Michael Frazier Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Rumors: Hanlan, Grizzlies, Cook

June 8th, 2015 at 6:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Rockets have worked out Boston College’s Olivier Hanlan, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The 6’4” combo guard worked out for the Lakers on Monday and also worked out this month for the Timberwolves, Suns and Celtics. He is ranked No. 41 on ESPN Insider Chad Ford’s list of Top 100 prospects while DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony currently pegs him at No. 53. Houston holds the No. 18 overall pick (from the Pelicans) in the first round and No. 32 (from the Knicks) early in the second, so Hanlan needed to make quite an impression for the Rockets to consider drafting him.

In other news around the Southwest Division:

Hanlan will also participate in the Grizzlies’ fourth pre-draft workout on Tuesday, according to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. He’ll be joined by Utah point guard Delon Wright, Syracuse power forward Rakeem Christmas, LSU forward Jarell Martin, Florida guard Michael Frazier and BYU guard Tyler Haws. The Grizzlies own the No. 25 overall pick in the first round and Wright (No 26 on Ford’s board, No. 28 on Givony’s board) and Martin (31, 27) are the highest-rated prospects. Wright has already worked out for the Trail Blazers, Pacers, Bulls, Wizards, Lakers and Suns while Haws has recently auditioned for the Jazz, Mavericks, Suns and Lakers, according to Brandon Judd of the Deseret News. Haws is also scheduled to work out for the Warriors and Nets, Judd adds.
Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv adds the Mavs to the list of teams working out Duke point guard Quinn Cook (Twitter link). Cook revealed several workout appointments and much more in a recent interview with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors.

And-Ones: Nets, Rondo, Draft

June 7th, 2015 at 10:31pm CST by Will Joseph

There is no truth to the report that the Nets are among the teams interested in trading for Euroleague MVP Nemanja Bjelica, tweets NetsDaily’s Robert Windrem, who cites league sources. The Wolves acquired the rights to Bjelica on draft night in 2010 after the Wizards made him the 35th overall pick. He has a contract with Turkey’s Fenerbahce Ulker that runs out after next season, but an opt-out clause would allow him to join the NBA this summer. Earlier today, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities listed (in a tweet) the Mavericks, Spurs, Heat, Nets and Bulls as teams that would be interested in Bjelica, if he were made available.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe labels the Kings as a darkhorse team to land Rajon Rondo in free agency this summer, citing Sacramento’s need for a premiere point guard in a pivotal year for the franchise. Rondo spurned Sacramento the last time he was a free agent, as Washburn points out. However, Washburn adds, Rondo is close friends with Kings forward Rudy Gay, and that could make it a more desirable location this time around.
Wolves coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders confirmed on SI.com’s Chris Mannix’s radio show that Kevin Garnett will be part of the draft process and will meet with in person and/or talk on the phone with players, Wolfson relays in a tweet.
Former Arizona swingman Stanley Johnson believes that the Thunder are enamored with his versatility and added the team has scouted him since high school, Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman writes. “I think they think I’m the best two-way player in the draft,” Johnson said. “And that’s appealing to them, as it is to most people. They really like me.”
Former Murray State point guard Cameron Payne will work out for the Knicks and Lakers, who both own top five picks in the draft, tweets Yahoo! Sports’ Marc J. Spears, who cites a source.
Darion Atkins, Wayne Blackshear, Marcus Burton, Michael Frazier, Terry Rozier and Matt Stainbrook all worked out for the Hornets, according to the team’s official website.

Northwest Notes: Singler, Jazz, Portis

June 3rd, 2015 at 6:41pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kyle Singler became a fan of new Thunder coach Billy Donovan after the two met face-to-face shortly after the team announced the coach’s hiring, Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com writes. “It was quick. It was engaging,” Singler said. “I didn’t really know too much about him so I was walking into it not really expecting much. I didn’t know what was going to be talked about. Really liked the things he had to say, liked his demeanor. He didn’t really get into much talking about [my role]. He just wanted to know what my opinions were with the team last year, what I thought would help the team out next season, stuff like that, style-wise.” The 27-year-old is set to become a restricted free agent this summer, provided OKC tenders him a qualifying offer worth $2,725,003.

Here’s the latest from the Northwest Division:

The Jazz have workouts scheduled Thursday for Pat Connaughton (Notre Dame), Malcolm Miller (Holy Cross), Bobby Portis (Arkansas), Kevon Looney (UCLA), and Deonta Stocks (West Georgia), the team announced (on Twitter).
Minnesota senior guard Andre Hollins will also work out for the Jazz on Thursday, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets.
The Trail Blazers have expressed interest in Portis, though the forward is expected to be off the board prior to the team selecting at pick No. 23, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com tweets.
Working out for the Timberwolves on Thursday will be J.P. Tokoto (North Carolina), Terry Rozier (Louisville), Norman Powell (UCLA), Olivier Hanlan (Boston College), Jabril Trawick (Georgetown), and Michael Frazier (Florida), Wolfson relays (Twitter link).

Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Mavs, Grizzlies

June 2nd, 2015 at 1:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans and Celtics assistant coach Darren Erman have an agreement in principle for Erman to join Alvin Gentry‘s coaching staff in New Orleans, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported overnight that the Pelicans were aggressively pursuing Erman, a detail-oriented defensive whiz who complements Gentry’s offensive acumen. The Raptors also recently made a run at Erman, sources told Wojnarowski. New Orleans is poised to hire Thunder assistant coach Robert Pack for Gentry’s staff, too, as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times hears (Twitter link). However, Wojnarowski, whose story appeared later, writes that the Pelicans and Pack are in talks but makes no mention of a deal. Regardless, new Thunder head coach Billy Donovan is unlikely to keep Pack on his staff, Wojnarowski adds. Here’s more from around the Southwest Division:

San Diego State small forward Dwayne Polee worked out for the Mavericks late last month, as he tells Zach Links of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link). Michigan State’s Travis Trice, Stanford’s Chasson Randle, Dayton’s Jordan Sibert and Harvard point guard Wesley Saunders showed off for Dallas today, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops.
Big men highlight the Grizzlies workout scheduled for Wednesday, with Kentucky center Dakari Johnson and French center Mouhammadou Jaiteh on the docket, writes Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal in a subscription-only piece. Centers Youssou Ndoye from St. Bonaventure and Charles Jackson from Tennessee Tech, Connecticut point guard Ryan Boatright and Boise State shooting guard Derrick Marks are the others in the workout, as Tillery details.
Florida’s Michael Frazier is auditioning for the Spurs today, Scotto reports, and the team will also get a look at North Carolina’s J.P. Tokoto, according to Pincus (Twitter links).
Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders adds the Rockets to the list of teams working out N.C. State shooting guard Trevor Lacey (Twitter link).

Southeast Notes: Hawks, Heat, Draft, Magic

May 29th, 2015 at 3:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Hawks aren’t quite sure what went wrong in the conference finals, where the Cavs dismantled them in four games, but coach and acting GM Mike Budenholzer tells Grantland’s Zach Lowe that he wants continuity to be a major part of the team’s improvement. Atlanta is apparently sold on its chances to re-sign Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll, but Lowe isn’t so sure the Hawks can afford them both. “You can bet” that Atlanta’s front office would consider a sign-and-trade deal involving Millsap and fellow free agent Greg Monroe, Lowe writes, adding that rival executives get the sense that Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy is eager to climb up the standings next season. Shams Charania of RealGM reported back in December that Atlanta planned to pursue Monroe. There’s more on the Hawks amid the latest from the Southeast Division:

Lowe, in the same piece, identifies Gary Neal as a “name to watch” for the Hawks in the event the team goes under the cap and has the $2.814MM room exception to spend, though that’s likely just an educated guess. Neal, who finished up the season with the Timberwolves, used to play under Budenholzer, then a Spurs assistant coach, in San Antonio.
Small forwards Justise Winslow from Duke and Stanley Johnson from Arizona as well as former Washington center Robert Upshaw were among the players the Heat interviewed at the combine this month, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel notes. Heat personnel were also in attendance at an agent-run workout involving Johnson and Kansas small forward Kelly Oubre, while Florida big man Chris Walker and shooting guard Michael Frazier are expected to work out later for Miami, Winderman adds.
Florida Gulf Coast point guard Brett Comer worked out with the Heat earlier this week, as he told Seth Soffian of The News-Press.
The Magic reportedly expect to hire Scott Skiles, but Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel believes a relatively unappealing Magic roster and Tom Thibodeau‘s failure to get along with Bulls management make it tough to envision Thibs in Orlando even if Skiles doesn’t end up in the job.

Western Notes: Rockets, Muhammad, Lakers

May 28th, 2015 at 10:37pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Now that the Rockets have been eliminated from the playoffs the franchise will begin working toward its offseason plans. Josh Smith, Jason Terry, and Corey Brewer, all of whom are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer, have indicated that they want to return to Houston next season, Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle writes. “I like the future if we can keep all the pieces together,” Smith said. “I like what the future holds for us. You never know in free agency what may occur. The city of Houston and this team has definitely embraced me for my individuality and the way I play the game. It would be great to do something special for the city and for this team.”

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Wolves swingman Shabazz Muhammad has parted ways with agent Bill Duffy of BDA Sports Management and signed with Rob Pelinka of Landmark Sports, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports relays (Twitter link).
The Lakers held workouts earlier today for Justin Anderson, Askia Booker, Anthony Brown, Charles Jackson, Stefan Nastic, and Delon Wright, the team announced (via Twitter).
Arkansas forward Bobby Portis is scheduled to work out for the Thunder this Friday, Gary Washburn of Boston Globe tweets.
The Nuggets brought in Florida guard Michael Frazier for a workout today, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops relays (Twitter link).
Center Andrew Bogut praised the Warriors‘ front office for keeping the core of the team intact and not going for a “home run” in the NBA draft, via trades, or through free agency, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays (on Twitter).

Southwest Notes: Gasol, Calathes, Draft

May 28th, 2015 at 12:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

One comment that Marc Gasol made to Spanish media should be encouraging for the Grizzlies, while another appears to fuel Spurs hope. Gasol said that he hasn’t thought about changing teams and once more cited his deep roots in Memphis, according to Adriano Correal of Gigantes del Basket (translation via HoopsHype). Still, he called the Spurs a model franchise and expressed his admiration of Tim Duncan, as Abraham Romero of Diario As passes along (translation via Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News). The Spurs are the team the Grizzlies fear the most among Gasol’s suitors, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com recently reported. Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

Nick Calathes told Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype that his primary goal is to remain in the NBA and denied a report from Javier Maestro of Encestando.es that he wanted to leave the NBA and that his camp had offered his services to Barcelona of Spain (translation via HoopsHype). Calathes, whose contract with Memphis expires at the end of next month, is nonetheless expected to draw pursuit from several European teams, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia, who says the 26-year-old stands to make more money overseas than he would remaining in the NBA. The Grizzlies can match competing NBA bids for him if they tender a qualifying offer worth more than $1.147MM.
The Mavs on Wednesday were set to work out Florida shooting guard Michael Frazier, Villanova small forward Darrun Hilliard, Nebraska swingman Terran Petteway, Arkansas shooting guard Michael Qualls, Baylor small forward Royce O’Neale and Incarnate Word combo guard Denzel Livingston, a source told Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link).
Terrence Jones questioned whether he would ever play again after suffering a nerve injury earlier this season that knocked him out for nearly three months, so he’s not too upset that the Rockets benched him during the playoffs, as Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle examines. Jones is eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer.

Western Notes: Jordan, Draft, Nuggets

May 26th, 2015 at 9:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Mavericks don’t have a great track record of attracting top-tier free agents to Dallas, but the franchise badly needs to land Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPNDallas.com writes. Jordan represents the Mavs’ last hope to put a championship-caliber team together around Dirk Nowitzki, Taylor opines. The 26-year-old big man has expressed through back channels that he’ll be “extremely interested” in signing with the Mavs this offseason, but the Clippers have indicated that re-signing Jordan is the team’s top priority.

Here’s the latest from the NBA’s Western Conference:

The Nuggets will begin their pre-draft workouts on Wednesday, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post reports (Twitter links). The first group to display their wares for Denver will consist of J.J. Avila, Askia Booker, Derek Cooke, Alex Herrera, Stanton Kidd, and Mitch McCarron, Dempsey notes. Working out for the team on Thursday will be Daniel Bejarano, Michael Frazier II, Cam Griffin, and Brett Olson, the Denver Post Scribe relays.
Arizona guard T.J. McConnell said that he worked out for the Spurs, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
Working out for the Jazz on Wednesday will be Dallin Bachynski, Ryan Harrow, Kendall Gray, Tyler Harvey, Hugh Greenwood, and Tyler Kalinoski, the team announced.
Duke freshman point guard Tyus Jones‘ first team workout will be for the Mavericks this coming Monday, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reports (via Twitter).
The Timberwolves have workouts scheduled with Harvey and Michael Qualls for this Friday, Wolfson tweets.

Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Wolves, Batum

May 22nd, 2015 at 1:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

The centerpieces for the Nuggets appear to be Danilo Gallinari and Jusuf Nurkic, as Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post sees it, and Kiszla finds it reasonable that the team will talk this summer about trading Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried, or both. In any case, team president Josh Kroenke made it clear to Kiszla and fellow Post scribe Christopher Dempsey that he intends a strong push to find a star.

“There’s a period of transition that’s coming up, and we’re going to be aggressive … as an organization,” Kroenke said. “And continue to be aggressive until we feel we have the roster that truly can compete for something special.”

Kroenke judges by the volume of trade inquiries that he’s received from other teams, which include two calls since the season ended, that the players on Denver’s roster have plenty of value, Dempsey notes. There’s more on the Nuggets amid the latest from the Northwest Division:

The Timberwolves are tentatively planning a predraft workout with two-guards Rashad Vaughn from UNLV, J.P. Tokoto from North Carolina and Michael Frazier from Florida next month, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter links).
The prospect of a Nicolas Batum trade seemed far-fetched last summer, but now it’s a realistic possibility, as The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman writes in a roundtable piece with other Blazers beat writers. Freeman would nonetheless bet on Batum staying in Portland and having a bounceback season in 2015/16, the last on his contract.
Thunder GM Sam Presti wants to re-sign Enes Kanter and Kyle Singler, and that has to do with the team’s cap situation as much as the talent and production of the pair of soon-to-be restricted free agents, The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry posits. Let them go, and the Thunder wouldn’t have the cap flexibility to replace them, Mayberry points out.
Kroenke pointed to a lack of communication as the most unexpected shortcoming of Brian Shaw‘s tenure as Nuggets coach, as Dempsey writes in a separate piece.

Draft Notes: Towns, Mudiay, Russell

May 10th, 2015 at 10:39pm CST by Will Joseph

Projected No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns has signed with Creative Artists Agency agents Leon Rose and Richie Felder tweets CBSSports.com’s Jon Rothstein, who cites a source. Towns recently spoke about how important it was to choose the right agent. “You only get one chance at that [picking an agent],” Towns said in a piece by John Pavia of SNY.tv. “You’ve got to make sure you get it right.” Hoops Rumors’ Eddie Scarito profiled Towns, who in 39 games for the Wildcats as a freshman, averaged 10.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks in 21.1 minutes per contest.

Here’s more on the 2015 NBA draft:

Emmanuel Mudiay, a 6’5″ point guard who is the No. 3 ranked player by both Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required), is the wild card of this year’s draft, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes in a list of top storylines. Playing with the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association instead of college ball left Mudiay shrouded in relative mystery, Bonnell adds.
D’Angelo Russell‘s versatility and whether he should be labeled as a shooting guard or a point guard is another one of Bonnell’s top storylines. It may not matter, Bonnell notes, because there’s a good chance Russell excels in either role at the NBA level. Russell, who handles the ball well, produced 19.3 points per game on 45% from the field and 41% from 3-point range in his lone season with Ohio State. Russell is ranked fourth by ESPN.com and DraftExpress.
Michael Frazier, who elected to enter this year’s draft following his junior season with Florida, has some potential as a spot-up shooter and plays well defensively, and will get an opportunity this summer even if he does not get drafted, Josh Riddell of DraftExpress writes in his profile of the player. ESPN.com slots Frazier at No. 51, while DraftExpress ranks him No. 55.