Emmanuel Malou Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Kings, Collison, Suns, Clippers

June 2nd, 2016 at 12:52pm CST by Luke Adams

We heard last week that new Kings head coach Dave Joerger was targeting Bryan Gates as a potential assistant. Now, James Ham of CSN California hears from a source that Gates – a former Sacramento assistant who worked for Minnesota last year and the Pelicans before that – is indeed to set to come aboard Joerger’s staff. Last week’s report indicated that Joerger and the Kings were also pursuing Elston Turner, but there are no official updates yet on that front.

Here’s more from around the Pacific, including a couple more items out of Sacramento:

Kings point guard Darren Collison was arrested on a domestic violence charge earlier this week, but his lawyer, Bill Portanova, called it a “misunderstanding” that he’s “working to straighten out,” writes Andy Furillo of The Sacramento Bee. As Furillo observes, it makes sense to wait to see how the case plays out before predicting what it might mean for Collison or the Kings.
Emmanuel Malou, who was set to transfer to Iowa State before deciding to remain in the 2016 draft, recently worked out for the Kings, per The Sacramento Bee.
The Suns worked out a six-player group of prospects today that included Ryan Anderson (Arizona), Zach Auguste (Notre Dame), Ron Curry (James Madison), Cheick Diallo (Kansas), Lester Medford (Baylor), and Codi Miller-McIntyre (Wake Forest). Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer tweets that Diamond Stone (Maryland) is also heading to Phoenix for his next workout, while Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic tweets that Gonzaga’s Domantas Sabonis has a solo workout with the team today.
The Clippers‘ pre-draft workout group on Wednesday featured Daniel Hamilton (UConn), DeAndre’ Bembry (St. Joseph’s), Guerschon Yabusele (France), Cat Barber (N.C. State), Tyrone Wallace (California), and Zach Auguste (Notre Dame), according to the team.
In other Los Angeles workout news, Alex Poythress (Kentucky) has workouts lined up with both the Lakers and Clippers (Twitter link via Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com), Rosco Allen (Stanford) is set to work out for the Lakers tomorrow (Twitter link via Camerato), and Czech power forward Adam Pechacek will also participate in that Lakers workout on Friday (Twitter link via Orazio Cauchi of Sportando). Finally, veteran D-League forward Joel Wright is attending a Clippers mini-camp, a league source tells Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (Twitter link).

Draft Updates: Hield, Korkmaz, Whitehead

May 11th, 2016 at 1:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

Former Oklahoma star Buddy Hield is taking part in day-one activities at the NBA draft combine today, but he’ll leave for graduation ceremonies and miss the athletic testing portion of the predraft showcase that runs through Sunday, reports Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Twitter link). So, the combine for the shooting guard will consist of interviews with teams, measurements and medical tests, Ford notes. The ESPN scribe has Hield at No. 6 in his prospect rankings, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress pegs him seventh.

See more from the draft scene:

European superagent Misko Raznatovic has negotiated an NBA buyout clause into the contract of each of his draft entrants (Twitter link), including first-round prospect Furkan Korkmaz. Givony, who first reported the existence of Korkmaz’s clause, pegs its value at $2MM. The 18-year-old shooting guard would likely withdraw from the draft if he doesn’t get assurances that he’ll become a lottery pick, sources told Givony for a piece on The Vertical. Korkmaz is Ford‘s No. 15 prospect and No. 17 with Givony.
The Magic and Bulls have expressed interest in drafting Seton Hall sophomore shooting guard Isaiah Whitehead, and the Sixers have him on their radar as well, according to Jerry Carino of the Asbury Park Press. Still, Whitehead isn’t a contender for the lottery picks that those teams hold, as Carino points out. Instead, he’s a second-round prospect, ranking No. 35 with Ford and only No. 65 with Givony. He has the ability to pull out and return to college ball within the next two weeks if he doesn’t hire an agent.
Kent State junior forward Jimmy Hall has withdrawn from the draft, as he announced on Twitter (hat tip to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com). Hall was a long shot to be drafted, ranking outside the top 100 on Ford’s and Givony’s lists.
Junior college power forward Emmanuel Malou has hired agent Daniel Moldovan and is staying in the draft, as Moldovan told ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla (Twitter link). Signing with an agent wipes out his remaining college eligibility, but concern had already existed about whether the NCAA would clear the 6’9″ Australian who’d committed to Iowa State, Goodman notes (on Twitter).

First-Round Prospect Jonathan Jeanne Out Of Draft

April 26th, 2016 at 12:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

French big man Jonathan Jeanne decided against entering this year’s draft, agent Jeremy Medjana told Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). The 18-year-old had a strong chance to become a first-round pick in June, coming in at No. 23 in Givony’s rankings and No. 25 with Chad Ford of ESPN.com. Jeanne’s stock only figures to improve with an extra year overseas, as Givony lists him 16th in his 2017 mock draft, though he wouldn’t become automatically eligible until 2019.

Sunday was the last day for early entrants to formally declare for this year’s draft, but the NBA has yet to announce the official early-entrants list, so news on some decisions is still trickling in. The absence of Jeanne means this year’s draft will be without one of its tallest would-be eligible prospects, as Ford lists him at 7’4″ while Givony has him at 7’2″ with a 7’7″ wingspan. He has 3-point shooting, ball-handling and passing skills, Ford writes, but he’s raw, shows immaturity at times and is a long way off from helping an NBA team, as Givony wrote for The Vertical in February. He played just six minutes at the pro level for Le Mans Sarthe Basket of France this season.

News about the draft entry decisions of another handful of other prospects has emerged since Sunday’s deadline, as we detail:

Indiana sophomore shooting guard James Blackmon Jr. has entered the draft, the school announced. He hasn’t hired an agent, the school adds, so he can return to college ball if he pulls out of the draft by May 25th. Blackmon is Ford’s 77th-ranked prospect but falls outside Givony‘s top 100.
Bakari Copeland, a junior forward from Maryland-Eastern Shore, is believed to have entered the draft as well, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. He’s outside the Ford and Givony rankings.
Emmanuel Malou, a junior college power forward who’s committed to Iowa State, has entered the draft but hasn’t hired an agent, sources tell The Vertical’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). He also falls outside the Ford and Givony rankings.
Italian shooting guard Diego Flaccadori has entered the draft, according to Eurohoops.net. The 20-year-old is the fourth-best overseas prospect among those born in 1996, according to Givony, though neither Givony nor Ford has him within the top 100 prospects overall.
Spanish small forward Santiago Yusta is draft-bound, the Romaior Sports agency announced (on Twitter). The 18-year-old isn’t in Ford’s rankings and is outside of Givony’s top 100, though Givony deems him the 32nd-best overseas prospect among those born in 1997.