Beka Burjanadze Rumors | Hoops Rumors

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.

And-Ones: Awards, Draft, Agents

April 27th, 2015 at 5:38pm CST by Chuck Myron

The media votes on most of the NBA awards, but the players will have their say with their own set of honors this year. The National Basketball Players Association announced today that it will hand out 10 awards in Las Vegas this July, as voted on by players. They’ll select their own MVP, the best rookie, and the best defender, and they’ll also hand out trophies for “Man of the Year,” “Global Impact Player,” “Hardest to Guard,” “Clutch Performer,” “Coach You Would Want To Play For,” “Best Home Court Advantage” and “Player You Secretly Wish Was on Your Team.” While we wait to see if those honors will have the resonance that the traditional ones have, here’s more from around the NBA:

Combo forward Beka Burjanadze submitted his name for the draft, reports Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). That evidently means the 21-year-old from the nation of Georgia declared before Sunday’s deadline to do so. He’s only the 29th-best prospect from overseas among those born in 1994, according to Givony, who notes in his tweet that Burjanadze is a cousin of Zaza Pachulia.
Former LSU power forward Jordan Mickey has signed with agents Matt Babcock and Adie von Gontard of the APAA Sports Group, Givony reports (Twitter link). Mickey, who entered the draft this year after his sophomore season, is the 49th-best prospect overall as Givony ranks them and No. 50 in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com listings.
Rakeem Christmas is going with Stephen Pina of ASM Sports for his representation, according to Cameron Chung of the Sports Agent Blog. Fresh off his senior year at Syracuse, Christmas comes in 52nd in Givony‘s rankings and is 55th with Ford.