Rosco Allen

Northwest Notes: Henderson, Jazz, Wolves

Earlier in his career, Gerald Henderson‘s top priority as a free agent might have been to find a team that would give him the opportunity to start. However, with his Trail Blazers contract set to expire, Henderson will prioritize contending teams this offseason, recognizing that being a starter isn’t as important to him as it once was.

“It’s great to start; starting the game is a special thing,” Henderson said, according to Cody Sharrett of Blazers.com. “To be a starter in the NBA is a cool thing, I’ve done it for a long time, but what’s really more important to me is playing significant minutes in times where a team needs you and more of your impact while you’re out on the floor – just being a part of what’s going on. You look at different teams, sometimes the best player comes off the bench, it all depends on what kind of team you have. I’d probably say three or four years ago, [starting] was much more important to me.”

Let’s check in on a few more items from out of the Northwest…

  • The Jazz are hosting six more players for pre-draft workouts today, the team announced (via Twitter). The list of participants: Josh Gray (LSU), Rosco Allen (Stanford), Tanner Plomb (West Point), Trey Lewis (Louisville), Brannen Greene (Kansas), and James Webb III (Boise State).
  • The Timberwolves worked out Kentucky’s Skal Labissiere individually on Tuesday, and also had Ryan Arcidiacono (Villanova), Tim Quarterman (LSU), Wes Washpun (Northern Iowa), Devin Thomas (Wake Forest), and Josh Scott (Colorado) in for a group workout, reports Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter links). Damion Lee (Louisville) had also been scheduled to participate, but pulled out due to an injury.
  • The Trail Blazers are hosting multiple free agent mini-camps and are saying they may end up signing multiple participants from those camps, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Russ Smith and Erick Green were among the free agents in attendance at Portland’s first veteran mini-camp.
  • As Erik Horne of The Oklahoman details, Andre Roberson enjoyed a breakout season in 2015/16, and is becoming a reliable two-way wing just in time for the opening of his contract extension window. If the Thunder don’t sign Roberson to an extension this year, he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency next summer.

Pacific Notes: Kings, Collison, Suns, Clippers

We heard last week that new Kings head coach Dave Joerger was targeting Bryan Gates as a potential assistant. Now, James Ham of CSN California hears from a source that Gates – a former Sacramento assistant who worked for Minnesota last year and the Pelicans before that – is indeed to set to come aboard Joerger’s staff. Last week’s report indicated that Joerger and the Kings were also pursuing Elston Turner, but there are no official updates yet on that front.

Here’s more from around the Pacific, including a couple more items out of Sacramento:

  • Kings point guard Darren Collison was arrested on a domestic violence charge earlier this week, but his lawyer, Bill Portanova, called it a “misunderstanding” that he’s “working to straighten out,” writes Andy Furillo of The Sacramento Bee. As Furillo observes, it makes sense to wait to see how the case plays out before predicting what it might mean for Collison or the Kings.
  • Emmanuel Malou, who was set to transfer to Iowa State before deciding to remain in the 2016 draft, recently worked out for the Kings, per The Sacramento Bee.
  • The Suns worked out a six-player group of prospects today that included Ryan Anderson (Arizona), Zach Auguste (Notre Dame), Ron Curry (James Madison), Cheick Diallo (Kansas), Lester Medford (Baylor), and Codi Miller-McIntyre (Wake Forest). Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer tweets that Diamond Stone (Maryland) is also heading to Phoenix for his next workout, while Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic tweets that Gonzaga’s Domantas Sabonis has a solo workout with the team today.
  • The Clippers‘ pre-draft workout group on Wednesday featured Daniel Hamilton (UConn), DeAndre’ Bembry (St. Joseph’s), Guerschon Yabusele (France), Cat Barber (N.C. State), Tyrone Wallace (California), and Zach Auguste (Notre Dame), according to the team.
  • In other Los Angeles workout news, Alex Poythress (Kentucky) has workouts lined up with both the Lakers and Clippers (Twitter link via Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com), Rosco Allen (Stanford) is set to work out for the Lakers tomorrow (Twitter link via Camerato), and Czech power forward Adam Pechacek will also participate in that Lakers workout on Friday (Twitter link via Orazio Cauchi of Sportando). Finally, veteran D-League forward Joel Wright is attending a Clippers mini-camp, a league source tells Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (Twitter link).

Draft Notes: Ellenson, Yusta, Stone, Whitehead

Here’s the latest news and notes from around the league regarding the upcoming 2016 NBA Draft:

  • The Sixers are holding pre-draft workouts tomorrow for Isaia Cordinier (France), Alex Caruso (Texas A&M), Daniel Hamilton (Connecticut), Brandon Austin (Northwest Florida State), Rosco Allen (Stanford) and Alex Poythress (Kentucky), the team announced via press release.
  • Former BYU point guard Kyle Collinsworth worked out for the Nets today, Jarom Jordan of BYU SportsNation tweets.
  • The Hornets have workouts scheduled on Thursday for Montay Brandon (Florida State), Retin Obasohan (Alabama), Goodluck Okonoboh (UNLV), Tim Quarterman (LSU), Adam Smith (Georgia Tech) and Diamond Stone (Maryland), the team announced.
  • The Pacers will bring in Robert Carter (Maryland), Julian Jacobs (USC), Marcus Paige (North Carolina), Gary Payton II (Oregon State), Dyshawn Pierre (Dayton), and Isaiah Whitehead (Seton Hall) on Thursday for pre-draft workouts, the team announced.
  • Former Boise State small forward James Webb III worked out for the Wolves today, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets.
  • Spanish small forward Santiago Yusta has withdrawn from the 2016 NBA Draft, Encestando.com relays (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).
  • Former Marquette big man Henry Ellenson worked out for the Wolves on Tuesday and has workouts scheduled with the Lakers, Raptors and Suns next, Wolfson tweets.

And-Ones: Carlesimo, Kings, Lee

The Sixers intend to hire former NBA head coach P.J. Carlesimo as lead assistant on Brett Brown‘s staff, David Aldridge of NBA.com relays (via Twitter). Carlesimo, 66, will replace Mike D’Antoni, who is reportedly set to become the Rockets‘ new head coach. His last post in the league was with the Nets during the 2012/13 campaign, when he took over for fired coach Avery Johnson but was let go after the team was eliminated by Chicago in the first round of the playoffs that season. Carlesimo has a career regular season record of 239-315 and a postseason mark of 6-13.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • The Kings have pre-draft workouts scheduled for May 31st with Roscoe Allen (Stanford), Bryn Forbes (Michigan State), Nikola Jovanovic (USC), Manny Malou (Yuba College), Patricio Garino (George Washington) and Majok Deng (Louisiana Monroe), the team announced.
  • The reported hiring of David Fizdale as head coach signals that the Grizzlies are looking ahead to their future rather than adding a coach who is geared more toward the current crop of players, Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal writes. The scribe also analyzes the team’s offseason ahead, noting that Memphis will likely target depth at guard in the draft and mentions Wade Baldwin, Tyler Ulis and Demetrius Jackson as potential draftees this June.
  • The Mavericks expect the positive experience that David Lee had with the organization this season will aid it in recruiting free agents this offseason, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com writes. “You know, we acquired David Lee two months ago. I don’t remember the exact date, but when you acquire a player like that that’s been a two-time All-Star and has been in some successful organizations, you know, you want him to have a great experience,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He did, and he helped us get to the playoffs. We wouldn’t have got to the playoffs without David Lee, and the word spreads. You know, veterans like him know other veterans, and the word gets out that Dallas is a high-level organization. And we take great pride in that.

Jaron Blossomgame Withdraws From Draft

Clemson forward Jaron Blossomgame has decided to withdraw from the 2016 NBA draft, sources tell Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). The decision comes in advance of tonight’s deadline for NCAA underclassmen to remove their names from the draft and retain their college eligibility.

Blossomgame, who will return to Clemson for his senior season, had a strong junior year with the Tigers, averaging 18.7 points per game to go along with 6.6 boards per contest. He ranked 38th overall on Chad Ford’s list of 2016’s top 100 prospects, and placed just outside the top 50 on Jonathan Givony’s list at DraftExpress, at No. 51.

Before deciding that he would return to Clemson for another year, Blossomgame worked out for the Suns, Sixers, Clippers, Jazz, and Grizzlies, so he likely received a good deal of feedback from teams about his draft prospects.

Here are a few more updates on this year’s underclassmen draft decisions:

  • USC big man Nikola Jovanovic will remain in the 2016 NBA draft, reports Rothstein (via Twitter). Jovanovic, a junior in 2015/16, will forgo his final year of college eligibility.
  • Stanford’s Rosco Allen will keep his name in the 2016 NBA draft, sources tell Rothstein (Twitter link). Although Allen is technically coming off his senior year, he had one more year of college eligibility remaining, which he’ll forgo.
  • ESPN’s Jeff Goodman previously reported that Malik Newman‘s father, Horatio Webster, told him Newman would withdraw his name from the draft and return to college. However, Goodman follows up with another comment from Webster, who says, “We haven’t made a decision yet. Right now he’s still enrolled at Mississippi State” (Twitter link).