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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).

Pacific Notes: Curry, Clippers, Draft

June 2nd, 2015 at 9:41pm CST by Eddie Scarito

While Stephen Curry won’t be worrying about how he will afford to put food on his table anytime soon, his contract with the Warriors is one of the biggest values in the NBA, and the MVP can be considered one of the most underpaid athletes in all of professional sports, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. There were a total of 50 NBA players who earned more than the $10,629,213 that Curry did last season, including 11 point guards, Kennedy notes. On his way to winning the MVP award the 27-year-old appeared in 80 contests, averaging 23.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 7.7 assists in 32.7 minutes per game.

Here’s more out of the Pacific Division:

The Clippers need to make changes to their existing roster but won’t be able to add any big ticket free agents this offseason thanks to their difficult salary cap situation. Arash Markazi and Ben Alamar of ESPN.com run down some hypothetical blockbuster trades that Los Angeles could potentially make if it wished to shake up its roster this summer.
University of Illinois shooting guard Rayvonte Rice has a workout scheduled with the Suns, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
The Lakers held workouts today for Alan Williams (UC Santa Barbara), Norman Powell (UCLA), Cliff Alexander (Kansas), Mitch McCarron (Metropolitan State College), Byron Wesley (Gonzaga), Matt Stainbrook (Xavier), and Josh Smith (Georgetown), the team announced (on Twitter).
Kings forward Carl Landry underwent surgery today to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist, the team announced. Landry will begin rehabilitation immediately and is expected to be out of action for approximately four to five months.

Central Notes: Hoiberg, Pacers, Draft

May 15th, 2015 at 7:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The frontrunner to replace Tom Thibodeau if he is let go by the Bulls as expected, is reportedly Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg. This interest in Hoiberg isn’t a recent development, since according to league sources the team had already spoken with Hoiberg about his potential interest in coming to Chicago earlier this season, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays. It’s unclear if Hoiberg’s health concerns would prevent him from accepting the position if offered, but he certainly hopes to join the pro coaching ranks at some point. “He has always said from day one that his lifelong goal has been to coach in the NBA,” Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said of Holberg. “It’s for him to decide when that part of his life he wants to activate. Now it’s just strictly a decision for him and their family personally, not what he wants to do because he’s made that clear. [The NBA is] what he wants to do. It’s a matter of when he wants to do it.”

Here’s what else is happening around the Central Division:

The Pacers interviewed a number of former Kentucky players at the draft combine, Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star tweets. Indiana sat down with Willie Cauley-Stein, Dakari Johnson, Trey Lyles, and Devin Booker, Buckner notes.
Cauley-Stein said that Pacers president Larry Bird told him, “I think you’re a $100MM player,” Buckner relays (Twitter links). Booker wasn’t given a dollar value by the team, but did note that there was a “great vibe” during his interview, Buckner adds.
The Pacers will hold their first pre-draft workout this Monday, and in attendance will be Cameron Payne, Olivier Hanlan, Jerian Grant, Rakeem Christmas, Richaun Holmes, and Joseph Young, Buckner tweets.
Lastly from Buckner (via Twitter), the Pacers will be one of the teams attending a private workout in Los Angeles next Friday for forward Kevon Looney and guard Norman Powell.
Looney met with the Pistons while at the draft combine, Keith Langlois of NBA.com reports (Twitter links). Also meeting with Detroit was Booker, who believes his outside shooting would be the perfect complement to Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson, who is set to become a restricted free agent this offseason, Langlois adds.

Draft Notes: Combine, Montero, Osman

May 9th, 2015 at 3:50pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Turkish swingman Cedi Osman indicated that he is most likely two years away from joining the NBA, and that he wishes to gain more experience by continuing to play overseas, Mertkan Üçüncüoğlu of TalkBasket.net relays. “I’m moving in line with my targets,” Osman said. “Hopefully I’ll be selected from a very good place. If I don’t get selected the first round this is not a problem for me. Because I’ll stay here for two more years. I want to go to the NBA in a ready way . That’s what matters. I’ve always dreamed of playing in the NBA.” The 20-year-old is ranked by Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) as the No. 34 overall prospect and he occupies the No. 44 slot on Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress‘ top 100 players in the 2015 NBA draft.

Here’s more draft related items:

Bowling Green product Richaun Holmes will participate in the NBA Draft combine in Chicago, according to Hoops Rumors’ Zach Links (via Twitter). Zach spoke with Holmes late last month to kick off the Hoops Rumors Draft Prospect Q&A series.
Westchester Community College swingman Luis David Montero has qualified to enter the 2015 NBA draft, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports tweets. The NBA league office relayed that Montero’s early entry letter was received prior to the declaration deadline, Spears notes. The 6’7″ Dominican isn’t currently projected to be selected come June.
With the NBA Draft combine set to begin next week, Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders runs down six potential sleeper picks who will be participating in Chicago. According to Koutroupis, these players are Larry Nance Jr. (Wyoming), Norman Powell (UCLA), Keifer Sykes (Wisconsin-Green Bay), Chris Walker (Florida), and Joseph Young (Oregon).
Utah point guard Delon Wright would be a solid draft selection this June for a contending team looking for a role-player who could contribute almost immediately, Ford, Kevin Pelton, and Fran Fraschilla of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) write in their profile of the 23-year-old. Wright is the No. 26 ranked prospect according to both ESPN.com and DraftExpress.