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Draft Rumors: Saturday

June 22nd, 2013 at 3:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Raptors don't have a pick in either round, but Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears they're trying to acquire a second-rounder, if not a first-round choice, by draft time (Twitter link). That echoes comments that GM Masai Ujiri made in interviews last week indicating his desire to trade for a pick, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun points out via Twitter. There are sure to be more rumors about teams exchanging picks in the coming days as one of the most unpredictable drafts in recent memory approaches. Here's more:

The Blazers posted profiles of today's workout participants on the team website, though Peyton Siva, the first player on the list, sprained an ankle before the audition and didn't take part, as fellow prospect Mike Muscala tells The Oregonian's Joe Freeman (Twitter link). Muscala, Elijah Johnson, Michael Snaer, Chris Evans and Jackie Carmichael were the others in for the workout.
Siva will consult his agent about whether to pull out of his final two scheduled workouts, for the Pacers and Clippers, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (Twitter link).
Muscala will fly to Cleveland, ostensibly to work out for the Cavs, according to his Twitter feed (hat tip to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune).
C.J. Aiken was scheduled to work out Monday for the Sixers, but he'll instead be doing so for the Pistons that day, agent Stephen Pina tells Tom Moore of Phillyburbs.com. It will be Aiken's second audition for Detroit.
The Celtics will work out big men Kelly Olynyk and Lucas Nogueira next week, tweets Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
Carrick Felix set a conditioning run record at a Suns workout today that also included Reggie Bullock, Solomon Hill, James Southerland, Brandon Triche and Elias Harris, notes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (All Twitter links).
Brandon Paul has worked out for 14 teams, as he details to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.

Draft Workout Updates: Friday

June 14th, 2013 at 4:52pm CST by Luke Adams

With the 2013 draft less than two weeks away, the majority of the NBA's teams are continuing to bring in prospects to get a closer look at them. Here are the latest updates on draft workouts:

In addition to Michael Carter-Williams, who we heard about yesterday, Trey Burke and Alex Len also participated in the Pelicans' first draft workout today, tweets Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com.
The Pistons won't start working out players for the No. 8 pick until next week, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, who tweets that Mason Plumlee will work out for the club next Friday.
The six players scheduled to work out for the Nets on Monday include C.J. Leslie and Tony Mitchell, according to a team release.
Ray McCallum, Brandon Paul, Tony Snell, Nate Wolters, Jack Cooley, and Zeke Marshall worked out for the Trail Blazers today, according to Joe Freeman of the Oregonian (Twitter link).
The Timberwolves will work out six players on Sunday, according to the team's PR Twitter account: Shabazz Muhammad, Archie Goodwin, Rodney Williams, James Ennis, Kyle Barone, and Jamelle Hagins (Twitter links).
Brandon Davies, Mike Muscala, Elijah Johnson, B.J. Young, Grant Jerrett, and Colton Iverson worked out for the Clippers today, tweets Clips reporter Madelyn Burke.
Jerrett and Davies are also among the players who will work out for the Jazz tomorrow, along with Snell, Gorgui Dieng, Jamaal Franklin, Isaiah Canaan, and Kelly Olynyk, among others (link via Utah's official site).

Draft Notes: Burke, Kings, Gobert, Karasev

June 3rd, 2013 at 5:25pm CST by Zachary Links

The buzz on the smaller point guards in the 2013 Draft has not been positive, writes Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. Michigan's Trey Burke is widely regarded as the top one-guard in this year's class, but he's getting a lot of criticism for being too slow at the next level. Despite his lack of a fifth-gear, Burke's still likely to land somewhere in the top ten. Here's more on the draft..

Here's a surprising bit of news: the Kings, who own the No. 7 pick, are showing interest in French center Rudy Gobert, according to Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. Most mock drafts have him as a late lottery/mid-first round pick, but none have him pegged for the top ten.
More from Kyler, who writes that reviews are mixed on Sergey Karasev's performance this weekend in Las Vegas. Two big concerns from NBA teams were his rather slender frame and his overall feel for the game. The guard/forward is pegged as a late first-round pick in most mock drafts.
Vegas wasn't an ideal setting for Karasev, writes Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd). Karasev had visa issues in Russia and wasn't able to get to Vegas until after midnight on the day of the event and was clearly sluggish from the long trip. Ford sees his draft range Karasev's draft range starting with the Timberwolves at No. 9 and the floor being the Nets at No. 22.
Prospect Steven Adams is in Oklahoma City and worked out for the Thunder today, writes Royce Young of DailyThunder.com. The Pitt center made it clear that he'd like to land in OKC, saying in a Facebook video: “I’d love to be drafted here, man, straight up." Adams could be on the board when the Thunder draft at No. 12, but it's not a certainty.
Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (Twitter link) pegs the odds of the Cavs dealing the No. 1 pick at just 10% based on the overall lack of interest in it.
Point guard prospect Isaiah Canaan will work out for the Knicks and Nets soon, tweets Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com. The Murray State product is projected to go towards the end of the first round or early in the second.
Cody Zeller impressed in his workout for the Jazz, writes Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune. The Jazz pick at No. 14.
Today, the Blazers worked out guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, forward Jared Berggren, guard Sherwood Brown, forward Brandon Davies, guard Abdul Gaddy, and guard Elijah Johnson, tweets Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.

Odds & Ends: Atlantic, Previews, Draft

September 28th, 2012 at 9:22pm CST by Alex Lee

Here are a few odds and ends from around the NBA on Friday night:

Dei Lynam of CSN Philly goes "Around the Atlantic," touching on Rasheed Wallace, Kevin Garnett and a glowing quote from Keyon Dooling on Rajon Rondo.
Here is the index page of HoopsWorld's team-by-team season previews for the upcoming season.
We are a long way away from the 2013 NBA Draft, nine months to be (close to) exact, but I can't help myself. After dubbing LeBryan Nash the top NBA prospect in the Big 12 a few days ago, Draft Express rounds out their top five with Myck Kabongo, Jeff Withey, Elijah Johnson and Pierre Jackson respectively.
More draft news, as Joe Kotch of Sheridan Hoops published his top 10 list for the 2013 event. As we all know, this will change exponentially as the draft approaches. Now entering the 2012-13 season, be sure to use us to look back on the 2012 draft this past June.