Kelly Olynyk Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Odds & Ends: Timberwolves, Handy, Agent News

May 8th, 2013 at 9:35pm CST by Michael Pina

A few random notes from around the league.

The Cavaliers have received permission to speak with Lakers development coach Phil Handy, who was previously a member of Mike Brown's coaching staff, tweets Yahoo! Sports reporter Marc J. Spears.
Now that he's President of the Timberwolves Basketball Operations, Flip Saunders is beginning to make some changes, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune's Jerry Zgoda. He started by firing four scouts whose contracts were set to expire this summer.
According to a tweet from Draft Express writer Jonathan Givony, NBA hopefuls Kelly Olynyk, Ray McCallum, Arsalan Kazemi, Alex Oriakhi, Dexter Strickland, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have all signed with the Wasserman Media Group for representation.

Kelly Olynyk To Enter Draft

April 19th, 2013 at 2:11pm CST by Luke Adams

Gonzaga junior Kelly Olynyk has elected to forgo his remaining year of NCAA eligibility and enter the NBA draft, reports Jim Meehan of the Spokesman-Review. ESPN.com's Chad Ford previously reported that Olynyk was expected to go pro this year.

Olynyk, who is celebrating his 22nd birthday today, had a breakout season for Gonzaga, helping lead the team to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, though the team was upset by Wichita State fairly early. In just 26.4 minutes per game this year, the seven-footer averaged 17.8 PPG and 7.3 RPG.

Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com has Olynyk ranked as a potential lottery pick, placing him 13th on his big board. Olynyk is ranked 16th among 2013 prospects at ESPN.com by Ford.

You can check out our complete list of early entrants for this June's draft right here.

Draft Updates: Hardaway, Larkin, Early Entrants

April 17th, 2013 at 8:53am CST by Luke Adams

The NCAA's withdrawal deadline for early entrants passed by yesterday, but the real deadline is still to come. NCAA underclassmen who haven't declared for the draft yet can still do so by the NBA's deadline of April 28th, so a few decisions are still on the way in the next week and a half. Let's check in on a couple of those decisions in our latest round of draft updates….

Tim Hardaway Jr. of Michigan has a press conference scheduled at 2:00pm CST today to announce his decision, according to Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com (Twitter link), who says he'd be very surprised if Hardaway doesn't go pro.
ESPN.com's Chad Ford (Twitter link) hears that Miami sophomore Shane Larkin is leaning strongly toward declaring for the draft, which has Ford moving him to the "one foot in" section of his in-or-out list.
A few other players besides Hardaway Jr. and Larkin that have "one foot in," according to Ford: Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk, Washington's C.J. Wilcox, and Adreian Payne of Michigan State. All three players are juniors at their respective schools.

Draft Updates: Thomas, Smart, Nash, Saric, Burke

April 4th, 2013 at 12:42pm CST by Luke Adams

As we look forward to what should be a fun Final Four in the NCAA Tournament this weekend, let's check in on the latest updates on the 2013 NBA draft….

Memphis forward Adonis Thomas will forgo his last two years of NCAA eligibility and enter the draft, coach Josh Pastner confirmed to L. Jason Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). Thomas, who will hire an agent, is ranked just outside of Chad Ford's top 100 list at ESPN.com, and Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) questions his decision to leave Memphis.

Earlier updates:

ESPN.com's Chad Ford isn't ruling out the possibility that the No. 2 prospect on his board, Marcus Smart, returns to Oklahoma State, but Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com says Smart is leaning toward declaring for the draft. Within the same tweet, Goodman adds that Smart's teammate, LeBryan Nash, will remain in school.
Croatian prospect Dario Saric will enter the draft, reports Ford. The 18-year-old is being eyed as a "potential sleeper" by a number of teams, according to the ESPN.com scribe.
Michigan's Trey Burke is up to 7th on ESPN.com's big board, and could continue to rise with a strong performance against Syracuse this Saturday, according to Ford.
Gary Harris of Michigan State is believed to be leaning toward returning to school and undergoing shoulder surgery this summer, says Ford.
Multiple sources tell Ford that Kelly Olynyk is expected to declare for the '13 draft, though the Gonzaga big man hasn't made it official yet.
College coaches and players are aware that the NCAA's April 16th withdrawal deadline is relatively meaningless, writes ESPN.com's Andy Katz. Last month, we passed along Jonathan Givony's explanation for why that's the case.
Isaiah Sykes of Central Florida will declare for the draft, but won't hire an agent, giving him an opportunity to withdraw, tweets Goodman.