Marquis Teague

Draft Rumors: Wednesday

With draft night fast approaching, our Tuesday draft rumors post seemed to go on forever, and we're expecting things to be just as busy today. Earlier this morning, we published our second and final mock draft, but given the amount of trade chatter around the league, it wouldn't be surprising if some of our predictions were rendered moot within a matter of hours. We'll follow today's draft-related news and rumors right here, with the latest updates added to the top of the page throughout the day….

  • ESPN's Andy Katz tweets that Dion Waiters could now be a possibility for the Cavaliers at the 4th pick.  If Waiters lands in the top 5, his draft stock will have shot up boards over the past few months in historical fashion.

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Draft Updates: Saturday

We've already covered a few draft rumors today, and Zach Links went in-depth on West Virginia power forward Kevin Jones in our latest Prospect Profile. There's plenty more going on as the draft approaches, including news from John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer that the Sixers put point guard Marquis Teague through an "exhaustive" individual workout this morning. Bookmark this post for the rest of the day's draft news, with latest on top.

  • Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star has an article on the Pacers' scouting staff as they prepare to pick 26th overall in Thursday's draft.
  • Kurt Helin of NBC Sports looks at several players with the potential to become the second-best talents in the draft.
  • Marcus Thompson of the San Jose Mercury News suggests Meyers Leonard as a possible fit for the Warriors.
  • The Lakers are in talks to acquire a first-round pick, and could be after the Heat's selection at No. 27, Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio tweets.
  • Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer offers his thoughts on the implications of a rumored swap of the second and fourth picks by the Bobcats and Cavs
  • Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group thinks the Warriors could trade down from No. 7 and still get the player they want, unless it's Damian Lillard or Dion Waiters. He also believes the team will give serious consideration to Andre Drummond (Twitter links).
  • We have the latest from Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com in a separate post.

Earlier updates:

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Draft Updates: Tuesday

In case you missed it yesterday, we published our first 2012 mock draft. Be sure to check out our projected first round and jump into the comments section to tell us which choices you like or dislike. In the meantime, we'll continue tracking the latest draft news and rumors. Tuesday's updates can be found right here, with the newest items added up top throughout the day….

  • John Reid of The Times Picayune writes that the Hornets will likely keep their 10th pick. GM Dell Demps says that he hasn't received any offers warranting any serious consideration to trade the pick and believes that they can come away with a good player at that slot.
  • Jared Sullinger will work out for the Cavaliers on Friday, writes Bob Finnan of The News-HeraldFab Melo is also scheduled for a workout this week and could join Sullinger.

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Draft Updates: Friday

Yesterday's roundup of draft links included a ton of updates on workouts and speculation on where certain players may land. We expect more of the same today, so we'll track today's draft notes right here, adding new items to the top of the list throughout the day….

  • Anthony Davis has decided to hire Wasserman Media Group to represent him, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The former Kentucky star will work out for the Hornets on Tuesday, tweets Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com.
  • The Jazz will host six players on Saturday for a pre-draft workout, according to a team press release. The participants will include Kim English, Jorge Gutierrez, Noah Hartsock, Robbie Hummel, Toure' Murry and Malik Wayns

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Odds & Ends: Trades, Sullinger, Lou Williams, Beal

Jason Fleming of HoopsWorld provides a primer on how the trade market works as of right now through the end of June, asserting that teams currently out of the playoffs can make trades. He also covers a list of players who can't be traded, distinguishes teams that can absorb contracts in exchange for picks as well as those that have Traded Player's Exceptions, and adds that players with partially guaranteed contracts can still be dealt.  Either Boston or Miami will join the 27 other teams on the trade eligibility list tonight, and while we wait for tip off, here's more from around the league…

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Prospect Profile: Marquis Teague

While the 2012 draft class is widely recognized as deep and talent-rich, teams aren't quite as enthused about this year's crop of point guards.  You can expect a good deal of movement and surprises between now and June 28th, but Damian Lillard and Kendall Marshall figure to be the first two point guards taken, unless Marshall's elbow injury is more serious than he is letting on.  After those two, teams will look to the other available floor generals such as Kentucky's Marquis Teague

The freshman had an up-and-down season as the Wildcats' starting one-guard and at times looked to be more than reckless with the basketball.  However, he managed to shine on a team loaded with star power in March as he held things together and scored when given the opportunity.  Teague was asked to be a distributor first and a scorer second in John Calipari's offense this season but showed that he could fill a stat sheet with the best of them in performances like his game against Iowa State where he had 24 points off of 10-of-14 shooting.

While it's an imperfect comparison stylistically, Teague has a knack for pushing the ball forward and weaving between defenders similar to Knicks guard Jeremy Lin.  It's a skill that serves Teague well in transition but most agree that the youngster doesn't thrive in the halfcourt set.  Any team that drafts Teague will have to have the patience to groom him into more effective ballhandler in slow offensive sets.

His inconsistency as a frosh at Kentucky raised a  few questions about his NBA potential but the promise he showed as a high school prospect has left many scouts drooling over his upside.  Teague didn't put up major points (10.0 PPG) in large part because he wasn't charged with scoring, but the guard put up 22.7 PPG in his senior year of high school.  It was that offensive ability and tenacity that led Rivals to rank the Indiana native as the fifth-best talent in the 2011 class.  ESPN's Chad Ford has Teague as the fourth-best point guard in the draft while DraftExpress has him at third, but virtually all evaluators agree that he must improve on his shooting ability and decision making in order to succeed at the next level.  It remains to be seen whether Teague will go ahead of Washington's Tony Wroten Jr., but you can expect to see him land somewhere between the late teens and mid-20s.

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Poll: Which UK Prospect Will Be The Best Pro?

On Tuesday, NCAA champion University of Kentucky's full starting five declared for the 2012 NBA draft. Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, and Marquis Teague will all be going pro, with Davis expected to be the first pick overall. Which of these highly-touted prospects do you think will have the best NBA career?

 

Five Kentucky Players Enter NBA Draft

Five players from the NCAA Champion Kentucky Wildcats declared for the 2012 NBA Draft in a press conference on Tuesday (Associated Press link via ESPN.com). As expected, Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones, Marquis Teague, and Doron Lamb, the entire Kentucky starting five, will all turn pro.

Davis, the winner of the 2012 Naismith College Player of the Year award, is the overwhelming favorite to go first overall in June's draft, with Kidd-Gilchrist and Jones also expected to be lottery picks. HoopsRumors writers have previously covered Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist in our Prospect Profile series.

Kentucky Players To Announce Decisions Tuesday

TUESDAY, 9:41am: The press conference for the five Kentucky underclassmen has been delayed until Tuesday evening at 7:00pm local time due to travel issues and class schedules, tweets Kyle Tucker of the Courier-Journal.

MONDAY, 4:09pm: Five Kentucky underclassmen expected to declare for the NBA draft will announce their decisions at a Tuesday afternoon press conference, according to Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com. Barring a surprise, Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones, Marquis Teague, and Doron Lamb will all officially declare for the NBA draft.

Earlier today, it was reported that Davis, Teague, and Jones will be entering the draft pool, though Kidd-Gilchrist's and Lamb's final decisions were still unknown. The five underclassmen made up most of the core of a Wildcats team that won the 2012 NCAA national championship.

Davis, a freshman, will likely be picked first overall, while Kidd-Gilchrist (freshman) and Jones (sophomore) are also expected to be lottery picks. Teague (freshman) is also a likely first-rounder, while Lamb (sophomore) could crack the first round as well.

Hoops Rumors' full list of early entrants for this June's draft can be found here.

Anthony Davis, Marquis Teague To Enter Draft

Kentucky's Anthony Davis and Marquis Teague will join teammate Terrence Jones in entering this year's NBA draft, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (via Twitter). Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Doron Lamb are also expected to forgo their remaining college years, though nothing is official yet.

Davis is, of course, a near-lock to be the first overall pick in June. The AP Player of the Year averaged 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 4.7 blocks per game during his first and only season at Kentucky. While Davis is considered the number one prospect by both DraftExpress and ESPN.com, his teammate Teague is ranked 18th and 25th respectively. Both freshmen helped lead the Wildcats to a national championship.

Earlier today, it was reported that Jones would enter the draft, with an official announcement coming as early as tomorrow. Players have until April 29th to formally declare their intent to enter the draft pool. Hoops Rumors' full list of early entrants can be found here.