Purdue’s Dakota Mathias has agreed to a partially guaranteed contract with the Cavaliers, tweets Jake Fischer of Sports Illustrated.
The 22-year-old senior is known for his accuracy from long distance. He finished sixth in the NCAA this season in 3-point field goal percentage at 46.6% and is the Boilermakers’ all-time leader with 250 made 3-pointers.
No details were released on how much of his contract will be guaranteed.
The Nets may be willing to package their picks to move up for Bosnia’s Dzanan Musa, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The 19-year-old small forward has spent the past week visiting teams that might be willing to use a first-round selection on him. The Nets hold the 29th pick, but may have to give up their second-rounders at 40 and 45 to get into Musa’s range.
Musa has two years remaining on his contract with KK Cedevita in the EuroLeague, but he plans to come to the NBA next season.
“I want to compete at the highest level and to compete with the best players in the world,” Musa said in an interview with CBS Sports affiliate 1430-AM in Indianapolis. “[My strength is] scoring: shooting, midrange floaters, to the rim. … I just want to get picked by the team who sees me as a project. But I think I’m a lottery pick for sure.”
There’s more draft-related news to pass along:
The Bulls have the pieces to move into the Top 5 of the draft but it’s unknown whether they like any prospect enough to do that, according to Mark Strotman of NBC Sports Chicago. The Bulls could package their picks at No. 7 and No. 22 and power forward Bobby Portis to make a deal with the Hawks at No. 3 or the Grizzlies at No. 4. Memphis, though, might want to unload Chandler Parsons‘ contract, in which case the Bulls probably wouldn’t have to include Portis, Strotman continues. With Lauri Markkanen the long-term solution at power forward, the Bulls can afford to deal Portis, who might become a restricted free agent next summer if he doesn’t receive a contract extension, Strotman adds.
In other draft-related musings involving Central Division clubs:
After having stocked up in draft picks in many recent seasons, the Celtics head into this month’s draft with only one selection at No. 27 overall. That allows Boston to narrow its focus during its pre-draft preparations, and the club is doing just that as it weighs its options at No. 27, according to director of player personnel Austin Ainge (Twitter link via Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com).
“I think there are about 10 guys that we’ve kind of narrowed it down to that we think have a chance to be there,” said the Celtics’ executive. “Like I said, we evaluate the whole draft all the time. But we’ve kind of tried to laser focus in to about 10.”
One of those 10 players could be Duke’s Grayson Allen, who is viewed as a probable late first-round pick and is working out for Boston today, as previously reported. Joining him at that group workout are Deng Adel (Louisville), Jeffrey Carroll (Oklahoma State), Billy Preston (Bosnia), Allonzo Trier (Arizona), and Kenrich Williams (TCU), tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.
Here are a few more pre-draft workout updates:
UCLA point guard Aaron Holiday and Villanova floor leader Jalen Brunson headline the list of six players the Hawks will work out on Friday, according to a team press release. Holiday is ranked No. 17 by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, while Brunson is rated No. 26 overall.
Gary Clark (Cincinnati), Rawle Alkins (Arizona), Juwan Morgan (Indiana) and Tony Carr (Penn State) are the other players trying to make a favorable impression. The Hawks hosted Donte DiVincenzo (Villanova), Ben Lammers (Georgia Tech), Jalen McDaniels (San Diego State), Markis McDuffie (Wichita State), Doral Moore (Wake Forest) and Brandon Sampson (LSU) on Thursday.
In other draft workouts by Eastern Conference clubs: