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Kings Sign Neemias Queta, Keon Ellis To Two-Way Contracts

July 2nd, 2022 at 6:21pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings have filled both of their two-way contract slots, announcing in a press release that center Neemias Queta and guard Keon Ellis have signed two-way deals.

A seven-footer out of Utah State University, Queta was the 39th overall pick in the 2021 draft and spent his rookie season on a two-way contract with Sacramento. He played sparingly at the NBA level, averaging 3.2 PPG and 2.2 RPG in 14 games (8.6 MPG), but was the starting center for the Stockton Kings in the G League, putting up 16.4 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 1.9 BPG in 14 regular season NBAGL contests (28.4 MPG).

Queta received a two-way qualifying offer from the Kings, so it’s not clear if he accepted that QO or signed a new two-way deal with the team. Either way, he’s back under contract with Sacramento.

The Kings’ other two-way slot belongs with Ellis, an undrafted rookie free agent whose agreement with the team was reported shortly after the draft wrapped up last week.

The 6’6″ guard averaged 12.1 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.8 APG and 1.9 SPG in his senior year at Alabama. He made 43.7% of his field goal attempts and 36.6% of his 3-point tries. Ellis began his college career at Florida Southwestern State before playing his final two seasons for the Crimson Tide.

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Kings Agree To Two-Way Contract With Keon Ellis

June 24th, 2022 at 12:12am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Kings have agreed to a two-way contract with Keon Ellis, Shams Charania of Stadium tweets.

The 6’6” senior guard averaged 12.1 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.8 APG and 1.9 SPG in his senior year at Alabama. He made 43.7% of his field goal attempts and 36.6% of his 3-point tries. Ellis began his college career at Florida Southwestern State before playing his final two seasons for the Crimson Tide.

Sacramento finished the season with an empty two-way slot, so it can seamlessly add Ellis.

 

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Draft Notes: Magic, Sochan, Hardy, Daniels

June 20th, 2022 at 7:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

While such comments typically produce eye rolls, president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman insists the Magic haven’t decided who they’ll take with the top overall pick, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

Weltman says “it’s still early in the process,” even though draft night is Thursday. “Dialogue is always ongoing,” Weltman said. “But, most importantly, we get to do what we want. That’s the real benefit of having the No. 1 pick.”

Orlando is expected to draft either Jabari Smith or Chet Holmgren.

We have more draft-related info:

  • Baylor’s Jeremy Sochan attended the Wizards’ pre-draft workout on Monday but didn’t participate due to an injury, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. Sochan sat out with a mild hamstring strain. Washington owns the No. 1o pick. Sochan is ranked No. 15 on ESPN’s Best Available list.
  • G League Ignite guard Jaden Hardy, ranked No. 22 by ESPN, worked out for the Sixers on Monday, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. St. Joseph’s forward Jordan Hall, Delaware guard Kevin Anderson, Alabama guard Keon Ellis, Baylor wing Kendall Brown and UNLV shooting guard Bryce Hamilton joined him, Pompey adds in another tweet. Philadelphia owns the No. 23 pick.
  • G League Ignite guard Dyson Daniels cancelled a visit with the Kings after receiving a green room invitation, Sean Cunningham of KTXL tweets. Daniels is ranked No. 6 by ESPN. Daniels is the second-ranked point guard behind Jaden Ivey, who revealed that he hasn’t had contact with the team holding the No. 4 pick.
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Southeast Notes: Ellis, Bamba, Hornets, Hawks

June 14th, 2022 at 10:15pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Alabama guard Keon Ellis worked out for the Heat on Monday, according to Jake Weingarten of StockRisers.com (Twitter link). It was previously reported that Ellis is working out for Florida’s other pro club, the Magic, today.

The 6’6″ shooting guard played his first two seasons of college ball at Florida SouthWestern, from 2018–20, before transferring to Alabama. During his second season with the Crimson Tide in 2021/22, Ellis was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team. In 33 games, he averaged 12.1 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.9 SPG and 1.8 APG with a shooting line of .439/.366/.881.

Ellis is ranked as the No. 66 prospect on ESPN’s big board. The Heat only possess the No. 27 pick this year. Miami lost its 2022 second-round draft pick for a free agency tampering violation. Of course, it’s worth noting that the Heat have had plenty of luck in recent years when it comes to developing undrafted free agent rookies, should Ellis become available that way.

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

  • Magic center Mohamed Bamba is a restricted free agent this summer and could be the odd man out in the frontcourt. Orlando is set to add another big man prospect with the top pick in the 2022 draft this summer to complement forward Franz Wagner and big man Wendell Carter Jr., who was extended last summer. With that in mind, Ethan Fuller of Basketball News considers potential landing spots for Bamba. During a breakout fourth NBA season, the 24-year-old showed off his abilities as a high-level finisher and elite rim protector. Fuller considers clubs like the Nets, Heat and Mavericks as possible destinations. Should Bamba remain in Orlando, Fuller projects him to move to the bench to accommodate whichever player the Magic decide to draft.
  • Hornets ownership agreed to extend its lease for the team’s Charlotte home arena, Spectrum Center, through 2045, according to a team press release. “Hornets Sports & Entertainment truly values the public-private partnership that we share with the City of Charlotte, including our agreement to manage Spectrum Center, which is a city-owned building,” the statement read in part. “We look forward to continuing to serve as stewards of Spectrum Center to make it the premier destination for sports and entertainment in the Carolinas.”
  • The Hawks are looking at five prospects tomorrow, tweets Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Atlanta will work out Houston big man Josh Carlton, Providence forward Justin Minaya, St. John’s wing Julian Champagnie, VCU forward Vince Williams Jr., and Fresno State forward Orlando Robinson. The Hawks have the No. 16 and No. 44 picks in the 2022 draft at their disposal.
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Southeast Draft Notes: Wizards, Magic, Hawks, Hornets

June 13th, 2022 at 10:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Wizards have six draft prospects visiting on Tuesday, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. They’ll evaluate Jules Bernard (UCLA), Theo John (Duke), Davion Mintz (Kentucky), Alex O’Connell (Creighton), Nate Roberts (Washington) and Au’Diese Toney (Arkansas).

We have more draft-related news involving Southeast Division clubs:

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Central Notes: Mathurin, Daniels, Beauchamp, Pistons, Vucevic

June 9th, 2022 at 5:22pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Sitting at No. 6 in the draft order, the Pacers have some projected lottery picks coming in on Friday, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets.

Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin, ranked No. 8 on ESPN’s Best Available list, is visiting the Pacers for a solo workout. G League Elite’s Dyson Daniels (No. 6) and Baylor’s Jeremy Sochan (No. 15) are among a group of six players coming in earlier on Friday. Kameron McGusty (Miami), Ziga Samar (Urbas Fuenlabrada), Jermaine Samuels (Villanova) and Pavel Savkov (Iraurgi SB) will join that duo.

We have more from the Central Division:

  • The Cavaliers, who hold the No. 14 selection, took a look at G League Ignite wing and potential lottery pick MarJon Beauchamp on Wednesday, according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Potential second-rounder Alabama’s Keon Ellis visited the same day. Wagner’s Alex Morales also had a workout with the Cavs on Wednesday, Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com tweets. Florida State forward Malik Osborne worked out there on Tuesday, Bosco Institute tweets.
  • Don’t expect the Pistons to try to move into the top three of the draft to snare one of the top bigs, James Edwards III of The Athletic speculates. Edwards doubts the franchise would surrender young assets at this stage of the rebuild. He anticipates the Pistons would have to part with at least Saddiq Bey or Isaiah Stewart along with the No. 5 pick to move up a couple of spots and that doesn’t make much sense unless they’re getting a surefire superstar in return.
  • While rumors are swirling that the Bulls may part with Nikola Vucevic, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic is somewhat skeptical Chicago is eager to move on from its starting center. Vucevic still has supporters in high places in Chicago due to his professionalism, versatility and consistency. If the Bulls do trade Vucevic, they’ll have to receive an obvious upgrade in return.
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Southeast Notes: Hornets, Hawks, Magic, Wizards

June 6th, 2022 at 7:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hornets hosted a pre-draft workout with six prospects on Monday, the team tweets. That group included Keon Ellis (Alabama), Michael Foster Jr. (G League Ignite), Kellan Grady (Kentucky), Ron Harper Jr. (Rutgers), Brandon Horvath (Utah State) and Žiga Samar (Fuenlabrada/Spain).

We have more from the Southeast Division:

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Pacific Notes: Ham, Lakers, Kings, Warriors

May 29th, 2022 at 1:52pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Newly-hired Lakers head coach Darvin Ham is earning high praise from those who know him, according to Broderick Turner and Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times.

Ham, who was a Lakers assistant coach from 2011-13 and won a title against L.A. as a player on the Pistons in 2004, has served as an assistant under head coach Mike Budenholzer with the Hawks and Bucks for the past nine seasons. The Bucks won the 2021 NBA championship with Ham on Budenholzer’s staff.

“His work ethic in practice and when we put him in the game, he always seemed to deliver,” former Knicks head coach and current Indiana University coach Mike Woodson said of Ham. “So, you knew that the fact he got into coaching, I knew it would work because that’s a big part of being a good coach. You got to work.”

Metta Sandiford-Artest, who played on the Lakers teams where Ham first cut his coaching teeth as a development assistant under Mike Brown, also had high praise for Ham.  “He definitely understands modern basketball,” Sandiford-Artest said. “He also is capable of communicating in a way where you can receive it the right way.”

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

  • The Lakers held workouts on Saturday for six NBA hopefuls, per Matthew Barrero of Lakers.com. Baylor guard James Akinjo, Connecticut guard Tyrese Martin, Syracuse forward Cole Swider, USC guard Drew Peterson, Texas A&M guard Quenton Jackson, and Alabama guard Keon Ellis all got a look from the L.A. front office brass. Though Los Angeles does not possess a draft pick this season, the team could trade into the second round or sign an undrafted rookie as a free agent. “There is a good side to it if you’re able to choose your team,” Ellis said. “Even if it happens to be myself, you can’t get too down on it or overthink it. There’s been guys who have gone undrafted and come back with great stories.”
  • The Kings, who possess the fourth pick in the 2022 draft, had at least two key representatives take a look at several high-level prospects during recent pro day workouts in Southern California, writes Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. Team owner Vivek Ranadive and GM Monte McNair attended a CAA pro day workout for Purdue shooting guard Jaden Ivey and Duke small forward AJ Griffin. McNair attended an additional pro day with another top-10-level player, Arizona shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin, Anderson notes, examining the potential fit of each player.
  • Injured Warriors role players Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr. and Andre Iguodala will be gradually included in team practices ahead of the 2022 NBA Finals this week as they continue to recuperate from their respective ailments, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link). The club has leaned on 2021 lottery picks Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody for help in the absence of Payton, Porter and Iguodala.
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Pacific Notes: Zubac, Curry, Lakers Draft, Coaching Search

May 27th, 2022 at 5:40pm CST by Rory Maher

As we noted in our Clippers offseason preview earlier today, L.A. holds a $7,518,518 team option on center Ivica Zubac, who is also extension-eligible this offseason. He said this week that he enjoys playing for the team and hopes to stick around.

“I want to stay and I think they want to keep me,” Zubac told Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops.net. “I think I should be there and they’re going to pick (the option) up. I like Los Angeles a lot and I like the Clippers. It’s like a family to me. Hopefully, everything is going to work out.”

Zubac notched several career-high marks in 2021/22, including games played (76, all starts), minutes per game (24.4), points (10.3), rebounds (8.5) and blocks (1.0). He said he hopes his role continues to expand going forward.

“It’s great,” Zubac said about the trust he receives from Clippers coach Tyronn Lue. “I hope that keeps on going. Every year I get more and more minutes so, hopefully, by the next year I’ll get even more. The coach trusts me, the teammates trust me and I’m really enjoying my time there.”

Here’s more from the Pacific:

  • Warriors star Stephen Curry, who was recently named the Western Conference Finals MVP, could have pushed Golden State to trade its high draft picks and prospects to improve the roster the past couple seasons, but he said the team’s patience was rewarded as it heads to the Finals for the sixth time in eight years. “That’s not how I operate,” Curry told Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “There were conversations and different paths to take, and we all had conversations about going different ways. But at the end of the day, I have a lot of trust in (president/GM) Bob (Myers), a lot of confidence in what we’re about. There was no panic. Obviously, it helps that we had won a couple championships. It affords patience. But there was no panic in terms of getting me, Klay (Thompson) and Draymond (Green) another run at it, figuring out how we could get pieces around us to make it work. It’s just patience at the end of the day.”
  • The Lakers don’t currently own a draft pick, but that isn’t stopping them from working out six prospects on Saturday, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic. The six players are Villanova’s Collin Gillespie, UConn’s Tyrese Martin, USC’s Drew Peterson, Alabama’s Keon Ellis, Syracuse’s Cole Swider, and Texas A&M’s Quenton Jackson. Ellis, Gillespie and Martin are all in the 60s on ESPN’s big board, while Jackson is No. 95; both Peterson and Swider are unranked. There’s a good chance at least a few prospects in the group will go undrafted.
  • Sean Deveney of Heavy.com queried rival front office executives to get their opinions on the Lakers‘ head coaching search, with some mixed opinions on which candidates might be favored by certain segments of the team.
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Eastern Draft Notes: Pistons, Pacers, Nets, Knicks

May 23rd, 2022 at 11:59am CST by Luke Adams

Assuming Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith, and Paolo Banchero are the top three picks in next month’s draft, the Pistons are expected to zero in on four potential targets at No. 5, sources tell James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. Those players are Jaden Ivey, Keegan Murray, Shaedon Sharpe, and Bennedict Mathurin.

All four prospects intrigue the Pistons, according to Edwards, who says that Murray is considered the most well-rounded of the four, while Sharpe is viewed as a “high-upside gamble.” Edwards adds that some sources believe Mathurin is the best wing in this year’s draft class, while there’s little consensus on Ivey, who is regarded as a top-three prospect by some evaluators and is outside the top five for others.

Here are a few more draft-related notes from around the Eastern Conference:

  • James Akinjo (Baylor), Keon Ellis (Alabama), Justin Lewis (Marquette), and David Roddy (Colorado State) are participating in a pre-draft workout with the Pacers on Monday, per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter links). Gonzaga’s Andrew Nembhard and UCLA’s Johnny Juzang had also been scheduled to take part, but were unable to make it due to weather-related travel issues.
  • Villanova’s Collin Gillespie has worked out for the Nets and has about 10 more pre-draft workouts on tap following the draft combine, tweets Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com.
  • According to Zagoria (Twitter link), Michigan State’s Gabe Brown has workouts with the Hornets and Magic on tap this week after previously auditioning for the Celtics, Nets, and Knicks.
  • Marc Berman of The New York Post explores whether Malaki Branham could be a legitimate target at No. 11 for the Knicks, who met with the Ohio State sharpshooter at last week’s combine.
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