Jabari Parker Rumors | Hoops Rumors

NBA Execs Discuss 2014 Draft, Top Prospects

November 19th, 2013 at 12:27pm CST by Luke Adams

Following last week’s Champions Classic in Chicago, I asked Hoops Rumors readers which player would be selected first overall in the 2014 draft. While Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins received more than half the votes, the outcome wasn’t as one-sided as it may have been six months ago, with Jabari Parker (Duke), and Julius Randle (Kentucky) earning plenty of votes as well.

ESPN.com’s Chad Ford recently posed the same question to 39 NBA executives, and the breakdown of responses was similar to our poll — nearly half of those 39 execs picked Wiggins, but Parker and Randle got plenty of attention as well, and Dante Exum loomed as a dark horse. Here’s what some of the executives who spoke to Ford had to say about the top draft prospects for 2014:

A veteran NBA exec on Wiggins:

“I think he can be a player that plays a lot like Paul George does. He’s so smooth that at times it almost looks like he’s coasting. But when you watch closer, you just see the game comes so easy to him…. I’m not sure how we could pass on him if we had the No. 1 pick. The other guys might be more ready right now, but in three years, I think he’s the best player in this class.”

A general manager on Randle:

“I think he’s the surest thing in the draft. There’s nothing he can’t do and there just aren’t that many bigs in the NBA with that set of skills. He’s going to be a 10-time All-Star and will make a major impact on your team in Year One. Wiggins might have a little more upside and [Parker] is so attractive as well, but if you take someone else, you’re really risking your job.”

A different GM on Parker:

“I absolutely love him. I love guys who just know how to play. Very few players at Jabari’s age are so sophisticated about the game. You see how he’s reading the floor and how he’s thinking the game and you can’t help but get excited. I remember when some guys were wringing their hands about Kevin Durant. Does he play defense? Is he an elite athlete? I just saw a killer out there who would do anything to win. I see that in Jabari. Some will worship Wiggins’ athleticism. Some will pray to the altar of ‘big’ with Randle. But Parker’s my guy and I don’t see that changing.”

Another GM on Exum:

“Maybe I’m young and foolish, but I think Exum ends up being the guy everyone wishes they took in a few years. All of them are going to be great, but when you watch Exum, you see the ability to be a generational talent. My owner might kill me, but I think you take Exum, regardless of what the other guys do this year. Exum’s already proved it to me.”

Draft Rumors: 2015, Parker, Wiggins, Exum

November 15th, 2013 at 4:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

A pair of players widely considered to be among the five best draft picks for 2015 made their college choices today, with Jahlil Okafor headed to Duke and Cliff Alexander bound for Kansas. Longtime recruiting analyst Tom Konchalski told Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that if Okafor picked Duke, it might influence top 2014 prospect Jabari Parker to stay an extra year in school so he can play with his AAU teammate. That would be quite a surprise, but there’s plenty of time left before Parker and other potential 2014 early entrants have to decide whether to declare for the draft, so a lot can happen. Here’s the latest on the 2014 class:

Tuesday’s talent showcase at the Champions Classic was quite a spectacle, but it didn’t help at least one GM draw any conclusions, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick. “To be honest, I think (Tuesday) night muddied the waters even more,” the unnamed GM said.
Another GM gave Amick his top five prospects: Andrew Wiggins, Parker, Dante Exum, Aaron Gordon and Julius Randle. That’s the same top five that a GM listed for Zagoria, though it’s unclear whether those are different GMs or the same one.
Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times compares the 2014 draft class to the one that came 20 years before it, opining that Wiggins, Parker and Randle are analogous to Glenn Robinson, Jason Kidd and Grant Hill, the top three picks from 1994 (Twitter link).

Odds & Ends: Shumpert, Faried, Suns, Sixers

November 13th, 2013 at 7:31pm CST by Charlie Adams

All day long, media outlets have been reporting that Knicks guard Iman Shumpert might be traded in an attempt to aid the team’s ailing frontcourt. Despite the flux of rumors, Lang Greene over at HoopsWorld reports Shumpert isn’t fazed by seeing his name involved in trade talks: “If it’s going to happen, it will happen. I’m young. I’m an asset. So I’ll be in the [trade] rumors, I guess.” Although a move to Denver has been reportedly ruled out, several teams are still thought to be interested in the third year Georgia Tech product.

Here are some more interesting notes from around the NBA:

We found out earlier today that the Nuggets weren’t keen on sending Kenneth Faried over to New York, but Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets that there is league-wide interest in the young forward. However, Wojnarowski also notes that despite the interest, the Nuggets don’t appear likely to dish Faried unless he’s involved in some sort of blockbuster deal.
The Suns and 76ers are off to better-than-expected starts, but Mark Deeks from SB Nation does’t believe that either team should exit rebuilding mode in an attempt to make a playoff run.
Three projected lottery picks took the court in Chicago last night for the Champions Classic. Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, and Julius Randle showed off their skills to a packed arena that included 68 NBA scouts. Alex Kennedy from HoopsWorld breaks down how each of the young phenoms performed under the spotlight.

Odds & Ends: Union, Lucas, Draft, Brown

August 12th, 2013 at 9:30pm CST by Zachary Links

With the offseason winding down, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld identified who the real contenders will be in 2013/14. The back-to-back champion Heat top the list with some of the other usual suspects, including the Spurs and Thunder. The Bulls should be vaulted back into contention with the long-awaited return of Derrick Rose. The Clippers are a bona fide contender after re-signing Chris Paul, landing Doc Rivers as coach, and adding J.J. Redick. The Nets, who now boast the most expensive roster in the NBA by far, hope to be among the league's elite with first-time coach Jason Kidd at the helm. And of course, the Rockets will be one of the most intriguing teams to keep an eye on after luring Dwight Howard away from L.A. Here's more from around the Association..

NBPA executive committee member Jerry Stackhouse told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that LeBron James' comments about the union felt like a "kick in the stomach". "I don't think he's had any dialogue with anybody since the All-Star break, but it is what it is," Stackhouse said. "To make that statement about where we are as a union right now, he was misinformed."
Point guard John Lucas III was a safe choice for the Jazz, in the sense that he won't threaten Trey Burke or expect to be the main one-guard for the long-term. However, Utah believes they have more than a capable stop-gap and more than a positive locker room influence in the veteran, writes Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune.
Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) runs down the 2014 NBA Draft and notes that its remarkable depth could make it the best ever. Ford's latest big board has Andrew Wiggins at the top, followed by Kentucky's Julius Randle, Australian Dante Exum, Duke's Jabari Parker, and Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart.
Sean Deveney of the Sporting News gives his immediate and long-term outlook for the league's 13 new coaches. The list starts with the latest hire, 76ers coach Brett Brown.
Jordan Hill's summer assignment is to become the stretch four that the Lakers need, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Hill missed 53 games last year, mostly because of back and hip trouble.

Poll: Which Top 2014 Prospect Falls Before Next Year’s Draft?

August 10th, 2013 at 8:13pm CST by Spencer Lund

The 2014 NBA Draft is said to be the deepest in league history. Multiple prospects who would have gone as the top pick in previous drafts may now be relegated to a lower draft position. With such an influx of talent, Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld details some of the favorites in next summer's heralded class.

Brigham attempts to sift through the brightest prospects to provide a blueprint for how the order might play out a year from now. The players he spotlights include incoming college freshman, Andrew Wiggins (Kansas), Julius Randle (Kentucky), Jabari Parker (Duke), Aaron Gordon (Arizona), Oklahoma State sophomore Marcus Smart and Australian Dante Exum.

But even with these players as supposed locks for the lottery, things can change. As Brigham notes in his piece, last year's two prized players expected to be the top two picks in the 2013 Draft, Shabazz Muhammad and Cody Zeller, both fell after the following college basketball season concluded despite neither suffering a major injury. Muhammad even fell out of the top 10 all the way to the Timberwolves (by way of the Jazz) with the 14th pick.

It stands to reason that one of the players Brigham mentions will see his draft stock plummet before June even if all of them stay healthy. If all of these prospects stay healthy next season, and if Exum enters the draft without playing a year at an American university, which one will drop?

Draft Rumors: Noel, Zeller, McLemore, Porter

April 1st, 2013 at 3:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

A pair of underclassmen declared their intentions to enter the NBA draft today, with N.C. State's C.J. Leslie and Kentucky's Archie Goodwin entering the mix. Here's more of what we're hearing with the draft now less than three months away:

The tournament bracket makes it clear which NCAA teams are winners, but Ben Standig of CSNWashington sorts through the March Madness winners and losers as it pertains to the draft.
Standig cites Kentucky center Nerlens Noel as a winner, and Sean Deveney of The Sporting News agrees, even though Noel has been out since February with a torn ACL (Twitter link). Other contenders to be the No. 1 overall pick, like Cody Zeller, Ben McLemore, Otto Porter and Marcus Smart all faltered, Deveney observes.
Joe Kotoch of SheridanHoops.com unveils the initial version of his mock draft, and has Noel going first overall, followed by Smart and McLemore.
A Western Conference GM tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that six or seven members of the 2014 draft class would be in the mix for the No. 1 pick if they were eligible this year (Twitter link).
A GM who spoke to Dave Telep of ESPN.com echoed that sentiment, citing five potential All-Stars who could be in next year's draft: Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Aaron Gordon, Julius Randle and Andrew Harrison (Twitter link).

Jabari Parker Commits To Duke

December 20th, 2012 at 3:28pm CST by Sean Highkin

Jabari Parker, the second highest-recruited high-school player of the 2013 graduating class behind Andrew Wiggins, has committed to play for Duke University in 2013/14. Parker announced his decision in a 30-minute television special that aired Thursday on ESPNU.

Parker, a senior at Simeon Career Academy in Chicago, is expected to be the second overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft, after Wiggins. He is considered a gifted scorer with superstar potential.

Odds & Ends: Knicks, Harden, Terry, Draft

December 12th, 2012 at 10:57pm CST by Sean Highkin

The latest news and notes from around the NBA on Wednesday night:

Al Iannazzone of Newsday.com writes that Mike Woodson has been more successful at coaching Carmelo Anthony than Mike D'Antoni was.
James Harden was indifferent in his reaction to reports that the Wizards had rejected an offer from the Thunder to send him to Washington.
Jason Terry did not rule out a return to the Mavericks later in his career, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com.
ESPN.com's Chad Ford took a variety of questions from fans relating to the 2013 NBA Draft in a live chat.
SNY.com's Adam Zagoria reports that Jabari Parker, the second-rated prospect of the 2014 Draft, is down to Duke and Michigan State in his choice of colleges.
Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reports that John Wall will have his knee re-examined on Friday.
Sam Amico of FoxSportsOhio.com writes that youth is not an excuse for the Cavs' poor play.
D.J. Augustin has been a disappointment since signing with the Pacers this summer.
Sean Michael Meager of the Oregonian has an interview with Trail Blazers rookie Will Barton about his recent D-League assignment and the adjustment from college to the NBA.
Brandon Jennings was perhaps the best player up for a rookie-scale extension who didn't get one, but he's drawing comparisons to Chris Paul and Mike Conley from Bucks coach Scott Skiles for his play this season, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel documents.
Stephen Curry is feeling happy with his level of play this season and is not disappointed with his contract extension, he tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.