Jerian Grant Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Smith, Draft

June 3rd, 2015 at 9:11pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Raptors have a busy summer ahead of them with six players set to hit free agency, and with the team also badly needing to upgrade its defense and rebounding, Holly MacKenzie of NBA.com writes in her offseason preview of the franchise. Toronto could also stand to add a veteran two-way forward like Paul Pierce, whose impact on the Wizards’ locker room didn’t go unnoticed by Raptors GM Masai Ujiri, MacKenzie adds. You can view Hoops Rumors’ offseason outlook for the Raptors here.

Here’s more from the NBA’s Atlantic Division:

Celtics coach Brad Stevens wants to see the team add versatility and shooting this offseason, in addition to rim protection, as he told reporters, including Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
J.R. Smith believes that the Knicks gave up on him this season, and said that he felt like a “throw in” who was included in the deal that brought him to the Cavs only for salary matching purposes, Rod Boone of Newsday relays (via Twitter). Smith certainly appeared revitalized as a player after the trade, playing in 46 games and averaging 12.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 31.8 minutes per contest for Cleveland.
The Raptors have workouts scheduled with Jerian Grant (Notre Dame), Chavaughn Lewis (Marist), Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (Arizona), and Justin Anderson (Virginia), the team announced. Also displaying their wares in a workout for the Raptors today were Maurice Walker (Minnesota) and Dallin Bachynski (Utah), the team relayed (on Twitter).

And-Ones: Booker, Clippers, Sanders

June 1st, 2015 at 10:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kentucky shooting guard Devin Booker will work out for the Thunder on Tuesday, Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman tweets. Oklahoma City owns the No. 14 overall pick. The Suns, who have the No. 13 pick, brought in Booker for a workout on Monday. according to a tweet from Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops.com. Dez Wells, Josh Richardson, Derek Cooke, Vince Hunter and Jarvis Summers also participated in Phoenix’s workout, according to Scotto.

In other news around the league:

The Clippers, who don’t have a pick in the draft, nonetheless brought in several prospects for workouts on Monday, including Chris Walker, Dwayne Polee, Ralston Turner, Keifer Sykes, Shannon Scott and Richaun Holmes, Dan Woike of the Orange County Register reports.
Trevor Lacey, Dakari Johnson, Rayvonte Rice, Corey Hawkins, Kenneth Smith and Alpha Kaba worked out for the Lakers on Monday, according to the Lakers’ Twitter feed.
Jerian Grant and Delon Wright participated in the Wizards’ first pre-draft workout, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post reports.
Larry Sanders has no regrets walking away from the Bucks and the NBA, he tells Gus Turner of Complex.com in a lengthy feature article. Sanders left approximately $27MM but has found peace and happiness outside of basketball, Turner adds. “I couldn’t function outside of the gym and my studio,” he told Turner. “I couldn’t be around my family; I couldn’t be around anybody else. I was creating from a place of anxiety and fear, suffering. I wasn’t creating from a place of joy or happiness or freedom. Everything I did was pure avoidance.”
Alvin Gentry’s four-year deal to coach the Pelicans is worth a total of $13.75MM, and that includes a team option of $4MM for the final season, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

Western Draft Notes: Towns, Grant, Jazz

May 31st, 2015 at 12:56pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Karl-Anthony Towns will interview with the Wolves and the Lakers, but won’t work out for any teams, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv reports. The big man would relish the opportunity to play in Minnesota. “It would be a blessing and an honor to even have a chance to play for Minnesota and be able to have the chance to play for a great organization and learn from a great mentor like Kevin Garnett,” Towns said.

Here’s more on the upcoming draft:

Jerian Grant, whom I profiled earlier today, will work out for the Raptors, Heat, Hornets, Nuggets and Wizards according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Grant previously worked out for the Pacers, Suns, Thunder and Rockets.
The Suns are looking for play-makers off their bench and Grant may be a good candidate for the No. 13 pick, Coro opines in the same piece. “We’re looking at the guys who could possibly be backup point guards,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “The more guys we can get on this team, whether it’s point guard, off-guard, three-man, center, forward, whatever it is — that bring intelligence to the game can only help us.”
The Jazz own the No. 12 selection in the draft and Kincade Upstill of the Deseret News wonders if the team should trade its pick. Upstill examines some hypothetical trades involving the team’s first-rounder, including an intriguing swap with the Clippers that involves sending J.J. Redick to the Jazz for Trey Burke and the No. 12 pick.

Prospect Profile: Jerian Grant

May 31st, 2015 at 11:52am CST by ChrisCrouse

The franchise that selects Jerian Grant will likely be seeking immediate dividends from its draft pick. The Notre Dame guard is one of the most NBA-ready prospects in this year’s draft class. He is a high-level athlete with explosiveness and playmaking ability. His assist totals improved every year in college, rising to 6.6 assists per game during his senior year, which was the seventh best mark in the nation. The point guard took good care of the ball last season as well, averaging only 2.1 turnovers per game.

Courtesy of USA TODAY Sports Images

Scoring has never been much of an issue for Grant. He led his team in scoring during the 2012/13 and 2014/15 seasons. Grant played extremely well to begin the 2013/14 campaign, but after only 12 games, he was suspended for the remainder of the season because of academic issues. The suspension might have been a red flag for NBA teams, but I suspect the fact that he stayed in school and earned his degree will quiet those concerns.

The 22-year-old doesn’t appear to have the ceiling that some of the other prospects in his class possess, which is the downside of selecting Grant. He can also be a bit ball-dominant, which is something teams are shying away from. Still, valuing potential or scheme fit over production has left many coaches and front office executives unemployed. Grant has produced during his time in South Bend and he has shown he has skills that will translate immediately to the NBA.

He should be able to join a team and carve out a role similar to Dennis Schröder’s in Atlanta. Schroder came into the league known as a playmaker, but he needed the ball to do so. The German native has done a good job of fitting in and leading the Hawks’ second team, although he does revert to his old style of play at times, as his 27.0 usage rate this past season indicates. Schröder was a solid first-round pick, one of the many moves that GM Danny Ferry made that allowed Atlanta to win 60 games this season. Drafting Grant can be, at worst, the kind of selection that allows a team to fill out its rotation with another quality NBA player. He has the potential to be much more than that, but the team that drafts him shouldn’t expect too much too soon.

Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks Grant as the 17th best prospect, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranks him as the 21st. Grant and his agent, Raymond Brothers of IAM Sports and Entertainment, believe he could be drafted higher than that, as Grant recently told Zach Links of Hoops Rumors.

“My agent and I have been hearing anywhere from No. 8 to No. 20, anywhere around that range. They don’t see me going past No. 22 and they say the ceiling is around No. 8 or 9. It’s a wide range right now,” Grant said.

The Pistons own the eighth pick in the draft and the team is expected to re-sign Reggie Jackson to be its starting point guard. Detroit also employs Brandon Jennings, but he was rumored to be available early in the season, before he tore his Achilles and before the Pistons traded for Jackson. Grant will work out for the Hornets, who own the ninth pick in the draft. Charlotte will have a void on its bench unit if Mo Williams leaves in free agency, but if Lance Stephenson remains on the team, it might make sense to give him a sixth-man role as the de facto second team point guard. That’s a dicey proposition given Stephenson’s production last season, but he is owed $9MM next year and it might be the best way for the team to get value out of that contract. Using Stephenson in this role and drafting Grant with the ninth overall pick would allow Charlotte to ease the 22-year-old into the NBA, while providing insurance of sorts in case of a Stephenson debacle.

The Heat own the No. 10 selection and if they believe Dwyane Wade wasn’t bluffing when he reportedly indicated that he is willing to leave Miami, they may be interested in drafting his replacement. You can see the similarities between point guard’s play at Notre Dame and Wade’s at Marquette, although Grant wasn’t nearly the force on the defensive end that Wade was. Assuming the team re-signs Goran Dragic, which seems likely, Grant could come off the bench next season and join Dragic in the starting lineup the following year if Wade departs. If Wade re-signs with Miami, which I believe is a more likely outcome, Grant could still see a heavy role as he plays out his rookie contract. Wade has only played in 71.34% of Miami’s regular season games since the 2011/12 season and only roughly 33.17 minutes during those games. The 33-year-old is reportedly looking for a three-year, $45MM deal after his current one expires. If the Heat have Grant, who would make slightly more than $11.6MM over the four years if selected with the 10th pick, on the roster, they could use him as their spot starter when Wade misses games and it could help the team cope with paying a hefty salary to an aging veteran. The team could just as easily go in a different direction with its draft choice given all the resources it already used on its backcourt.

Grant previously worked out for the Pacers, who own the No. 11 pick. If Roy Hibbert and David West both opt in, Indiana won’t have many resources available to add help to its roster, as Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors explains in the team’s Offseason Outlook. Grabbing a player who could help right away with its first-round selection may be something the team looks into, although that is merely my speculation.

Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors has Grant going to the Mavs with the No. 21 selection in his latest Mock Draft. Dallas, as well as Chicago at No. 22, would be ecstatic to get a contributor at that juncture of the draft. Grant also worked out for the Suns and the Wizards, who own the No. 13 and No. 19 picks, respectively. The Sixers interviewed Grant about playing in Philadelphia alongside his younger brother, Jerami, whom the team drafted in the second round last year. The Notre Dame alum seemed delighted about the possibility of playing in the City of Brotherly Love, as he told Links.

“It’d be great,” Grant said of playing with his brother. “We got to play together a bit when we were younger. Both of our games have developed so much, so I think that we can be a dynamic duo together.”

The Sixers do not possess a first-round pick in the range where Grant is expected to go off the board. The team does have five second-round picks this year as well as an abundance of additional future selections, so a move into the middle of the first round could be in play.

NBA scouts have nearly five seasons worth of games to evaluate Grant, and because of the large sample size, it’s clear he is one of the safest picks in this year’s draft. Whichever franchise selects him will be getting a playmaker who can contribute immediately and help improve the team.

Eastern Notes: Skiles, Wizards, Varejao

May 29th, 2015 at 7:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The big news of the day is the Magic‘s hiring of Scott Skiles as the team’s new head coach. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports previously reported that Skiles’ arrangement with the team was for four years, and Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link) adds that the fourth year (2018/19) is a team option. Robbins also tweets that Skiles said he would like to keep former interim coach James Borrego on his coaching staff.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Wizards have workouts scheduled for this Monday with Jerian Grant (Notre Dame), Darian Hooker (New York Institute of Technology), Cady Lalanne (UMass), Stefan Nastic (Stanford), Juwan Staten (West Virginia), and Delon Wright (Utah), Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post reports (via Twitter).
Cavs big man Anderson Varejao, who has been out of action since suffering a torn left Achilles tendon, could be activated for the NBA Finals if something were to “go bad” for Cleveland, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com said in an appearance on ESPN Cleveland radio (Twitter link).
Former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau didn’t deserve the shots he took on the way out the door from the franchise, but he did deserve to be fired because of the team’s lack of offensive creativity and production despite having a potent roster and rotation, Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports opines.
Working out for the Sixers today were T.J. McConnell (Arizona), Chasson Randle (Stanford), Jarvis Threatt (Delaware), K.T. Harrell (Auburn), and Gabe Olaseni (Iowa), Jake Fischer of LibertyBallers.com relays (Twitter link).

Suns Notes: Hornacek, Draft, Bledsoe

May 29th, 2015 at 11:31am CST by Chuck Myron

Jeff Hornacek indicated that if the timing was right, he would consider taking the coaching job at Iowa State, but he made it clear that he hopes to remain coach of the Suns for a long time, as he said on The Burns and Gambo show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Thursday (transcription via Adam Green of ArizonaSports.com). Fred Hoiberg, currently the coach at the school, which he and Hornacek attended, has long been linked to the now-vacant Bulls job. Here’s more from the Valley of the Sun:

Today’s Suns predraft workout participants are Notre Dame’s Jerian Grant, North Carolina’s J.P. Tokoto, Bowling Green’s Richaun Holmes, Boston College’s Olivier Hanlan, Villanova’s Darrun Hilliard and Virginia’s Darion Atkins, sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Grant and Holmes shared more about themselves in recent conversations with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors.
The Suns have let go of assistant coach Kenny Gattison and are transitioning Nate Bjorkgren, the coach of their D-League affiliate, into a player development role, sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).
Phoenix offered only four years and $29MM to Eric Bledsoe in the fall of 2013 when the sides were negotiating an extension shortly after the Suns acquired him from the Clippers, league sources told Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. Bledsoe, a Rich Paul client, wisely turned that down and garnered his five-year, $70MM deal this past fall.

Q&A With Lottery Hopeful Jerian Grant

May 24th, 2015 at 3:03pm CST by Zachary Links

Throughout the spring and summer, Hoops Rumors will be talking with some of the most intriguing prospects in the 2015 NBA Draft. Today, the Hoops Rumors Draft Prospect Q&A series continues with Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant, whom Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranks No. 14 in this year’s class and Chad Ford of ESPN.com rates 17th.

A team in need of a playmaking point guard would do very well to wind up with Notre Dame’s Jerian Grant. Blessed with tremendous size for the position, the 6’5″ athlete is a tremendous passer with exceptional ball handling skills. Grant also offers a level of maturity that the younger guards in this year’s class might not possess right out of the gate. Through five years with the Fighting Irish, Grant has developed on and off the court, blossoming into a high-upside NBA prospect. Last week, Grant took time out of his busy schedule to chat with Hoops Rumors about his strengths, where he might wind up getting drafted, and much more.

Zach Links: Your older brother, 76ers forward Jerami Grant, went through the draft process last year. What kind of advice has he given you?

Jerian Grant: Just do what you do. Don’t go out there trying to do things that you’re not supposed to be doing. They already know that you can play the game. Just go out there and reinforce what you do best.

ZL: What would it mean for you to play alongside him at the next level?

JG: It’d be great. We got to play together a bit when we were younger. Both of our games have developed so much, so I think that we can be a dynamic duo together.

ZL: What teams have you worked out for so far?

JG: Just the Pacers on Monday [May 18th].

ZL: What team workouts do you have coming up?

JG: I have one scheduled with the Hornets on June 8th but that’s it for now.

ZL: You’ve been on the NBA radar for some time now and it seems like you could have gone pro earlier if you wanted to. Why was it important for you to stay in school and graduate?

JG: A few things, one is that I wanted to graduate. Also, I wanted to come back and take on more of a leadership role and I did that too. In the previous years I was at Notre Dame, I felt like I was one of the better players on the team but maybe not the No. 1 leader. As a point guard that’s a role you want to fill and I’m glad I got to do that last season.

ZL: You took a seismic leap forward in your senior year. What do you attribute that to?

JG: I think stepping into a leadership role really helped make me a more rounded player. I practiced even harder than before, I worked even harder than before, and I was more vocal.

ZL: Thanks to redshirting in your freshman year, you spent five total years in school. Do you think that allowed you to gain some additional maturity on and off the court as you look ahead to the NBA?

JG: Absolutely. i’ve been through a lot over those five years, I’m definitely seasoned. Now I know that I can go into the NBA and help right away. It’s not gonna take two or three years for me to acclimate myself.

ZL: You had a ton of memorable moments at Notre Dame, including leading your team to an Elite Eight appearance this past season. If you had to pick your favorite game or one highlight from your career at Notre Dame, what would it be?

JG: I think just winning the ACC championship. We went down there to Carolina and to beat Duke and Carolina to win the ACC championship – the first conference championship for our school – it meant so much.

ZL: At 6’5″, what kind of things can you do on the court that smaller point guards typically can’t?

JG: I think my vision is definitely helped by my height. I can see over defenses and make better passes on certain players. Smaller guys can’t do it because they don’t have the length. My vision and my playmaking ability at 6’5″ is that much better because of my height.

ZL: What’s the ideal kind of offense for you to thrive in at the NBA level?

JG: It’s tough to say. I definitely like to get up and down the court, I make a lot of plays there. But, I think my strong suit is in the ball stance in the half court.

ZL: What specific areas of your game do you feel like you want to improve on most?

JG: Being able to knock down shots consistently, that’ll go a long way for me. Being able to spot up and nail those shots. I also want to develop different types of one-on-one moves. I used the step back a lot in college, but I want to have a wider variety of ways to attack the defense.

ZL: Where have you been working out since the end of the season?

JG: I’m back home in Maryland, working with my old teammate Victor Oladipo and my brother Jerami. It’s real competitive.

ZL: What led you to choose IAM Sports to represent you?

JG: Victor is my best friend and he uses the same agency. I met with them and felt like it was the right place for me. I asked about them, Victor told me all about them and he only had positive things to say. There are only like seven players in the agency, so it has a family feel and they give every client a ton of attention.

ZL: Do you have an idea as to where you’ll be drafted? What’s your floor and what’s your ceiling?

JG: My agent and I have been hearing anywhere from No. 8 to No. 20, anywhere around that range. They don’t see me going past No. 22 and they say the ceiling is around No. 8 or 9. It’s a wide range right now.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Southeast Notes: Grant, Hornets, Heat

May 20th, 2015 at 4:31pm CST by Zachary Links

Notre Dame point guard Jerian Grant tells Hoops Rumors (Twitter link) that he’ll be working out for the Hornets on June 8th. That audition will mark just the second team workout for Grant, who previously worked out for the Pacers.

Grant and his agent are hearing (link) that he could go as high as No. 8 with teams estimating his range to be somewhere between No. 8 and No. 20. He added that based on those rumblings, it sounds unlikely that he’ll be available for teams selecting beyond No. 22. Stay tuned for Grant’s entire conversation with Hoops Rumors as a part of our Draft Prospect Q&A series which also features conversations with Cameron Payne, Richaun Holmes, and more.

Here’s today’s look at the Southeast Division..

Historically, the No. 10 pick — owned by the Heat this year — has produced plenty of high-caliber, rotation-worthy players, as Couper Moorhead of Heat.com writes. Some of the most notable players to come off the board at No. 10 include Paul Pierce, Eddie Jones, Jason Terry, and Joe Johnson. In recent years, Brook Lopez, Andrew Bynum, Paul George, and Brandon Jennings have heard their names called at No. 10.
Heat president Pat Riley has indicated that he’ll be looking for perimeter defending and three-point shooting in the draft, Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald writes. In a perfect world, Riley has said he would like a player similar to Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson, who was the 11th pick of the 2011 draft.
The Magic weren’t thrilled to land at No. 5, but GM Rob Hennigan and CEO Alex Martins put a positive spin on it, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel writes. “We feel good about it,” Hennigan said. “We stayed where we expected to stay. Luckily, we didn’t move back, so we’ll take the hand that was dealt to us and certainly make the most of the pick we have.”
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel is less bullish about the talent available at No. 5 and he feels that the Magic should dangle the pick in a trade.
More from Schmitz, who looked back at Kyle O’Quinn‘s season. Fellow Sentinel scribe Josh Robbins reported last month that the Magic will make O’Quinn the qualifying offer necessary for them to be able to match offers for him in free agency this summer.

Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Celtics, Knicks

May 16th, 2015 at 8:33pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers‘ long rebuilding process could get a boost Tuesday night, writes Tom Moore of Calkins Media. With a little luck in the draft lottery, Philadelphia could acquire two new starters to go with Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid. The Sixers have a 17.2% chance to land the Lakers’ top-five protected selection and a 9% shot at the Heat’s top-10 protected pick. Philadelphia’s own pick is currently slotted at number three and is guaranteed to fall in the top six.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Sixers interviewed Notre Dame’s Jerian Grant about the possibility of playing with his older brother, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Jerami Grant just completed his rookie season in Philadelphia and is under the team’s control through 2017/18.
Arkansas forward Michael Qualls will have a pre-draft workout for the Sixers on Tuesday, Pompey tweets. Connecticut’s Ryan Boatright will work out for the team on the same day, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
Rakeem Christmas of Syracuse will work out for the Celtics later this month, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.
The Knicks are among 14 teams to meet with Kentucky’s Trey Lyles, Zagoria tweets. Also, Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky met with team president Phil Jackson this week, tweets Marc Berman of The New York Post. Kaminsky quipped that even though he is only 22 years old, teams are treating him like he is 65. Duke’s Justise Winslow also met with Jackson and the Knicks, according to Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal (Twitter link).
Bojan Bogdanovic gave the Nets plenty to like in his first NBA season, according to Reed Wallach of netsdaily.com. Brooklyn signed the Croatian forward last summer after Paul Pierce left for Washington. Bogdanovic proved to be an effective shooter and won Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honors for April. He is under a three-year contract and is scheduled to make more than $3.4MM next season and nearly $3.6MM in 2016/17.

Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Raptors, Knicks

May 15th, 2015 at 8:46pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Sixers fans may want to hope that the team doesn’t land the top pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News opines. Cooney’s reasoning is that if Philly nabs the No. 1 overall pick the team will either select another big man, or quite possibly trade the selection for more future assets, which could further delay the team’s rebuilding process. Conversely, if the Sixers fall to third or fourth the team will be more likely to select D’Angelo Russell or Emmanuel Mudiay, and thus land its point guard of the future, Cooney adds.

Here’s more from the NBA’s Atlantic Division:

The Raptors have six free agents whom they need to decide the futures of, and Holly MacKenzie of NBA.com examines the situation for each. These players include Amir Johnson, Landry Fields, and Lou Williams.
Knicks team president Phil Jackson met with Russell at the draft combine today, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv reports (Twitter links). Also meeting with the Knicks, though the Zen Master wasn’t present, was Kansas big man Cliff Alexander, Zagoria adds
The Knicks also met with Duke’s Justise Winslow and Jerian Grant of Notre Dame, Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal relays in a series of tweets. Kentucky big man Willie Cauley-Stein said that he is scheduled to work out for the team in New York this Sunday, Herring adds.
Cauley-Stein also sat down with members of the Sixers’ front office, and he came away with the impression that the team was genuinely interested in him, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.
Arkansas power forward Bobby Portis has a workout scheduled with the Celtics, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com reports (Twitter link).
The Sixers have scheduled workouts on Tuesday for Keifer Sykes and Terry Rozier, both of whom are guards, Pompey tweets.