Anfernee Simons Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Workouts: Lakers, Simons, Wizards, Nuggets

May 22nd, 2018 at 8:55am CST by Luke Adams

While the Lakers don’t hold their own first-round pick in this year’s draft, the club is currently armed with a pair of selections at 25th and 47th overall, and is doing its due diligence on potential selections. One prospect earning a look from Los Angeles is Duke guard Gary Trent Jr., who will work out for the club on Wednesday, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link).

Before they bring in Trent, the Lakers will work out six prospects on Tuesday, according to a team release. Emmett Naar (St. Mary’s), Barry Brown (Kansas State), Fletcher Magee (Wofford), Gabe DeVoe (Clemson), Duncan Robinson (Michigan), and Obi Enechionyia (Temple) are auditioning for L.A.

Here’s more draft workout news from around the NBA:

IMG Academy guard Anfernee Simons worked out for the Bulls on Sunday, according to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com, who tweets that Simons also had a Pro Day prior to last week’s draft combine. Approximately 20 NBA teams attended that session, per Zagoria.
The Wizards are working out six prospects on Tuesday, including Kentucky’s Hamidou Diallo, the team announced in a press release. Chris Chiozza (Florida), Tiwian Kendley (Morgan State), Jairus Lyles (UMBC), Doral Moore (Wake Forest), and Ray Spalding (Louisville) will also participate.
Purdue’s Carsen Edwards, who is still weighing whether or not to remain in the draft, worked out for the Nets on Monday and is still scheduled to get a look from the Pistons and Hawks, tweets Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports.
Six players worked out for the Nuggets on Monday, with Cody Martin (Nevada), Reid Travis (Stanford), Isaiah Reese (Canisius), Admiral Schofield (Tennessee), William McDowell-White (Brose Bamberg), and local prospect Daniel Amigo (Denver) auditioning for the club.

Combine Notes: Bridges, Sixers, DiVincenzo, Sexton

May 18th, 2018 at 2:29pm CST by Luke Adams

Michigan State wing Miles Bridges, a probable lottery pick, interviewed with the Bulls, Pacers, Kings, Cavaliers, Spurs, Nuggets, and Clippers earlier this week, and was set to meet with the Sixers, Hornets, and Knicks on Friday, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Bridges is one of several intriguing prospects the Sixers are meeting with in Chicago this week, according to Pompey, who adds Missouri forward Michael Porter Jr., Michigan State power forward Jaren Jackson Jr., and IMG Academy guard Anfernee Simons to that list. Kentucky’s Hamidou Diallo was also scheduled to interview with Philadelphia on Friday, Pompey tweets.

Finally, Pompey has details on Villanova’s Donte DiVincenzo, who has been impressing NBA evaluators at this week’s combine and says he’s received plenty of “positive feedback.” According to Pompey, DiVincenzo has had meetings with the Lakers, Magic, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Cavaliers, Spurs, Hawks, and Grizzlies in Chicago.

Here’s more on meetings taking place at the combine:

Creighton guard Khyri Thomas has met – or will meet – with the Trail Blazers, Suns, Bulls, Wizards, Hawks, Celtics, and Lakers at this week’s draft combine, writes Jason Quick of The Oregonian. Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News adds the Jazz to that list. Thomas is viewed as a potential first-round pick, ranking 23rd on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com.
Miami guard Lonnie Walker, the No. 14 prospect on Givony’s top 100, met with the Knicks and a few other top-10 teams at the combine, per Ian Begley of ESPN.com.
Landry Shamet (Wichita State), Moritz Wagner (Michigan), and Wendell Carter Jr. (Duke) were among the prospects to interview with the Timberwolves this week, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News.
Miami swingman Bruce Brown Jr. and Alabama guard Collin Sexton are among the combine participants who have met with the Magic, according to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter links). According to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer, Sexton also met with the Hornets this week and expects to work out for Charlotte sometime before the draft.
The Grizzlies and Hawks were among the teams to interview Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham this week, writes Eric Woodard of The Deseret News.
South Carolina wing Brian Bowen may not stay in the draft, but he has been busy lately. According to Woodyard, Bowen had pre-draft workouts with the Nets, Celtics, Spurs, and Jazz, and interviewed with the Timberwolves, Raptors, and Kings at the combine.

Draft Rumors: Pistons, Suns, Doncic, Z. Smith

May 18th, 2018 at 11:37am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons‘ meetings at this week’s draft combine have included an interesting twist, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com, who writes that the prospects interviewed by Detroit talked about being outfitted with a virtual reality headset.

“They didn’t really ask any tricky questions,” Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham said of his meeting with the Pistons. “They did a virtual reality where I was like in the headphones and goggles and I was making plays – see if you made the right reads and stuff like that. It was cool.”

Penn State’s Tony Carr had a similar account of his interview with the Pistons: “They definitely did some interesting virtual-reality testing things just to kind of figure out your decision making and things like that (with) the 3-D glasses. It was pretty cool. I actually watched my little brother play with them but I’ve never used them myself.”

According to Langlois, the list of prospects who have met – or will meet – with the Pistons at the combine also included Tyus Battle (Syracuse), Shake Milton (SMU), Rawle Alkins (Arizona), Brian Bowen (South Carolina), Jevon Carter (West Virginia), and Trevon Duval (Duke). In a tweet, Langlois adds Kentucky’s Hamidou Diallo to that list as well.

Here are a few more draft notes and rumors:

Sources familiar with the Suns‘ thinking tell Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that new head coach Igor Kokoskov likely won’t be too involved with the team’s decision on the No. 1 pick. Kokoskov may have some input, but the Suns don’t want to put him in a tough position by creating the impression that he lobbied for or against Luka Doncic, who has played for Kokoskov on the Serbian national team.
Speaking of Doncic, agent Bill Duffy tells Deveney that “Luka has stated no particular thought on any NBA teams.” The comment is certainly intended a response to those who interpreted Doncic’s lack of commitment to the NBA as a signal that he doesn’t want to play for the Kings or another team that might use a high pick on him.
Deveney has another draft-related tidbit for us, writing in a separate article that no player has been drawing more interest this week from “late-lottery” executives than Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith. In Jonathan Givony’s latest mock draft at ESPN.com, Smith comes off the board at No. 16, but he could end up sneaking into the back end of the lottery, as Deveney details.
According to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link), the Pelicans, Hawks, Cavaliers, Kings, Thunder, Grizzlies, Jazz, Spurs, Sixers, Nets, and Timberwolves have reached out to express interest in IMG Academy prospect Anfernee Simons.

Draft Updates: M. Robinson, Hutchison, Edwards, More

May 16th, 2018 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Two notable prospects have withdrawn from this week’s NBA draft combine, according to reports. Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com tweets that Mitchell Robinson won’t participate in the event, while Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com tweets that Boise State’s Chandler Hutchison has also withdrawn. In each case, it’s not clear if the player has received a promise from a team or if there’s another reason for his decision.

While NBA evaluators have four years of film on Hutchison to watch, Robinson remains one of the mystery men of this year’s draft class. Due to eligibility issues, he didn’t play a single minute of college basketball, so his draft stock remains cloudy.

Let’s round up a few more draft-related news items and notes…

Purdue guard Carsen Edwards was spotted at the combine, so it appears he received a last-minute invite due to the late withdrawals, tweets Givony.
Following the official NBA combine this week, another event called the Pro Basketball Combine will take place next week. The Pro Basketball Combine released its full list of participants today, with Deng Adel, Maverick Rowan, and LiAngelo Ball among the names on that list.
A handful of early entrants have withdrawn – or will withdraw – from the draft to return to school next season, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN (Twitter link). Those players include Malik Hines (UMass), Kalob Ledoux (McNeese State), Malik Martin (South Florida) and Zane Martin (Towson), with Ledoux and Malik Martin expected to transfer.
A ton of meetings will take place at the combine this week, so it’s likely not worth reading too much into each one, but here are a few early updates: The Pistons are meeting with Kansas guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (Twitter link via Vince Ellis of The Detroit Press), the Bucks are interviewing Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith (Twitter link via Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times), the Timberwolves are interviewing Anfernee Simons (Twitter link via Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News), and the Knicks are meeting with Trae Young (link via Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News).

Anfernee Simons To Enter 2018 NBA Draft

March 22nd, 2018 at 8:33am CST by Luke Adams

Top prospect Anfernee Simons will enter the 2018 NBA draft rather than heading to college, agents Drew Rosenhaus and Bobby Petriella tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Simons, who will be one year removed from high school this June, has spent the last year at IMG Academy in Florida. He had been eligible to play college ball next season and was being recruited by North Carolina State and Tennessee, among others, per Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link). However, Simons has instead decided to go pro.

A 6’4″ guard out of Orlando, Simons is currently ranked 23rd on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com. In his most recent mock draft, Givony has Simons coming off the board at No. 19 to the Jazz, noting that the 18-year-old is one of the least NBA-ready players in the draft, but will intrigue teams “due to his combination of youth, explosiveness and shot-making prowess.”

Ricky O’Donnell of SBNation and Jeremy Woo of SI.com took in-depth looks at Simons earlier this season, so be sure to check out those pieces for more info on the young guard.

And-Ones: Trade Candidates, N. Robinson, Simons

January 16th, 2018 at 3:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic has been the subject of more trade rumors than virtually any other NBA player over the last several weeks, but he’s not the only “sell-high” trade candidate around the league, writes Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com. In an Insider-only piece, Pelton identifies several players whose trade value may not get higher than it is right now, including Grizzlies guard Tyreke Evans, Suns center Alex Len, and Nets teammates Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris.

Those players may not be on the move before next month’s trade deadline – Pelton admits that the idea of dealing Dinwiddie would be a “particularly tough sell” for the Nets – but it would make sense for those clubs to at least explore the possibilities.

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

Former NBA guard Nate Robinson has officially signed a BIG3 contract and joined Tri-State – Jermaine O’Neal‘s team – as a co-captain, the league announced today (Twitter link). We heard as recently as last month that Robinson hadn’t given up on the idea of getting back to the NBA.
While top prospect Anfernee Simons may commit to a college for the 2018/19 season at some point, he’s also considering making the leap directly to the NBA this year, as Jared Weiss of USA Today details. Simons reportedly intends to test the 2018 draft waters in the same way that Kentucky’s Hamidou Diallo did a year ago.
Kristaps Porzingis is one of the few active NBA players capable of potentially matching the 48-point, 17-rebound stat line that Anthony Davis posted in Madison Square Garden on Sunday. While Porzingis isn’t at Davis’ level, Ian Begley of ESPN points to the development of the Pelicans star as evidence that the Knicks should be patient with Porzingis’ own development.
Former Mavericks guard Gian Clavell, who was on a two-way contract with Dallas earlier this season, has signed with Turkish team Sakarya Buyuksehir for the rest of the 2017/18 campaign, per international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link). Clavell appeared in seven games for the Mavs.

Anfernee Simons May Skip College, Enter Draft

November 18th, 2017 at 9:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

Anfernee Simons, projected as a top 10 recruit in the high school class of 2018, is “strongly considering” bypassing college and entering the NBA draft, reports Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

Simons would be eligible because he is in the middle of a post-graduate year at IMG in Florida, which amounts to a fifth year of high school. The 6’4″ shooting guard graduated from high school last year, his prep school coach confirms, and will turn 19 in June, which meets the NBA’s qualifications for the draft.

“Some people have brought it to my attention,” Simons told ESPN. “As long as the opportunity is there, I will do it. I can see myself going to the NBA combine, if I have enough teams to actually invite me or recommend me for the combine and enough teams want to bring me for workouts. I really need to hit the weight room hard and get a little stronger.”

Currently listed as No. 8 in ESPN’s ranking of the top college prospects, Simons has already attracted the attention of several NBA teams. Six franchises sent scouts or executives to watch him at this weekend’s National Prep Showcase in Connecticut.

Givony doesn’t expect Simons to help a team right away, adding that anyone who selects him would be getting a long-term prospect. However, players in similar situations have been taken early before, with the Bucks’ Thon Maker a recent example, and someone might be willing to gamble on Simons if he decides in April to put his name in the draft.