Skylar Mays Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Notes: Edwards, Ball, Sleepers, Gach, Oturu, Scrubb

June 29th, 2020 at 9:40am CST by Luke Adams

Rich Paul‘s Klutch Sports Group published a tweet on Sunday night welcoming former Georgia guard Anthony Edwards – a candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft – to the agency.

The news came about three months after a report indicated that Edwards had signed with Octagon Sports for his representation. However, Edwards’ move to Klutch is understandable — his agent at Octagon, Omar Wilkes, was recently hired as the new head of basketball at Klutch under Paul, the company’s CEO. Edwards is the second notable Wilkes client to follow him to his new firm — Trae Young is doing so as well.

Here’s more on the 2020 NBA draft:

LaMelo Ball has moved to the top of a number of experts’ draft boards, but Ethan Strauss isn’t sold on the young guard as a No. 1 pick, explaining his thinking in a piece for The Athletic.
ESPN draft experts Jonathan Givony, Mike Schmitz, and Kevin Pelton (Insider link) identify nine potential sleepers in the 2020 draft class, including Kansas center Udoka Azubuike, Michigan State big man Xavier Tillman, and LSU guard Skylar Mays.
In a separate Insider-only story, ESPN’s Givony and Schmitz spoke to a handful of prospects about how they’re handling this year’s unusual pre-draft process. “It benefits the players who have a proven résumé,” said TCU’s Desmond Bane, who appeared in 141 college games over four seasons. “There may not be workouts or a combine so teams have to go off of film and interviews.”
Utah guard Both Gach will officially withdraw his name from the 2020 draft soon, while Minnesota big man Daniel Oturu plans to start interviewing with NBA teams this week, writes Marcus Fuller of The Star Tribune.
Jay Scrubb, who has opted to go pro this year instead of playing at Louisville, has had Zoom interviews with 22 NBA teams so far, including the Knicks and Nets, agent Corey Marcum tells Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com.

Draft Notes: Alexander, Hightower, UCF, Hampton, More

April 22nd, 2020 at 9:54am CST by Luke Adams

Creighton junior guard Ty-Shon Alexander has announced on Instagram that he’ll enter the 2020 NBA draft and go pro, hiring an agent and forgoing his final year of college eligibility. A report earlier this month suggested that would likely be the path Alexander chose.

Alexander had a strong 2019/20 season with the Bluejays, averaging 16.9 PPG and 5.0 RPG with an impressive .399 3PT%. However, he ranks just 79th on the big board at NBADraft.net and doesn’t appear at all on ESPN’s list of 2020’s top 100 prospects, seemingly making him a long shot to be drafted.

Here’s more on the 2020 draft:

Tulane junior guard TeShaun Hightower, UCF junior big man Collin Smith, and UCF freshman guard Darin Green Jr. are all expected to declare for the 2020 draft, reports Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter links). Green announced his decision on Instagram a few days ago. All three players will likely test the waters while maintaining their college eligibility.
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic shares a few of the latest draft rumblings he’s hearing, writing that NBA teams haven’t been overly impressed by the film on RJ Hampton from his time in Australia’s National Basketball League. Conversely, according to Vecenie, Alabama guard Kira Lewis‘ stock is on the rise and many evaluators view Vanderbilt’s Aaron Nesmith as the second-best wing in the 2020 class.
Ethan Strauss of The Athletic took a stab at identifying some potential sleepers among this year’s senior prospects, singling out LSU guard Skylar Mays, TCU guard Desmond Bane, and a handful of others.

Draft Notes: Russell, Williams, Vassell, Mays

March 27th, 2020 at 9:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rhode Island guard Fatts Russell has declared for the draft but will maintain his college eligibility throughout the process, he wrote on an Instagram post. The junior averaged 18.8 PPG, 4.6 APG and 2.9 SPG this season. The 5’10” Russell averaged 14.2 PPG last season.

We have more draft news:

Cincinnati’s Keith Williams announced his intention to enter the draft and hire an agent on his Twitter feed. The 6’5” Williams averaged 12.6 PPG and shot 34.2% from long range as a junior this season. Williams has started two seasons for the Bearcats after being a rotation reserve as a freshman.
Oregon guard Payton Pritchard, Florida State guard Devin Vassell, Utah State guard Sam Merrill, Penn State forward Lamar Stevens and LSU guard Skylar Mays are five players who could make a surprising impact in the NBA, Jon Rothstein declares in a Yahoo Sports video post. Vassell, currently ranked No. 19 on ESPN’s Best Available list, is the only prospect among that group considered a likely first-rounder.
Potential lottery selection Killian Hayes has declared for the draft. Get the details here.

Draft Decisions: DeLaurier, Waters, Elleby, Others

May 28th, 2019 at 8:35am CST by Luke Adams

As we relayed on Monday evening, Duke is losing one key member of its 2019/20 squad, with center Marques Bolden opting to keep his name in the 2019 NBA draft pool and go pro. However, the Blue Devils did get some good news on the draft front.

According to Jeff Goodman of Stadium (via Twitter), junior big man Javin DeLaurier has opted to withdraw from the 2019 draft and return to school for his senior year.

DeLaurier hasn’t played a huge role for Duke in his first three seasons, but with Bolden out of the picture, he could play more significant minutes in ’19/20. In 38 games (16 starts) last season, DeLaurier posted 3.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 1.3 BPG with a .747 FG% in 16.3 minutes per contest. He had a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks) in Duke’s Elite 8 loss to Michigan State.

Here are more of the latest draft decisions made by this year’s early entrants in advance of Wednesday’s deadline:

Shaw junior guard Amir Hinton and LSU sophomore guard Tremont Waters are keeping their names in the 2019 draft pool, agent Kim Grillier tells Goodman (Twitter link).
A pair of Waters’ teammates, junior guards Marlon Taylor and Skylar Mays, will return to LSU for the 2019/20 season after testing the draft waters, a source tells Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
Kevon Harris, a junior guard out of Stephen F. Austin, is pulling out of the draft and retaining his college eligibility, reports Rothstein (via Twitter).
After testing the draft waters, Washington State forward CJ Elleby has elected to return to school for his sophomore season, tweets Rothstein.
We can also remove David DiLeo‘s name from the early entrant list, according to Rothstein, who tweets that the forward is headed back to Central Michigan for his senior year.

Southeast Notes: Wizards, Hawks, Hornets

May 9th, 2019 at 4:58pm CST by Luke Adams

There have been no recent updates on the Wizards‘ search for a new head of basketball operations, leading to speculation that Washington is waiting to make a run at current Nuggets president of basketball ops Tim Connelly.

While Connelly’s Nuggets are still alive in the playoffs, David Aldridge of The Athletic argues that if Connelly is the Wizards’ man, they should go after him now. As Aldridge points out, active postseason runs didn’t stop the Timberwolves from hiring Gersson Rosas, or the Suns from naming Monty Williams their new head coach.

It’s not entirely clear if the Wizards are still targeting Connelly, but Aldridge hears from several sources that Denver’s head of basketball ops would be “delighted” to run the Wizards. A previous report referred to the Wizards’ open position as Connelly’s “dream job.” Connelly is still under contract with the Nuggets, but if the Wizards make an offer that significantly exceeds his current salary – which Aldridge says is “just north” of $2MM per year – then he could go to Denver’s ownership in good faith and ask for the opportunity to run his hometown team.

So far, the Wizards have interviewed Danny Ferry, Tommy Sheppard, Troy Weaver, and Rosas for the front office vacancy, Aldridge confirms.

As we wait to see what the Wizards do to replace Ernie Grunfeld, here’s more from around the Southeast…

The first priority for the Wizards‘ next head of basketball operations will be establishing a culture of accountability, according to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post, who provides a detailed account on how such a culture has been lacking in D.C. for years.
It has been a busy week of pre-draft workouts for the Hawks, who have brought in prospects like Duke forward Javin DeLaurier, Kansas guard Quentin Grimes, and Gonzaga guard Zach Norvell Jr. on Wednesday and Thursday, and plan to bring in several more on Friday. According to the team, the full list of prospects to work out during that three-day stretch for Atlanta also includes Phil Booth, Reggie Perry, Justin Simon, Max Strus, Lagerald Vick, Ahmed Hill, Skylar Mays, Markis McDuffie, Dylan Osetkowski, Tyler Cook, CJ Elleby, Terance Mann, Matt Mooney, Tanor Ngom, and Myles Powell.
The Hornets‘ pre-draft workout schedule has also been full this week. Donta Hall (Alabama), Nick Perkins (Buffalo), Kerwin Roach Jr. (Texas), Kenny Williams (UNC), Ahmed Hill, and Markis McDuffie auditioned for the team on Wednesday, while Shaqquan Aaron (USC), Kyle Alexander (Tennessee), Kavell Bigby-Williams (LSU), and Caleb Martin (Nevada) were among those who did so on Thursday.
In his latest mailbag, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer discusses Jeremy Lamb‘s free agent value, potential backup plans for the Hornets if Kemba Walker leaves, and much more.

Draft Updates: Waters, Mays, Hommes, Wigginton

April 5th, 2019 at 1:04pm CST by Luke Adams

After LSU center Naz Reid announced earlier this week that he’s entering his name in the 2019 NBA draft pool, two of his teammates have followed suit. According to a pair of press releases from the program, sophomore point guard Tremont Waters and junior combo guard Skylar Mays have also declared for the draft.

Waters, who is ranked as the No. 49 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com, confirmed that he’ll be hiring an agent. While that doesn’t necessary preclude a return to LSU next season, his announcement doesn’t say anything about preserving his college eligibility, so it seems like a safe bet that he’ll go pro. The 5’11” guard is coming off a sophomore year in which he averaged 15.3 PPG, 5.8 APG, and 2.8 SPG in 33 games and was named to the All-SEC first team.

As for Mays, his announcement doesn’t reveal whether he’ll hire an agent, or whether he’s leaving the door open to return to the Tigers for his senior season. A second-team All-SEC selection, Mays posted 13.4 PPG on .421/.313/.860 shooting in 35 games. He’s not ranked in Givony’s top 100.

Here are a few more updates on early entrants declaring for this year’s draft:

Division II Player of the Year Daulton Hommes has informed Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com that he’s entering the draft and will look to hire an agent. The junior forward, who played his college ball at Point Loma Nazarene University, is one of the only D-II players to crack Givony’s big board, coming in at No. 96.
Iowa State sophomore guard Lindell Wigginton is entering the draft and plans on keeping his name in this year’s pool, he tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 6’2″ Canadian – who tested the draft waters in 2018 before withdrawing – averaged 13.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 2.1 APG with a .413/.390/.720 shooting line off the bench for the Cyclones this season.
All-Ivy League guard Bryce Aiken announced that he’ll test the draft waters, leaving the door open to potentially return to Harvard for his senior year. “I am excited for the opportunity to see where I stand in this process the NBA has created,” Aiken said in a statement. “My goal has always been to be a Harvard graduate and an NBA player.”
Our full list of the early entrants for 2019’s draft can be found here.