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Draft Notes: Ennis, Randle, Hairston

January 29th, 2014 at 2:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

Chad Ford of ESPN.com Insider and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com have updated their lists of the top draft prospects, with both in agreement that Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker are first, second and third, respectively. Embiid has begun to pull away from the pack in the eyes of scouts and GMs in recent weeks, according to Ford, who shares plenty of thoughts about his latest rankings, as we highlight below amid today’s draft chatter:

  • Some scouts who’ve spoken to Ford believe that Tyler Ennis of Syracuse may have eclipsed Australia’s Dante Exum and Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart as the best point guard prospect. Ennis is No. 10 in Ford’s rankings and No. 13 for Givony.
  • Teams have stopped discussing Julius Randle as a potential No. 1 pick, Ford writes. The Kentucky power forward checks in at No. 5 for Ford and is at No. 4 with Givony.
  • P.J. Hairston explains to Jim Hlavac of DraftExpress.com what he’ll say in pre-draft interviews with NBA teams about the transgressions that led to the end of his college career. Hairston, playing for the Texas Legends of the D-League, is draft-eligible this year. He’s No. 28 on Givony’s board and No. 33 in Ford’s eyes.
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Bucks Rumors: Trades, Sanders, Smart

January 20th, 2014 at 10:11am CST by Chuck Myron

The Bucks are the only team in the league without at least 10 wins, and they sit atop our Reverse Standings with the NBA’s worst record. Teams in their position usually start thinking about the future at this point in the season, but that’s not the case for Milwaukee, which notoriously avoids bottoming out. The Bucks would be “more than willing” to trade for vets who could help them sneak into the playoffs in the moribund Eastern Conference, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, who has more from Milwaukee:

  • Bucks management is still “very open” to trading Larry Sanders before the deadline, Amico writes in the same piece, echoing his report from last month. Milwaukee would want to make draft picks the centerpiece of the package it receives in exchange. The team would still have to absorb a significant amount of salary in a deal for Sanders, thanks to the Poison Pill Provision that was triggered when the Bucks signed Sanders to his extension this past summer.
  • Milwaukee is enamored with Oklahoma State point guard Marcus Smart, Amico says, adding that it would nonetheless be tough to envision the Bucks taking him first overall.
  • O.J. Mayo, like many on the Bucks, has seen his minutes go up and down, and he tells Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel that the inconsistent rotation is partly to blame for the team’s struggles. “It’s hard to get a rhythm when you don’t know what’s going to happen for you night in and night out,” Mayo said. “You may get six minutes, 30 minutes. There’s no staple to what we’re doing. You can hang in there, compete and keep it close.”
  • Gary Neal left San Antonio this past summer to sign a two-year, $6.5MM deal with the Bucks, but he misses the winning he enjoyed with the Spurs, as he says to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. “When you’re evaluating job choices, the financial aspect comes into it,” Neal said. “I think I made the best decision for me and my family.”
  • Darington Hobson, whom the Bucks selected 37th overall in the 2010 draft, has reached a deal with Migdal Haemek, a team in an Israeli minor league, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. Hobson has appeared in just five regular season NBA games, all with the Bucks in 2011/12.
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Ford On Young, Cavs, Lakers, Bulls, Draft

January 8th, 2014 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

As usual, ESPN.com’s Chad Ford devoted half of his weekly chat to NBA talk and the other half to draft chatter. He provided a handful of interesting tidbits this week on both subjects, so let’s check in on several of the highlights….

  • According to Ford, the Cavaliers flirted with acquiring Thaddeus Young from the Sixers in a deal for Andrew Bynum, but Philadelphia wanted Cleveland’s own 2014 first-rounder, which was a non-starter.
  • Danny Ainge keeps saying the 2014 draft class is overrated, which Ford interprets to mean that the Celtics GM actually loves it.
  • The Lakers are “living in a fantasy land” when it comes to their asking price for Pau Gasol, says Ford, adding that L.A. wanted more from the Cavs for Gasol than what the Bulls got for Luol Deng.
  • Ford doesn’t think the Bulls are done dealing, noting that there have been a lot of trade whispers about Kirk Hinrich, Joakim Noah, and Carlos Boozer. I imagine Chicago would be much more inclined to part with Boozer and/or Hinrich than Noah.
  • NBA execs who value advanced metrics are concerned about Julius Randle‘s lack of steals this season (one in 385 minutes). While NBA teams still like Randle a lot, no GM or scout has suggested recently to Ford that his team would take the Kentucky big man first overall.
  • The Magic and Kings “really like” Oklahoma State point guard Marcus Smart.
  • “Virtually every GM in the league is in love” with Joel Embiid, who remains in the mix for the first overall pick.
  • Ford hears that a Mormon mission after this season isn’t out of the question for Jabari Parker, which prompted him to ask several GMs where they’d take the Duke forward if he declared for the draft and announced he was going on a two-year mission. Surprisingly, a few still said they’d take Parker first overall, says Ford.
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Draft Rumors: Parker, Wiggins, Randle, Smart

November 27th, 2013 at 7:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

The draft is seven months away, but it’s clearly on the minds of Bucks fans who are raising money for a billboard that would encourage their team to tank, as we noted earlier today. Milwaukee is 2-11, already 10-and-a-half games behind the Pacers in the Central Division, and at least a segment of the team’s faithful is already prepared to chalk it up as a lost season and focus on whom the Bucks might take in June. Here’s the latest on a few top prospects:

  • Jabari Parker probably won’t stick around an extra year at Duke to play with top recruit and former AAU teammate Jahlil Okafor, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, but Parker is at least giving thought to the idea, Zagoria notes. “Oh, it would be great,” Parker said. “I would just work off him. A lot of attention would come up towards him and a lot of attention will come towards me, so we can work hand-in-hand with each other depending on where we are on different spots on the floor.”
  • Chad Ford of ESPN.com chatted with readers today, writing that he’s not sure there’ll be a consensus No. 1 pick. It may come down to need for whichever team scores the top draft choice, Ford opines, pointing to Parker, Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle and Marcus Smart as possibilities.
  • The top eight players in Ford’s rankings are unchanged, with Wiggins still at No. 1. Indiana power forward Noah Vonleh and Michigan State shooting guard Gary Harris are newcomers to the top 10.
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Odds & Ends: Kobe, Bulls, Heat, Wizards

November 26th, 2013 at 11:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

Kobe Bryant says he gave no thought to leaving the Lakers in free agency, and defended himself against criticism that his extension will hurt the team, as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt observes. Most Hoops Rumors readers agree, believing the Lakers will sign another max free agent in either 2014 or 2015. Here’s more from the Association:

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

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Draft & D-League: Top Five, Smart, 66ers, Czyz

October 31st, 2013 at 9:14pm CST by Alex Lee

With David Stern putting all his weight behind the positive evolution of the D-League, it’s only natural for that avenue of player development to be contrasted with the more traditional one. Let’s take a look at Thursday night’s news and notes from the draft and the D-League here:

  • The kickoff of the NBA season isn’t complete without our first wave of NBA mock drafts. Chad Ford provides ESPN insiders a look at what the first round might look like in June 2014. In what some pundits are dubbing the best draft since 2003, Ford predicts a top five of Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Joel Embiid and Dante Exum.
  • Speaking of Oklahoma State’s Smart, the sophomore point guard is still unsure that he made the right decision to return to school last April, writes ESPN’s Myron Medcalf. Considering the shocking results of last June’s draft, it probably isn’t far fetched to say that Smart would have been the best player on the board when the Cavs went on the clock.
  • The Tulsa 66ers, the Thunder‘s D-League affiliate, have acquired the number one pick in tomorrow night’s D-League draft along with Ben Uzoh in a three team deal with the Iowa Energy and Springfield Armor, writes Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. Along with other picks tomorrow night, Diante Garrett and Lorenzo Brown were also involved in the deal.
  • Polish forward Olek Czyz has signed a deal to join the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League, Sportando reports on Twitter. The Bucks, who use Fort Wayne as their D-League affiliate, cut Czyz on Saturday after he spent training camp with the team, indicating that they protected his D-League rights. Czyz played at Duke and Nevada before going undrafted in 2012. He played last season for Virtus Roma of the Italian League.
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Odds & Ends: Union, Lucas, Draft, Brown

August 12th, 2013 at 9:30pm CST by Zachary Links

With the offseason winding down, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld identified who the real contenders will be in 2013/14.  The back-to-back champion Heat top the list with some of the other usual suspects, including the Spurs and Thunder.  The Bulls should be vaulted back into contention with the long-awaited return of Derrick Rose.  The Clippers are a bona fide contender after re-signing Chris Paul, landing Doc Rivers as coach, and adding J.J. Redick.  The Nets, who now boast the most expensive roster in the NBA by far, hope to be among the league's elite with first-time coach Jason Kidd at the helm.  And of course, the Rockets will be one of the most intriguing teams to keep an eye on after luring Dwight Howard away from L.A.  Here's more from around the Association..

  • NBPA executive committee member Jerry Stackhouse told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that LeBron James' comments about the union felt like a "kick in the stomach".  "I don't think he's had any dialogue with anybody since the All-Star break, but it is what it is," Stackhouse said. "To make that statement about where we are as a union right now, he was misinformed."
  • Point guard John Lucas III was a safe choice for the Jazz, in the sense that he won't threaten Trey Burke or expect to be the main one-guard for the long-term.  However, Utah believes they have more than a capable stop-gap and more than a positive locker room influence in the veteran, writes Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune.
  • Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) runs down the 2014 NBA Draft and notes that its remarkable depth could make it the best ever.  Ford's latest big board has Andrew Wiggins at the top, followed by Kentucky's Julius Randle, Australian Dante Exum, Duke's Jabari Parker, and Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart.
  • Sean Deveney of the Sporting News gives his immediate and long-term outlook for the league's 13 new coaches.  The list starts with the latest hire, 76ers coach Brett Brown.
  • Jordan Hill's summer assignment is to become the stretch four that the Lakers need, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.  Hill missed 53 games last year, mostly because of back and hip trouble.
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Poll: Which Top 2014 Prospect Falls Before Next Year’s Draft?

August 10th, 2013 at 8:13pm CST by Spencer Lund

The 2014 NBA Draft is said to be the deepest in league history. Multiple prospects who would have gone as the top pick in previous drafts may now be relegated to a lower draft position. With such an influx of talent, Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld details some of the favorites in next summer's heralded class. 

Brigham attempts to sift through the brightest prospects to provide a blueprint for how the order might play out a year from now. The players he spotlights include incoming college freshman, Andrew Wiggins (Kansas), Julius Randle (Kentucky), Jabari Parker (Duke), Aaron Gordon (Arizona), Oklahoma State sophomore Marcus Smart and Australian Dante Exum. 

But even with these players as supposed locks for the lottery, things can change. As Brigham notes in his piece, last year's two prized players expected to be the top two picks in the 2013 Draft, Shabazz Muhammad and Cody Zeller, both fell after the following college basketball season concluded despite neither suffering a major injury. Muhammad even fell out of the top 10 all the way to the Timberwolves (by way of the Jazz) with the 14th pick.

It stands to reason that one of the players Brigham mentions will see his draft stock plummet before June even if all of them stay healthy. If all of these prospects stay healthy next season, and if Exum enters the draft without playing a year at an American university, which one will drop? 

 

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Marcus Smart To Enter 2014 Draft

July 23rd, 2013 at 9:55pm CST by Zachary Links

Oklahoma State standout Marcus Smart says that he will enter the 2014 Draft and unlike this year's go-round, he intends to stay in it, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.  Smart was in the mix for the No. 1 pick in last month's draft, but decided to return for his sophomore season.

The 19-year-old, who averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists during his freshman season, added that he has told athletic department officials that he plans to go to the NBA after this coming season.  

"It's safe to say that if, by the grace of God I'm healthy and everything, this will be my last year at Oklahoma State," Smart said. "Nothing will change my mind on that. [Oklahoma State] understands. They didn't figure I was coming back this year. They were just as surprised as everyone else."

While Smart had a shot at being the top pick in this year's shallow draft, he won't be the No. 1 selection in next year's class which will feature Canadian super-prospect Andrew Wiggins, among others.  DraftExpress' 2014 mock draft has Smart going No. 5 behind Wiggins, Julius Randle,Dante Exum, and Aaron Gordon.

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Marcus Smart To Return To Oklahoma State

April 26th, 2013 at 3:24pm CST by Alex Lee

APRIL 26TH: According to Aran Smith of NBADraft.net (Twitter link), "word on the street" suggests that Smart is second-guessing his decision to forgo the draft. While Smith says not to be shocked if Smart changes his mind, for now the junior guard remains on track to return to Oklahoma State. He'll have until Sunday night to finalize his decision.

APRIL 16TH: We just heard that the Oklahoma State basketball program scheduled a press conference for tomorrow afternoon and now we know why.  According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, Cowboys guard Marcus Smart will return to Stillwater for his sophomore season (Twitter link).  This is a big surprise because, as Wojnarowski points out, Smart was on his way to being a top five selection in June.  This makes an already weak top of the draft even weaker.

Chad Ford of ESPN thinks that Smart would have gone top three, tweeting that he is the first player since Blake Griffin to return to school with that high a draft projection.  Ford calls Smart a "different" kid who values winning and college experience.  With Smart out of the mix, Ford will elevate Trey Burke to the top point guard spot on his board (Twitter links). 

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