Elfrid Payton Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Jackson, Hayward, Fisher

June 2nd, 2014 at 10:42pm CST by Zachary Links

Thunder guard Reggie Jackson made it clear that he wants to start and seems to want to do so at point guard, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. Coach Scott Brooks was non-committal when asked about the possibility of adding Jackson, under contract through next season, to the starting lineup. Meanwhile, Thabo Sefolosha spoke of his time with the Thunder in the past tense and it seems likely that he’ll wind up elsewhere next season. More from around the league..

Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets that the Jazz front office fully expects Gordon Hayward to be with the team going forward. Hayward is a restricted free agent this summer and there is mutual interest in a return.
The Lakers haven’t reached out to the Thunder about getting permission to talk to Derek Fisher just yet, but that could be subject to change, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
Former Nuggets coach George Karl had an informal phone conversation with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak but has yet to have a formal interview, Medina tweets.
Marist announced the resignation of Jeff Bower, tweets Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit Free Press. That should be the first step towards him taking over as Pistons GM.
UCLA guard Jordan Adams was in Houston working out for the Rockets today, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com.
The Nuggets will host Rodney Hood for a private workout tomorrow, a source told Goodman of ESPN (on Twitter).
The Raptors will host Jordan Clarkson and Canadian Khem Birch for workouts tomorrow, sources tell Goodman (on Twitter).
A source told Goodman (on Twitter) that Elfrid Payton held his own in front of the Kings in a workout today against Marcus Smart. Aaron Gordon worked out for Sacramento but did not go head-to-head with Noah Vonleh. He instead matched up with Eric Moreland (link).
The Lakers will be very busy on Wednesday as they audition many of this year’s top prospects, as Goodman tweets. Among the names not previously reported are Payton, Gordon, Tyler Ennis, Zach LaVine, James Young, and Rodney Hood.

Draft Notes: Robinson III, Gordon, Williams

May 30th, 2014 at 9:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The 2014 NBA Draft is less than a month away. Here are the latest notes:

The Timberwolves will be holding pre-draft workouts for Keith Appling, Nedim Buza, Jabari Brown, Jerami Grant, Dwight Powell and Scottie Wilbekin, the team tweeted.
Aaron Gordon tweeted that he’d be returning to Boston in a “couple of weeks” for a pre-draft workout with the Celtics. The forward out of Arizona is a projected lottery pick and Boston holds the sixth and 17th overall picks in June’s draft.
Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders runs down the worst first-overall draft choices in NBA history.
Kendall Williams participated in a pre-draft workout for the Suns today, reports Zac Walberer of NBA.com. The point guard out of New Mexico is projected as a possible late second round draft pick.
Glenn Robinson III has workouts scheduled for next week with the Rockets and Suns, reports Mark Snyder of The Detroit Free Press. Robinson is projected as a late first round selection.
HoopsHype released their latest Mock Draft.
Noah Vonleh, Elfrid Payton, Tyler Ennis and Marcus Smart are scheduled to work out for the Kings next week, reports Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter links).
Ronald Roberts worked out for the Sixers today, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. The power forward out of St. Joe’s is a projected second rounder in this year’s draft.
Chaz Williams is scheduled to work out for the Raptors next Wednesday, reports Josh Newman of SNY.tv (Twitter link).

Chad Ford On NBA Draft

May 21st, 2014 at 6:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the draft order now set, the speculation can truly begin as to what each team will do in June’s NBA Draft. Chad Ford of ESPN.com held his weekly chat and here are some of the highlights:

Though the Cavaliers currently have Jabari Parker at the top of their draft board, Ford believes they will end up selecting Andrew Wiggins with the first overall pick.
The only way the Cavs trade the top pick is for a young, star-caliber player like Kevin Love, opines Ford.
The top three players on the Bucks draft board are Joel Embiid, Wiggins, and Dante Exum, per Ford.
The Magic are looking at taking a point guard with the number four overall pick, reports Ford. The team’s top two choices would be Exum and Marcus Smart. Ford also believes that with the 12th pick, the team will focus on acquiring outside shooting.
Ford believes the Jazz are likely to select Noah Vonleh with the fifth selection, unless they attempt to trade up to snag Exum.
Being slotted sixth makes the Celtics more likely to try and trade their pick for established talent, notes Ford. If they keep the pick, he believes that Aaron Gordon would be the choice of GM Danny Ainge.
The Lakers are in a similar position to the Celtics in regard to trading their pick, opines Ford. If they keep the pick, he sees either Julius Randle, Smart, or Dario Saric being their favorites.
Ford’s sleeper picks for the draft are Mitch McGary, Jarnell Stokes, and Elfrid Payton.

Draft Rumors: Harris, Smart, Jazz, Magic

May 17th, 2014 at 7:58pm CST by Cray Allred

With the Chicago predraft combine wrapping up, Jeremy Bauman of Sheridan Hoops looks at a number of prospects that increased their draft stock with their performances. These players include Zach LaVine, Kyle Anderson, Elfrid Payton, James Young, and Jordan Clarkson. More on the draft front:

The athletic testing results from the combine are in and Draft Express runs them down.
Gary Harris was invited to the Draft Lottery broadcast by the NBA as part of a 10-player group deemed the top-10 prospects, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets. The inviation, which Harris declined, could signify a boost in his draft stock. Some projections, including Jonathan Givony’s at DraftExpress, have had Harris well outside of the top 10.
In a combine wrap-up, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes that Marcus Smart stood out as an exceptional physical specimen and hard worker among the point guards in attendance.
Dante Exum fared well during interviews at the combine, a team official who met with the Aussie tells Chris Mannix of SI.com. “He seems like a really good kid,” the official said. “He’s confident, but not cocky. Now we have to see if he can play.” With far less exposure than the other prospects at the top of the draft, Exum hopes to impress teams during his individual workouts.
If Joel Embiid doesn’t clear medically prior to the draft, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders tweets that the big man could drop out of the top five. Embiid sat out of combine activities as he recovers from a back injury suffered late in his season at Kansas.
Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey told Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune that he “has to listen to everything” when asked about whether he was willing to trade Utah’s draft picks (Twitter link).
The Magic aren’t trying to trade away their extra first round pick, according to Kyler (on Twitter).
Tommy Dee of Sheridan Hoops looks at some of the older draft prospects, laying out why each could follow in Damian Lillard‘s footsteps in making an impact exceeding many of the younger, more well-known players from the same talent pool.
Joe Kotoch of Sheridan Hoops released his second mock draft of the year.
Earlier, we passed along word that we could be in for a busy pre-draft trade season.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Draft Combine Updates: Thursday

May 15th, 2014 at 10:40pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Chicago draft combine is underway, and teams can meet with up to 18 players. With 30 teams, that means there could be as many as 540 interviews this week. We’ll try to keep track of as many as possible here, and we’ll update this post throughout the day as news filters in. Here’s the latest:

Ennis will meet with the Bobcats and at least four other teams in addition to the organizations listed below, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer reports.
Vonleh interviewed with the Wolves, Bucks, Lakers, and Blazers, tweets Robbins, who adds that the big man is scheduled to meet with the Sixers.

Earlier updates:

LaVine shot very well, and Seth Davis of SI.com hears that he may have helped his stock more than any other prospect today (Twitter link; H/T Wolstat).
In Exum’s extended quotes transcribed by Sean Deveney of The Sporting News regarding the point guard’s willingness to pressure certain teams not to draft him, Exum said he doesn’t see any of his potential destinations as a bad fit, and is willing to play behind an established point guard.
LaQuinton Ross will work out for the Cavs on Monday, tweets Jason Lloyd of Akron Beacon Journal.
The Raptors plan to meet with K.J. McDaniels, McDermott, Payton, Anderson, McDaniels, and possibly Hood, reports Wolstat (via Twitter).
Hood will meet with the Bulls on Friday, tweets K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune.
Randle interviewed with the Cavs and will do so with the Bucks, too, as the Plain Dealer and Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel note (Twitter links).
Patric Young spoke with the Pelicans and has a sit-down with the Grizzlies scheduled, according to Robbins (Twitter links).
Blakely adds Hood and Noah Vonleh to the Celtics interview list, while Randle and T.J. Warren are talking to Boston, too, according to Holmes (All Twitter links).
Vonleh says he also has an interview scheduled with the Magic, Robbins notes, adding that Orlando wanted to interview Stauskas, but his meeting schedule is too full (Twitter links). The Magic sat down with Randle on Wednesday, Robbins adds (on Twitter).
Aaron Gordon met with the Sixers on Wednesday, Pompey tweets.
Exum will also interview with the Kings, according to Howard-Cooper (on Twitter).
Julius Randle is meeting with the Sixers today, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter).
Doug McDermott said he met Wednesday with the Bulls, Hawks and Timberwolves, Robbins observes, and McDermott added that he’s looking forward to a meeting with the Cavs, as Robbins and the Plain Dealer observe (Twitter links).
Rodney Hood is set to interview with the Wolves tonight, Zgoda tweets. Hood interviewed with the Bobcats on Wednesday, as Bonnell details (Twitter links).
Kyle Anderson met with the Celtics and he’ll also see the Wolves tonight, Washburn and Zgoda note (Twitter links).
The Pistons met with Glenn Robinson III on Wednesday, as he tells Langlois (Twitter link).
Add the Celtics and the Bucks to Exum’s interview agenda, as Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe and Matt Velazquez of the Journal Sentinel report (Twitter links). Exum thinks he’ll sit down with the Cavs, too, the Plain Dealer notes (on Twitter).
The Wolves will interview Lavine on Friday after having spoken with James Young on Wednesday, Zgoda tweets.
The Bobcats have expressed interest in P.J. Hairston, as he tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).
Dante Exum‘s wingspan measured out at nearly 6’10”, and he’ll draw consideration for the No. 1 overall pick from some teams, ESPN’s Chad Ford said on the network’s combine coverage today, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv notes (Twitter link). He denied that he’s angling for the Lakers in the draft, but he wouldn’t rule out pressuring some teams not to take him, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Exum met with the Sixers, Pistons and Suns on Wednesday, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. The Celtics, Lakers, Magic and Jazz will also speak with him, report Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel and Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune (All four Twitter links).
Marcus Smart has interviewed with the Rockets, Raptors, Lakers, Suns and Nuggets, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. The Cavs, Jazz and Bucks are also on his agenda, as the Plain Dealer, Falk and Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times report (All Twitter links). The Timberwolves won’t interview Smart in Chicago, but Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities hears the team is hoping to get him to come to Minnesota for a workout (Twitter link).
Ontario native Tyler Ennis is excited about the idea of playing for the Raptors and has interviewed with them, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. He’s also met with the Bobcats, Kings, Suns, Thunder and Nuggets, according to Kennedy (on Twitter).
Nik Stauskas has met with or will meet with the Kings, Pistons and Raptors, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com and Doug Smith of the Toronto Star (All Twitter links).
The Nuggets, Spurs, Warriors and Nets have met with Shabazz Napier, Kennedy tweets.
The Hawks, Spurs, Thunder, Raptors, Magic, Cavs and Timberwolves met Elfrid Payton, Kennedy reports (Twitter link).
Zach LaVine interviewed with the Celtics, among others, Wednesday, he tells Blakely (Twitter link).
Russ Smith sat down with the Suns, Celtics and Blazers, according to Kennedy (via Twitter).

Draft Links: 2015, Randle, McDaniels

April 22nd, 2014 at 6:11pm CST by Ryan Raroque

The 2015 NBA Draft could be abound with promising big men, as Josh Newman and Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv discuss. Among those already garnering attention are Duke-bound Jahlil Okafor, incoming Kansas freshman Cliff Alexander, and Kentucky-recruit Karl-Anthony Towns; all three are currently projected to be in the top five according to DraftExpress‘ 2015 mock draft. Other potential lottery prospects include Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein, Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell, Florida’s Chris Walker, and top uncommitted center Myles Turner.

Here are some other draft-related links that we’ll pass along this evening:

Julius Randle has had high expectations as a top ranked college player and should still be among the notable names selected on draft night. With that being said, ESPN Draft experts Kevin Pelton, Amin Elhassan, and Chad Ford go over some of the limitations that may cause Randle to fall out of the top five.
Clemson product K.J. McDaniels has hired Rival Sports to represent him, per Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Draft prospects C.J. Wilcox, Gary Harris, and Elfrid Payton have signed with Creative Artists Agency, an NBA source tells Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).
Former Michigan State standout Adreian Payne is among a trio of fellow projected lottery talents who have signed with agent Mark Bartelstein, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.

Elfrid Payton To Enter Draft

April 15th, 2014 at 10:27pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Louisiana Lafayette guard Elfrid Payton will enter the NBA Draft and sign with Aaron Mintz, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (via Twitter). The 6’3 guard played a total of three seasons for the Ragin’ Cajuns, making considerable improvements in scoring every year. According to Haynes, Payton is projected to be selected in the first round. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress totes Payton as the 26th best prospect in this year’s draft, while ESPN’s Chad Ford lists him as No. 36.

In 2013/14, Payton averaged 19.2 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 5.9 APG, 2.3 SPG, and shot 50.9% from the field. In his one appearance in this year’s NCAA tournament, Payton posted 24 points, eight rebounds, three steals, and two blocks in 40 minutes en route to a second round loss against Creighton.

Draft Rumors: Payton, Baker, Walker

April 5th, 2014 at 12:04pm CST by Cray Allred

Oscar Robertson doesn’t agree with the league’s desire to increase the age limit for draft entry, telling Genaro C. Armas of The Associated Press that “one-and-done” players aren’t hurting the college game. “These colleges are greedy, man. They want to keep a kid … in school if they start to win,” Robertson said. “They want to keep them in school because it helps them — it helps the coach, it helps the winning percentage.” Here’s a roundup of more draft rumors:

Wichita State’s Ron Baker will return to school for his junior year, sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. Baker explored his draft potential before making the decision, and multiple NBA executives tell Goodman he would have been a second round pick had he chosen to declare for this year’s draft.
An NBA executive told Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that Louisiana-Lafayette’s Elfrid Payton could go as high as the late teens in the draft should he declare. The junior hasn’t yet decided whether to forgo his last year of college to enter the draft.
Florida freshman Chris Walker says he will make a decision regarding this year’s draft after the Final Four, telling reporters including Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv he’s focused on the tournament for now. “I haven’t really been thinking about it,” Walker said. “I’m just thinking about winning this UConn game and staying in the moment and hopefully winning that and advance to the championship game. And then after the season, me and coach [Billy Donovan] will sit down and talk about everything and all the options.” Walker has been considered by many to be a premier 2015 draft prospect, so it would be interesting to see where he would stack up if he declared for this summer’s draft.
In a subscription-only piece, ESPN Insiders Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton look at the draft stocks for Shabazz Napier, Frank Kaminsky, and Patric Young, who are all playing for Final Four teams this weekend.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports discussed the draft prospects of Kentucky’s freshmen in a video from yesterday.
We profiled Doug McDermott earlier today.

Odds & Ends: Embiid, Bynum, Kings, Petro

January 17th, 2014 at 4:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

Many talent evaluators around the NBA wish the talented but raw Joel Embiid would stay in school for another year, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who debates the freshman Kansas center with fellow ESPN.com scribe Kevin Pelton for an Insider-only piece. NBA teams usually want to see intriguing collegians enter the draft, so the stance on Embiid is an unusual one, as Ford explains. The 19-year-old is the No. 1 prospect on Ford’s Big Board. Here’s more from the Association:

Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star doesn’t get the sense that the Pacers will sign Bynum just to keep him away from the Heat, but Kravitz believes Indiana should take a low-risk flier on the big man regardless of where he might otherwise end up.
An Eastern Conference scout didn’t think the trade that brought in Rudy Gay would go as well as it has for the Kings, telling Marc Stein of ESPN.com that the move has made the team “relevant again.”
Johan Petro announced via Twitter that he’s left the Guangsha Lions of China, so it appears he’s free to sign with any team (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The 27-year-old center spent each of the past eight seasons in the NBA.
The Bulls had next season in mind when they signed D.J. Augustin, but it’s unclear whether the team or the point guard will want to continue their relationship beyond 2013/14, as Sam Smith of Bulls.com writes in his latest mailbag column.
Former 11th overall pick Jerome Moiso has retired, reports L’Equipe (translation via Carchia). Moiso spent five seasons in the NBA after the Celtics drafted him in 2000. He finished last season with Piratas de Quebradillas in Puerto Rico.
Louisiana-Lafayette point guard Elfrid Payton is a fast riser in the eyes of many NBA teams, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times. Ford has the 6’4″ junior at No. 54 in his ESPN.com rankings, while Payton is No. 64 for Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.