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Draft Updates: Porter, Young, Simons, Sexton

June 9th, 2018 at 6:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

Michael Porter Jr. was impressive at Friday’s pro day in Chicago, tweets Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Although there’s no question about his talent, several teams are concerned about Porter’s physical condition in the wake of back surgery that cost him nearly his entire freshman season at Missouri. Porter’s representatives will decide over the next few days which teams they plan to hold meetings with and who will receive his medical records.

Kyler adds that most scouts view Porter as a top three to five talent in the draft (Twitter link), but the back problems may scare some teams away. Even so, Kyler speculates that he won’t fall lower than the Bulls at No. 7 (Twitter link).

There’s more news as the draft draws closer:

  • The Knicks are among several lottery teams that will travel to Chicago next week to meet with Porter, a league source tells Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog (Twitter link).
  • The Suns are trying to arrange a workout with Oklahoma’s Trae Young, tweets Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. Team officials are expected to meet with Young before the draft, but scheduling conflicts may prevent the Suns from working him out. Because Phoenix holds the No. 1 pick and Young is unlikely to be taken that high, Wasserman cites the report as evidence that the team is trying to acquire a second top 10 selection.
  • Anfernee Simons, who worked out today for the Magic, has been among the most active pre-draft prospects, tweets Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Simons has already been to sessions with the Bulls, Suns, Trail Blazers, Lakers and Jazz and has upcoming workouts scheduled with the Knicks, Cavaliers, Grizzlies and Bucks.
  • The Cavaliers brought in Alabama’s Collin Sexton for a workout today, tweets ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
  • The Nuggets have six players scheduled for a session on Monday, according to a story on the team’s website. Expected to attend are Idaho’s Brayon Blake, Georgetown’s Marcus Derrickson, UNLV’s Brandon McCoy, USC’s Jordan McLaughlin, Wake Forest’s Doral Moore and Northern Colorado’s Andre Spight.
  • Seton Hall’s Desi Rodriguez will work out tomorrow for the Spurs, Zagoria writes. The Mavericks will see him Tuesday, followed by the Raptors, then then Lakers on June 20. Rodriguez has also worked out for the Knicks, Nets, Suns, Thunder, Celtics, Bucks and Kings.
  • The Nets have already held sessions with about 60 players, roughly the same amount the team saw through the entire pre-draft process last year, according to a story on NetsDaily.
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Draft Notes: Doncic, Bridges, Holiday, Diallo, Rodriguez

June 7th, 2018 at 8:53pm CST by marksuleymanov

Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and general manager Vlade Divac are both in Madrid, Spain, to watch Luka Doncic in the ACB Playoffs, tweets basketball journalist David Pick. Doncic, widely expected to be a top-three selection in the draft, has already secured numerous accolades, including the EuroLeague MVP, Rising Star, and Final Four MVP.

While there has been talk of Doncic going No. 1 overall to the Suns, it’s more likely he ends up with either the Kings or Hawks, who own the second and third picks, respectively. Doncic has said that it’s not certain that he will come stateside next season despite the expectation that he will be a top draftee. Just recently, a report suggested that both the Hawks and Kings may pass on Doncic and instead focus on frontcourt players.

“[The Kings] have a real hole there in the frontcourt. I don’t think that they’re in love with Willie Cauley-Stein by any means. They started Zach Randolph at the four all year long,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givony said. “What do they do there? Do they go with Marvin Bagley who is going to be a compelling prospect for them? 

Check out more draft news below:

  • Michigan State’s Miles Bridges is set to work out for the Knicks this Saturday, reports ESPN’s Ian Begley. The Knicks own the ninth overall pick and Bridges, along with Villanova’s Mikal Bridges have been reported as possible targets for New York.
  • UCLA’s Aaron Holiday had his second workout with the Suns on Thursday, the team announced. Five other prospects were part of the workout, with Troy Brown (Oregon), Jalen Brunson (Villanova), Marcus Derrickson (Georgetown), Amine Noua (France), and Desi Rodriguez (Seton Hall) also participating.
  • Seton Hall’s Desi Rodriguez also worked out for the Thunder on Wednesday, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.
  • Kentucky’s Hamidou Diallo has scheduled workouts with the Lakers and Mavericks, Sean Deveney of Sporting News tweets. Diallo will have also worked out for the Bulls, Wizards, Suns, Blazers, Kings, Nets, Knicks, and Bucks.
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East Draft Notes: Hawks, Wizards, Raptors, Nets

May 24th, 2018 at 10:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

UCLA point guard Aaron Holiday and Villanova floor leader Jalen Brunson headline the list of six players the Hawks will work out on Friday, according to a team press release. Holiday is ranked No. 17 by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, while Brunson is rated No. 26 overall.

Gary Clark (Cincinnati), Rawle Alkins (Arizona), Juwan Morgan (Indiana) and Tony Carr (Penn State) are the other players trying to make a favorable impression. The Hawks hosted Donte DiVincenzo (Villanova), Ben Lammers (Georgia Tech), Jalen McDaniels (San Diego State), Markis McDuffie (Wichita State), Doral Moore (Wake Forest) and Brandon Sampson (LSU) on Thursday.

In other draft workouts by Eastern Conference clubs:

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Draft Notes: Adel, Doncic, Derrickson, Sims

April 9th, 2018 at 1:33pm CST by Luke Adams

After announcing last month that he would test the 2018 NBA draft waters, Louisville forward Deng Adel has decided he won’t be withdrawing his name. Adel tells Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) that he’ll remain in the 2018 draft pool and will be hiring an agent as he begins his professional career.

Adel, who tested the draft waters in 2017, improved his numbers across the board in his junior year with the Cardinals, averaging 15.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 2.8 APG with a .448/.350/.786 shooting line. However, he doesn’t rank within the top 100 on Jonathan Givony’s 2018 big board at ESPN.com.

Here are a few more of today’s draft updates:

  • Speaking of Givony, he has a brand-new mock draft up at ESPN.com today (Insider-only link). The names at the top are familiar, with Deandre Ayton going No. 1 to the Suns and Luka Doncic going No. 2 to the Grizzlies. However, there are more changes further down in the first round, with this year’s draft class beginning to take shape.
  • Elsewhere at ESPN.com, Mina Kimes has an excellent in-depth feature on Doncic, the top international prospect in this year’s draft class. While Doncic hasn’t officially made an announcement indicating he’ll enter the 2018 draft, it’s viewed as a given, with his mother having previously said the Real Madrid star will be eligible.
  • Georgetown junior forward Marcus Derrickson announced today on his Instagram page that he will go pro. Derrickson, who averaged 15.9 PPG and 8.1 RPG with an impressive shooting line of .505/.465/.863 in 2017/18, intends to forgo his senior year and will hire an agent to make it official.
  • Chicago State guard Fred Sims Jr. has informed ESPN’s Jeff Goodman (Twitter link) that he’ll enter the draft and will seek out an agent, forgoing his remaining NCAA eligibility. In his junior year, Sims put up 14.2 PPG, but struggled with his shot, making just 32.2% of his attempts from the floor.
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