Langston Hall Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: ‘Melo, Garnett, Felton, Draft

June 23rd, 2014 at 3:55pm CST by Chuck Myron

Neither New York team has a pick in either round of Thursday’s draft, but it seems there’s a decent chance that will change. The Knicks are thinking about trading Iman Shumpert for the first-rounder they’re seemingly intent on landing, and the Nets have scheduled workouts for this week with a bunch of potential second-round prospects, as we detail below amid the latest from the Big Apple:

Carmelo Anthony has opted out of his deal with New York, but it wasn’t news to the Knicks. He told the team three weeks ago that he still planned to opt out and reiterated as much during their meeting a little more than a week ago, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks nonetheless like their chances of re-signing him, Berman also notes.
The Nets are quietly optimistic that Kevin Garnett will return next season, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. His willingness to play out the final year of his contract, worth $12MM, is reportedly key to the future of soon-to-be free agent Paul Pierce, as Stein notes.
Raymond Felton avoided jail time as part of a plea agreement to resolve felony gun-related charges stemming from a February incident, reports Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com. The Knicks point guard has been a part of trade rumors.
C.J. Fair, Semaj Christon, James Michael McAdoo, Johnny O’Bryant III, Xavier Thames, Ronald Roberts Jr., Langston Hall, Branden Frazier, Cameron Clark, Kyle Casey, Akil Mitchell, Cory Jefferson and Artem Klimenko are all working out for the Nets this week, the team announced.

Northwest Notes: Love, Lucas, Smart, Nuggets

June 18th, 2014 at 3:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

No one is sure what the Timberwolves want in exchange for Kevin Love, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com, dismissing the notion that the team prefers veterans over draft picks. The Wolves have been “cagey” about their desires, Mannix writes. As the Nuggets emerge as a leading suitor for Love, here’s more from the Northwest Division:

The Jazz are signaling that they won’t waive John Lucas III‘s non-guaranteed contract for next season, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (Twitter link). Still, the Jazz can cut Lucas anytime before opening night without paying him any of the $1.6MM he’s set to make in 2014/15, and that salary won’t become fully guaranteed until the leaguewide guarantee date in January.
Jazz vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin said today that he’s spoken four times with Marcus Smart‘s agent to try to get him to work out for Utah, with no success, notes Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). DeAndre Daniels, Jordan McRae, Casey Prather, Langston Hall, Kendall Williams, Mike Burwell and Tristan Spurlock are the previously unreported prospects who did audition for the Jazz today, the team announced (on Twitter).
K.J. McDaniels and Davon Usher will work out for the Nuggets on Thursday, the team announced via press release.

Eastern Rumors: Heat, Stephenson, Draft

June 3rd, 2014 at 2:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Chris Bosh made comments in March that seemed to indicate that he knew LeBron James would remain with the Heat for next season, but Dwyane Wade said Monday that the team’s trio of stars haven’t spoken with each other about this summer’s free agency. Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press has that and more, including the latest from Bosh, who reiterated his own plans, once more making his intention to stay with the Heat clear.

“I want to come back. That’s OK to say, I think,” Bosh said. “I can’t speak for anything else and I don’t want to take away from the subject at hand, but I like it here. It’s Miami. Enough said. People are dying to get here.”

While we wait to see if James and Wade are just as enthusiastic about Miami as Bosh is, here’s the latest from around the Eastern Conference:

Lance Stephenson‘s agent, Alberto Ebanks, is hopeful that he and the Pacers will reach agreement on a new deal this summer, as Ebanks tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Still, Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said Monday that while he wants Stephenson back, he added that the team will set a price point for the shooting guard and won’t exceed it, Zagoria notes.
K.J. McDaniels, Jabari Brown, Drew Crawford, Lamar Patterson and Scottie Wilbekin are among the prospects scheduled to work out for the Hornets on Wednesday, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Wilbekin returns for a second time after performing for the team Monday as part of a group that included Justin Cobbs, Langston Hall, Sean Kilpatrick and Ian Miller, as Bonnell also notes. (All Twitter links).
An ankle injury scrubbed Jahii Carson‘s scheduled audition for the Raptors today, observes Holly MacKenzie of Sportsnet (Twitter link).

Wolves Notes: Hollins, Love, Karl, Draft

May 28th, 2014 at 2:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Lionel Hollins would be willing to take the Wolves head coaching job, which he interviewed for two weeks ago, regardless of whether the team is able to keep Kevin Love, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Zgoda also hears from George Karl, who expresses interest in the gig but says he’s had no contact with Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders. There’s more from Zgoda’s piece among the latest updates from Minnesota:

Zgoda reiterates a report from earlier this month by Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com indicating that Scott Skiles has interviewed for the Wolves job, but Skiles’ agent, Keith Glass, has denied contact with the team.
The Wolves might be down to their ninth option in their coaching search, so it would behoove owner Glen Taylor to allow Saunders to coach next season rather than commit to a long-term deal with someone the team considers a fallback, argues fellow Star Tribune scribe Jim Souhan.
Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities adds Chane Behanan, Langston Hall, Austin Hollins, Mike Moser and Chaz Williams to the list of draft prospects scheduled to work out for the Wolves (Twitter link).
The Kings would probably need to find additional teams to participate in a trade that would bring Love to Sacramento, since Minnesota is probably uninterested in the assets the Kings would make available, opines Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.
The Suns are also in the running for Love, but they, too, face an uphill battle, as Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic concludes.

Draft Rumors: Saric, Diop, Hall

April 26th, 2014 at 2:27pm CST by Charlie Adams

Dario Saric officially declared for the draft today, but the verdict is still out on whether or not he’ll remain in the player pool past the June 16th deadline to withdraw. Let’s round up the latest on the 2014 draft:

Jonathan Givony of Draft Express released his latest mock draft last night, and he figures Andrew Wiggins will be taken with the first overall selection, followed by Joel Embiid and Jabari Pakrer, respectively.
Ilimane Diop, projected to be selected 17th by DraftExpress in the 2015 draft, went through the feedback process for this summer’s draft before deciding against declaring, revealed a tweet from Shams Charania of RealGM. Charania adds that the prospect from Senegal is undecided on whether he will declare next year.
Mercer’s Langston Hall has signed with agent Roger Montgomery of Montgomery Sports heading into the draft, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. The senior guard isn’t projected to be selected in either round.

Cray Allred contributed to this post.