Fred VanVleet Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Seattle, Cavs, Whiteside, Draft

May 3rd, 2016 at 3:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Seattle City Council dealt a major blow to hopes that the city will be the home of an NBA team any time soon, voting 5-4 against a measure that would have given developer Chris Hansen control of an alley on the spot where he’s seeking to build an arena, reports Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times. The chances of a revival for the SuperSonics within the near future have seemed remote anyway, though we invited your discussion on the idea of expansion in Monday’s Community Shootaround. See more from around the NBA:

Trade acquisition Channing Frye has given the Cavaliers a “breath of fresh air,” GM David Griffin told Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal amid an interview last week in which he disputes the idea of chemistry problems in the locker room. Frye has seen sharply limited playing time in the postseason but had his best game of the playoffs Monday, scoring eight points in nine minutes of action. “He’s been a huge, huge plus,” Griffin said. “We needed someone who was truly joyful to be part of the process to remind everybody how blessed we are to be together.”
Griffin also lauded soon-to-be free agent James Jones for his leadership, calling him a special player, Ridenour notes.
Hassan Whiteside doesn’t harbor ill feelings toward the Raptors for declining to bring him to training camp after he played for Toronto’s summer league team in 2014, believing the July stint, which was his first brush with the NBA in two years, led to other opportunities that helped revive his career months later, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. The Heat center is No. 10 in our latest 2016 Free Agent Power Rankings.
Draft prospects Brice Johnson, Malik Beasley, A.J. Hammons, Fred VanVleet, Kaleb Tarczewski and Rasheed Sulaimon have all signed with Andy Miller’s ASM Sports agency, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link).
Spanish small forward Santiago Yusta is officially eligible for this year’s draft despite his absence from the list of early entrants the NBA sent out last week, the league announced. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress pegs the 6’7″ 18-year-old as the 32nd-best overseas prospect among those born in 1997.

Ron Baker, Fred Van Vleet Staying Out Of Draft

April 13th, 2015 at 1:53pm CST by Chuck Myron

Wichita State junior guards Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet plan to remain out of this year’s draft, sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Baker, a 6’4″ shooting guard, is the 47th-ranked prospect in both Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings and Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress board, though Ford cast him as a “bubble” first-rounder in reaction to Goodman’s report (Twitter link). VanVleet, a 6’0″ point guard, is Givony‘s 84th-best prospect. Ford has him only 97th, though he called him a would-be second-rounder today (on Twitter).

Baker is a consistent outside shooter, having knocked down 38.0% of his three-pointers last season and 38.3% this year, when he averaged 14.7 points and 4.5 rebounds in 32.7 minutes per game. His 6’8.5″ wingspan would help him defend opposing shooting guards in the pros despite his lack of height, Givony writes.

VanVleet, who averaged 13.6 PPG, scored almost as much as Baker did this season, but his wingspan is only slightly larger than his height. The two helped Wichita State to the Final Four as freshmen, and presumably another such run would help their respective draft stocks for 2016.