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Raptors Hosting Free Agent Mini-Camp

June 12th, 2019 at 10:58am CST by Luke Adams

As the Raptors‘ players and coaches focus on preparing for a potential NBA Finals close-out game in Oakland on Thursday night, the team’s front office will take a closer look at a number of veteran free agents over the next two days in Toronto.

According to a press release, the Raptors will host a free agent mini-camp at its practice facility on Wednesday and Thursday, with 23 players scheduled to attend.

Those players are as follows:

McLemore, Patton, and Payne – all former first-round picks – are perhaps the most well-known players on the list of participants, but they aren’t the only ones with some NBA experience. Artis, Brussino, Costello, Lofton, Thomas, and Weber have each appeared in at least one regular season game as well.

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Draft Updates: Green Room, Sexton, Gilgeous-Alexander, Shamet

June 16th, 2018 at 3:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

The names of several green room invitees for Thursday night’s draft have been leaked, relays Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Only college players will be in the room this year, as Luka Doncic is still involved with his season for Real Madrid.

The projected top picks will be well represented with Arizona’s Deandre Ayton, Duke’s Marvin Bagley III, Michigan State’s Jaren Jackson Jr., Texas’ Mo Bamba, Alabama’s Collin Sexton, Oklahoma’s Trae Young, Duke’s Wendell Carter Jr., Missouri’s Michael Porter Jr., Villanova’s Mikal Bridges, Kentucky’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Michigan State’s Miles Bridges all on hand.

Joining them will be Kentucky’s Kevin Knox, Texas A&M’s Robert Williams, Miami’s Lonnie Walker, Villanova’s Donte DiVincenzo, Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith, Boston College’s Jerome Robinson, Boise State’s Chandler Hutchison and UCLA’s Aaron Holiday.

There’s more pre-draft news to pass along:

  • Sexton doesn’t have any more workouts on his schedule after completing today’s session with the Magic, tweets Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Sexton has been limiting his workouts to teams in his projected range, as the only others were for the Cavaliers (No. 8 pick), Knicks (No. 9) and Hornets (No. 11).
  • Gilgeous-Alexander is a rare mid-level prospect who hasn’t conducted a single publicized workout, notes Bryan Kalbrosky of Hoops Hype. Although a team or two may have brought him in for a secret session, there are also organizations that tried to work him out but were denied. Kalbrosky speculates Gilgeous-Alexander’s representatives may be trying to steer him to a large-market team like the Clippers, who hold the 12th and 13th picks.
  • The Sixers will work out Wichita State’s Landry Shamet on Tuesday, Kalbroksy tweets, adding that Philadelphia may consider him at No. 26.
  • The Suns held a workout today with Texas Tech’s Smith as the biggest name in the group. Also participating, according to a tweet from the team, were Georgia Tech’s Josh Okogie, Notre Dame’s Bonzie Colson, Wake Forest’s Bryant Crawford, Oregon State’s Drew Eubanks and Bosnia’s Markus Loncar. This is the Suns’ final scheduled session before the draft, tweets Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic.
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Draft Updates: Porter, Doncic, Bagley, Bamba

June 14th, 2018 at 9:06am CST by Arthur Hill

Teams that had planned to attend Michael Porter Jr.‘s workout tomorrow are being told it will be held at another time, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. Porter’s representatives canceled the session late Wednesday night without providing an explanation.

The move has led to speculation that Porter’s surgically repaired back may be bothering him, but it’s also possible he has received a guarantee that would make a group workout unnecessary. Porter’s camp may be rethinking his status and devoting time just to teams at the top of the draft, according to Tom Ziller of SB Nation, who adds that they now believe he will be taken in the top four.

There’s “a very real chance” that the Kings will use their No. 2 pick on Porter, Amick adds, but it’s not certain at this point whether last night’s news will impact their decision. The organization may request more medical information and take another look at Porter in action before making a commitment.

There’s more draft-related news this morning:

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Draft Workouts: Sexton, Hornets, Lakers, Wizards

June 13th, 2018 at 2:43pm CST by Luke Adams

Alabama point guard Collin Sexton will headline the Hornets‘ pre-draft workouts on Thursday, according to a press release from the team. Sexton’s stock is high enough that he’s a decent bet to come off the board within the first 10 picks of next week’s draft, but if he slips to No. 11, Charlotte would face an interesting decision — drafting Sexton would almost certainly increase the trade buzz surrounding the team’s current standout point guard Kemba Walker.

In addition to Sexton and previously-reported participant Zhaire Smith, Josh Newkirk (Indiana), Matt Mobley (St. Bonaventure), Deng Adel (Louisville), Gary Clark (Cincinnati), and Devon Hall (Virginia) will also get a look from the Hornets on Thursday.

Here are more updates on pre-draft workouts from around the NBA:

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Eastern Notes: Hood, Ellington, Knicks, Sixers

June 12th, 2018 at 10:51pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The consensus among NBA insiders is that Rodney Hood cost himself a significant amount of future earnings in free agency after struggling to find his way in the playoffs, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes. Hood made slightly under $3.39M this past season and is set to become a restricted free agent once the league’s new year begins July 1.

Sources tell Vardon that the Cavaliers still like Hood and can envision a future with him on the team. The shooting guard fell out of the rotation during the latter half of the team’s postseason run before playing 52 minutes over the team’s last two NBA Finals contests. He finished the postseason with a plus/minus of -92 in a total of 260 minutes.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

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Draft Workouts: Simons, Allen, Grizzlies, Knicks

June 6th, 2018 at 9:15am CST by Luke Adams

IMG Academy guard Anfernee Simons, projected as a possible first-round pick, has a busy workout schedule leading up to the 2018 NBA draft. Having already auditioned for the Lakers, Trail Blazers, Suns, and Bulls, Simons will reportedly work out for the Magic as well, as we heard on Monday. During Simons’ Tuesday workout with the Lakers, he added several more teams to that list, confirming that he’ll also get a look from the Jazz, Knicks, Sixers, and Bucks, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com relays.

That workout with the Jazz will happen on Thursday, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).

While Simons has a wide range of potential landing spots, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony has the youngster coming off the board at No. 38 to the Sixers in his latest mock draft.

Here are a few more updates and notes on pre-draft prospect workouts:

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Draft Decisions: Crawford, Heron, B. Brown, Reese

May 29th, 2018 at 12:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Wake Forest guard Bryant Crawford has decided to remain in the 2018 NBA draft and will sign with an agent, sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Crawford is coming off a junior year in which he averaged 16.9 PPG and 4.9 APG with a .413/.358/.868 shooting line for the Demon Deacons.

Crawford, who doesn’t show up on Jonathan Givony’s top-100 list at ESPN.com, seems unlikely to be drafted, but would have the opportunity to seek out a training camp invite or a roster spot on an international team if he’s not selected next month.

With Wednesday’s NCAA early entrant withdrawal deadline looming, here are more updates on underclassmen making draft decisions:

  • Auburn’s Mustapha Heron has decided to withdraw from the draft, but won’t be returning to the Tigers, according to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com, who writes that Heron will transfer to a school closer to his Connecticut home to be near his ailing mother. The sophomore guard initially indicated he planned to hire an agent, but never did so, preserving his NCAA eligibility.
  • Bryce Brown, Heron’s teammate at Auburn, will return to the Tigers for his senior year, he announced today (via Twitter). Brown is the second Auburn underclassmen to withdraw from the draft today, along with center Austin Wiley.
  • ESPN’s Jeff Goodman passes along updates on two more players who are withdrawing from the draft, reporting (via Twitter) that Canisius guard Isaiah Reese and Northern Colorado guard Jordan Davis are headed back to school for their junior year and senior year, respectively.
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Draft Updates: Ahmad, Reed, Martin, Weatherspoon

April 5th, 2018 at 9:14pm CST by Luke Adams

West Virginia junior forward Esa Ahmad will enter his name in the 2018 NBA draft pool, but won’t hire an agent, the program announced today in a press release. Ahmad is the second West Virginia underclassmen to decide to test the waters this spring, joining sophomore forward Sagaba Konate.

“Just like Sags, Esa will go through the NBA Draft procedures in a systematic and professional manner by exploring the situation. Numerous college basketball players are testing the waters, gaining valuable feedback and leaving open their option to return to school,” head coach Bob Huggins said in a statement.

Ahmad averaged a respectable 10.2 PPG and 5.5 RPG for the Mountaineers in 2017/18, but neither he nor Konate are viewed as elite prospects. The only West Virginia prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN is senior Jevon Carter, who comes in at No. 44.

Here are more updates on early entrants for the 2018 NBA draft:

  • Junior center Trayvon Reed is declaring for the draft without hiring an agent, per Texas Southern head coach Mike Davis (Twitter link via Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston). A 7’2″ rim protector who averaged 3.1 BPG in 2017/18, Reed will have the option of withdrawing by May 30 and returning to school for his senior year.
  • After a breakout sophomore season in which he averaged 19.8 PPG, Towson guard Zane Martin announced that he’ll enter the 2018 draft without an agent. “This is a chance for Zane to get feedback from NBA teams and will allow him to gather as much information as possible about the entire process and his future prospects that will help him make a decision that’s best for him and his future aspirations,” head coach Pat Skerry said.
  • Mississippi State guard Nick Weatherspoon is testing the draft waters, he tells Evan Daniels of 247Sports.com (Twitter link). Weatherspoon posted 10.8 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 2.1 APG during his freshman season with the Bulldogs.
  • Two Wake Forest juniors, guard Bryant Crawford and center Doral Moore, are testing the draft waters without representation, the program recently announced (Twitter link). Crawford posted 16.9 PPG and 4.9 APG in 2017/18, while Moore nearly averaged a double-double (11.1 PPG, 9.4 RPG).
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