Ray McCallum

Draft Notes: Blazers, Muhammad, McCollum

Here's a look at the latest draft news as we close in on June 27th..

  • The Trail Blazers took a gamble on a mid-major guard last season when they drafted Damian Lillard and Joe Freeman of The Oregonian wonders if they might do the same in 2013 with Lehigh's C.J. McCollum.  Portland, who owns the No. 10 pick, worked McCollum out earlier today.
  • On paper, Shabazz Muhammad is just the type of player that the Kings need, but the outside issues could dissuade them from taking him at No. 7, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
  • Today's Suns draft workout featured North Texas small forward Tony Mitchell, Duke center Mason Plumlee, Murray State point guard Isaiah Canaan, USC center DeWayne Dedmon, Delaware power forward Jamelle Hagins, and Temple shooting guard Khalif Wyatttweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.  
  • The Nets released the workout lineup for their workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Jeff Withey of Kansas, Ray McCallum of Detroit, and Vincent Council of Providence are among the players who will audition in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Odds & Ends: Hollins, Nets, Allen, Raptors, Pacers

Game One of the NBA Finals will be ending about 24 hours from now, and while the Spurs will provide more evidence for the rest-versus-rust debate, many expect them to find their rhythm before long. The majority of Hoops Rumors readers who voted in today's poll say San Antonio will beat the Heat. While we wait to see if they're right, here's more from around the NBA:

  • The Grizzlies rebuffed the Nets when they asked for permission to interview Lionel Hollins the day after the Western Conference Finals ended, but Memphis would likely grant that permission now if Brooklyn inquired again, TNT's David Aldridge hears (Twitter link).
  • Ray Allen feels his return to the Finals with the Heat provides a measure of vindication for his decision to sign with Miami last summer, observes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
  • Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun looks at what Tim Leiweke and Masai Ujiri have done and said since arriving in town and concludes that the Raptors will soon be rebuilding.
  • Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star, writing for USA Today, details five key questions the Pacers must answer this summer.
  • The shakeup continues for the Kings, as Jerry Reynolds will step down as the team's director of player development, he tells Chris Riva of KCRA-TV.
  • The Knicks worked out Deshaun Thomas today and will get another look at him Friday, reports Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link), who also notes that Cody Zeller will work out Thursday for the Suns. Thomas will also work out later this month for the Timberwolves, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, apparently clearing up earlier confusion involving Adonis Thomas.
  • The Sixers auditioned Steven Adams, Colton Iverson, Alex Oriakhi, Mouhammadou Jaiteh and Jamelle Hagins today, tweets Jake L. Fischer of SLAM Online.
  • Ray McCallum, who will work out sometime this month for the Pistons, has also worked out with the Spurs, Rockets and Pacers, notes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.

Draft Updates: Tuesday

ESPN.com's Chad Ford has released version 4.0 of his 2013 mock draft (Insider-only link), and as usual, the piece is chock-full of rumors and rumblings he's heard from GMs, scouts, and other league sources. Let's dive in and round up some of the highlights from Ford's latest….

  • Nerlens Noel remains the default pick at No. 1, but the Cavaliers still haven't made a decision. Otto Porter and Alex Len would be the best bets to supplant Noel.
  • The Magic's decision at No. 2 is still extremely wide open, with nine players still under consideration, according to Ford.
  • If Porter and Anthony Bennett are still on the board at No. 3 for Washington, it will be a tough decision, since the Wizards' front office is split over which player it likes better.
  • The Pelicans will consider point guards with the sixth overall pick, but the team hasn't given up on Austin Rivers as its point guard of the future, so it may go in a different direction.
  • Ford is "hearing with increasing frequency" that the Pistons could target a point guard with the No. 8 pick.
  • Dario Saric appears to be a lottery pick, with Ford identifying the Blazers at 10 and the Sixers at 11 as real possibilities for the Croatian prospect, who is a "hot name" right now.
  • Shane Larkin's workout in Milwaukee was a "wow" for the Bucks, according to Ford, who has the point guard going at No. 15 to Milwaukee.

In addition to Ford's latest mock, there are plenty of other draft updates to pass along this afternoon. Here are a few of them:

  • Speaking to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times, Dennis Schroeder and his agent downplayed reports that he has received a first-round guarantee from an unknown team, perhaps the Celtics. "I don’t know where that came from," agent Alex Saratsis said. "I don’t know anything about that."
  • The Knicks' workout on Wednesday will feature the following prospects, according to Al Iannazzone of Newsday (via Twitter): Isaiah Canaan, Brandon Triche, Deshaun Thomas, Murphy Holloway, A.J. Matthews, and Norvel Pelle.
  • The Pistons will bring in Ray McCallum for a workout, tweets Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
  • After recently working out for the Jazz, Cody Zeller will work out for the Suns next, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. Amico adds in another tweet that Mark Lyons, who averaged 24.3 PPG in three NCAA tournament contests in March, is working out for the Nuggets.
  • Ricky Ledo has already worked out for six teams, including the Nuggets, Bulls, Rockets, and Spurs (link via NBA.com).
  • Ledo will work out for his seventh team on Wednesday, when the Grizzlies hold a session that will also include Jud Dillard, Carrick Felix, Solomon Hill, Angelo Sharpless, and Tony Snell, according to a team release.

Odds & Ends: Timberwolves, Handy, Agent News

A few random notes from around the league.

  • The Cavaliers have received permission to speak with Lakers development coach Phil Handy, who was previously a member of Mike Brown's coaching staff, tweets Yahoo! Sports reporter Marc J. Spears. 
  • Now that he's President of the Timberwolves Basketball Operations, Flip Saunders is beginning to make some changes, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune's Jerry Zgoda. He started by firing four scouts whose contracts were set to expire this summer.
  • According to a tweet from Draft Express writer Jonathan Givony, NBA hopefuls Kelly Olynyk, Ray McCallum, Arsalan Kazemi, Alex Oriakhi, Dexter Strickland, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have all signed with the Wasserman Media Group for representation.

Ray McCallum To Enter Draft

University of Detroit point guard Ray McCallum will enter the NBA draft, tweets Aran Smith of NBADraft.net. The junior is ranked 40th on Chad Ford's ESPN.com list of the top 100 prospects, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him at No. 57.

McCallum displayed an all-around game in three seasons with the Titans, and averaged 18.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game this year. The Michigan native led Detroit to a 20-13 record and a berth in the NIT, but he struggled in his team's final two games, going 5-for-20 from the floor and totaling 21 points in 77 minutes over a pair of losses to Wright State and Arizona State.

Underclassmen like McCallum face an 11:00pm Central time deadline tonight to declare for the draft. Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv had McCallum on a list of four key undecided prospects, along a trio of power forwards: Isaiah Austin of Baylor, Adreian Payne of Michigan State and Andre Roberson of Colorado. We'll update our full list of early entrants throughout the day as players reach their decisions.