Edmond Sumner

Central Notes: Galloway, Ellenson, Nance, Sumner, LaVine

Pistons guard Langston Galloway has reemerged as a rotation player under new coach Dwane Casey. Galloway was a forgotten man entering camp with Reggie Bullock, Stanley Johnson, Luke Kennard and free agent signee Glenn Robinson III seemingly ahead of him at the wing positions. But Casey’s emphasis on 3-point shooting has helped Galloway, who averaged 26 MPG during the preseason, gain a rotation spot.  “I’m one of the snipers on the team,” he told me in a Detroit Free Press story. Galloway is coming off a disappointing first year with the Pistons after signing a three-year, $21MM contract in free agency. He only appeared in 58 games under former coach Stan Van Gundy, averaging 6.2 PPG in 14.9 MPG.

We have more from the Central Division:

  • Casey will go with a committee approach at the power positions behind his star duo of Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond. He’ll use free agent acquisition Zaza Pachulia at times when he goes with a conventional center. Power forward Jon Leuer, who is still working his way back from minor knee surgery, will be the primary backup in some games. When Casey uses smaller lineups, Johnson and Robinson will play some minutes at power forward. One player who is apparently out of the mix is 2016 first-round pick Henry Ellenson, who played just 10 minutes in the last three preseason games.
  • Larry Nance Jr.‘s rookie scale extension descends during the life of the contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Nance signed a four-year, $44.8MM extension with the Cavaliers that kicks in next season. Joe Vardon of The Athletic was the first to report that Nance’s salary would steadily decline (Twitter link). His salary will go from $12.7MM next season to $11.7MM, $10.6MM and $9.6MM. That could help the Cavaliers open significant cap space in 2020, when it’s projected to rise to $116MM, Wojnarowski adds.
  • Pacers power forward Thaddeus Young believes two-way player Edmond Sumner is worthy of a standard contract, as he told Scott Agness of The Athletic (Twitter link). “He’s done very, very well. He has exceeded all expectations,” Young said. Summer appeared in 14 G League games and one with the Pacers last season. The 6’6” combo guard out of Xavier averaged 9.0 PPG in four preseason games but will likely spend the bulk of his second season with Fort Wayne once again.
  • Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine appears to be fully recovered from the ACL injury he suffered during the 2016/17 season, Mark Strotman of NBC Sports Chicago reports. LaVine averaged 17.8 points on 52% shooting in 22.3 MPG during the preseason. Chicago retained LaVine by matching the Kings’ four-year, $78MM during restricted free agency this summer. LaVine appeared in 24 games last season after being acquired from the Timberwolves. “I think I found a good rhythm and then just keep that going into the regular season. I think last year still, I was trying to catch my rhythm with the games I played,” LaVine said.

Central Rumors: Jackson, Holiday, LaVine, Sumner

Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson is still scraping off the rust after spending the summer rehabbing a high ankle sprain, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports. Jackson, who originally suffered the injury in late December, returned to basketball activities on Thursday and participated in a public scrimmage on Saturday. He showed some quickness during the scrimmage but took a passive approach offensively, Ellis notes. “He’s looked really good,” coach Dwane Casey said. “He’s still rusty in certain areas, reading situations defensively, but I’m very pleased at where he is.”

We have more from around the Central Division:

  • Pairing Justin Holiday and Jabari Parker at the forward spots could prove to be a successful stopgap measure for the Bulls, according to the analysis of NBC Sports Chicago’s Michael Walton. The Bulls are searching for ways to make up for the absence of Lauri Markkanen, who is out 6-8 weeks with an elbow injury. Holiday is a quality defender and 3-point shooter who doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. He should mesh well with a high usage player like Parker, who excels offensively. Parker’s ability to score on the break will allow Holiday to be more aggressive defensively and look for steals, Walton adds.
  • Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine feels a greater responsibility after signing a multi-year contract, as Mark Strotman of NBC Sports Chicago reports. The front office matched his Kings’ four-year, $78MM offer sheet in July and LaVine wants to be looked upon as a leader. “We have so many scorers, though, so if any of us have an off day I think we’ll be able to pick up the slack really easily,” he said. “I know I’m here to be a leader and put the ball in the hoop and become a complete player.”
  • The Pacers’ second-round picks from the past two drafts have impressed in camp, Mark Monteith of the team’s website writes. Center Ike Anigbogu, guard Edmond Sumner and forward Alize Johnson will likely spend most of the season in the G League but coach Nate McMillan likes their progress. “They’ve had really good training camps,” McMillan told Monteith. “I really like what I see from those guys.”

Willie Reed Files $13.5MM Arbitration Claim Against Andy Miller, ASM

10:40am: The Heat deny making a three-year, $15MM offer to Reed, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel.

8:46am: Multiple players are parting ways with agency ASM and agent Andy Miller, and Willie Reed has filed an arbitration claim seeking $13.5MM, league sources Jeff Goodman and Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. Reed alleges he was defrauded by the agency.

The agency’s troubles are related to former agent Christian Dawkins, who was one of 10 people arrested this week in the FBI’s probe into fraud and corruption in NCAA recruiting. Dawkins was reportedly let go by ASM back in May after racking up more than $40K in charges on a player’s Uber account. An investigation by the National Basketball Players Association determined that worked out to 1,865 Uber rides, and “all but a small number” of those charges were made without the player’s permission.

However, despite no longer being certified, Dawkins remained the primary ASM representative for multiple players, including Reed, Edmond Sumner, and Justin Patton. All three of those players have now severed ties with Dawkins, Miller, and ASM, according to Goodman and Haynes, who note that Reed left the agency in July, while Sumner and Patton have done so this week.

Sources tell ESPN that Dawkins advised Reed to turn down a three-year, $15MM offer from the Heat this summer, suggesting he’d receive more lucrative offers. The big man ultimately signed a one-year, minimum salary deal with the Clippers that will pay him about $1.5MM, which explains why his arbitration claim is worth $13.5MM.

While Miller has until October to respond to Reed’s claim, it remains to be seen whether the agency will retain all of its higher-profile clients in the wake of a federal raid on ASM’s offices. Miller and ASM represent dozens of NBA players, including big names like Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, Myles Turner, and Kristaps Porzingis.

Pacers Sign Edmond Sumner

The Pacers have signed Edmond Sumner, according to the team’s website. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports hears (Twitter link) that the deal will be for two seasons and it will be the team’s first ever two-way contract.

Each team is allowed to sign two players to two-way deals, as our Two-Way Contracts Glossary page shows. Players under these contracts will spend most of their time in the G-League since they are only allowed to be with their NBA club for at most 45 days.

The Pelicans selected Sumner with the No. 52 overall selection in the 2017 draft before shipping his rights to Indiana for cash considerations. The Pacers came out of the draft with three prospects, having selected T.J. Leaf and Ike Anigbogu with its two original selections.

Sumner played three seasons for Xavier, scoring 14.3 points per game in his final season with the school. He added 4.8 assists and 1.2 steals per contest during his junior season.

Central Notes: Sumner, Jefferson, Grand Rapids

The Pacers drafted a pair of injured prospects earlier this month but it wasn’t an oversight, Nate Taylor of the Indianapolis Star writes. By taking a chance on the heralded but sidelined NCAA stars, president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard was able to get his hands on two quality projects at a bargain rate.

They don’t want me to rush back,” Edmond Sumner, the point guard out of Xavier said of his new club. “They just want me to get healthy. That’s the main priority right now, just getting healthy. I’m not going to rush.

Considering that the franchise is at the beginning of a rebuild, they stand to benefit from any young talent they can amass. Ike Anigbogu is the second of Indiana’s intriguing second-rounders.

There’s more from the Central Division:

  • A former business manager of Richard Jefferson has been indicted of fraud, Billy Heyen of Cleveland.com writes. The manager stole $7MM from the Cavaliers veteran after forging Jefferson’s signature and illegally establishing power of attorney over his finances.
  • A Detroit city council proposal that would earmark the income tax of NBA players for a neighborhood fund has hit a speed bump, Ben Solis of MLive writes. The proposed fund is estimated to collect $1.3MM annually from Pistons players, their opponents and team personnel.
  • The Pistons and their G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive, have agreed on a two-year extension, the team has announced in a press release. They’ve also named Rob Werdann their new head coach.

Pacers Buy 52nd Pick, Draft Edmond Sumner

11:47pm: The Pacers have officially acquired Sumner’s rights in exchange for cash considerations, the team confirmed (via Twitter).

11:03pm: The Pacers purchased the 52nd pick from the Pelicans and used it to take Edmond Sumner of Xavier, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical.

Sumner is a 6’5″ sophomore point guard who averaged 15.0 points and 5.0 assists in 21 games this season. He suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in January and missed the rest of the season.

 

Draft Notes: Simmons, Fultz, Fox, Evans

Kobi Simmons has declared for the draft and won’t return to Arizona, according to journalist Adam Zagoria (Twitter link).

“Kobi Simmons, with the support of his family, has decided to declare for the 2017 NBA Draft,” Wildcats coach Sean Miller said. “All of us here at Arizona thank him for his freshman season and wish him continued success as he pursues his professional career.”

The 6’5″ guard hired Aaron Turner of Verus Team Management to be his agent, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets. Goodman adds that Simmons will work out for teams as a point guard. Jonathan Givony of Draft Express has Simmons as the 67th best prospect in the draft.

Here’s more on the upcoming draft:

  • Markelle Fultz, who attended Tuesday’s Sixers game, wouldn’t mind playing for Philadelphia, Jordan Hall of Comcast Sportsnet relays. “I think it would be a great atmosphere, so it would be cool,” Fultz said of playing home games at the Sixers’ home arena. The former Washington guard, who said he believes he’ll be the first player to come off the board in June, added: “I always trust the process.”
  • De’Aaron Fox has chosen an agent. He’ll be represented by Happy Walters of Catalyst Sports, Givony reports (Twitter link).
  • Jawun Evans will be represented by ASM Sports, according to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks the Oklahoma State product 37th among this year’s prospect.
  • ASM has also signed Xavier’s Edmond Sumner and Clemson’s Jaron Blossomgame, Daniels reports (Twitter link).
  • Fred Sims of Chicago State has declared for the draft, Goodman reports (Twitter link). Sims is currently not ranked by Draft Express.

Edmond Sumner Enters 2017 NBA Draft

Xavier point guard Edmond Sumner has decided to enter the 2017 NBA draft, he announced this week on Twitter. Sumner is a sophomore, so he could test the waters and withdraw his name by May’s deadline, but his statement makes it sound as if he’s committed to going pro this year.

“After weighing my options with my family, I have decided to enter the 2017 NBA draft, fulfilling a lifelong dream,” Sumner said, noting that the decision was a difficult one because of his love for Xavier. “I want to thank Coach Mack and the rest of the staff for believing in me and giving me a chance when no one did! I’ll always be grateful for that.”

[RELATED: 2017 NBA draft early entrants list]

Sumner, 21, enjoyed a breakout year in 2016/17, averaging 14.3 PPG, 4.8 APG, and 4.2 RPG, while shooting a career-best 47.9% from the field. However, his season was cut short by a torn ACL, which he suffered in January.

The injury will complicate Sumner’s draft stock somewhat this June. Experts consider him a potential second-round pick, but it’s possible he won’t be drafted if teams are at all concerned about his knee.

DraftExpress views Sumner as the 10th-best prospect among sophomores, penciling him in as a borderline first-round pick in the 2018 draft. Meanwhile, the 6’5″ guard ranks 68th on Chad Ford’s top 100 list at ESPN.com.