Branden Dawson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Lakers, Bogdanovic, Draft

May 26th, 2015 at 6:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak indicated that he hasn’t heard any offers enticing enough to sway him to deal away the No. 2 overall pick this June, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. “It would have to be a heck of an opportunity for us to consider doing something like that,” Kupchak said. “You have to weigh it against who you would get as the second pick. We’re a little bit impatient. So if you came across something that made your team better quicker, that would probably be a veteran. That’s something you would consider.”

But the GM also noted that even acquiring a solid veteran might not be enough for the franchise to make a trade, Holmes adds. “Something could be said for having the No. 2 pick in terms of building going forward,” Kupchak said. “You know you’re going to get a really good player. You know you’re going to get a player under a contract that you’ll be able to control for at least five years at a reasonable amount before you have to consider an extension. Those are pluses in addition to getting a heck of a talent.”

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Suns draft-and-stash pick Bogdan Bogdanovic won’t be making the jump to the NBA next season, and he will remain with the Turkish club Fenerbahce, David Pick of Eurobasket.com tweets. The 22-year-old was the No. 27 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft.
The Lakers held workouts today for T.J. McConnell (Arizona), Bryce Dejean-Jones (Iowa State), Kevin Pangos (Gonzaga), Dez Wells (Maryland), Seth Tuttle (Northern Iowa), and Maurice Walker (Minnesota), Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com relays.
Wyoming big man Larry Nance Jr. has a workout with the Lakers scheduled for next week, Robert Gagliardi of WyomingCowboysBlog.com reports.
The Suns worked out Askia Booker (Colorado), Branden Dawson (Michigan State), Kendall Gray (Delaware State), Tyler Harvey (Eastern Washington), Le’Bryan Nash (Oklahoma State), and Chris Walker (Florida), Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic relays (via Twitter).

Draft Rumors: Porzingis, Wood, Dawson

May 15th, 2015 at 10:29am CST by Chuck Myron

At least one GM is among the multiple executives who believe Latvian power forward Kristaps Porzingis has a shot to be drafted as highly as No. 2, reports Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. The head of basketball ops for another team said that he’s a “lock” for the top five and that it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go within the top three, adding that he’d draft him in front of Jahlil Okafor, the Duke center who occupied the top spot in projections for most of the season. The 19-year-old is No. 5 in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings and No. 8 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Here’s more as draft rumors kick into high gear:

Christian Wood, a power forward out of UNLV, is hoping to follow in Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s footsteps as a ball-handler with unusual height and length, Howard-Cooper writes in the same piece. The Bucks intend to interview Wood, Virginia small forward Justin Anderson and others today, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.
Both the DraftExpress team and Ford go in depth on the measurements from the combine, with Ford, in his Insider-only piece, noting that most top prospects sized up well and that this year’s draft class is among the longest groups in memory in terms of both height and wingspan.
Michigan State power forward Branden Dawson has interviewed with the Wizards, Clippers and Pelicans at the draft combine, as he told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Ellis, in the same report, adds Stanley Johnson, Frank Kaminsky and Rashad Vaughn to the list of prospects with whom the Pistons have spoken.
Terry Rozier met with the Pistons, too, as well as the Mavs, Suns, Knicks and Spurs, reports Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
The Sixers, Lakers, Cavs and Bucks have interviewed Cameron Payne, Kyler also tweets. Payne spoke with our Zach Links recently about his draft prospects.
Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer adds the Hornets and Warriors to the list of teams speaking with Rakeem Christmas (Twitter link).

Draft Links: Parker, Hollis-Jefferson, Tarczewski

April 15th, 2014 at 9:10pm CST by Ryan Raroque

A few days ago, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reported that Jabari Parker’s decision on whether or not he’ll enter the 2014 NBA Draft would be expected by either today or tomorrow. However, Duke basketball associate director of sports information Matt Plizga confirms that the 6’8 forward will not announce his future plans tomorrow, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (first reported by the Chicago Tribune). Regardless of when that decision may be announced, Basketball Insiders writer Yannis Koutroupis analyzes what factors should be considered as Parker weighs his options.

With that aside, here are some more draft-related links to pass along tonight:

University of Arizona head coach Sean Miller confirms that Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Kaleb Tarczewski have opted to stay in school another year, tweets Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star.
According to the Michigan State Spartans’ official basketball website, junior swingman Branden Dawson will return for his senior season.
Nik Stauskas intends to sign with agent Mark Bartelstein, reports ESPN’s Jeff Goodman (Twitter link).
NBA draft prospect Jerami Grant passes the eye-test as far as length and athleticism goes, though Kevin Pelton, Amin Elhassan, and Chad Ford of ESPN are concerned about his limited offensive game. In an Insiders-only piece, Pelton, Elhassan, and Ford take an in-depth look at the former Syracuse forward through analytics, scouting, and front office perspectives.
In another article, Pelton, Elhassan, and Ford evaluate former Michigan guard Gary Harris (Insiders only). Pelton says that Harris should go high in the lottery; Elhassan and Ford focus more on the 6’4″ guard’s ability as a two-way player.
In his own piece, Ford passes along his observations from the 2014 Nike Hoops Summit, which included more than a handful of potential NBA prospects who could enter the draft as early as 2015. According to one scout, the talent crop didn’t stand out as much as last year’s class, though among the names who impressed were Emmanuel Mudiay (committed to SMU) and Jahlil Okafor (committed to Duke).
The American prospects from the Nike Hoops Summit are grouped according to possible stardom, potential to be an NBA-rotation player, or their ability to become a good college player by Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders.