Dillon Brooks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Pistons, Pacers, Bucks, Workouts

May 19th, 2017 at 12:36pm CST by Luke Adams

After a disappointing 2016/17 season, the Pistons will be looking this offseason for ways to improve the team’s outlook for next year. However, as Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press details, Andre Drummond doesn’t believe a roster overhaul is necessary.

“I don’t think we need to do any changes,” the Pistons center told reporters earlier this week. “We had a lot of bumps in the road last season with different things going on, and it took everybody out of sync. … With this summer coming up, we have to do a better job staying connected — the more stuff we do together, the better our camaraderie will be.”

Even if the Pistons were interested in making major changes to their roster, they would be tricky to pull off. Detroit has nearly $95MM in guaranteed salary on its books for 2017/18 without counting Aron Baynes‘ $6.5MM player option or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s $9.2MM cap hold, so the team won’t have cap room to work with.

Here’s more from around the Central division:

This week’s draft lottery didn’t include the Pacers, but it might have interesting ramifications for the team, writes Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star. Taylor notes that the top three teams in the 2017 NBA draft – the Celtics, Lakers, and Sixers – all made inquiries on Paul George prior to February’s trade deadline and could check in again on the star forward this summer.
In the wake of his workout this week with the Pacers, Sindarius Thornwell spoke to Nate Taylor, who suggests in a separate piece for The Star that the South Carolina combo guard could be a second-round target for Indiana.
The Bucks have been busy this week, working out a series of prospects on Thursday and then bringing in several more on Friday. The 12 participants are as follows: Moritz Wagner (Michigan), Moses Kingsley (Arkansas), Andrew White (Syracuse), London Perrantes (Virginia), Bronson Koenig (Wisconsin), J.J. Frazier (Georgia), Tyler Lydon (Syracuse), Ivan Rabb (Cal), Jaylen Adams (St. Bonaventure), V.J. Beachem (Notre Dame), Dillon Brooks (Oregon), and Matt Jones (Duke). Milwaukee has the 17th and 48th overall picks in this year’s draft.
With Rabb in Milwaukee today for a workout, Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times takes a closer look at the Bucks‘ interest in the Cal big man, which dates back earlier than this year.

Central Notes: Pistons, Valentine, Bucks, Pacers

May 17th, 2017 at 12:10pm CST by Luke Adams

Having remained at No. 12 after Tuesday’s NBA draft lottery, the Pistons are scouting a wide range of prospects and won’t necessarily target a player at a position of need next month, per GM Jeff Bower (link via Rod Beard of The Detroit News). As Bower explained, a player’s value and long-term potential may make him the best pick for Detroit, even if he doesn’t immediately fit into the team’s rotation.

Our list of draft picks by team shows that the Pistons’ 12th overall selection is currently their only pick in this year’s draft. That could make it difficult for the club to bring in second-round prospects for workouts, but Bower remains hopeful that those players will be willing to audition for the team, recognizing that they could be undrafted free agents, or that the Pistons could acquire a second-round pick.

“Some guys aren’t going to want to come in and work out if they don’t see a vehicle at the end of it,” said the Pistons’ GM. “The reality of it is we are looking for guys where we don’t have a second-round pick now — we could (via a trade) — but those possibilities change, so you want to try to be prepared. … Our relationships with agents are strong. They like our program and like their guys to have the exposure to us.”

Here’s more from around the Central division:

After being nagged by ankle issues during his rookie season, Bulls guard Denzel Valentine has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle, a person familiar with the situation tells The Associated Press (link via USA Today). Valentine’s recovery timetable isn’t expected to stretch out too long — the AP report suggests he’s expected to play for Chicago in Summer League action in July.
UCLA’s T.J. Leaf is headlining the Bucks‘ workouts today, but the team is looking at several prospects, per a press release. Landen Lucas (Kansas), Devin Robinson (Florida), Wesley Iwundu (Kansas State), Jacob Wiley (Eastern Washington), Jabari Bird (California), Derrick White (Colorado), and Thomas Wilder (Western Michigan) are also in attendance.
The Pacers also have another group of prospects in for workouts today. According to a team release (and Twitter link), Indiana is taking a closer look at Dillon Brooks (Oregon), Ben Moore (SMU), Semi Ojeleye (SMU), Sindarius Thornwell (South Carolina), Michael Young (Pittsburgh), and Evan Bradds (Belmont).
Paul George‘s future is the main topic of conversation looming over the Pacers‘ offseason, but the team has other issues to address, including re-signing Jeff Teague, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical details in his Pacers offseason preview. We looked earlier this month at five key questions facing Indiana this summer.

Dillon Brooks Enters 2017 NBA Draft

April 12th, 2017 at 1:39pm CST by Luke Adams

Oregon forward Dillon Brooks will enter the 2017 NBA draft, he announced today in a video posted to YouTube. Brooks will sign with an agent, forgoing his remaining NCAA eligibility, per Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports (Twitter link).

Brooks, 21, is coming off a solid junior year at Oregon in which he averaged 16.1 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 2.7 APG in just 25.3 minutes per contest. He also improved his three-point shot — after making just 33.8% of his attempts in his first two years, the 6’6″ forward connected on 40.1% in 2016/17.

Ranked 42nd on Jonathan Givony’s big board at DraftExpress.com and 54th on Chad Ford’s ESPN board, Brooks projects as a potential second-round pick this June. As Ford outlines, the Oregon junior is an excellent scorer whose defensive struggles “continue to hurt him a bit” with scouts at the NBA level.

Check out the full list of early entrants for this year’s draft right here.

Draft Decisions: Hayes, Brooks, Newman

May 25th, 2016 at 9:23am CST by Luke Adams

The deadline for NCAA underclassmen to withdraw from NBA draft consideration and retain their college eligibility is today at 11:59pm eastern time, and some prospects are taking that decision down to the wire. As Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com notes, there are 14 players who have yet to hire agents – signaling they’ll remain in the draft – or announce their intentions to return to their respective college teams. Those decisions will become public over the next 14 hours or so, but in the meantime, we have a few updates on underclassmen to pass along. Let’s dive in…

Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes has decided to return to school for his senior season, according to an Associated Press report (link via The Star Tribune). “Getting the opportunity to gather information about the NBA and visit with professionals at that level was a really valuable experience for me,” Hayes said. “Playing in the NBA still remains an important goal for me, but that can wait another year.”
Oregon sophomore Dillon Brooks, who worked out for the Nuggets this past weekend, is expected to return to the Ducks for his junior year, sources tell Goodman. Brooks led Oregon in scoring this past season, with 16.7 points per game.
Mississippi State guard Malik Newman will withdraw from the draft and retain his college eligibility, his father Horatio Webster tells Goodman. However, Newman may not return to the Bulldogs for the upcoming season — Goodman hears from multiple sources that the sophomore-to-be will “strongly consider” transferring to another D-1 school.
Three players from Florida schools have withdrawn from the 2016 draft, according to Goodman, who tweets that Jahmal McMurray (South Florida), Dallas Moore (North Florida), and Marc-Eddy Norelia (Florida Gulf Coast) will return to their respective schools for the 2016/17 season.
Be sure to check out our full list of early entrants for the 2016 draft, including those who have withdrawn from consideration.

Northwest Notes: Blazers, Maker, Workouts

May 19th, 2016 at 9:25pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Timing will be crucial for the Blazers this offseason, writes Bobby Marks of The Vertical. Meyers Leonard Allen Crabbe and Maurice Harkless are all restricted free agents and leading up to free agency, it will be critical for GM Neil Olshey to understand the market for the trio in order to project how Portland operates this summer, Marks argues. The Blazers have a chance to add other pieces using their cap space and then circle back and sign their restricted free agents. However, if another team swoops in and signs one of them, there’s a good chance they won’t be able to use the cap space they’ve created.

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

The Wolves interviewed Thon Maker last week in Chicago, reports Darren Wolfson of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
The Jazz have worked out Anthony Beane, Ethan Telfair, Quincy Ford, Jarrod Uthoff, DyShawn Pierre and David Walker, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
The Nuggets will work out Anthony Barber, Isaiah Cousins, Nikola Jovanovic, Alec Peters, Josh Scott and Pascal Siakam on Friday, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets.
The Nuggets also have workouts planned for Saturday. They will work out Ron Baker, Dillon Brooks, Robert Carter, Tyler Dorsey, Marcus Georges-Hunt and Shawn Long on Saturday, Kennedy tweets.

Oregon SG Tyler Dorsey To Test Draft Waters

April 16th, 2016 at 6:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

Oregon freshman shooting guard Tyler Dorsey will enter this year’s draft but will not hire an agent, reports Jeff Borzello of ESPN.com. That gives him the option of withdrawing by May 25th and staying in school.

“My family and I just thought that was the best decision to make going further,” the 6’4″ Dorsey said, “giving me the option to come back to Oregon as well.”

Dorsey is not included in the DraftExpress list of top 100 prospects, but he is ranked 37th among NCAA freshmen. He is the 60th-ranked prospect on Chad Ford’s ESPN.com ratings.

Dorsey averaged 13.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game as he helped the Ducks post a 31-7 record and secure a No. 1 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. Teammate Dillon Brooks announced Thursday that he was also entering the draft and not hiring an agent, while Chris Boucher doesn’t plan to enter the draft.

Oregon SF Dillon Brooks To Test Draft Waters

April 15th, 2016 at 7:36am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 7:36am: Boucher won’t enter the draft “as of now,” Oregon coach Dana Altman told Goodman, but Brooks confirmed to the ESPN.com scribe that he’ll test the waters.

THURSDAY, 3:22pm: Oregon junior power forward Chris Boucher and sophomore small forward Dillon Brooks will enter this year’s draft but hold off on hiring agents, sources told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Boucher is listed as a senior in some places, but Oregon has him down as a junior, so it appears the community college transfer has one year of eligibility remaining. He’s the 63rd-best prospect in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings, though he’s outside the top 100 for Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Brooks is just No. 175 in Ford’s listing, but Givony classifies him as a 2017 prospect and has him 37th in his 2017 mock draft. Both forwards will be able to return to school as long as they don’t hire agents and withdraw by May 25th.

Boucher, a 6’10” 23-year-old, averaged 12.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in 25.8 minutes per game this year during his first season of Division I college ball. He displayed a touch of range, nailing 33.9% of his 3-pointers on three attempts per game. Brooks had almost precisely the same accuracy from 3-point range, hitting on 33.8% of his 3.7 attempts per contest, though that isn’t quite as impressive for a small forward. The 6’7″, 20-year-old Brooks compiled averages of 16.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.3 turnovers.

Both prospects came to Oregon from Canada, though Boucher is originally from Castries, St. Lucia. Neither appeared in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index top 100 as they came out of high school.