Stefan Jankovic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Smart, Teague, Draft

June 9th, 2016 at 6:48pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Hawks point guard Jeff Teague relayed today that he played the entire 2015/16 campaign with a torn patellar tendon in his knee and that he “could barely jump or stop,” Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com writes. Teague won’t require surgery this offseason and is expected to be ready to go when training camp commences, Mazzeo adds. “He is kind of, for lack of a better word, managing his knee,” coach/executive Mike Budenholzer said. “I don’t know if it is knees and ankles. I would say it is hard to know what he shares and what he doesn’t. I think he was relatively healthy and he was good so many nights and he is such a good player. I do think he was managing it a little bit like a lot of NBA guys do.”

Teague, 27, appeared in 79 games in 2015/16, averaging 15.7 points and 5.9 assists and shooting 43.9% from the field and 40% from 3-point range. He has one year remaining on his current deal and is a potential trade candidate this offseason. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Celtics held two group workouts today, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com tweets. The first group was comprised of Alex Caruso (Texas A&M), Juan Hernangomez (Spain), Damian Jones (Vanderbilt), Thon Maker (Australia), Georgios Papagiannis (Greece) and Rasheed Sulaimon (Maryland), Forsberg notes. The second group included Robert Carter (Maryland), Stefan Jankovic (Hawaii), Shawn Long (Louisiana-Lafayette), Mamadou Ndiaye (UC Irvine), Nik Slavica (Croatia) and Troy Williams (Indiana).
The Heat have granted the Grizzlies permission to interview assistant coach Keith Smart for a position on the staff of former Miami assistant David Fizdale, who was recently named Memphis’ head coach, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel relays. Memphis was denied permission to interview Heat assistant coach Dan Craig, who is expected to take an elevated position on Erik Spoelstra‘s staff next season, Winderman adds.
The Hornets have workouts scheduled for Friday with Cat Barber (NC State), Nathan Boothe (Toledo), Jake Layman (Maryland), Isaiah Miles (St. Joe’s), Tyler Ulis (Kentucky) and Stephen Zimmerman (UNLV), Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (on Twitter).

Atlantic Rumors: Casey, Raptors, Nets, 76ers

May 31st, 2016 at 10:29pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri seemed confident on Monday at his season-ending press conference that the team would soon work out a new contract for head coach Dwane Casey, and the two sides are indeed making progress toward an extension, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter links). Stein suggests that, while no agreement is in place yet, there’s optimism in Toronto that a deal could happen by the end of this week.

Locking up Casey to an extension would just be the start of what figures to be an eventful offseason in Toronto. As Bobby Marks of The Vertical details, the Raptors will face some tough decisions this summer — without a ton of cap flexibility, the team will have to take advantage of its extra first-round draft pick in order to make the most of its offseason.

Here’s more on Toronto and some other Atlantic clubs:

The Raptors will host the following six prospects at a pre-draft workout on Wednesday, according to the team (Twitter link): Demetrius Jackson (Notre Dame), Gary Payton II (Oregon State), Dorian Finney-Smith (Florida), Jalen Jones (Texas A&M), Kyle Wiltjer (Gonzaga), and Stefan Jankovic (Hawaii).
Wiltjer also recently worked out for the Nets, who are quietly taking a closer look at a large number of projected second-round or undrafted prospects, per NetsDaily.com (Twitter links). NetsDaily.com also adds Keifer Sykes of the Austin Spurs to the Nets’ list of veteran mini-camp players (Twitter link).
76ers head coach Brett Brown hasn’t come out and said he prefers Ben Simmons over any other prospect in this year’s draft, but both Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News and Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer get the sense that Brown may be favoring Simmons with the club’s No. 1 pick.
Jake Fischer of Liberty Ballers explores whether the Sixers might be able to find a point guard solution in free agency this summer.

And-Ones: Dunleavy Sr., Diallo, Murray

March 30th, 2016 at 10:22pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Mike Dunleavy Sr. has officially been hired as head coach of Tulane, the university announced. “We could not be more excited to welcome Mike Dunleavy to the Green Wave family,” Tulane’s athletic director Troy Dannen said. “His reputation as a great evaluator of talent, master of strategy and teacher of the game define him today as one of the top basketball minds in the country at any level. His commitment to Tulane athletics is a game changer for our program.” Dunleavy has zero college coaching experience but owns a career NBA mark of 613-716 from his stints with the Lakers, Bucks, Trail Blazers and Clippers.

Here’s more from around the league:

Hawaii junior combo forward Stefan Jankovic intends to sign with an agent and enter the 2016 NBA draft, Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com reports (via Twitter). The 22-year-old is the No. 78 ranked junior according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
Creighton junior point guard Maurice Watson Jr. intends to declare for the draft but won’t hire an agent, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets. Watson is the No. 70 ranked junior according to Givony.
Kansas freshman forward/center Cheick Diallo, who has announced his intention to enter this year’s NBA draft, may be better served to return to school for another season, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays. “He will get drafted but he could be in a much better position if he stayed another year to develop. He is headed to the D-League if he stays in the draft,” an NBA executive told Zagoria regarding Diallo’s NBA prospects. The young big man is currently ranked 36th in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider rankings and 39th according to Givony.
University of Washington freshman Dejounte Murray intends to sign with agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, reports Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group (on Twitter). Hiring an agent would eliminate the possibility of the combo guard returning to school in 2016/17. The 19-year-old is the No. 37 overall prospect, according to Givony, though Haynes notes that Murray is a potential lottery selection come June.
The Celtics have assigned James Young to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Young’s 12th jaunt to Maine on the season.