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Gary Payton II

Atlantic Rumors: Casey, Raptors, Nets, 76ers

May 31st, 2016 at 10:29pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri seemed confident on Monday at his season-ending press conference that the team would soon work out a new contract for head coach Dwane Casey, and the two sides are indeed making progress toward an extension, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter links). Stein suggests that, while no agreement is in place yet, there’s optimism in Toronto that a deal could happen by the end of this week.

Locking up Casey to an extension would just be the start of what figures to be an eventful offseason in Toronto. As Bobby Marks of The Vertical details, the Raptors will face some tough decisions this summer — without a ton of cap flexibility, the team will have to take advantage of its extra first-round draft pick in order to make the most of its offseason.

Here’s more on Toronto and some other Atlantic clubs:

  • The Raptors will host the following six prospects at a pre-draft workout on Wednesday, according to the team (Twitter link): Demetrius Jackson (Notre Dame), Gary Payton II (Oregon State), Dorian Finney-Smith (Florida), Jalen Jones (Texas A&M), Kyle Wiltjer (Gonzaga), and Stefan Jankovic (Hawaii).
  • Wiltjer also recently worked out for the Nets, who are quietly taking a closer look at a large number of projected second-round or undrafted prospects, per NetsDaily.com (Twitter links). NetsDaily.com also adds Keifer Sykes of the Austin Spurs to the Nets’ list of veteran mini-camp players (Twitter link).
  • 76ers head coach Brett Brown hasn’t come out and said he prefers Ben Simmons over any other prospect in this year’s draft, but both Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News and Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer get the sense that Brown may be favoring Simmons with the club’s No. 1 pick.
  • Jake Fischer of Liberty Ballers explores whether the Sixers might be able to find a point guard solution in free agency this summer.
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Pacific Notes: Hornacek, Bogut, Lemon Jr.

May 25th, 2016 at 6:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Jeff Hornacek, who is reportedly set to become the Knicks new head coach, was sabotaged during his tenure with the Suns by injuries and a toxic environment created by the trade demands of Markieff Morris, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. “There were circumstances around him that caused us to not meet expectations more than his style of coaching or ability to coach,’’ Mark West, Phoenix’s vice president of player relations, told Berman. “If you look at a thin slice of the pie and not the whole body of work, [Knicks president] Phil Jackson is smarter than that. I’m sure he didn’t judge it over Jeff’s career in basketball. He was in a tough spot. It unraveled. We won 48 games his first year, lost some of those players that helped achieve those goals, and it went the other way.”

Discussing what Hornacek has to offer as a coach, West said, “He has a combination of different influences since being in the league — Cotton Fitzsimmons with the up-and-down, run-and-gun the Suns played — and playing for Philly in the East, more grinding, half-court set-it-up. With Utah, it was a blend of both. The best thing about Jeff is incorporating different styles, but he’s better coaching the up-and-down. He’ll morph the team to what they need to do.’’

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • The Clippers held workouts today for A.J. English (Iona), Gary Payton II (Oregon State), Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia), Danuel House (Texas A&M), Marshall Plumlee (Duke) and Josh Scott (Colorado), Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times relays (via Twitter).
  • The Warriors saved $4MM in luxury tax penalties as a result of Andrew Bogut not being named to the NBA’s All-Defensive team, Bobby Marks of The Vertical notes (on Twitter). Golden State’s tax bill for 2015/16 is now $14.9MM and Bogut’s cap hit for next season drops to approximately $11MM, Marks adds.
  • The Clippers are bringing in point guard Walter Lemon Jr. for their veteran mini-camp, Michael Scotto of Bleacher Report tweets. Lemon Jr. spent last season with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers’ D-League affiliate, averaging 13.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 24.7 minutes per outing.
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Draft Workouts: Nuggets, Suns, Clippers, Jazz

May 24th, 2016 at 4:14pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets are well-armed heading into this year’s draft, holding three picks in the top 20 and another two in the second round. With so many selections under team control, Denver figures to take a closer look at a wide variety of prospects in the next few weeks. The team announced today in a press release that they’re bringing in the following six players for a Wednesday workout: Vanderbilt guard Wade Baldwin, Providence forward Ben Bentil, Virginia forward Anthony Gill, UNLV forward Derrick Jones, Colorado-Mesa center Ryan Stephan, and California guard Tyrone Wallace.

Denver is hardly the only NBA team with a full workout schedule, so let’s round up several more updates…

  • The Suns are conducting workouts with six forward prospects on Tuesday, and announced the full list of participants, via Twitter. Jaron Blossomgame (Clemson), Shaq Goodwin (Memphis), Jake Layman (Maryland), Taurean Prince (Baylor), Pascal Siakam (New Mexico State), and Jarrod Uthoff (Iowa) are working out for Phoenix.
  • In addition to A.J. English, whose scheduled workout was previously reported, the Clippers will take a closer look at Gary Payton II, Malcolm Brogdon, Danuel House, Marshall Plumlee, and Josh Scott on Wednesday, tweets Dan Woike of The Orange County Register.
  • The Jazz will also hold a six-player workout on Wednesday, with four guards and two big men taking part. According to the team (via Twitter), Georgia Tech’s Marcus Georges-Hunt, Gonzaga’s Eric McClellan, Notre Dame’s Demetrius Jackson, UNC’s Marcus Paige, Virginia’s Mike Tobey, and Australian Thon Maker will be in attendance for that workout.
  • Former St. Joe’s wing DeAndre’ Bembry was among the players to work out for the Hawks on Tuesday, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
  • Alex Kirshner of Testudo Times adds the Nets and Mavericks to the list of teams that have recently worked out Maryland junior power forward Robert Carter.
  • The Celtics will work out Weber State’s Joel Bolomboy a week from Wednesday, sources tell A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com (via Twitter).
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Eastern Notes: Harrington, Hill, Hawks

May 21st, 2016 at 8:41pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Nets will add Adam Harrington to their staff, David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets. Harrington was formerly Kevin Durant‘s personal trainer and Oklahoma City’s shooting coach. Aldridge points out that Harrington helped Durant learn Dirk Nowitzki‘s signature 1-legged jump shot.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

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Draft Combine Update: Friday Evening

May 13th, 2016 at 8:12pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kansas freshman power forward/center Cheick Diallo intends to sign with an agent and remain in the 2016 NBA Draft, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com reports. “My time at Kansas was hard; the beginning was really hard,” Diallo said. “The NCAA stuff made it difficult for me, but even though I didn’t always play a lot, I loved being at Kansas and loved supporting my teammates. This is the time for me to go to the next level. And I’m trying to show the NBA the things I do well: block shots, rebound and run the floor. I can guard multiple positions.”

The 19-year-old is currently ranked No. 32 overall by Jonathan Givony of Draft Express, but Diallo is likely to climb in those rankings in the near future based on his strong showing during the combine, though that is merely my speculation. Here’s more from Chicago’s big event:

  • A number of scouts still aren’t sold on Kentucky big man Skal Labissiere despite the reports he wowed teams with his solo workout at the combine, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes. “A guy makes shots in an empty gym?” a league executive told Deveney. “That makes him top 10? I don’t think so. We know he is a pretty good shooter. I think he has a lot of potential. He could go in the lottery, and maybe top 10. But he has a lot to prove in workouts.“
  • Former Providence point guard Kris Dunn said he’d love to play for the Pelicans if they were to select him this June, citing the presence of power forward Anthony Davis as his primary reason, Jim Eichenhofer of NBA.com relays. “[It’s] definitely [appealing],” said Dunn. “For any point guard who’s going there. Who wouldn’t want to play with [Davis]? He’s definitely a superstar, up there with LeBron James, Kevin Durant and all those guys. To be able to play with a guy like that, it’s only going to help me. He makes the game a lot easier for point guards.”
  • Both Jaylen Brown (California) and Gary Payton II (Oregon State) described their interviews with Kings executive Vlade Divac as “fun,” with Brown also noting that the mood was lighter and less stressful than other interviews he has participated in, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays (Twitter links).
  • The Lakers interviewed Marquette freshman center Henry Ellenson today, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News tweets.
  • Utah sophomore center Jakob Poeltl interviewed with the Pelicans, Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate (Twitter links). New Orleans also sat down with Diallo, the scribe adds.
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Gary Payton II To Stay Out Of Draft

April 13th, 2015 at 3:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

Second-round draft prospect Gary Payton II, the son of the Hall-of-Famer by the same name, will return to Oregon State rather than enter this year’s draft, his college coach, Wayne Tinkle, tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Payton is the 42nd-best prospect, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, though Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress offers a less optimistic projection, ranking him only 35th among college juniors. Givony does have the point guard 57th in his mock draft for next year, however.

Payton has the potential to become an elite defender, Ford writes, and indeed, his defensive rating and defensive win shares were tops in the Pac-12, according to Sports Reference. There are nonetheless questions about whether he fits as a point guard in the NBA, according to Ford. He averaged only 3.2 assists against 1.9 turnovers in 36.3 minutes per game for the Beavers this season, scoring 13.4 points per game. He didn’t display three-point touch in his lone season at Oregon State so far after transferring from junior college, knocking down only 29.3% of his attempts from behind the arc.

His 7.5 rebounds per game this year stand out as an eye-popping number for a 6’3″ guard. He also nabbed 3.1 steals per contest, the second-best mark in all of NCAA Division I, which suggests that he has a future in the NBA as a defensive specialist if he can at least perform competently on the other end.

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