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Lonzo Ball

Draft Notes: Ball, Fultz, Boatwright, Freudenberg

April 6th, 2017 at 6:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Potential top pick Lonzo Ball has hired Harrison Gaines as his agent, league sources told Shams Charania of The Vertical. It’s a curious choice, given that Gaines has no other NBA clients. However, Gaines will join Ball Sports Group, a new company created by Ball’s outspoken father, LaVar. The UCLA freshman point guard averaged 14.3 PPG, 6.7 APG and 4.7 RPG in his one-and-done season.

In other draft news:

  • Ball and Washington freshman guard Markelle Fultz are in a virtual dead-heat to be the top pick, according to ESPN Insider Chad Ford. Speaking to executives and scouts from potential lottery teams, Ford determined that the Celtics, Magic, 76ers, Knicks, Timberwolves, Hornets and Pacers are more likely to select Fultz, while the Suns, Lakers, Pistons, Kings, Mavericks, Pelicans, and Nuggets appear to be leaning toward Ball. Kansas forward Josh Jackson and Duke forward Jayson Tatum could also jump into the picture after the lottery results are revealed and the winning team makes its final evaluation, Ford adds.
  • USC sophomore Bennie Boatwright will test the draft waters but not hire an agent, according to the Trojans’ twitter feed. The 6’10” Boatwright averaged 15.1 PPG and 4.5 RPG during his sophomore campaign, including 18.0 PPG in three NCAA Tournament games. He’s ranked as the No. 75 overall prospect by Ford but does not appear on the DraftExpress Top 100.
  • St. John’s forward Richard Freudenberg will return to Europe to pursue professional opportunities, Zach Braziller of the New York Post tweets. Freudenberg, a German native, averaged just 1.3 PPG and 1.3 RPG in his lone college season.
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Draft Notes: Ball, Fox, Chartouny, Jones

March 30th, 2017 at 9:34pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Lonzo Ball recently appeared on ESPN’s First Take and told the cast that he would be happy to play for any franchise, as Andrew Joseph of For The Win relays.

“At the end of the day, I’ll play for any team,” Ball said. “NBA is NBA. It would be a blessing to be able to play for the Lakers just because it’s in LA — I’m from here, my whole family’s here.”

Ball’s father, LaVar Ball, previously said he wanted his son to play for Los Angeles. “All I said was that my boy is going to play for the Lakers, and I’m going to speak it into existence,” the elder Ball said last month.

Here’s more on the upcoming draft:

  • Lonzo Ball said he was a better prospect than Markelle Fultz, as ESPN.com passes along. “Markelle’s a great player, but I feel I’m better than him,” said Ball. “I think I can lead a team better than him.” The two guards are expected to be the first players to come off the board on draft night.
  • After an impressive NCAA Tournament run, De’Aaron Fox‘s stock may be on the rise. Evan Daniels of Scouts.com tweets that the point guard has been a “major topic of conversation” amongst NBA executives.
  • Joseph Chartouny of Fordham has declared for the NBA Draft, Mike Watts of USL reports (Twitter link). The point guard has not hired an agent, so he could still decide to head back to school. The 22-year-old is not ranked in Draft Express’ Top-100.
  • Andrew Jones from Texas University has declared for the draft, but will not sign an agent, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets. Jones is currently No. 47 in Draft Express’ Top-100.
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Lakers Notes: Silver, Buss Fallout, Upcoming Draft

March 27th, 2017 at 11:26pm CST by Milo Taibi

NBA commissioner Adam Silver echoed the sentiments of Lakers fans, telling Ramona Shelburne of ESPN that he is “pleased that this matter [Buss family struggle for ownership] has been resolved.” Earlier today, Jeanie Buss and her brothers, Jim and Johnny, agreed that Jeanie would serve as controlling owner, and on the team’s board of directors as long as the family owns the franchise.

Silver continued, lauding Jeanie as a logical choice to lead the team.

“Jeanie is as knowledgeable and experienced as any owner in sports and the Lakers are in great hands,” said Silver (Twitter link).

More from the Lakers…

  • Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times discussed the Lakers’ strategy now that Jeanie Buss has been confirmed as the team’s head of operations. “This is also where Jeanie Buss will first show her basketball grit,” Plaschke writes. “Is she willing to sign off on the trading of some of the recent high draft picks who everyone thought would be saviors? It’s clear that D’Angelo Russell would be better off elsewhere, and Julius Randle may have more value in a trade, and maybe even Brandon Ingram should not be safe.” Plaschke also wonders if Jeanie would pass on Lonzo Ball in the draft; an “obvious and popular choice,” in favor of Josh Jackson, Markelle Fultz, or De’Aaron Fox.
  • Mark Heisler of the O.C. Register reflected on Shaquille O’Neal’s legacy- Shaq’s statue was unveiled last week- before musing on the Lakers’ future. While Magic Johnson seems to think highly of Lonzo Ball- attending his Sweet 16 loss over Shaq’s ceremony- Heisler wonders if Ball’s stock  has been diminished in the tournament. Josh Jackson of Kansas, Heisler writes, may have become the consensus No. 2 pick in the upcoming draft with his March Madness performance. “Ball is hard to project, even aside from his defense, which everyone knows is a problem,” Heisler writes. “Gifted young playmaker that he is, a UCLA insider told me he had been trying to figure out how much of what made him great at that level would apply in the pros.”
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Lonzo Ball To Enter 2017 NBA Draft

March 24th, 2017 at 11:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Shortly after his UCLA Bruins fell to Kentucky in the Sweet 16, star freshman guard Lonzo Ball announced that Friday’s game would be his last as a college player, tweets Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports. Ball will enter the 2017 NBA draft, and will be a candidate to be the first player off the board in June.

Ball, who is ranked as the No. 2 prospect in this year’s draft class by both DraftExpress and ESPN.com, averaged 14.7 PPG, 7.6 APG, and 1.9 SPG in his freshman year at UCLA. Although Markelle Fultz ranks ahead of him on most big boards, Ball is considered the better prospect by multiple NBA teams, and has certainly received more public hype lately, thanks to his outspoken father LaVar Ball.

On Friday night, Ball was outplayed by Wildcats star De’Aaron Fox, who figures to be a lottery pick three months from now as well. In a game that featured a handful of top prospects, Fox looked like the best player on the court, racking up 39 points. However, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com writes, Ball’s mediocre showing in the Sweet 16 won’t have much of an impact on his draft stock — he’s still a near-lock to be a top-three pick.

You can check out our full list of the early entrants for the 2017 draft right here.

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Pacific Notes: Len, Zubac, Warriors, Chriss

March 24th, 2017 at 10:46am CST by Milo Taibi

With restricted free agency looming, Alex Len has been given every opportunity to lock down the Suns‘ starting center job. Veteran big man Tyson Chandler has been shut down for the season for non-health reasons, and Dragan Bender remains sidelined with an ankle injury. Earl Watson has recently deployed a combination of Len, Alan Williams, and Marquese Chriss at the five. Now averaging 10.8 PPG with 9.5 rebounds over his last four games, the onus is on Len to prove himself as an NBA-caliber starter down the stretch.

“It’s my contract year, so it’s a huge stretch. I just have to show everybody I can be a starting center in this league,” Len told Doug Haller of AZ Central. “I got an opportunity, I just have to prove it.”

Watson spoke positively of Len, noting the fourth-year center’s efforts to add 3-point shooting to his arsenal.

“Big guys in this league, either you develop and shoot the 3 or you become a great rebounder,” Watson said. “Alex Len is a capable corner 3-point shooter, he just has to get comfortable shooting it and he has to practice it. That’s where the confidence will come from.”

More from around the Pacific…

  • Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post performed a “postmortem” of the Lakers, previewing the team’s summer strategy. Per Bontemps, Magic Johnson would be inclined to select Lonzo Ball of UCLA whether L.A. receives the first or second pick. Bontemps notes that D’Angelo Russell may be used as trade bait over the offseason, while the team still holds Brandon Ingram in a high regard (despite his gaudy 29% mark from 3-point range).
  • Chriss has become the Suns‘ bright spot, Doug Haller of AZ Central writes. The 19-year-old feels confident and comfortable in his rookie season, displaying an “ultra-aggressive” style of play on each end of the court. When asked of his post All-Star break improvements, Chriss offered a pragmatic answer: “A lot of the shots I took (in the first half of the season) were contested,” he said. “They weren’t good shots. I think this second half I’ve taken a lot better shots and I’ve kind of picked my spots of when to go to the hoop.” 
  • According to Tim Kawakami of Mercury News, the Warriors and Jerry West have had preliminary discussions of an extension (Twitter link). While the interview didn’t delve into his long-term plans with Golden State, West held an informative Q&A with Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.
  • Ivica Zubac discussed his future plans with Joey Ramirez of Lakers.com. Zubac, who has lost 24 pounds since December, spoke about the benefits of getting in shape. “I can run way more,” Zubac said. “I’m playing a lot more minutes now. In the beginning of the season if I entered the game and played three minutes — that would be it. … Now I’m feeling great.” The 20-year-old rookie plans to get stronger over the offseason, so he can “fight all these guys in the post.”
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Draft Notes: Williams, Kuzma, Wilder, Ball

March 21st, 2017 at 9:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Texas A&M freshman forward Robert Williams decided to remain in college because he wants to be the top pick, a source told Evan Daniels of Fox Sports and Scout.com (Twitter link). Williams also believes he’s not mature enough yet to enter the league, the tweet adds. Williams averaged 11.9 PPG, 8.2 RPG and 2.5 BPG during his freshman season for the Aggies. The 6’9” Williams was considered a late lottery pick, ranked as the 10th-best overall prospect by DraftExpress and 13th in Chad Ford’s top 100 at ESPN.com.

In other news involving the draft:

  • Utah forward Kyle Kuzma will enter the draft but won’t hire an agent, Kyle Goon of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. Kuzma is ranked No. 73 among the top 100 prospects by DraftExpress and doesn’t make Ford’s top 100 list. The 6’9” Kuzma averaged 16.4 PPG and 9.3 RPG for the Utes in his junior season.
  • Western Michigan’s Thomas Wilder will also test the draft waters, Jeff Goodman of ESPN tweets. The 6’3” guard averaged 19.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG and 3.8 APG in his junior season. He is not rated among the top 100 by either DraftExpress or Ford.
  • Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado and Khadeen Carrington will also enter the draft without hiring agents, Jon Rothstein of FanRagSports.com reports. Delgado, a 6’10” junior forward, averaged 15.2 PPG and 13.1 RPG this past season while Carrington, a 6’4” junior guard, averaged 17.1 PPG. Neither is considered a top 100 prospect.
  • Former Virginia and Memphis forward Austin Nichols has declared for the draft and hired an agent, according to Evan Daniels of Scout.com. The 6’9” Nichols played two seasons at Memphis, sat out a year, then played one game for the Cavaliers before he was dismissed from the team.
  • UCLA freshman point guard Lonzo Ball and Kansas freshman small forward Josh Jackson have solidified their status as two of the three top prospects with their performances in the NCAA tournament, Ford writes in a stock watch column. Arizona freshman forward Lauri Markkanen and Michigan State freshman forward Miles Bridges are among the players who have improved their draft stock during the first two rounds of the tournament, according to Ford. Villanova senior guard Josh Hart and Duke sophomore guard Luke Kennard are among the players that Ford believes hurt their draft status with subpar tournament outings.
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Lakers Notes: Ingram, Russell, Ball

March 19th, 2017 at 5:57pm CST by Austin Kent

Growing confidence and familiarity with the game have contributed to Brandon Ingram‘s gradual improvement this season. The No. 2 overall pick has seen his minutes climb over the course of the season and head coach Luke Walton believes that the exposure has paid off.

“I think it’s more just an overall confidence that he’s gaining from playing night after night after night,” Walton told Joey Ramirez of the team’s official website.

In eight March games, Ingram has averaged 12.3 points and 3.9 rebounds, a sign that Los Angeles’ decision to rest veterans Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng in favor of giving their young players more of an opportunity is paying off.

Ingram’s statistical improvements, Ramirez writes, stem not from an increase in three-point shooting but maturation attacking the hoop and a more reliable mid-range game.

There’s more out of Los Angeles:

  • Head coach Luke Walton is proud of D’Angelo Russell for sticking up for Nick Young in a brief altercation with the Bucks this week and didn’t feed into Draymond Green‘s criticism of the second-year guard’s actions.  “I was proud of D’Angelo for getting in there and sticking up for his teammate,” Walton told Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
  • The Lakers will get extra opportunities to scout Lonzo Ball as UCLA squares off in the NCAA Tournament. The 6’7″ guard has spurred a “cultural revolution” for the Bruins, writes Mark Heisler of the Los Angeles Daily News, and could be of particular interest to Magic Johnson.
  • He may be from Los Angeles but Amir Johnson still plays for the Celtics. That, of course, makes his high praise for recently appointed president of basketball operations Magic Johnson particularly compelling. “I always saw how Magic has a lot of businesses — the Magic Johnson theaters and 24-Hour Fitness and all that — and I think it’s dope that he really committed to the community. He’s doing all this great stuff. It kind of shows you what this job can do for you,” the forward told Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
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And-Ones: Ball, G. Allen, H. Thompson, Fultz

March 17th, 2017 at 8:49pm CST by Milo Taibi

Sam Amick of USA Today raises concerns of LaVar Ball’s impact on Lonzo Ball‘s draft stock. A potential No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, Lonzo’s elite skill-set has overshadowed his father’s “controversial style” thus far.

“Passing on the kid because of the father may not hold up well over time,” one anonymous executive told Amick. “There are players who come from more challenging family situations who have (done) quite well in the NBA,” another executive added.

Most likely, Amick concludes, LaVar can continue making brash, boastful statements “without the slightest fear” of it hurting Lonzo’s NBA future.

More from around the game…

  • Grayson Allen doesn’t regret returning to Duke for his junior year, Jeff Goodman of ESPN writes. While Allen would have been a first-round pick after his sophomore season, his stock has dipped to mid-second-round value after this year. “I knew with the decision I made, once I made it, I was going to live with it,” Allen said. “Obviously, I haven’t had the season I’d like to have. A lot of things out of my control happened. I didn’t know I was going to get injured three games into the year, reinjured later and all stuff happen in the middle…I didn’t come back for personal goals, I came back to be in the spot I am right now and trying to make another run for a national championship, and I’m still able to do that.”
  • After spending the duration of two 10-day contracts with the Pelicans, Hollis Thompson has returned to the D-League with the Austin Spurs, Chris Reichert of The Step Back reports (Tweet). Thompson had scored just 11 points over his last five games with the Pelicans.
  • The HoopsHype staff produced their latest NBA mock draft, with Markelle Fultz taking the No. 1 spot (article link). Regarding Fultz, HoopsHype wrote “no prospect in this draft is perfect, and Fultz remains on top of most scouts boards as the premiere prospect available,” before comparing him to James Harden.
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And-Ones: Draft, D. Smith, Ball, Sixers, Webb

March 7th, 2017 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

It’s still a little early for NBA prospects to start formally declaring for the 2017 NBA draft, but there’s “no question” that North Carolina State freshman Dennis Smith Jr. will be among the players who enter, a source tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link). According to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link), the Timberwolves had multiple people, including assistant GM Noah Croom, in attendance to watch N.C. State play Clemson at this week’s ACC tournament — Smith certainly would have been a player of interest in that game.

Here are a few more odds and ends from across the NBA:

  • Lavar Ball, the father of UCLA freshman Lonzo Ball, has made headlines by boasting about his son’s potential, and NBA executives have to take Lavar’s presence into consideration when evaluating Lonzo, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. “That is going to be another thing to look at when it comes to due diligence before the draft,” one GM told Deveney. “How does he handle his dad — is it just something he laughs about, or is it real pressure on him?”
  • Sixers cornerstones Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid won’t play again for the team this season, but will they be ready to contribute in Summer League action in July? Head coach Brett Brown believes it’s “too early to make that judgment,” though he acknowledges that it’s something the team is considering. Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer has the quotes and the details.
  • James Webb III, who has been with the Delaware 87ers as an affiliate player this season after being waived by the Sixers in the fall, has fractured his right ankle and will be sidelined for the rest of the D-League season, the team announced today in a press release. A camp invitee who received a $65K guarantee from Philadelphia, Webb has averaged 13.1 PPG and 9.3 RPG in 39 NBADL games.
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Knicks Notes: Point Guard Search, Rose, Thomas

March 3rd, 2017 at 10:02am CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks will have a hard time finding their next point guard either through the draft or free agency, writes Fred Kerber of The New York Post. With Derrick Rose unlikely to return next season, getting a replacement will be an offseason priority. However, Kerber notes that New York’s draft pick won’t be high enough to snag one of the elite point guards available, and the top free agents are likely to stay where they are.

The Knicks are currently in a three-way tie for eighth in our latest Reverse Standings, giving them just a remote shot at a top two pick that will probably be necessary to draft Washington’s Markelle Fultz or UCLA’s Lonzo Ball. That leaves lower-tier options such as De’Aaron Fox of Kentucky or international standout Frank Ntilikina.

The problem is similar in free agency, where the Knicks will have about $25MM to spend, but the best available players — Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, Kyle Lowry and George Hill — are all expected to remain with their current teams. Kerber says the Knicks might target Jrue Holiday or Jeff Teague, but the Pelicans and Pacers with both have Bird rights and the advantages of being able to offer more money and more years.

There’s more this morning from New York:

  • Rose is optimistic about reaching the playoffs despite the Knicks’ 25-36 record, and says he plans to unleash his 3-point shot in the postseason, relays Marc Berman of The New York Post. “I’m trying to put pieces of my game together,” Rose said. “I’m not shooting 3s yet. Hopefully I’ll start shooting them in the playoffs. It’s going to take a lot of sacrifice and dedication to get there. I’m just adding pieces to my game throughout the season.”
  • One positive for Rose this season has been his health, Berman notes in the same piece. Rose has appeared in 52 of the team’s 61 games, and if he plays 15 more it will be the most in a season since his ACL tear in 2012. “Two times, three times a day, the entire summer,” Rose said of his offseason workout schedule. “I worked on my game and body. That’s one of the reasons my body is holding up.”
  • The Knicks’ defense has improved significantly since Lance Thomas returned six games ago, Berman writes in a separate story. Thomas missed about a month after taking an elbow to the face in a January game and breaking the orbital bone. The time off also allowed Thomas to overcome plantar fasciitis that had been affecting him since training camp.
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