Marques Bolden

Cavs Sign Dean Wade To Two-Way Contract

JULY 2: The Cavaliers have formally signed Wade to his two-way deal, per RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions.

JUNE 21: The Cavaliers have reached an agreement to sign undrafted rookie free agent Dean Wade to a two-way contract, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).

Wade, a 6’10” forward, has the ability to stretch the floor, having knocked down 38.6% of his three-point attempts over the course of four college seasons. The Kansas State standout recorded 12.9 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 2.8 APG in 25 games during his senior year.

A foot injury sidelined Wade at the end of his college career, keeping him out of action for the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments. However, he recently told Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype that he’s “100% healthy.”

The Cavaliers have also agreed to a deal with Duke big man Marques Bolden, a source tells Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Kennedy’s tweet doesn’t offer any further details, so it’s not entirely clear if Bolden is just joining Cleveland for Summer League or if he’ll get a spot on the team’s 20-man offseason roster.

Bolden played a part-time role for the Blue Devils in 2018/19, averaging 5.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 1.7 BPG in 35 games (19.0 MPG) as a junior.

Southeast Draft Notes: Hornets, Heat, Magic, Hawks

The Hornets have looked into the possibility of moving up in the draft from their current spot in the lottery at No. 12, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Bonnell acknowledges that it may be difficult for Charlotte to put together the sort of trade capital necessary to make a deal happen, but says GM Mitch Kupchak is active.

Meanwhile, the Hornets will continue to explore their draft options by bringing in six more prospects for workouts tomorrow, according to the team. Marques Bolden (Duke), Tacko Fall (UCF), Jaylen Hoard (Wake Forest), Jalen Hudson (Florida), and Luka Asceric (Mega Bemax) are among the players set to participate.

Here are a few more draft-related items from around the Southeast:

Wizards Notes: Brown, Workouts, GM Search

Ben Standig of NBC Sports Washington sat down with Wizards rookie Troy Brown Jr. to discuss his first year in the NBA, which began with an overwhelming welcome at the combine and finished with Brown becoming a calmer, wiser, 19-year-old man.

“I wouldn’t say I was lost (in regard to the 2018 NBA Combine), but I didn’t know what to expect,” Brown said. “I was just kind of going about things, trying to do everything the best I could. …I knew I was going to get drafted, but it was more about the work that I put in. Is it going to happen? I want to go this number (in the draft). There’s a lot of stuff running through your brain.”

Immediate expectations for Brown’s rookie season were not very high, as Washington came into the season with playoff aspirations and more. But after a disappointing 2018/19 campaign, Brown may be the most important player on the roster long term after All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal.

“It’s definitely weird not knowing who is going to be back and knowing our whole roster (might) be different… (but) (a)t the same time, you know it’s a business… I’m kind of use to it now. I had 24 teammates in one year.”

There’s more out of D.C. tonight:

Draft Workouts: Clarke, Caroline, Franks, Murphy, Bolden

Potential lottery pick Brandon Clarke of Gonzaga worked out for the Heat on Monday, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. The 6’8” forward is ranked No. 13 overall by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. the same draft spot that Miami possesses. Team president Pat Riley and the Heat’s brass recently attended Priority Sports’ Chicago workout, in which Clarke participated. Cal State Fullerton guard Kyle Allman Jr. will also work out for the team this week, Jackson adds.

We have more draft workouts:

  • Nevada forward Jordan Caroline will work out for the Cavaliers on Tuesday, Jordan Schultz of ESPN tweets.
  • Washington State forward Robert Franks, ranked No. 94 by Givony, worked out for the Celtics, Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype tweets.
  • Minnesota forward Jordan Murphy will visit the Nets and Spurs, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets.
  • Duke center Marques Bolden will work out for the Knicks on Friday, Ian Begley of SNY TV tweets. He also has workouts scheduled with the Lakers, Spurs, Hornets, Cavs and Celtics.
  • Ole Miss guard Terence Davis will visit for the Jazz on Tuesday, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets. Davis has been asked to second workouts with the Celtics and Warriors, Jones adds.

Wizards Notes: Beal, Wall, White, Draft

Retaining Bradley Beal in his prime, rather than trading him for assets, might be the best course of action for the Wizards, Ben Standig of NBC Sports Washington argues. Beal could be the ideal role model to establish a new identity and culture for the franchise, Standig continues. Beal could be the main locker room leader next season with John Wall recovering from his Achilles injury and he’d embrace that role, Standig notes. Giving Beal that power might deepen his connection to the franchise’s long-term success, Standig adds.

We have more on the Wizards:

  • With Wall’s super-max extension kicking in, owner Ted Leonsis wants his star point guard to take all the time necessary to make sure he’s fully ready when he starts playing again, as Leonsis expressed in an NBC Sports podcast and relayed by Chase Hughes“John understands his commitment will show from this rehab,” Leonsis said. “If it takes the whole season, we don’t care. We are not putting pressure on you on a time. Make sure that you are rehabilitating in the right way so that when you do come back, you don’t have that little voice in your head [saying], ‘Did I do everything the right way to be able to come back and be a great, great player?'”
  • North Carolina shooting guard Coby White and Kentucky small forward Keldon Johnson are among the prospects the Wizards are bringing in for workouts, Hughes reports in post written by NBC Sports Washington’s Josh Luckenbaugh. White is currently ranked No. 8 overall by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and the Wizards have the ninth pick. Johnson is ranked at No. 19. The Wizards will also soon bring in Georgetown’s Trey Mourning, Duke’s Marques Bolden and Temple’s Shizz Alston Jr.
  • Unless the franchise promotes interim president Tommy Sheppard and ends its long search for a new front office leader to replace Ernie Grunfeld, it’s unknown who will determine Washington’s draft decisions this month, Hughes writes in a separate story.

Draft Decisions: Noi, Mack, German, Carvacho, Bolden

TCU forward Kouat Noi will remain in the draft, Jeff Goodman of WatchStadium.com tweets. The 6’7” Noi averaged 13.9 PPG and 4.9 RPG during his sophomore season. He has workouts upcoming with the Bucks, Kings and Clippers, Goodman adds. Teammate Desmond Bane will return to school, Goodman adds (Twitter link).

We have more draft news.

  • Alabama swingman Tevin Mack has decided to withdraw from the draft, Goodman reports in another tweet. Mack averaged 9.0 PPG in his junior season.
  • Northern Illinois guard Eugene German will return to school, Goodman adds in another tweet. The point guard averaged 20.4 PPG and 2.9 APG in his junior year.
  • Indiana University guards Devonte Green and Aljami Durham and forward Justin Smith are all expected to return to school, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
  • Colorado State’s Nico Carvacho will return to school, Rothstein reports in another tweet. The 6’11” center averaged 16.1 PPG and 12.9 RPG as a junior last season.
  • Duke center Marques Bolden will remain in the draft, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. He averaged 5.3 PPG and 4.5 RPG as a junior.

Draft Updates: Early Entrants, Zion, Culver, Little

The NCAA’s deadline for early entrants to withdraw from the 2019 draft and retain their college eligibility is May 29, so more updates on final draft decisions are beginning to trickle in.

A pair of prospects with alliterative names have opted to remain in the 2019 draft class, with Vanderbilt freshman forward Simisola Shittu announcing (via Twitter) that he’ll forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility, while Jon Rothstein of SI.com reports (via Twitter) that Tulane junior forward Samir Sehic will also keep his name in the draft.

Markell Johnson, a junior guard out of North Carolina State, will go in the other direction. Johnson announced today (via Twitter) that after gathering feedback on his stock, he has elected to withdraw his name from the 2019 draft pool and return to N.C. State for his senior season.

Here are a few more draft-related updates:

  • A source tells Sean Deveney of Sporting News that Zion Williamson and his family are nearing a decision on his agent, and could decide on representation as early as next week. According to Deveney, the future No. 1 pick had originally intended to be repped by his advisor – and former NBA agent – Chubby Wells, but a plan to have Wells recertify as an NBA agent fell through.
  • Within that same article, Deveney examines Jarrett Culver‘s draft stock, citing sources around the league who say that the Texas Tech swingman won’t drop further than No. 7. UNC’s Nassir Little has also moved up several teams’ draft boards, per Deveney.
  • UCF center Tacko Fall was among the players to work out for the Kings on Thursday, per a team release. Sacramento also took a closer look at Myles Powell (Seton Hall), Amir Hinton (Shaw), Jalen Hudson (Florida), Nick Weiler-Babb (Iowa State), and Marques Bolden (Duke).
  • Purdue Fort Wayne guard John Konchar has worked out for the Celtics, Hawks, Clippers, and Nets so far during the pre-draft process, tweets Jordan Schultz of ESPN. A workout with Toronto for Konchar was also previously reported.

Draft Notes: Brazdeikis, Pistons, Pacers, Dort, Wooten

University of Michigan freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis is strongly leaning toward staying the draft, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com tweets. “Definitely leaning toward staying in,” he said while working out for the Pistons on Monday. Brazdeikis’ representatives have told him he’ll go anywhere from No. 20-40 in the draft, Rod Beard of the Detroit News tweets. ESPN draft expert Jonathan Givony currently pegs the power forward at No. 46 overall.

We have more developments regarding draft prospects:

Latest On Early Entrants List For 2019 NBA Draft

The deadline for early entrants to declare for the 2019 NBA draft fell on Sunday night, with plenty of NCAA underclassmen and international prospects entering their names into the draft before that deadline.

News continues to trickle in on players making draft decisions, and it will just be a matter of time before the NBA issues an official list of the players who declared for the 2019 NBA draft as early entrants. Once that group is set, the next key deadline to watch will be May 29 — that’s the last day for NCAA players to withdraw from draft consideration while retaining their college eligibility.

Here are many of the early entrants who have declared for the draft within the past couple days (our full list can be found here):

NCAA early entrants:

International early entrants: