Kristaps Porzingis Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Kirk, Boylen, Porzingis

June 11th, 2015 at 9:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pistons got an early jump on their offseason today, acquiring Ersan Ilyasova from the Bucks in exchange for Caron Butler and Shawne Williams. Milwaukee GM John Hammond had nothing but praise for the departed big man, Charles F. Gardner and Matt Velazquez of The Journal Sentinel write. “Ersan always represented this organization and this community in a first-class manner,” Hammond said. “He gave 100% night in and night out. We wish Ersan nothing but the best as he continues his career in Detroit.” Here’s more out of the East:

The Bulls are pursuing San Antonio assistant Jim Boylen to become the top assistant on coach Fred Hoiberg‘s staff, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Chicago has received permission from the Spurs to speak to Boylen, league sources told Wojnarowski. Chicago has expressed a willingness to discuss the title of associate head coach with Boylen, the Yahoo! scribe adds.
The Nets held pre-draft workouts today for Dakari Johnson (Kentucky), George Lucas (Brazil), Lucas Dias Silva (Brazil), Josh Gasser (Wisconsin), and Luis Montero (Westchester CC), Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops tweets.
Center Alex Kirk worked out for the Knicks today with the hope he can earn an invite to training camp, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv writes. “I’m not going to come in and try to score 30 points and try to do some of these amazing things that these other guys are going to try to do,” Kirk told Basketball Insiders (video link). “I just want to come in and be Alex Kirk and try to play as hard as I possibly can and hopefully that turns into some training camp offers and just see where that goes from there.” Kirk was waived by New York shortly after being acquired from the Cavaliers this past season.
The Knicks will be one of a number of teams attending a workout for Kristaps Porzingis in Las Vegas this Friday, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com relays (Twitter links). This is likely to be Prozingis’ only pre-draft showcase, Begley notes. Also participating in the workout will be Myles Turner (Texas) and Jarell Martin (LSU), the ESPN scribe relays.
Kansas swingman Kelly Oubre plans to work out for the Heat in the near future, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel relays. You can see our full prospect profile for Oubre here.

And-Ones: Porzingis, Draft, Griffin

June 10th, 2015 at 10:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA has reached a deal that will make Nike the new apparel partner of the NBA, Michael Colangelo of USA Today writes. The contract is for eight years beginning with the 2017/2018 season, and is worth roughly $1 billion, according to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com (Twitter link). This deal will increase the league’s basketball related income by approximately $125MM per season, and could potentially have a bearing on the next collective bargaining negotiations, as well as future salary cap figures, Shams Charania of RealGM tweets.

Here’s more from around the league:

The Grizzlies have workouts scheduled on Friday for Andrew Harrison (Kentucky), Ryan Harrow (Georgia State), Tyler Harvey (Eastern Washington), Corey Hawkins (UC Davis), Josh Richardson (Tennessee), and Terry Rozier (Louisville), the team announced in a press release.
St. John’s guard Sir’Dominic Pointer has a workout scheduled with the Heat on Saturday, the Nets on Monday, and the Hornets on Tuesday, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays (Twitter links). Pointer wowed the Suns during his workout in Phoenix on Tuesday, sources tell Zagoria.
Projected lottery pick Kristaps Porzingis will conduct his only pre-draft workout for NBA teams this Friday, Chad Ford of ESPN.com reports (Insider subscription required).
UNLV big man Christian Wood has workouts scheduled next week with the Grizzlies and the Mavericks, Josh Newman of SNY.tv relays (via Twitter).
Adrian Griffin is being considered for a spot on Scott Skiles‘ coaching staff with the Magic, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune notes (on Twitter).

Draft Notes: Okafor, Russell, Lyles, McCullough

June 10th, 2015 at 2:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

Duke center Jahlil Okafor was atop most draft rankings for most of the season, but Kentucky big man Karl-Anthony Towns eclipsed him during the NCAA Tournament, and now Ohio State combo guard D’Angelo Russell has leapfrogged him for No. 2 on Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider Board. There isn’t unanimity on Russell’s ascension, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him going fourth to the Knicks, with the Sixers taking Latvian power forward Kristaps Porzingis third. More clear is that this year’s draft isn’t hurting for intrigue with two weeks and one day to go before teams start picking. Here’s the latest:

The Pistons, who hold the eighth selection, are the team picking highest among those interested in Kentucky power forward Trey Lyles, Ford hears and writes within his rankings (linked above). There’s almost no chance that Syracuse power forward Chris McCullough slips past the Nets at pick No. 29, Ford also hears.
Slovenian center Ziga Dimec has worked out for the Sixers and will do so for the Mavericks, Celtics and Bucks, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. Dimec, who’s automatically draft-eligible as a 22-year-old from overseas, is Ford‘s No. 96 prospect, but he’s outside the top 100 for Givony, who has him as the 19th-best international prospect born in 1993.
Josh Newman of SNY.tv adds the Jazz, Nuggets, Rockets, Wizards, Cavaliers and Bulls to the list of teams reportedly working out Syracuse big man Rakeem Christmas.

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Winslow, Knicks

June 6th, 2015 at 3:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics are looking at small forwards as the team prepares for the upcoming NBA Draft, Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald writes. One skill any draftee of Boston’s will require is the ability to score, preferably from the outside, Murphy notes. “Some things guys get better at easier than others,” director of player personnel Austin Ainge said about the franchise’s search for shooters. “There’s things we as a basketball profession do a better job of teaching. Are skills more acquirable? That’s something we evaluate. Their shooting fundamentals may be fixable, and other guys . . . wow, that may be hard to fix, that may take some time. We look at all of those things.”

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

Duke forward Justise Winslow is slated to work out for the Knicks on Monday, and the franchise is seriously considering the freshman with the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets.
The Knicks have scheduled a physical for Emmanuel Mudiay on Monday, and the guard is set to work out for the team on Tuesday, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com reports (Twitter link). You can view our full prospect profile for Mudiay here.
Another player under consideration for the Knicks at No. 4 overall is forward Kristaps Porzingis, but the Latvian may not be the best for for the triangle offense, Begley writes. “He prefers to attack from outside. Make three-point shots,” says Christopher Ney, the founder of EuropeanProspects, a European scouting service. “He is quite similar in playing style to Andrea Bargnani so this might be a problem.”

And-Ones: Okafor, Towns, Carmelo, Coaches

June 2nd, 2015 at 4:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Timberwolves coach/executive Flip Saunders likes Jahlil Okafor better than Karl-Anthony Towns, but most of the rest of the team’s staff prefers Towns, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com hears for his latest Insider-only mock draft. Ford believes those those pro-Towns staffers will ultimately win Saunders over and lists Towns atop his mock, also passing along word from sources that the Magic are zeroing in on Kristaps Porzingis at No. 5. There’s plenty more on the draft and other NBA issues amid the latest from around the league:

Zach Links of Hoops Rumors adds the Hawks, Clippers, Bulls, Magic, Bucks and Knicks to the list of teams working out Harvard point guard Wesley Saunders (Twitter link).
The Mavericks were willing to bring Chris Smith, the brother of J.R. Smith, onto their summer league team as part of their effort to woo Carmelo Anthony, a former teammate of the brothers, this past summer, a source told Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling. Anthony instead re-signed with the Knicks and Chris didn’t end up with the summer Mavs, but Chris is aiming for a return to the league after a period in which he was hospitalized with anxiety attacks. Those episodes stemmed in part from his exasperation with the notion that the Knicks signed him only because his brother was on the team, and the criticism he endured because of it, as Zwerling explains.
College coaches who jumped directly into NBA head coaching jobs haven’t had much success in the NBA of late, aside from Brad Stevens, but NBA GMs are open to them, and with Billy Donovan and Fred Hoiberg on winning teams, there’s ground for a new trend, as Dana O’Neil of ESPN.com examines. Still, that depends on how well Donovan’s Thunder and Hoiberg’s Bulls fare, O’Neil cautions.
Longtime NBA front office executive Joel Litvin is stepping down from his post as the NBA’s president of league operations and will assume a role as a consultant, effective September 1st, as the league announced and as a source originally told Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). Litvin, whose wide-ranging duties included work on the collective bargaining agreement, was an innovative force in his 27 years with the NBA, Lowe tweets.

Central Rumors: Pistons, Thibodeau, Bucks

June 1st, 2015 at 9:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Arizona small forward Stanley Johnson could be a perfect fit for the Pistons if he’s available with the No. 8 overall pick, according to David Mayo of MLive. The team’s biggest weakness is at small forward, which was manned by aging Tayshaun Prince and Caron Butler during the second half of last season. Prince, an unrestricted free agent, is expected to sign elsewhere this summer while the team holds a $4.5MM option on Butler’s contract. Johnson has the ability to create off the dribble, make mid-range shots and defend multiple positions, attributes that coach Stan Van Gundy covets, Mayo continues. Johnson is also the bulkiest of the small forwards expected to go in the first round, which will allow him to play a physical style at both ends, Mayo adds.

In other news around the Central Division:

The Pistons are unlikely to move their first-round pick to accelerate their rebuilding process because Van Gundy has long-term security, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press tweets. Instead, they are taking a long look at stretch fours with the pick, particularly Kristaps Porzingis and Frank Kaminsky, Ellis reveals in a separate tweet.
Tom Thibodeau will likely take a year off and then explore his coaching options, Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders opines. The recently-fired Bulls coach will likely wind up with an Eastern Conference contender, where the path to the NBA Finals is easier, Brigham continues. The Wizards, Raptors and Hornets are potential suitors for Thibodeau, depending upon how next season unfolds, though it’s conceivable that a team like Washington could pull the trigger this offseason if it feels Thibodeau is the missing link to a serious title run, Brigham adds.
The Bucks would like to draft an athletic big man who can play power forward and center, and failing that, a guard who can shoot, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who writes in his NBA PM piece that Georgia State shooting guard R.J. Hunter seems like a fit.

Western Notes: Wolves, Oden, Payne

May 30th, 2015 at 4:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Thunder have a history of making draft promises to prospects, having reportedly made one to Reggie Jackson back in 2011, as well as agreeing to a unique D-League arrangement with Josh Huestis prior to the 2014 NBA Draft, Royce Young of ESPN.com writes. Chad Ford of ESPN.com noted earlier this week that there are rumblings around the league that OKC told Murray State point guard Cameron Payne that it intends to select him with the No. 14 overall pick this June. Payne as a prospect seems tailor-made for the Thunder, notes Young, since the team values size and versatility in its guards. Payne does indeed possess good size for a guard, though he’ll need to bulk up his thin frame, and with his excellent shooting ability Payne can play either guard position, the ESPN scribe adds.

Here’s what else is happening around the Western Conference:

The Grizzlies are considering bringing in oft-injured former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden for a free agent camp next month, Shams Charania of RealGM reports. Memphis’ current level of interest in the big man remains unclear, but the franchise is scheduled to host a free agent mini-camp in the upcoming weeks, Charania notes. Oden’s last regular season action in the NBA was with the Heat during the 2012/13 season, when he made 23 appearances for Miami.
The Timberwolves held workouts on Friday for Andre Hollins (Minnesota), Elliott Eliason (Minnesota), Jordan Mickey (LSU), Wayne Blackshear (Louisville), and Jonathan Holmes (Texas), Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reports (Twitter link).
Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders plans on attending Kristaps Porzingis‘ workout in Las Vegas in two weeks, Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune tweets.
The Thunder worked out Bobby Portis (Arkansas), Jarell Martin (LSU), and Stefan Nastic (Stanford), Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops relays (via Twitter).
Rashad Vaughn‘s scheduled workout with the Timberwolves has been moved from June 4th to June 15th, and may now be an individual showcase, Wolfson tweets.

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Porzingis, Sixers

May 22nd, 2015 at 10:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Lakers aren’t necessarily set on selecting a big man with the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, which could potentially allow either Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor to slip to the Knicks, who pick fourth, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com writes. This unlikely scenario would also depend on the Sixers selecting D’Angelo Russell or Emmanuel Mudiay, instead of adding another big to go alongside Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid, Begley adds.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Knicks could also look to select forward Kristaps Porzingis, whom ESPN’s Kevin Pelton believes is a better fit for the team than Mudiay, who many mock drafts have linked to New York, Begley adds. “Having succeeded against far tougher competition in Spain, [Porzingis] figures to have more immediate impact, and he’s only seven months older than Mudiay. Also, I have some concerns about how well Mudiay — a poor shooter whose best attribute will probably be running the pick-and-roll — will fit in the triangle offense. There’s flexibility there, but a pick-and-roll-heavy style isn’t what [team president] Phil Jackson and [coach] Derek Fisher ideally want to play. I would take Porzingis,” Pelton opines.
The Sixers are comfortable with having the No. 3 overall pick, and believe that they can land an impact player, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “If you look at [GM] Sam Hinkie‘s draft record, you have to feel pretty good,” said Philly’s CEO Scott O’Neil. “You look at guys around the league who were drafted around there. We’ve got [Embiid] coming back. We’ve got a really improved Noel. Next year, we’ve got four first-round picks and [Dario] Saric. So you’ve got a pretty exciting story here.” Speaking of Hinkie’s draft record, you can see a full rundown of all of his past selections here.
Despite all of the mock drafts predicting that the Sixers will select Russell, Hinkie said the team hasn’t targeted any specific player yet, Pompey notes. “I think it’s too early now,” Hinkie said. “This time of year, everyone gets away to what one mock draft or another says. And other times, that doesn’t appear to be true very much. Let’s sort of see how things go.”

Pistons Rumors: Booker, Kaminsky, Lyles

May 18th, 2015 at 8:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kentucky shooting guard Devin Booker grew up as a Pistons fan and would relish the chance to play for them, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports. Booker was raised in Grand Rapids, Mich., which is approximately two hours from Detroit. It’s unlikely he will get his wish since the Pistons hold the No. 8 spot in the draft, pending the lottery results, and Booker projects as a late lottery selection. He’s currently ranked No. 13 on Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider Big Board and No. 15 on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress prospect list. The team has other pressing needs, since they already have Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jodie Meeks sharing minutes at that spot.

In other draft news concerning the Pistons:

Frank Kaminsky interviewed with the team during the draft combine as it tries to determine whether he could replace power forward and unrestricted free agent Greg Monroe, according to David Mayo of MLive.com. Kaminsky termed the Pistons’ interview “laid back” and asked how he could fit into their system, Mayo continues. Kaminsky, ranked No. 14 by Ford and No. 10 by Givony, is a better outside shooter than Monroe and that enhances his appeal, Mayo adds.
Kaminsky is just one of the big men on the Pistons’ radar, Terry Foster of the Detroit News reports. They are also looking at Trey Lyles and Myles Turner and could trade up for Kristaps Porzingis to fulfill their desire for a power forward that can stretch the floor, Foster adds.
President of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy should emulate his predecessor, Joe Dumars, when it comes to evaluating lottery picks, Ellis examines in a separate piece. Dumars recovered from his disastrous decision to select Darko Milicic with the No. 2 overall pick in 2003 and drafted Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe, Brandon Knight and Caldwell-Pope with his lottery picks in recent years, though he denied the new regime a lottery pick last year when it had to be shipped to the Hornets to fulfill a prior trade obligation, Ellis continues. Van Gundy and his staff get their first chance to make a lottery selection next month.

Draft Rumors: Porzingis, Wood, Dawson

May 15th, 2015 at 10:29am CST by Chuck Myron

At least one GM is among the multiple executives who believe Latvian power forward Kristaps Porzingis has a shot to be drafted as highly as No. 2, reports Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. The head of basketball ops for another team said that he’s a “lock” for the top five and that it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go within the top three, adding that he’d draft him in front of Jahlil Okafor, the Duke center who occupied the top spot in projections for most of the season. The 19-year-old is No. 5 in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings and No. 8 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Here’s more as draft rumors kick into high gear:

Christian Wood, a power forward out of UNLV, is hoping to follow in Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s footsteps as a ball-handler with unusual height and length, Howard-Cooper writes in the same piece. The Bucks intend to interview Wood, Virginia small forward Justin Anderson and others today, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.
Both the DraftExpress team and Ford go in depth on the measurements from the combine, with Ford, in his Insider-only piece, noting that most top prospects sized up well and that this year’s draft class is among the longest groups in memory in terms of both height and wingspan.
Michigan State power forward Branden Dawson has interviewed with the Wizards, Clippers and Pelicans at the draft combine, as he told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Ellis, in the same report, adds Stanley Johnson, Frank Kaminsky and Rashad Vaughn to the list of prospects with whom the Pistons have spoken.
Terry Rozier met with the Pistons, too, as well as the Mavs, Suns, Knicks and Spurs, reports Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
The Sixers, Lakers, Cavs and Bucks have interviewed Cameron Payne, Kyler also tweets. Payne spoke with our Zach Links recently about his draft prospects.
Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer adds the Hornets and Warriors to the list of teams speaking with Rakeem Christmas (Twitter link).