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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.

Draft & D-League: Top Five, Smart, 66ers, Czyz

October 31st, 2013 at 9:14pm CST by Alex Lee

With David Stern putting all his weight behind the positive evolution of the D-League, it’s only natural for that avenue of player development to be contrasted with the more traditional one. Let’s take a look at Thursday night’s news and notes from the draft and the D-League here:

The kickoff of the NBA season isn’t complete without our first wave of NBA mock drafts. Chad Ford provides ESPN insiders a look at what the first round might look like in June 2014. In what some pundits are dubbing the best draft since 2003, Ford predicts a top five of Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Joel Embiid and Dante Exum.
Speaking of Oklahoma State’s Smart, the sophomore point guard is still unsure that he made the right decision to return to school last April, writes ESPN’s Myron Medcalf. Considering the shocking results of last June’s draft, it probably isn’t far fetched to say that Smart would have been the best player on the board when the Cavs went on the clock.
The Tulsa 66ers, the Thunder‘s D-League affiliate, have acquired the number one pick in tomorrow night’s D-League draft along with Ben Uzoh in a three team deal with the Iowa Energy and Springfield Armor, writes Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. Along with other picks tomorrow night, Diante Garrett and Lorenzo Brown were also involved in the deal.
Polish forward Olek Czyz has signed a deal to join the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League, Sportando reports on Twitter. The Bucks, who use Fort Wayne as their D-League affiliate, cut Czyz on Saturday after he spent training camp with the team, indicating that they protected his D-League rights. Czyz played at Duke and Nevada before going undrafted in 2012. He played last season for Virtus Roma of the Italian League.

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).

Odds & Ends: LeBron, Raja Bell, Wall, Draft

March 20th, 2013 at 4:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are a few Wednesday afternoon odds and ends from around the Association:

Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com takes an extensive look at the decision that will face LeBron James, along with the teams that hope to sign him, in the summer of 2014. While Windhorst suggests that the Heat, Cavaliers, Lakers, and Bulls are among the clubs that could be in the mix for LeBron in '14, he stresses that the former MVP himself has yet to make any decisions about whether he'll even opt out of his contract with Miami.
If the Cavs hope to recruit James or any other major free agent in the summer of 2014, they'll need to put a more competitive product on the court in 2013/14, says Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
Despite not being playoff-eligible, Raja Bell has continued to search for an NBA job, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com (via Twitter). However, nothing has developed, and Bell appears likely to sit out the entire season.
John Wall continues to tell reporters that he feels he's worthy of a maximum contract, with Michael Lee of the Washington Post the latest scribe to get a quote from Wall on the subject. The Wizards point guard tells Lee he'd be disappointed if he can't work something out with the team before the 2013/14 season gets underway.
When we asked last night whether Wall deserves a max deal, the response was an overwhelming no. Lee's readers at the Washington Post agree, as their responses indicate.
ESPN.com's Chad Ford answers plenty of draft questions in his latest chat, noting that the situation at Kentucky will be very interesting to watch. Top recruit Julius Randle announced today that he'll become a Wildcat, and three current freshman suggested yesterday that they're leaning toward returning to Kentucky for their sophomore years.
The NBA has hired former Nuggets and Nets GM Kiki Vandeweghe as its vice president of basketball operations, the league announced today. Vandeweghe will report to executive VP of basketball ops Stu Jackson.