Gary Harris

And-Ones: Salary Cap, Draft, Harris, LaVine

GMs widely expect next season’s salary cap to wind up even higher than the most recent projection of $63.2MM, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News (Twitter link). 

Here’s more from around the league:

  • It was reported earlier that Spanish league shooting guard Marcus Eriksson is pulling out of this year’s draft. Prior to that announcement Eriksson had a workout scheduled with the Bucks, reports Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times (Twitter link).
  • NBA.com released their full prospect profile on former Michigan State guard Gary Harris. Harris is a projected lottery pick in this year’s draft.
  • Zach LaVine is projected to be taken anywhere from late in the lottery to the middle of the first round. NBA.com published their prospect profile for LaVine.
  • Mark Snyder of The Detroit Free Press adds the Wolves and the Bulls to the list of teams working out Jordan Morgan, and also reveals that Russ Smith, Jahii Carson, Sean Kilpatrick and Jordan McRae auditioned Wednesday for the Wolves, too.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Draft Notes: Celtics, Lakers, Kings, Randle

We rounded up the latest on draft workouts around the league this morning, but updates continue to pour in, so we’ll pass along draft-related news from this afternoon here:

  • Chad Ford of ESPN.com, in a chat with readers, identifies the Celtics, Lakers and Kings as the three teams most likely to trade their top-10 picks.
  • Julius Randle will have an individual workout with the Celtics, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.
  • Nik Stauskas is set to work out for the Suns, in addition to previously reported workouts with the Hornets, Celtics, and Lakers, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, who hears that those will be the only auditions Stauskas will do (Twitter links).
  • Gary Harris, T.J. Warren, K.J. McDaniels are among those showing off for the Sixers today, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
  • The Jazz will interview Spencer Dinwiddie next week, a source tells Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. Dinwiddie is recovering from a torn ACL and can’t work out, as Jones points out (Twitter links).
  • James Michael McAdoo, Jake Odum, Ronald Roberts Jr. and Scottie Wilbekin are scheduled to work out Thursday for the Pacers, the team announced (on Twitter).
  • Jordan Clarkson, David Stockton, Cameron Clark, Davante Gardner, Richard Solomon and Tyler Stone are auditioning for the Suns today, tweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
  • Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press adds Jordan Bachynski and Dwight Powell to the list of players working out for the Pistons. Okaro White is also showing off for the Pistons, as well as the Warriors, as Natalie Pierre of the Tallahassee Democrat details (hat tip to Ellis).

Draft Notes: Wiggins, Jazz, Randle, Sixers

The debate over how the top three picks of the 2014 NBA Draft will shake out has been covered ad nauseam at this point, and NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper throws his hat in the ring by examining what could dictate where Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins will land. Meanwhile, here are some other draft-related updates:

  • Along with Nick Wiggins (brother of Andrew), the Jazz will work out Deonte Burton, Jordan Clarkson, Alex Kirk, Sean Kilpatrick and Artem Kilmenko on Thursday morning, tweets Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune. The Jazz have three picks on June 26, including two in the first round (5 and 23).
  • As Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders opines, just because Julius Randle is no longer widely classified within the top tier of this draft class isn’t reason enough to sleep on the talented Kentucky forward, who still has a shot at becoming a top-5 pick.
  • In a separate story, Kennedy writes that there is no confusing how much is riding on this talent-rich draft for the Sixers, who are the only team with two top-10 selections (3 and 10). Adding two franchise cornerstones to go with Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel could make Philadelphia an attractive landing spot around the league, according to Kennedy.
  • After working out for the Hornets today, Northwestern’s Drew Crawford is scheduled to work out with the Kings, Jazz and his hometown Bulls, according to the Wildcats’ Twitter feed.
  • The Nuggets will have Michigan State’s Gary Harris and Mizzou’s Jabari Brown in town for a workout on Thursday, tweets Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post. Denver picks at 11, 41 and 56.
  • According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter), the Magic will work out Randle, Aaron Gordon and Noah Vonleh individually before the draft. They will also work out Dante Exum at some point and are expected to bring in Marcus Smart for a second look.  Orlando picks at 4 and 12.

Draft Notes: Dixon, Saddler, Perry

Former Memphis point guard Michael Dixon will work out for the Celtics tomorrow, tweets  David Pick of Sportando, who made note of a few more upcoming auditions for some of this year’s draft entrants. You can find more of those – along with this evening’s draft-related links – below:

  • Agent John Spencer confirmed that former Duke guard Andre Dawkins will work out for the 76ers on either June 11 or 13, according to Tyler R. Tynes of the Philadelphia Daily News.
  • P.J. Hairston will participate in a private workout for the Knicks on Thursday, which makes it clear that New York will try to maneuver their way into the first round of the draft this year, a source tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. Goodman doesn’t think Hairston will slip past the 15-20 slots on draft night (Twitter link).
  • Nick Wiggins – older brother of the highly-touted Andrew Wiggins – is set to work out for the Jazz on Thursday, tweets Tariq Sbiet of North Pole Hoops (hat tip to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun).

Earlier updates:

  • Delaware standout Devon Saddler is scheduled for a workout with the Warriors on June 13th.
  • Youngstown State’s Kendrick Perry – following a strong audition for the Celtics – has the Jazz and Mavericks next up on his list of NBA workouts.
  • Utah will also take a look at San Diego State’s Xavier Thames sometime this week.
  • Jerami Grant, Joe Jackson, Ronald Roberts Jr. and Cam Bairstow are among the draft prospects working out for the Suns today, tweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
  • Agent Keith Kreiter adds the Nuggets to the list of teams set to work out Chris Udofia (Twitter link).
  • Add Gary Harris and Doug McDermott to the list of players who will audition for the Lakers tomorrow, per Mike Trudell of Lakers.com (via Twitter). 
  • 6’6 guard James Bell was among the handful of prospects who performed for the Jazz yesterday, notes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News.

Draft Notes: Vonleh, Stauskas, McDermott, Harris

Indiana big man Noah Vonleh looked impressive in a workout this week, and Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com adds the Magic to the list of teams auditioning the potential top-five pick (Twitter link). There’s news on a few other projected lottery selections among the latest on the draft:

  • Nik Stauskas will work out for the Lakers and Celtics, Goodman reports, adding that the same two teams are on Doug McDermott‘s agenda (Twitter links).
  • Gary Harris will show off for the Suns and Lakers, a source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.
  • Adreian Payne is set to audition for the Celtics, Suns and Jazz, Goodman hears (Twitter link).
  • The Hawks worked out Nick Johnson on Thursday, notes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  • Jahii Carson, Justin Cobbs, Cory Jefferson, Artem Klimenko and Akil Mitchell are all performing for the Bucks today, the team announced (on Twitter).
  • The Suns will audition Lamar Patterson today, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Phoenix is also getting a look at De’Mon Brooks, according to agent Keith Kreiter (Twitter link).
  • The Sixers worked out Patterson, Semaj Christon, Devon Saddler, Casey Prather and Langston Galloway, reports Tyler R. Tynes of the Philadelphia Daily News. The Pacers had a look at Galloway, Jabari Brown, Markel Starks and C.J. Wilcox, as Tynes also writes.
  • The Celtics and Bulls will audition Kadeem Batts, Sportando’s David Pick tweets.

Draft Rumors: Harris, Young, Robinson, Smart

NBA executives are gathered in Southern California for a series of workouts involving draft hopefuls, and Chad Ford of ESPN.com passes along some intel in an Insider-only piece. Gary Harris has used hot shooting to impress and he’s a likely top-10 pick, Ford believes. He’ll work out for the Celtics and Bulls. among other teams, according to Ford. James Young is drawing interest from a slew of teams, including the Hornets, Sixers, Nuggets, Magic, Timberwolves and Suns, while many clubs are high on Glenn Robinson III after he performed well in a workout for the Bulls this past Monday, Ford writes. Here’s more on the draft:

  • Marcus Smart has workouts scheduled with the Magic and Celtics, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter links).
  • Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times adds the Nuggets to the list of teams that interviewed Aaron Gordon at last week’s draft combine in Chicago.
  • The Clippers, Pacers, Pistons and Wizards are among the clubs interested in Virginia swingman Joe Harris, Woelfel writes in the same piece, reiterating that the Bucks are eyeing him, too. Harris spoke to Zach Links of Hoops Rumors recently for our Prospect Profile series.
  • Chane Behanan will work out for the Mavs next month, Goodman also tweets.

Draft Rumors: Harris, Smart, Jazz, Magic

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: Friday

We gathered a slew of reports connecting draft prospects with teams yesterday on the first full day of the Chicago draft combine, and we’ll do the same today with this post. The latest updates will be on top as we follow the action throughout.

  • Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders adds the Pistons, Kings and Suns to the list of teams interviewing Noah Vonleh (Twitter link).
  • The Pistons met with Rodney Hood, Ellis tweets, and the Thunder also met with him, Holmes notes (on Twitter).
  • Thanasis Antetokounmpo sat down with the Nets, Knicks, Pacers, Cavs, Wizards and Pelicans, according to Woelfel (Twitter link).

2:00pm updates:

  • The Pistons have met with Smart and Zach LaVine, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press and Keith Langlois of Pistons.com, respectively (Twitter links).
  • Smart is also among the players interviewing with the Celtics tonight, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, and the C’s spoke with Aaron Gordon, too, fellow Globe scribe Baxter Holmes notes (Twitter links).
  • Gordon also met with the Magic, who are set to meet with James Michael McAdoo, as well, according to Robbins (Twitter links).
  • Tyler Ennis is meeting with the Bucks today after interviewing with the Bulls on Thursday, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times and Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com report (Twitter links).
  • Jarnell Stokes already worked out for the Raptors, according to Wolstat (on Twitter).

12:02pm updates:

  • Dante Exum‘s interview with the Magic went well, he said, adding that the team would like to bring him to Central Florida for a workout, tweets Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Robbins, in a full piece, added Marcus Smart to the list of top prospects who’ve interviewed with the Magic.
  • Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge expressed a fondness for Smart today in an interview with ESPN’s Andy Katz on the network’s coverage of the combine, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv notes (on Twitter).
  • Gary Harris told Katz he met with the Raptors, Nuggets, Grizzlies and Pistons, as Zagoria once more passes along via Twitter.
  • The Raptors will interview Jordan Adams today, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, who says the team also spoke with James Young (Twitter links).
  • Zagoria adds the Sixers, Spurs, Clippers, Mavs, Nuggets, Warriors and Bulls to the list of teams that Kyle Anderson either met or is slated to meet (Twitter link).
  • Markel Brown said he’ll talk with the Celtics today, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com (Twitter link).

And-Ones: Hairston, Wolves, Draft

One player whose draft stock might benefit from the pre-draft interview process is P.J. Hairston, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. In 26 games this past season with the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League, Hairston averaged 21.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 0.8 APG, and 1.5 SPG in 32.3 minutes per contest.

More from around the league:

  • The Timberwolves plan on interviewing Aaron Gordon, Gary Harris, and James Young this week at the Chicago Combine, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). All three players are projected lottery picks and you can check out our prospect profiles on each here.
  • RealGM takes a look at the Lakers lottery history.
  • The draft combine is crucial to the Magic despite the big names not showing up, writes Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. The Magic are set to interview the league maximum 18 players while in Chicago, the article notes. These names will likely include Dante Exum, Julius Randle, Gordon, Noah Vonleh, and Marcus Smart, per Robbins.
  • Chad Ford of ESPN.com (video link) breaks down draft prospect C.J. Wilcox. The senior guard from Washington averaged 18.3 PPG this season and is a projected second-round pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
  • The Thunder, Bobcats, Lakers, and Cavaliers were among the teams that met with Rodney Hood at the draft combine, reports Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
  • Jarnell Stokes met with the Knicks and the Hawks today, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Stokes is projected as a second-round pick.

And-Ones: Cavs, Nets, T’Wolves

There are plenty of head coaching options for the Cavaliers to consider, as the league’s current list of free agent coaches includes Mike D’Antoni, Lionel Hollins, Mark Jackson, and George Karl. Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio briefly profiles each of the above-mentioned candidates according to their chances of landing in Cleveland next season. Additionally, Amico mentions Alvin Gentry, Jerry Sichting, Mark Price, Alex Jensen, and Steve Kerr as other names to keep in mind.

Here are some more miscellaneous news and notes to pass along tonight:

  • Despite talk that Kevin Garnett could potentially retire after this season, with Paul Pierce slated to hit unrestricted free agency, all signs point toward both returning to the Nets next year, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.
  • Timberwolves brass will be heading to Chicago tomorrow in preparation for the NBA’s pre-draft combine and are expected to request interviews with many players, including Michigan State’s Gary Harris, Michigan’s Nik Stauskas, Kentucky’s James Young, Creighton’s Doug McDermott, and Duke’s Rodney Hood, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.
  • In the same piece, Zgoda writes that the Wolves are looking to acquire their own D-League affiliate.
  • Don’t be surprised if LeBron James chooses to distance himself from Roger Mason Jr.‘s recent comments about boycotting the 2014/15 season if Donald Sterling still owns the Clippers, writes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
  • Assuming he re-signs with the Thunder in 2016, Kevin Durant could earn somewhere around $143.75MM over five years, as Berry Tramel and Jon Hamm of NewsOK explain.
  • During an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Magic Johnson revealed that he declined an offer from Pistons owner Tom Gores to be part of his ownership group in Detroit (H/T to The Detroit News). Magic had been responding to the claim from Donald Sterling that the former Lakers star had been conspiring to purchase the Clippers.