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Draft Updates: Musa, Knox, Williams, Sixers

June 17th, 2018 at 12:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

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:

Musa is scheduled to participate in a workout with the Jazz today, tweets Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News. With him are Louisville’s Deng Adel, Cincinnati’s Jacob Evans, USC’s De’Anthony Melton, Lithuania’s Arnoldas Kulboka and Duke’s Gary Trent Jr.
Kentucky forward Kevin Knox tells Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer that he expects to be taken between the sixth and 12th picks on Thursday (Twitter link).
Knox participated in a session today with the Hornets, according to a story on the team website. Also on hand were Oregon’s Troy Brown, Colorado’s George King, Maryland-Baltimore County’s Jairus Lyles, UNLV’s Brandon McCoy, Mercer’s Demetre Rivers, Western Michigan’s Thomas Wilder and Bosnia’s Billy Preston.
Texas A&M center Robert Williams will hold a solo workout for the Wizards tomorrow, according to a tweet from the team. Washington holds pick No. 15.
The Sixers also have a workout scheduled for Monday, mainly for players projected to go in the second round, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Scheduled to attend are Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado, Bucknell’s Nana Foulland, Butler’s Kelan Martin, Purdue’s Dakota Mathias, Arizona’s Allonzo Trier and George Washington’s Yuta Watanabe.
Trier was part of a session Saturday for the Pistons that also included Purdue’s Isaac Haas, Texas A&M’s DJ Hogg, Wake Forest’s Doral Moore and North Carolina’s Theo Pinson. Maryland’s Justin Jackson had an individual workout.

Draft Notes: Evans, Jazz, J. Robinson, Simons, Lakers

June 15th, 2018 at 9:20am CST by Luke Adams

Potential first-round pick Jacob Evans will work out on Sunday for the Jazz, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). A swingman out of Cincinnati, Evans could be an option for Utah when the club is on the clock at No. 21.

Meanwhile, the Jazz are bringing in several more prospects for a Friday audition, according to the team (Twitter link). Josh Okogie (Georgia Tech) and Jerome Robinson (Boston College), two more possible targets at No. 21, are the headliners. They’ll be joined by Trevon Duval (Duke), Landry Shamet (Wichita State), Kelan Martin (Butler), and George King (Colorado).

Here are several more draft-related notes:

Anfernee Simons is generating some first-round buzz, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, who tweets that the Trail Blazers and Lakers are among the teams with interest in the IMG Academy guard.
The Lakers will host another group workout on Friday, with De’Anthony Melton (USC), Yante Maten (Georgia), Gabe DeVoe (Clemson), Peyton Aldridge (Davidson), Justin Tillman (VCU), and Kyle Washington (Cincinnati) taking part, per a team release.
The Timberwolves are among the teams that have worked out Boston College guard Jerome Robinson, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who suggests (via Twitter) that Robinson has made a good impression on the workout circuit. Robinson currently ranks as the No. 17 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s ESPN big board, so he’s a potential target for Minnesota at No. 20.
In addition to Kevin Knox and Wenyen Gabriel, whose workouts were previously reported, the Sixers will be taking a closer look today at Jacob Evans (Cincinnati), Tra Holder (Arizona State), E.C. Matthews (Rhode Island), and Jordan Barnett (Missouri), as Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays (via Twitter).
Despite the declining importance of centers in the modern NBA, many of this year’s very best prospects play the five, creating some risk at the top of the draft, Kevin Pelton writes in an interesting piece for ESPN.com.

West Draft Workouts: Blazers, Kings, Carter, Warriors

June 14th, 2018 at 3:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Several of the Trail Blazers‘ previously-reported workouts are happening today, with Josh Okogie (Georgia Tech), Billy Preston (Bosnia), and Landry Shamet (Wichita State) among the prospects paying a visit to the team, per a press release.

In addition to those players, Portland is also taking a closer look at Khyri Thomas (Creighton), Troy Brown (Oregon), MiKyle McIntosh (Oregon), and De’Anthony Melton (USC). All seven of the prospects auditioning for the Trail Blazers today rank within Jonathan Givony’s top 100 at ESPN.com, with several considered viable candidates to be Portland’s pick at No. 24 overall.

Here are more updates on pre-draft works from around the Western Conference:

The Kings will be bringing in Duke big man Wendell Carter Jr. for a visit on Saturday, the team announced today. As Sean Cunningham of ABC10 notes (via Twitter), Carter won’t work out during that visit, since Sacramento already saw him work out in Los Angeles last month.
LiAngelo Ball is among the prospects participating in a group workout for the Warriors on Friday, according to the team (Twitter link via Mark Medina of The San Jose Mercury News). Nana Foulland (Bucknell), Daxter Miles (West Virginia), Tai Odiase (Chicago-Illinois), Nuni Omot (Baylor), and Duncan Robinson (Michigan) will also take part.
International prospect Elie Okobo, who is considered a good bet to come off the board in the second half of the first round, will work out for the Timberwolves this weekend, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News.
UNLV’s Brandon McCoy has a workout on tap with the Mavericks and still intends to work out with four or five other teams before draft night, tweets Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.

Draft Notes: R. Williams, Nuggets, Clips, Wizards

June 13th, 2018 at 11:18am CST by Luke Adams

Texas A&M center Robert Williams, who previously worked out for the Bulls, Hornets, and Knicks, continues to earn looks from teams picking in the top half of the first round. According to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News (Twitter link), Williams still has workouts on tap with the Clippers, Nuggets, Wizards, who hold the picks from 12 through 15.

Williams’ session with the Nuggets will take place today, according to a press release from the club. In addition to scheduling an individual session with Williams, Denver has also lined up a group workout which will feature Hayden Dalton (Wyoming), Jacob Evans (Cincinnati), Arnoldas Kulboka (Capo d’Orlando), Dzanan Musa (Cedevita), Ajdin Penava (Marshall), and Johnathan Williams (Gonzaga).

Meanwhile, the Bucks – who hold the No. 17 selection – also wanted to bring in Williams for a workout, but he expects to be off the board before Milwaukee picks and has passed on the team’s invitation, per Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times. According to Woelfel, Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith, another good bet to be drafted in the top 16, also won’t work out for the Bucks.

Here’s more on the 2018 NBA draft:

Gyorgy Goloman (UCLA), Doral Moore (Wake Forest), and Matt Farrell (Notre Dame) will participate in today’s Clippers workout headlined by previously-reported participants Miles Bridges, Kevin Knox, and Aaron Holiday. The team’s official list of Wednesday’s workout participants doesn’t include Mitchell Robinson, who was expected to be part of the group.
Wichita State guard Landry Shamet worked out for the Nets this week and will audition for the Trail Blazers on Thursday, league sources tell Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link). Shamet currently ranks 49th on Jonathan Givony’s ESPN big board.
Trevon Bluiett (Xavier), Elijah Brown (Oregon), Nana Foulland (Bucknell), Tyler Nelson (Fairfield), Billy Preston (BC Igokea), and Corey Sanders (Rutgers) are working out for the Wizards today, according to the club.
In an interesting piece for ESPN.com, Paul Sabin and Seth Walder apply the site’s analytical model to 2018’s draft class and find that Duke’s Marvin Bagley III ranks as the No. 1 prospect. Mikal Bridges (fifth), Zhaire Smith (ninth), and De’Anthony Melton (13th) are among the other players favored by the analytics.

Draft Notes: Sixers, Z. Smith, Pacers, Suns, Wolves

June 12th, 2018 at 2:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers‘ previously-reported workout with Villanova wing Mikal Bridges is taking place today, but Bridges isn’t the only prospect in town to get a look from the club. According to a press release, the 76ers also hosted a group workout today, with Marcus Derrickson (Georgetown), Marcus Foster (Creighton), Donte Ingram (Loyola Chicago), Nick King (Middle Tennessee State), MiKyle McIntosh), and Zhaire Smith (Texas Tech) taking part.

Speaking of Smith, his busy workout schedule will continue, with an audition for the Hornets still on tap, as Jessica Camerato of NBC Sports Philadelphia tweets. We previously heard that Smith also has a workout lined up with Phoenix.

Let’s round up a few more draft-related notes…

The Pacers will host their fourth pre-draft workout on Wednesday, and Marcus Foster (Creighton) will be earning a second look after working out for the club last week. Jordan Barnett (Missouri), Robert Johnson (Indiana), Quentin Snider (Louisville), Jae’Sean Tate (Ohio State), and Yuta Watanabe (George Washington) will also participate in the workout.
As we wait for an official early entrant list for the 2018 NBA draft, news of withdrawal decisions continues to trickle in. According to Sportando (Twitter link), Italian forward Leonardo Tote pulled out of the draft before Monday’s deadline.
The Suns brought in a pair of prospects for a closer look today, auditioning Icelandic center Tryggvi Hlinason and Arizona big man Dusan Ristic, according to the club.
Jacob Evans (Cincinnati), De’Anthony Melton (USC), Billy Preston (Bosnia), and Zach Lofton (New Mexico State) were among the prospects who worked out for the Timberwolves on Monday, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (all Twitter links).

Eastern Draft Notes: Sixers, Bulls, Diallo, Raptors

June 6th, 2018 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers, who hold the 10th and 26th picks in the 2018 NBA draft, continue to take a closer look at potential early- and late-first-round picks. According to Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter links), Philadelphia will have an interesting pair of prospects participating in a group workout next Monday when they bring in Miami guard Lonnie Walker and MSU forward Miles Bridges. Both players are considered potential lottery selections, making them options at No. 10.

Duke’s Grayson Allen, a possible candidate for the No. 26 pick, participated in a workout today for the Sixers, notes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. However, Allen – who will also work out for the Celtics on Friday, per Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald (Twitter link) – wasn’t the most notable person present at the session.

According to Pompey, embattled president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo was in attendance at today’s workout. While that doesn’t mean that the Sixers have made a decision one way or the other on Colangelo’s future, it certainly doesn’t seem like bad news for him.

Here’s more on pre-draft workouts from around the Eastern Conference:

Miles Bridges (MSU), Donte DiVincenzo (Villanova), De’Anthony Melton (USC), Keita Bates-Diop (Ohio State), and Kaiser Gates (Xavier) worked out for the Bulls today, according to the team. Lonnie Walker, whose workout with Chicago was previously reported, was also present.
Hamidou Diallo, a Queens native, will stick close to home for this weekend’s workouts, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, who tweets that the Kentucky prospect works out for the Nets on Friday and Knicks on Saturday.
Notre Dame guard Matt Farrell has a couple more pre-draft workouts coming up, with a Bulls audition scheduled for Friday and the Hornets sometime next week, tweets Josh Newman of The Asbury Park Press.
Although the Raptors don’t have any picks in this year’s draft, they continue to hold workouts with an eye on potential undrafted prospects. Today’s session featured Andrew Rowsey (Marquette), Kassius Robertson (Missouri), Darius Thompson (Western Kentucky), Jacobi Boykins (Louisiana Tech), Cameron Reynolds (Tulane), and Justin Tillman (VCU), according to the club (Twitter link).

Draft Workouts: Walker, Clippers, A.J. Davis, Hawks

June 4th, 2018 at 2:43pm CST by Luke Adams

Miami guard Lonnie Walker IV, considered a potential lottery pick, had his first pre-draft workout on Sunday when he met with the Hornets, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. According to Bonnell, Walker indicated that he’ll audition for about six more teams, all of whom are picking in the 10-to-20 range in this month’s draft.

Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com has Walker going to the Clippers at No. 13 in his most recent mock draft, noting that the former Hurricane is a candidate to increase his stock during the pre-draft process due to his ” youth, strong frame, wingspan, and ability to shoot with his feet set or off the dribble.”

Here are more updates on pre-draft workouts, including another note on the Clippers:

The Clippers are hosting six prospects for a workout today, with De’Anthony Melton (USC), Drew Eubanks (Oregon State), Zhaire Smith (Texas Tech), Troy Brown Jr. (Oregon), Angel Delgado (Seton Hall), and Brandon Sampson (LSU) getting a look from the club (Twitter link).
UCF forward A.J. Davis, the son of former NBA big man Antonio Davis, will audition for the Bulls, Pacers, and Magic, a league source tells Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Jacob Evans (Cincinnati), Devonte’ Graham (Kansas), Nick King (Middle Tennessee State), Jeff Roberson (Vanderbilt), Landry Shamet (Wichita State), and Zach Thomas (Bucknell) make up the latest group of Hawks workout participants, according to the team.
Texas A&M big man Tyler Davis is among the prospects working out for the Knicks on Wednesday, per Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link).

Draft Notes: Ponds, Heron, Spellman, Melton

May 12th, 2018 at 10:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

After being passed over for the NBA Draft Combine, Shamorie Ponds of St. John’s is concentrating on team workouts to prove himself, writes Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog. The sophomore guard put up a 21.6/5.0/4.7 line for the Red Storm this season, but wasn’t among the 69 players who received combine invitations.

“For sure, I was most definitely upset,” he said. “I feel I deserved it.”

Ponds worked out today for the Cavaliers and has held a session with the Nets. Cleveland GM Koby Altman spoke with all the participants after the workout, and Ponds said he received positive feedback. “[Altman] said he really likes my game a lot, he really enjoyed watching it,” Ponds added. “There was great energy after the workout.”

Ponds still has workouts remaining with the Jazz, Pistons and Lakers and wants to reschedule sessions with the Knicks and Hawks that he had to cancel because of final exams. He will use the results of those workouts to determine whether to remain in the draft, a decision that has to be made by May 30.

There are more draft-related notes to pass on:

Today’s workout in Cleveland included three other prominent players in Auburn’s Mustapha Heron, Villanova’s Omari Spellman and USC’s De’Anthony Melton, Zagoria tweets. Heron also worked out Friday for the Nets along with Nevada’s Cody Martin, Georgia’s Kendrick Nunn, North Carolina’s Joel Berry and Stanford’s Reid Travis.
Michigan State’s Nick Ward had sessions with the Knicks and Thunder during the week and is set to work out for the Pistons this weekend, according to Brendan F. Quinn of the Athletic (Twitter link). Eight other teams have submitted requests to see the sophomore in action.
The Timberwolves brought in Rodney Bullock of Providence and Jalen McDaniels of San Diego State for a workout on Thursday, relays Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link).
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz take a look at the best selections for each of the lottery teams if they land in the top three.

Potential First-Rounder De’Anthony Melton Leaving USC

February 21st, 2018 at 1:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

De’Anthony Melton, a possible first-round pick in this year’s draft, has announced on Twitter that he is withdrawing from USC.

The sophomore guard hasn’t played this season after being linked to the college basketball bribery scandal that resulted in the indictment of former Trojans associate head coach Tony Bland. The university held Melton out of action for the season’s first 18 games while it investigated, then announced in January that he would be suspended for the entire season after determining that a friend of Melton’s accepted a plane ticket and maybe room and board for an event in Las Vegas, according to Kyle Bonagura of ESPN.

“Being a member of the Men’s Basketball Program has given me an opportunity to develop my skill set at a world-class institution, with access to top-level resources,” Melton wrote in explaining his decision. “However, I have reached a crossroads wherein I have decided to focus on honing my strengths and improving upon my weaknesses for competition at the next level.”

Melton averaged 8.3 points and 3.5 assists in 36 games with USC as a freshman. He was projected to go 27th in the latest mock draft posted by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, who writes that Melton “looked to be on the verge of a breakout season” before the FBI probe, citing his “defensive versatility, toughness and intangibles.”

Draft analyst Mike Schmitz of ESPN says Melton is “competitive with excellent bball instincts” (Twitter link). He’s 6’3″ with a 6’8″ wingspan and defends, rebounds and plays well off the ball. Schmitz adds that he needs to improve his “ball skills and jumper.”

And-Ones: BIG3, G League, Quarterman, J. Brown

January 12th, 2018 at 3:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Two more former NBA players have signed on with the BIG3, including one that just formally announced his retirement from the NBA this past summer. Veteran big man Jason Maxiell was one of those players joining the BIG3 player pool this week, according to the league (Twitter link). After playing more than 600 NBA regular season games and another 35 postseason contests, Maxiell signed a one-day contract in August and retired as a Piston. Now, he’ll have a chance to compete against – or team up with – former teammate Chauncey Billups in the BIG3.

Veteran forward Jamario Moon, who played in 286 total games for the Raptors, Heat, Cavaliers, Clippers, and Hornets from 2007 to 2012, also signed a BIG3 contract this week, according to an announcement from the league (Twitter link).

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Multiple 2018 NBA draft prospects who aren’t currently playing NCAA ball have been informed that they’re ineligible to play in the G League this season, a league source tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN. As Givony explains, players who were enrolled in college during an academic calendar year are ineligible to sign a G League contract in the same season unless they’ve been ruled permanently NCAA-ineligible. Mitchell Robinson, De’Anthony Melton, and Brian Bowen are among the potential 2018 first-rounders currently in limbo.
Former Trail Blazers guard Tim Quarterman had been set to join the Jiangsu Dragons in China, but passport complications prevented him from finalizing his deal, per international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link). According to Pick, the Chinese club signed ex-Lakers guard Jabari Brown instead.
Former first-round pick Archie Goodwin is back in the Suns‘ system, having been traded to Phoenix’s G League affiliate, the Northern Arizona Suns, earlier this week. Northern Arizona sent out a first-round pick and a second-round pick for the 2018 G League draft in the three-team deal.
The NBA’s next wave of international stars appears to have arrived, Michael Lee writes in an interesting feature for Yahoo Sports.