D’Angelo Russell Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Clippers, Lakers, Stephenson

June 18th, 2015 at 7:06pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Clippers‘ roster could have been a markedly different one from today’s if not for former team owner Donald Sterling nixing a number of potential franchise-altering deals, James Herbert of CBSSports.com writes. “This is really only my third year but you can make a case this is our second year if you know what I’m saying,” coach/executive Doc Rivers told Beast 980’s Fred Roggin during a radio appearance. “If I someday wrote a book and told you a couple of the trades we had in the first year that we didn’t do because of other reasons, you would fall off your chair.” While Clippers fans ponder what might have been, here’s more from the NBA’s Pacific Division:

The Kings are bringing in Sam Dekker (Wisconsin), Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (Arizona), Mike Caffey (Long Beach State), Duje Dukan (Wisconsin), and Juwan Staten (West Virginia) for a group workout this Sunday, the team announced.
The Lakers brought in Emmanuel Mudiay (Guangdong) today for a second workout, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News relays (Twitter link).
The Lakers also have second workouts scheduled for Jahlil Okafor (Duke) on Friday, and D’Angelo Russell (Ohio State) on Saturday, Chad Ford of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter).
Lance Stephenson‘s failure in Charlotte should make him hungry to rebuild his value while with the Clippers, and trading for Stephenson was a wise move for the team since its salary cap situation makes adding impact players extremely difficult, Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report writes. Ding also notes that there is only one fully guaranteed year left on Stephenson’s deal, which will dampen any financial risk, as well as provide added motivation for the mercurial swingman to perform. Stephenson’s contract includes a team option worth $9.405MM for 2016/17.

Northwest Notes: Malone, Russell, Bjelica

June 18th, 2015 at 2:49pm CST by Chuck Myron

Michael Malone sought Wednesday to dismiss the idea that he and Pete D’Alessandro had a poor relationship during their time as coach and GM, respectively, of the Kings, as Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes from Malone’s introductory press conference as coach of the Nuggets. D’Alessandro, whom the Nuggets hired to a front office position shortly before they hired the coach, and Malone reportedly weren’t on speaking terms before Malone’s firing in Sacramento, but Malone insists they’ve maintained a consistent dialogue, as Dempsey relays.

“Pete and I have always respected each other, have always gotten along,” Malone said. “It was just that sometimes, the environment that we were working in was not conducive to a healthy relationship.”

That apparent jab at the Kings aside, there’s more on the Nuggets amid the latest from around the Northwest Division:

Ohio State playmaker D’Angelo Russell is working out for the Timberwolves today, a visit that the team pushed for as its maintained that he’s a consideration for them with the No. 1 overall pick, reports Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Wolves draft-and-stash prospect Nemanja Bjelica has told the manager of his Turkish team that he wants to head to the NBA, and the Fenerbahce Ulker team official assumes that Bjelica, the Euroleague MVP, won’t be back with the club (video link; translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia).
Joel Freeland doesn’t expect the Blazers to tender him the nearly $3.767MM qualifying offer it would take for the club to make him a restricted free agent this summer, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group hears (Twitter link). If that’s the case, he’d become an unrestricted free agent, but while the native of England is reportedly drawing interest from overseas, he’s said he’d prefer to stay in the NBA.
Nuggets team president Josh Kroenke, with duties that entail the work of ownership as well as those usually assigned to a GM, is clearly the man who calls the shots in Denver, as Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post observes.

Western Notes: Tomic, Towns, Lakers

June 17th, 2015 at 8:46pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Jazz draft-and-stash prospect Ante Tomic has inked a three year extension with FC Barcelona, Liga Endesa has announced (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Tomic’s deal runs through June of 2018, and it’s unclear if the arrangement contains an NBA out clause. According to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link), Tomic used the threat of leaving Barcelona for the NBA as leverage to secure a more lucrative contract overseas.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Potential No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns has a meeting scheduled with the Timberwolves this Friday, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). It’s unclear if this meeting will just be an interview, or if Towns intends to work out for the team as well, Charania adds.
Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers noted that if the team was to purchase a pick in this year’s NBA Draft, it would likely be a second-rounder so that the team could avoid having to sign the player to a guaranteed contract, Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times tweets.
Manhattan forward Emmy Andujar has a workout scheduled with the Rockets, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays (on Twitter).
The Lakers will attempt to bring back Emmanuel Mudiay, D’Angelo Russell, and Jahlil Okafor for second looks prior to next week’s NBA Draft, Bill Oram of The Orange County Register tweets.
Texas big man Myles Turner has an individual workout scheduled with the Suns today, Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops relays (via Twitter). In Hoops Rumors’ latest mock draft, Phoenix is tabbed to select Turner with the No. 13 overall pick.
Now that the franchise has secured the NBA Championship, the Warriors have numerous roster decisions that need to be made, Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders writes. The odds of the current roster remaining intact are slim because of the team’s challenging salary cap situation, Taylor notes. This sentiment is shared by pending restricted free agent Draymond Green, who said back in March, “This is a special group, a special bond, so let’s make the best of it, because this team will probably never be together again. That’s just the nature of this business. One addition, one subtraction, and the team isn’t together no more. So take advantage of it while you’ve got it because I’m sure this team will never be together again.”

Draft Rumors: Towns, Okafor, Lakers, Hezonja

June 17th, 2015 at 2:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

The gap between Kentucky big man Karl-Anthony Towns and Duke center Jahlil Okafor has widened over the past few months to the point that it seems like a foregone conclusion that Towns will go No. 1 overall, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress writes amid his latest mock draft. That doesn’t mean it’s set in stone just yet, of course, but it does further the notion of Towns as the front-runner for the top pick, one that took hold during the NCAA Tournament. Givony also has Emmanuel Mudiay falling to the Nuggets at No. 7. Chad Ford of ESPN.com suggests in a chat with readers that the Nuggets would like to trade up in search of Mudiay at an earlier pick but have found little traction with the Kings, who hold the No. 6 pick, and others in trade talk involving Ty Lawson. Here’s more with the draft just one week and one day away:

The Lakers are worried that finding a quality big man via free agency or trade will be tougher than finding a guard who can score, as Ford reports in his new mock draft, citing it as an edge for Okafor as the team mulls what to do with the No. 2 pick. It appears that the Lakers are debating Okafor and Ohio State combo guard D’Angelo Russell if the Wolves pick Towns, Ford writes.
The stock of Arizona small forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is rising, making him a sleeper lottery pick, Ford hears, writing in the same mock draft. Multiple sources told Ford that they believe Oregon shooting guard Joseph Young has a promise from a team picking late in the first round.
Agent Arn Tellem is negotiating with Barcelona of Spain to reduce the buyout clause in top-10 prospect Mario Hezonja‘s contract, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). The buyout is the equivalent of $2.27MM as it stands, well north of the $625K cap that NBA teams can shell out without it coming out of the player’s salary. Tellem is set to become an executive in the Pistons organization, and Detroit picks eighth.

Atlantic Notes: Johnson, Russell, Scariolo

June 16th, 2015 at 6:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Nets lost the two likeliest spots to deal veteran Joe Johnson after the recent trades made by the Pistons and Bucks, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily writes. There were reports that both franchises were interested in acquiring Johnson and his player-friendly salary of $24,894,863 this past season. Unloading Johnson for non-guaranteed deals like those the Bucks acquired in Caron Butler and Shawne Williams would appear to be the ideal way for the Nets to shake up their roster, Windrem adds. But with both Charlotte and Detroit seemingly out of the running, Brooklyn may need to pursue a trade for a player like Wilson Chandler or Randy Foye of the Nuggets, or perhaps the Cavs’ Brendan Haywood, if it truly wishes to part ways with Johnson this summer, Windrem opines.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Sixers have a pre-draft workout scheduled with Ohio State playmaker D’Angelo Russell for Wednesday, Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops tweets. Russell had cancelled a previous workout with the team due to illness.
Despite being waived by the franchise last September, Pierre Jackson says that he would like to play for the Sixers next season, Tom Moore of Calkins Media relays (Twitter link). “There’s a little bit of loyalty here. I want to play in Philadelphia, man,” Jackson said. Jackson, who is coming off a ruptured right Achilles’ tendon, was cleared to resume basketball activities back in April.
Spanish national team head coach Sergio Scariolo was offered a position as an assistant on Raptors coach Dwane Casey‘s staff, which Scariolo declined, David Pick of Eurobasket.com reports (Twitter link).
In his latest mock draft, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders has Duke forward Justise Winslow as the Knicks‘ “leader in the clubhouse” to be nabbed with the No. 4 overall pick if the team doesn’t trade down.
The Knicks have a workout scheduled on Thursday for Kentucky big man Trey Lyles, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports tweets.

Atlantic Notes: Monroe, Raptors, Bogdanovic

June 14th, 2015 at 4:08pm CST by Arthur Hill

There is “strong speculation” that Pistons free agent Greg Monroe will sign with the Knicks or Celtics, according to Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times. Detroit apparently prepared for Monroe’s departure with this week’s trade that sent Caron Butler and Shawne Williams to the Bucks for Ersan Ilyasova. Monroe signed a one-year qualifying offer with the Pistons for nearly $5.5MM last offseason, making him an unrestricted free agent July 1.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Minor injuries disrupted a scheduled workout with the Raptors Saturday for Kansas’ Cliff Alexander and Utah’s Delon Wright, writes Steven Loung of sportsnet.ca. Alexander was nursing an injury from a prior workout and was forced to skip the event, while Wright had to end his session early after tweaking something, a team official said. The biggest names at the workout were Montrezl Harrell of Louisville and Kevon Looney of UCLA. Louisiana Tech forward Michale Kyser was also on hand, conducting his second workout of the week for Toronto.
Bojan Bogdanovic may have a larger role with the Nets next season, according to Fred Katz of Bleacher Report. Bogdanovic averaged 9.0 points per game and was a second team All-Rookie selection this season, but his responsibilities could increase dramatically if Brooklyn can find a taker for Joe Johnson.
The Knicks are in position to land the tall type of point guard they like for the triangle, according to the latest mock draft from Tim Bontemps of The New York Post. Bontemps has New York selecting 6-foot-5 Emmanuel Mudiay with the fourth pick, behind Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor and D’Angelo Russell.

Pacific Notes: Clarkson, Atkins, Lakers, Iguodala

June 14th, 2015 at 1:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The players at the Lakers‘ pre-draft workout Saturday were inspired by the rise of Jordan Clarkson, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. The session was for second-round hopefuls like D.J. Newbill of Penn State, Phil Greene of St. John’s and Darrun Hilliard of Villanova, but everyone present hopes to follow the path set by Clarkson, the 46th selection last year by the Wizards, who was sent to the Lakers for cash considerations and wound up as their starting point guard. “It gives you a lot of hope seeing how great he played last year and how good he is,” Greene said of Clarkson. “It just gives you a lot of hope of staying with the grind and knowing anything can happen.” The Lakers have more pre-draft workouts scheduled for Monday and Friday.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Virginia’s Darion Atkins, one of the players at Saturday’s Lakers workout, believes his ACC background will help him transition to the pros, Turner writes in a separate story. Atkins earned National Defensive Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, but fears he has “dropped off” most NBA draft boards. “I think coming from the ACC has helped me a lot,” he said. “I think that’ll be a great transition over into the NBA because the physicality is going to be great in the NBA, but I think it’ll give me more of an advantage.”
Delaware State’s Kendall Gray was also among the participants at Saturday’s workout (Twitter link). Michael Qualls of Arkansas had to skip the event because of a knee injury, tweets Mike Trudell of Lakers.com.
The Lakers are debating whether a center or point guard is more valuable in today’s NBA as they face a likely draft choice between Jahlil Okafor and D’Angelo Russell, Turner writes in another story. “In years past and maybe even today, it makes sense to build around a big,” said GM Mitch Kupchak. “But you don’t want to take a big because it’s a big and then pass on the No. 3 pick, which turned out to be Michael Jordan [in 1984]. So we’re going to look at the bigs, then you want to look at the guards and see if there is a guard there that despite being just a guard, you don’t want to miss and pass on him because he’s not a big.”
The NBA Finals are giving the Warriors‘ Andre Iguodala a chance to showcase all his skills after spending the season as a reserve, according to Michael Lee of The Washington Post. Iguodala, who joined Golden State as a free agent in 2013, is signed through the 2016/17 season.

Eastern Notes: Knicks, Wizards, Johnson

June 13th, 2015 at 11:20am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Knicks‘ hope that either Duke big man Jahlil Okafor or Ohio State playmaker D’Angelo Russell will still be on the board when the team picks at No. 4 isn’t likely to pan out, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. According to a league source, the Sixers, who pick third, still have a firm top three of Karl-Anthony Towns, Russell, and Okafor, and Philly won’t let any of that trio slip past them, Berman notes. There is also little chance of New York gambling on Latvian forward Kristaps Porzingis, who dazzled scouts during his Friday showcase, the Post scribe adds. “The body’s a long way off so he’s couple of years away from impact,’’ one NBA scout said of Porzingis. “He’s going to look great in a workout but he’s a young European who hasn’t played much. Too much risk at [No.] 4 for the Knicks.’’

Here’s more out of the NBA’s Eastern Conference:

The Pistons have workouts scheduled today for Sam Dekker (Wisconsin), Le’Bryan Nash (Oklahoma State), Dustin Hogue (Iowa State), and LaDontae Henton (Providence), the team announced (on Twitter).
Working out for the Wizards on Monday will be Tyler Harvey (Eastern Washington), Rashad Madden (Arkansas), Jarell Martin (LSU), Bobby Portis (Arkansas), Jordan Sibert (Dayton), and Keifer Sykes (Wisconsin-Green Bay), the team announced.
The Knicks‘ scheduled workout for Arizona forward Stanley Johnson, who I recently profiled, was moved from Friday to today, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com writes. New York has also been trying to bring in Murray State point guard Cameron Payne, who is suddenly a hot commodity, for a showcase, but the two sides have been unable to agree on a date, Begley adds.

Atlantic Notes: Russell, Celtics, Draft

June 12th, 2015 at 6:32pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Illness prompted D’Angelo Russell to cancel a workout with the Sixers planned for this weekend, a source close to the combo guard told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who heard from another source who wouldn’t rule the notion of the workout taking place sometime later. Still, Tim Bontemps of the New York Post (Twitter links) speculates that Russell may have received a promise from the Lakers, a prospect that could have a trickle-down effect that would make Jahlil Okafor available to the Knicks at pick No. 4. That seems far-fetched, particularly since the Lakers have reportedly zeroed in on Okafor for the second pick. Still, plenty is unknown with less than two weeks to go before the draft.

Here’s the latest from the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics are having trouble attracting players with lottery aspirations to work out with them in spite of “better than average” odds that Boston trades up from the 16th overall pick, writes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. Wisconsin small forward Sam Dekker pulled out of a workout with the C’s last week.
Working out for the Raptors this Saturday will be Delon Wright (Utah), Jabril Trawick (Georgetown), Kevon Looney (UCLA), Michale Kyser (Louisiana Tech), Cliff Alexander (Kansas), and Montrezl Harrell (Louisville), the team announced.
The Nets have four upcoming workouts scheduled, the team has announced. Monday’s group will be Ryan Boatright (UConn), T.J. McConnell (Arizona), D.J. Newbill (Penn State), Sir’Dominic Pointer (St. John’s), Larry Nance Jr. (Wyoming), and Brandon Ashley (Arizona).
Working out for Brooklyn on Tuesday will be Marcus Thornton (William and Mary), Will Cummings (Temple), Tyler Haws (BYU), Julian Washburn (UTEP), Jordan Mickey (LSU), and Yanick Moreira (SMU).
Displaying their wares on Wednesday for the Nets will be Mike Caffey (Long Beach State), Ray Parks Jr. (Melrose H.S.), Dez Wells (Maryland), Norman Powell (UCLA), Le’Bryan Nash (Oklahoma State), and Vince Hunter (UTEP).
The final batch of players working out for the Nets, which will take place on Thursday, are Travis Trice (Michigan State), Rashad Madden (Arkansas), Michael Qualls (Arizona), Trawick, Richaun Holmes (Bowling Green), and Josh Smith (Georgetown).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Pacific Notes: Lakers, Russell, Warriors

June 7th, 2015 at 11:52am CST by Arthur Hill

Executives around the league believe that the Lakers selecting D’Angelo Russell with the No. 2 overall pick is a legitimate possibility, Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com writes. Howard-Cooper believes the scenario is more plausible if Minnesota selects Karl-Anthony Towns with the No. 1 pick. Bypassing Jahlil Okafor may be an easier choice for the team because of the overlapping skills that he shares with last season’s first round pick Julius Randle. They are both talented on the offensive end, but getting better on defense is expected to be a project for both players.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

“Continuity” played into Golden State’s decision last summer not to pursue a Klay Thompson-for-Kevin Love trade, tweets Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. “If you want to be good,” said coach Steve Kerr, “you have to have continuity.” Thompson had a different reaction to the rumors about being dealt for a player he grew up with in Oregon. “I thought it was pretty cool, actually,” he told Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link).
Part of the reason for the Warriors‘ success is that a pair of former All-Stars have embraced reserve roles, writes Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. Andre Iguodala and David Lee were established starters when they came to Golden State, but both now come off the bench without complaining. “Selflessness, that’s been the tone of this team, but that’s something that [Iguodala] started off with his decision,” said fellow reserve Festus Ezeli. “To be able to accept his role and then we all accept our role and that’s how a team works.” Iguodala is signed through the 2016/17 season. Lee will be an unrestricted free agent in 2016.

Chris Crouse contributed to this post.