Markel Brown Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Nets, Hollins, Brown

January 1st, 2015 at 2:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

Two Cleveland castoffs have been instrumental in the Nets‘ recent hot streak, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. When the Cavaliers were trimming salary last summer to sign LeBron James, they sent Sergey Karasev and Jarrett Jack to Brooklyn as part of a three-team deal with the Celtics. Both recently entered the Nets’ staring lineup and helped lead the team to within a game of .500 and back into the Eastern Conference playoff race.

There’s more news from the Atlantic Division:

Nets coach Lionel Hollins credits “changing attitudes” for the turnaround, writes Tim Bontemps of The New York Post. “It’s getting everyone to buy in, it’s getting everybody to believe and trusting each other,” Hollins said. “You hear all coaches talk about team, and it’s not easy to get going, especially with a more veteran team when all the players have had success doing it their own way. To then get them to do it a little bit different for the group, and make sacrifices for the group is always difficult, but I see it coming.”
The Nets made two roster moves Thursday, Bontemps tweets, sending rookies Markel Brown and Cory Jefferson to the Maine Red Claws, Boston’s D-League affiliate. Brooklyn no longer has its own affiliate in the league.
Sixers coach Brett Brown understands that he hasn’t been given the talent to win right away, but he tells Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer that he is concerned about the effect losing is having on his players. “I don’t want our guys feeling embarrassed,” Brown said after Tuesday’s 40-point rout by the Warriors. “I don’t want them feeling ashamed. I want them finding a way to take a deep breath and understand this is where the Philadelphia 76ers program is at the moment. At times, it is painful. But we move on.”

Contract Details: Brooks, Bairstow, Brown

July 23rd, 2014 at 7:55pm CST by Alex Lee

As free agent transactions around the league become official, so do the monetary specifics of their contract agreements. Here’s a round up of the latest contract details to come to light this evening:

The minimum salary contract Aaron Brooks signed with the Bulls is for one year, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports reveals on his updated Bulls salary page.
Cameron Bairstow‘s three-year contract with the Bulls is guaranteed for $425K in year two and otherwise non-guaranteed past the first season, Deeks also reports.
Markel Brown‘s two-year deal with the Nets is fully guaranteed in year one, with a series of guarantee dates for the second season, as Deeks shows.
The two-year deal the Nets gave Cory Jefferson is similar, except it’s only guaranteed for $75K this year, Deeks also notes.
The Nets gave Bojan Bogdanovic a 15% trade kicker on his three-year deal rather than the player option that he initially appeared to be getting, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports on his Nets salary page.
Robbie Hummel‘s deal with the Timberwolves is fully-guaranteed for $880K for the upcoming season, reports Pincus. It was originally reported to be worth $900K. Pincus adds that the deal allows Hummel to block any trade Minnesota may try to include him in (Twitter links).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Nets Sign Markel Brown

July 23rd, 2014 at 9:49am CST by Ryan Raroque

WEDNESDAY, 9:49pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release. It’s a multiyear contract, the Nets revealed in their statement.

TUESDAY, 7:27pm: The Nets will sign Markel Brown, league sources tell Tim Bontemps of the New York Post (via Twitter). Brown was selected 44th overall by the Timberwolves last month before Brooklyn acquired his draft rights via trade.

It was somewhat of surprise that the Oklahoma State shooting guard went so highly in last month’s draft, since Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranked him as the 55th best prospect and Chad Ford of ESPN.com had him down at No. 61. He averaged 17.2 points and 5.3 rebounds in 35.3 minutes per game this past season as part of a backcourt tandem with point guard Marcus Smart, this year’s sixth overall pick.

Brown will face stiff competition to make the Nets opening night roster, especially if his deal isn’t fully guaranteed for this coming season. Brooklyn agreed to a deal No. 60 pick Cory Jefferson earlier tonight and also possesses the rights to Xavier Thames, the 59th overall selection. The Nets signed highly touted European draft-and-stash prospect Bojan Bogdanovic this afternoon, so it’s shaping up as a battle between this year’s second-rounders, camp invitee Michael Jenkins and any players the club adds from here for no more than two open roster spots.

Draft Notes: Tavares, Kings, Embiid

June 20th, 2014 at 9:13pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Be sure and spend Thursday night’s NBA Draft with us here at Hoops Rumors. Beginning at 6pm CDT, I will be hosting a live chat where I answer your questions, provide up-to-the-minute updates on all the picks, as well as weigh in with my thoughts and opinions on all the moves and selections. So save the date and join us for what is shaping up to be an exciting night.

Here’s the latest draft news and notes:

The extension that first-round draft prospect Walter Tavares signed with his team in Spain gives him greater flexibility to join the NBA this year, agent Andy Miller tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). That suggests that the club lowered the amount of his buyout clauses in exchange for securing him for more years should he remain overseas, though that’s just my speculation.
One of the biggest questions heading into draft night is where will Joel Embiid end up. Once a top-three lock, the news of him needing foot surgery has forced many a mock draft maker to revise their projections. One NBA GM who is picking in Top-10 said of Embiid: “My medical people told me flat-out not to take him,” reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
LaQuinton Ross, C.J. Fair, DeAndre Daniels, and JaKarr Sampson worked out for the Mavericks today, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
Kings Assistant GM Mike Bratz called Nik Stauskas and Doug McDermott the best two shooters in the draft, reports Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). Sacramento currently holds the eighth pick in the draft, one slot ahead of the Hornets, who have been linked to McDermott in numerous mock drafts.
The Kings have workouts scheduled this Monday with Keith Appling, Deonte Burton, Mike Dixon Jr., DeAndre Kane, Jarred Shaw, and Aaric Murray, the team announced.
Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel lays out the case for why the Magic should avoid selecting Embiid in Thursday’s NBA Draft.
Markel Brown will work out for the Spurs on Saturday, tweets Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Southwest Notes: Nowitzki, ‘Melo, Pelicans

June 20th, 2014 at 4:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Zach Randolph is No. 10 in the latest Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, but it seems like he’ll be off-limits to other suitors come July, as agent Raymond Brothers and the Grizzlies appear to be making significant progress toward a deal. That might have the effect of driving up the value of other free agents amid a class that’s highlighted by players with option clauses and restricted free agents. Here’s the latest on the Grizzlies and their Southwest Division rivals:

Dirk Nowitzki has encouraged the Mavs to consider signing Carmelo Anthony, but he nonetheless believes that ‘Melo ending up in Dallas is not a realistic outcome, as Bryan Gutierrez of ESPNDallas.com observes. Still, a recent report indicated that the Mavs are among the three top teams on Anthony’s list of preferred destinations.
Executives around the league believe it’ll be an active offseason for the Pelicans, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. That’s in spite of more than $54MM in salary commitments for next season and comments from GM Dell Demps, who said in April that he wants to see more of the team’s existing core together.
Aaron Craft, Markel Brown, Viktor Gaddefors, Jordan Morgan and Ojars Silins are among the draft prospects who’ll work out for the Grizzlies on Sunday, the team announced.

Draft Notes: Embiid, Exum, McDermott, Stauskas

June 19th, 2014 at 12:07pm CST by Chuck Myron

Joel Embiid has suffered a right foot injury, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, and there’s fear that it’s broken, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Cavs discovered the injury during his physical exam with the team, it’s prompted Cleveland to want to work out Dante Exum, Wojnarowski says (Twitter link). Agent Arn Tellem tells fellow ESPN scribe Chad Ford that Embiid probably won’t be doing any more workouts before the draft (Twitter link). He was to have auditioned for the Bucks later this week, Goodman notes on Twitter, though the Bucks haven’t heard from Embiid’s camp about whether the workout is canceled or not, according to TNT’s David Aldridge (on Twitter). Tellem told Andy Katz of ESPN.com that he’ll know more about the injury on Friday, as Goodman notes in his piece, so while the top of the draft hinges on tomorrow’s news on Embiid’s foot, here’s more on the wider field of prospects:

Representatives from the Kings, Nuggets, Wolves and Warriors observed Doug McDermott and Nik Stauskas work out Wednesday in Chicago, Ford tweets.
C.J. Fair will audition Monday for the Mavericks, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
The Magic are bringing Kendrick Perry in for a second workout, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Perry will also audition Saturday for the Wolves, along with Roscoe Smith, Joe Jackson and Taylor Braun, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops.
Isaiah Austin, Aaron Craft, T.J. Bray, Eric Moreland and Daniel Miller are the previously unreported prospects who are showing off for the Raptors today, the team announced via press release. Austin is fresh off an audition on Wednesday for the Clippers, according to Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link).
Jabari Brown, Markel Brown, Devin Oliver, Khyle Marshall and Xavier Munford are among those working out for the Celtics today, notes Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Oliver reportedly auditioned for the Celtics last week, too.
The Kings will audition Michael Dixon on Monday, Scotto tweets.

Draft Notes: Clippers, Vonleh, Hornets, Hairston

June 17th, 2014 at 8:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Clippers are interested in trading up from pick No. 28, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Shelburne’s piece centers on a profile of former University of Colorado guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who can’t work out because he’s still recovering from a torn ACL. Dinwiddie’s nonetheless had meetings with the Bucks, Wizards, Bulls and Celtics, and he’s scheduled interviews and physicals with the Clippers, Heat, Hawks and Thunder, according to Shelburne. The ESPN scribe also says that he’ll interview and take a physical for the Jazz, advancing an earlier report that he was set to interview with the team. Here’s more on the draft:

Julius Randle is set to work out for the Jazz tomorrow, tweets Utah’s radio announcer David Locke.
Marcus Smart and Elfrid Payton are expected to work out for the Lakers on Friday for the second time, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports Spears advises his readers to “keep an eye” on Payton (via Twitter) in light of the second workout.
Nik Stauskas is expected in for his first workout with the Lakers, who have struggled to get Stauskas in, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times.
Rodney Hood had to sit out most of his Hornets workout today due to illness, reports Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
Gary Harris and Zach LaVine will work out for the Hornets tomorrow, tweets Bonnell, who adds Charlotte’s other new workout appointees in a separate tweet: Rion Brown; Ronald Roberts Jr.; and Markel Brown, who missed an earlier workout due to travel issues.
The Rockets worked out Shabazz Napier, Xavier Thames, Patric Young, Nick Russell, and Kadeem Coleby, tweets Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
Sim Bhullar, Earnest Ross, Ian Chiles, Cameron Clark, Philipp Neumann, and Jordan Bachynski will work out for the Wizards tomorrow, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.

Earlier updates:

Noah Vonleh will work out for the Sixers on Thursday, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
Elfrid Payton, Josh Huestis, James Bell and Jordan Clarkson are the previously unreported prospects performing for the Hornets today, as Chris Littmann of The Sporting News tweets.
P.J. Hairston will audition for the Hawks, as he tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, who also reports that Hairston will show off for the Grizzlies, Lakers and Bulls (Twitter links).
Kyle Anderson will work out for the Suns, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, as well as the Grizzlies, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter links). A previous report indicated that the Suns were set to audition Anderson a week ago, so this appears to be his second workout with Phoenix.
Anderson will also perform for the Bulls, as will Clint Capela and DeAndre Daniels, Zagoria tweets.
Jordan Adams, Devyn Marble, Sean Kilpatrick, C.J. Wilcox and Jarnell Stokes are working out for the Raptors today, the team announced. A report from last month indicated that Stokes had already worked out for Toronto, but given that the dispatch came in the middle of the draft combine, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was actually an interview between Stokes and the club, rather than a workout.
The Wizards are auditioning Semaj Christon, Nick Johnson, Deonte Burton, Alec Brown and Khem Birch today, according to Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (on Twitter).

Draft Notes: Jazz, Kings, Warren, Nurkic, LaVine

June 16th, 2014 at 5:13pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest draft news from around the league..

In addition to Indiana big man Noah Vonleh, today’s Jazz work out included George Mason guard Bryon Allen, Oklahoma State guard Markel Brown, Syracuse forward C.J. Fair, UCLA forward David Wear, and Marquette forward Jamil Wilson, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News.
Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro, assistant GM Mike Bratz, and advisor Chris Mullin are meeting with prospects Doug McDermott and Nik Stauskas right now in Chicago, tweets Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee.
N.C. State forward T.J. Warren was slated to work out for the Nuggets today but he’s a late scratch, according to Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post (on Twitter). Taking his place will be Trevor Wages of Colorado School of Mines (link).
The Nuggets are bringing in Jusuf Nurkic for medical exams and perhaps a workout, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Nurkic is currently slated to go No. 12 to the Magic in DraftExpress’ mock.
UCLA’s Zach LaVine will work out for the Timberwolves, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. Minnesota likes him at two guard and they’ll think about him at No. 13 along with Stauskas and Adreian Payne.
The Raptors will audition Payne tomorrow, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.
Meanwhile, Clemson’s K.J. McDaniels wasn’t able to work out for the Timberwolves, tweets Wolfson. The small forward got stuck in South Carolina due to bad weather.
The Celtics will have more workouts on Thursday, highlighted by UCLA guard Jordan Adams, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.

Draft Rumors: Randle, Magic, Eriksson, Capela

June 12th, 2014 at 1:40pm CST by Chuck Myron

Julius Randle and his family deny that there’s anything wrong with his right foot, in spite of a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that the potential top-five pick will likely require surgery. Randle issued his denial in a pair of tweets, while his mother and godfather spoke with Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal and Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, respectively. The procedure would force Randle to miss six to eight weeks but allow him to start training camp on time, according to Wojnarowski. Wojnarowski’s original report indicated that the surgery wouldn’t affect his draft stock, but later said via Twitter that it was “an issue,” echoing what an NBA executive told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, who suggests the injury could indeed affect his stock. NBA teams are worried that putting off surgery will lead to major problems in the future, Wojnarowski tweets. There’s more on Randle amid our latest on the draft:

The Celtics, who pick sixth, say Randle has “full clearance” as far as they’re concerned, tweets Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe.
Tucker’s report adds the Magic to the teams auditioning Randle.
Spanish league shooting guard Marcus Eriksson is pulling out of this year’s draft, agent Andy Miller tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Eriksson is No. 80 in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress prospect rankings, but Chad Ford of ESPN.com doesn’t have him ranked. There have been no reports of Eriksson setting up interviews or workouts with teams.
Clint Capela is the leading name in a Raptors workout today that also includes LaQuinton Ross, Jamil Wilson and Markel Brown, the team announced (on Twitter).
Brown has worked out for the Thunder, a source tells Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Slater also passes along an earlier report from Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that Kyle Anderson worked out for the team, and another report from Jeremy Rauch of Fox 19 in Cincinnati that adds the Thunder, Heat and Bulls to the list of teams auditioning Semaj Christon (Twitter links).
Zach LaVine is among the prospects who’ll show off for the Celtics on Friday, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. The Celtics are auditioning Luke Hancock and Geron Johnson on top of previously reported names today, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com reveals via Twitter.

Southeast Notes: Chalmers, Oden, Hornets

June 11th, 2014 at 6:00pm CST by Charlie Adams

Mario Chalmers has struggled mightily for the Heat lately, but he doesn’t attribute his on-court woes to his looming free agency, reports Sean Deveney of Sporting News. “I am not even thinking about that,” Chalmers said today. “Whatever happens this summer, happens.” Here’s more on Miami and the Southeast:

The Heat are expected to work out Kyle Anderson, C.J. Wilcox, Joe Harris, Jordan Bachynski and Markel Brown, a source tells Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link).
Greg Oden admits he was disappointed at his lack of playing time for the Heat this season, but it won’t discourage him from signing a new contract this summer, be it with Miami or another club, passes along Chris Haynes of Comcast Sportsnet.
Jeff Adrien, whom Charlotte dealt to the Bucks at the trade deadline this year, joined several Hornets veterans for a workout in Charlotte today, notes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). Adrien becomes an unrestricted free agent in July.
Shabazz Napier and Elfrid Payton auditioned for the Magic today, according to Scotto (Twitter link). Isaiah Sykes also worked out for the club, as Sykes revealed via Twitter (hat tip to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel).
The Wizards will bring in Billy Baron, Jerrelle Benimon, Justin Cobbs, Josh Huestis, Lamar Patterson, and Davon Usher, the team announced.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.