Cameron Clark

Atlantic Notes: ‘Melo, Garnett, Felton, Draft

Neither New York team has a pick in either round of Thursday’s draft, but it seems there’s a decent chance that will change. The Knicks are thinking about trading Iman Shumpert for the first-rounder they’re seemingly intent on landing, and the Nets have scheduled workouts for this week with a bunch of potential second-round prospects, as we detail below amid the latest from the Big Apple:

  • Carmelo Anthony has opted out of his deal with New York, but it wasn’t news to the Knicks. He told the team three weeks ago that he still planned to opt out and reiterated as much during their meeting a little more than a week ago, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks nonetheless like their chances of re-signing him, Berman also notes.
  • The Nets are quietly optimistic that Kevin Garnett will return next season, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. His willingness to play out the final year of his contract, worth $12MM, is reportedly key to the future of soon-to-be free agent Paul Pierce, as Stein notes.
  • Raymond Felton avoided jail time as part of a plea agreement to resolve felony gun-related charges stemming from a February incident, reports Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com. The Knicks point guard has been a part of trade rumors.
  • C.J. Fair, Semaj Christon, James Michael McAdoo, Johnny O’Bryant III, Xavier Thames, Ronald Roberts Jr., Langston Hall, Branden Frazier, Cameron Clark, Kyle Casey, Akil Mitchell, Cory Jefferson and Artem Klimenko are all working out for the Nets this week, the team announced.

Draft Notes: Clippers, Vonleh, Hornets, Hairston

The Clippers are interested in trading up from pick No. 28, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Shelburne’s piece centers on a profile of former University of Colorado guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who can’t work out because he’s still recovering from a torn ACL. Dinwiddie’s nonetheless had meetings with the Bucks, Wizards, Bulls and Celtics, and he’s scheduled interviews and physicals with the Clippers, Heat, Hawks and Thunder, according to Shelburne. The ESPN scribe also says that he’ll interview and take a physical for the Jazz, advancing an earlier report that he was set to interview with the team. Here’s more on the draft:

  • Julius Randle is set to work out for the Jazz tomorrow, tweets Utah’s radio announcer David Locke.
  • Marcus Smart and Elfrid Payton are expected to work out for the Lakers on Friday for the second time, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports Spears advises his readers to “keep an eye” on Payton (via Twitter) in light of the second workout.
  • Nik Stauskas is expected in for his first workout with the Lakers, who have struggled to get Stauskas in, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times.
  • Rodney Hood had to sit out most of his Hornets workout today due to illness, reports Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
  • Gary Harris and Zach LaVine will work out for the Hornets tomorrow, tweets Bonnell, who adds Charlotte’s other new workout appointees in a separate tweet: Rion Brown; Ronald Roberts Jr.; and Markel Brown, who missed an earlier workout due to travel issues.
  • The Rockets worked out Shabazz Napier, Xavier Thames, Patric Young, Nick Russell, and Kadeem Coleby, tweets Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
  • Sim Bhullar, Earnest Ross, Ian Chiles, Cameron Clark, Philipp Neumann, and Jordan Bachynski will work out for the Wizards tomorrow, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.

Earlier updates:

  • Noah Vonleh will work out for the Sixers on Thursday, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
  • Elfrid Payton, Josh Huestis, James Bell and Jordan Clarkson are the previously unreported prospects performing for the Hornets today, as Chris Littmann of The Sporting News tweets.
  • P.J. Hairston will audition for the Hawks, as he tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, who also reports that Hairston will show off for the Grizzlies, Lakers and Bulls (Twitter links).
  • Kyle Anderson will work out for the Suns, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, as well as the Grizzlies, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter links). A previous report indicated that the Suns were set to audition Anderson a week ago, so this appears to be his second workout with Phoenix.
  • Anderson will also perform for the Bulls, as will Clint Capela and DeAndre Daniels, Zagoria tweets.
  • Jordan Adams, Devyn Marble, Sean Kilpatrick, C.J. Wilcox and Jarnell Stokes are working out for the Raptors today, the team announced. A report from last month indicated that Stokes had already worked out for Toronto, but given that the dispatch came in the middle of the draft combine, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was actually an interview between Stokes and the club, rather than a workout.
  • The Wizards are auditioning Semaj Christon, Nick Johnson, Deonte Burton, Alec Brown and Khem Birch today, according to Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (on Twitter).

Draft Notes: Celtics, Lakers, Kings, Randle

We rounded up the latest on draft workouts around the league this morning, but updates continue to pour in, so we’ll pass along draft-related news from this afternoon here:

  • Chad Ford of ESPN.com, in a chat with readers, identifies the Celtics, Lakers and Kings as the three teams most likely to trade their top-10 picks.
  • Julius Randle will have an individual workout with the Celtics, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.
  • Nik Stauskas is set to work out for the Suns, in addition to previously reported workouts with the Hornets, Celtics, and Lakers, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, who hears that those will be the only auditions Stauskas will do (Twitter links).
  • Gary Harris, T.J. Warren, K.J. McDaniels are among those showing off for the Sixers today, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
  • The Jazz will interview Spencer Dinwiddie next week, a source tells Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. Dinwiddie is recovering from a torn ACL and can’t work out, as Jones points out (Twitter links).
  • James Michael McAdoo, Jake Odum, Ronald Roberts Jr. and Scottie Wilbekin are scheduled to work out Thursday for the Pacers, the team announced (on Twitter).
  • Jordan Clarkson, David Stockton, Cameron Clark, Davante Gardner, Richard Solomon and Tyler Stone are auditioning for the Suns today, tweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
  • Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press adds Jordan Bachynski and Dwight Powell to the list of players working out for the Pistons. Okaro White is also showing off for the Pistons, as well as the Warriors, as Natalie Pierre of the Tallahassee Democrat details (hat tip to Ellis).

Draft Notes: McRae, Hood, Young, Suns, Smart

Earlier today, our own Zach Links (Twitter links) spoke with Tennesee guard Jordan McRae who told Hoops Rumors that he has worked out for the HeatPistons, and 76ers in addition to his previously reported audition with the Bulls.  Still on the docket for McRae are workouts with the Bucks, Raptors, Mavericks, Wizards, Pacers, and Rockets.  In total, McRae says he has “about nine” workouts to go, so there should be even more clubs on the horizon for him (link).  DraftExpress currently has McRae pegged to go to Toronto at No. 59 in their mock draft.  Here’s the latest draft news from around the league..

  • Rodney Hood, James Young, Zach LaVine, and Clint Capela are among those working out for the Suns today whom we hadn’t previously heard about. Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic has the details (Twitter links).
  • Marcus Smart says he’ll work out a second time for the Magic, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.
  • The Knicks will audition Patric Young, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com hears (Twitter link). They brought Markel Starks in for a look this weekend, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
  • Orlando Sanchez has already shown off for Kings, and he’ll also do so for Pacers, as Josh Newman of SNY.tv chronicles.
  • The Bucks brought Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Cameron Clark, Josh Huestis, Melvin Johnson, Ovie Soko, and Fuquan Edwin in for auditions today, the team announced.  Our own Zach Links interviewed Huestis in April as a part of our Prospect Profile series.
  • Edwin also has the Suns on his agenda, and he’s already worked out for the Spurs, Sixers, Kings and Clippers, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel adds the Knicks and Sixers to the list of teams for which Antetokounmpo auditioned (Twitter link).
  • Bryce Cotton is headed for a workout with the Mavs on Wednesday, tweets Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal.
  • DeAndre Kane, Jake Odum, Jakarr Sampson, and Okaro White are among those performing for the Grizzlies today, as Michael Cohen of The Commercial Appeal details in a subscription-only piece.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Draft, Clippers, Warriors

With the 2014 NBA Draft approaching, college coaches and player agents are relieved that Clippers owner Donald Sterling received a lifetime ban, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. A number of coaches Zagoria spoke to said there wouldn’t be an issue for any players the Clippers draft now that Sterling is gone.

More from the west:

  • The Jazz announced that they will hold pre-draft workouts tomorrow for Joe Jackson, Justin Cobbs, Fuquan Edwin, Cameron Clark, Travis Bader, and Josh Huestis (Twitter links).
  • Bryce Cotton is going to work out for the Jazz and the Kings this week, per a tweet from PL Sports Management. The point guard is currently ranked 62nd on Chad Ford of ESPN.com‘s Big Board.
  • The Warriors are intrigued by both Lionel Hollins and Mike D’Antoni for their vacant head coaching position, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).
  • Golden State hasn’t reached out to either Steve Kerr or Jeff Van Gundy yet for their coaching position, reports Zagoria (Twitter link).
  • On the possibility of re-signing with the Grizzlies, Mike Miller said, “as long as everything is done fairly, I’m definitely going to be back here,” tweets Rob Fischer of Sports 56 WHBQ. Miller is an unrestricted free agent.