too passive and did not steal the show nightly, writes Deveney in a separate article. Wiggins’ last game where he scored four points on only six shots didn’t help change this opinion. Kevin Durant had similar criticisms as well before he entered the NBA, according to Deveney. The article references this scouting report on Durant that stated, “One aspect of his game that was put on center stage throughout the (NCAA) tournament was his tendency to disappear throughout stretches of the game. For 10 minutes, you will be watching the best player the college game has had to offer in the last 10 years. Then for 5 minutes, you will forget that he is even on the floor offensively.”

Andrew Wiggins Enters NBA Draft

March 31st, 2014 at 2:10pm CST by Cray Allred

MONDAY, 2:10pm: Wiggins made it official, announcing in his press conference today that he’s entering the draft. He’s among nearly 20 underclassmen who’ve made it known that they intend to head to the NBA, as our updated early entrants list shows.

SUNDAY, 8:20pm: Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins will have a press conference tomorrow at 2:00pm CST to announce his decision regarding the draft, per Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. It has long been widely assumed that Wiggins will declare for the NBA draft, and Goodman says this will be the case tomorrow (Twitter links).

As we detailed in our Prospect Profile series, the Canadian phenom has been considered a first-overall talent since high school. Although Wiggins had an inconsistent year at Kansas, including a 4-point dud in the Jayhawks’ elimination game from the NCAA tournament, he still sits atop many draft projections, including those of Jonathan Givony at DraftExpress and ESPN Insider Chad Ford. The only two players believed to threaten Wiggins at the top of the draft are teammate Joel Embiid and Duke’s Jabari Parker. Parker also had an underwhelming tournament exit, and Embiid sat out of the tourney due to a back injury.

Draft Notes: Staten, Gordon, Wiggins, Parker

March 30th, 2014 at 12:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Juwan Staten is going to return to West Virginia for his senior year, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. Staten’s father, Billy, told ESPN.com that Staten, who averaged 18.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 5.8 APG, that his son would come back to Morgantown. Staten had started his college career at Dayton before transferring to West Virginia after his freshman season. He averaged 7.6 PPG as a sophomore, but had a breakout campaign this past season, writes Goodman. Chad Ford of ESPN.com had Staten slotted as a late second round pick or going undrafted in June.

Draft Rumors: Wiggins, Robinson, Harrison

March 29th, 2014 at 8:50am CST by Cray Allred

Chris Mannix of SI.com released a new mock draft, with Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, and Jabari Parker in the top three spots. Here are more rumors surrounding the draft:

Several executives tell Mannix that the poor tournament performances of Wiggins and Parker won’t impact their draft stock, but that concerns over Embiid’s back injury could significantly affect his value.
Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times discusses how Wiggins would fit with the Bucks in a video interview.
Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com thinks Zach LaVine is over-hyped as a prospect, saying that the guard out of UCLA looks like a D-League player despite his first-round projections (Twitter link).
Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com thinks that Michigan’s Glenn Robinson III needs to finish the tournament with a big performance, because his lack of assertiveness and spotty play has caused him to slip down draft boards from a potential lottery pick to a late first-rounder.
Scouts tell Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that Kentucky’s Andrew Harrison would go in the 25-30 range in the draft, and that he needs to stay for another year and improve his stock (Twitter link).
Chris Mannix agrees with that take, tweeting that Harrison has the tools to become a lottery pick in the 2015 draft.
An NBA scout tells Mannix that UConn’s Shabazz Napier already has better ball handling ability than a lot of NBA backup point guards (Twitter link).
An NBA executive tells Mannix that Baylor’s Isaiah Austin is another player who should stay in school for another year, pegging the center as a late first rounder at best in the 2014 draft class (Twitter link).
Louisville’s Russ Smith made the right choice to stay in college after last year’s national championship, writes Adi Joseph of USA Today. Smith will likely be selected in the second round of the draft, and Joseph envisions him as a bench player who could eventually earn a starting job in the NBA.

Draft Rumors: Wiggins, Vonleh, Randle, Saric

March 25th, 2014 at 8:48pm CST by Charlie Adams

The latest mock draft from Jake Henson of Sheridan Hoops runs down Henson’s take on the likely 2014 lottery picks. Each player has a best and worst case scenario player comparison, and Henson opines that Andrew Wiggins‘ ceiling is around Tracy McGrady‘s talents, while his floor might project around Rudy Gay‘s skills. Let’s round up the latest rumors on the 2014 NBA draft:

Front offices around the league are intrigued by Noah Vonleh‘s size and upside, writes Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider link). He might not be polished enough to have a strong rookie year, but it’s possible he has more potential than Julius Randle and Aaron Gordon, says Ford. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders says he would still take Randle over Vonleh (on Twitter).
Kyler goes on to peg Randle as a mix between Zach Randolph and Paul Millsap (Twitter link). Randle has averaged 15.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game in his freshman year at Kentucky.
Dario Saric isn’t entering the 2014 draft, and Kyler believes his decision was based on money. Given the talent of this year’s draft class, Kyler notes Saric is due for a higher selection and a bigger payday if he waits to enter the draft until next season (Twitter links).
Ford, in another Insider piece, passes along that Wiggins is believed by executives around the league to be the number one pick, pending an absolute clean bill of health from Kansas teammate Joel Embiid.
Scouts believe Aaron Gordon is likely to return for his sophomore year at Arizona, says Ford, but the same scouts say if he declares for the draft, he’s likely to be selected as a mid-to-late first-round pick. Hoops Rumors’ Eddie Scarito recently profiled Gordon’s game.
Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe argues that the days of the polished NBA rookie are dying, as most one-and-done players who enter the league now need a few years to develop their game. Washburn points to the NCAA tournament performances of Wiggins, Marcus Smart, and Jabari Parker as evidence.

Draft Rumors: Wiggins, Parker, Smart

March 24th, 2014 at 5:18pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, we learned Ohio State small forward LaQuinton Ross is on the fence about entering the draft. While he’s not one of the top talents available this June, Ross was ranked No. 32 by ESPN’s Chad Ford and that’s no small feat given the depth of this year’s class. Here’s the latest draft news..

Projected lottery picks Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Doug McDermott some of their worst during NCAA tournament action the past few days. Still, their performances haven’t discouraged NBA team executives, who tell Chris Mannix of SI.com that this weekend’s results will do little to alter their draft stocks (Twitter link).
In today’s column, David Aldridge of NBA.com looks at the shallow pool of point guards in the 2014 draft. While there’s a significant drop-off after Australian prospect Dante Exum, Oklahoma State sophomore Marcus Smart, and Syracuse freshman Tyler Ennis, Aldridge rightfully notes that it’s not a huge problem for most NBA teams. The classic, pass-first floor general is nearly extinct thanks to rule changes over the years.
NBA scouts told Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post that they regarded 6’6″ Colorado point guard Spencer Dinwiddie a late first-round pick, at least, before he tore his ACL in January. Concerns about his recovery and the absence of a chance to take part in predraft workouts will make it easy for Dinwiddie to decide against entering this year’s draft, Dempsey believes.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Barkley, Draft, Boeheim

March 23rd, 2014 at 9:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

In an article by Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, Charles Barkley opined that this year’s freshman stars will struggle in the NBA. Barkley has long been in favor of players staying in college for a minimum of two years. Barkley was quoted as saying, “I want these kids to stay in school longer because the NBA is as worse as it’s ever been. It’s not good basketball. It’s frustrating for me to watch. These kids aren’t physically or emotionally ready to come and play against grown men. You look at the last two days. We’ve had on paper Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins, they’re supposed to be 1-2, 3 at the latest, they didn’t have very good games. And it’s just one game but if they’re going to struggle against Mercer and Stanford, they’re really going to struggle against grown men.”