Terry Rozier Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Rumors: Porzingis, Wood, Dawson

May 15th, 2015 at 10:29am CST by Chuck Myron

At least one GM is among the multiple executives who believe Latvian power forward Kristaps Porzingis has a shot to be drafted as highly as No. 2, reports Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. The head of basketball ops for another team said that he’s a “lock” for the top five and that it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go within the top three, adding that he’d draft him in front of Jahlil Okafor, the Duke center who occupied the top spot in projections for most of the season. The 19-year-old is No. 5 in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings and No. 8 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Here’s more as draft rumors kick into high gear:

Christian Wood, a power forward out of UNLV, is hoping to follow in Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s footsteps as a ball-handler with unusual height and length, Howard-Cooper writes in the same piece. The Bucks intend to interview Wood, Virginia small forward Justin Anderson and others today, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.
Both the DraftExpress team and Ford go in depth on the measurements from the combine, with Ford, in his Insider-only piece, noting that most top prospects sized up well and that this year’s draft class is among the longest groups in memory in terms of both height and wingspan.
Michigan State power forward Branden Dawson has interviewed with the Wizards, Clippers and Pelicans at the draft combine, as he told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Ellis, in the same report, adds Stanley Johnson, Frank Kaminsky and Rashad Vaughn to the list of prospects with whom the Pistons have spoken.
Terry Rozier met with the Pistons, too, as well as the Mavs, Suns, Knicks and Spurs, reports Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
The Sixers, Lakers, Cavs and Bucks have interviewed Cameron Payne, Kyler also tweets. Payne spoke with our Zach Links recently about his draft prospects.
Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer adds the Hornets and Warriors to the list of teams speaking with Rakeem Christmas (Twitter link).

Northwest Notes: Bjelica, Draft, Wright, Kalamian

May 14th, 2015 at 9:58am CST by Chuck Myron

Timberwolves draft-and-stash prospect Nemanja Bjelica has won the Euroleague’s MVP award, the overseas circuit announced. The versatile 6’10” standout for Turkey’s Fenerbahce Ulker averaged 11.9 points and 8.6 rebounds in 27.6 minutes per game in Euroleague play. Still, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities finds it tough to picture the Wolves giving him a deal comparable to the more than $16.631MM the Bulls shelled out to draft-and-stash gem Nikola Mirotic last summer (Twitter link). The 27-year-old Bjelica would seek just that sort of deal if were to make the jump to the NBA this summer, as Basketball Insiders contributor David Pick recently wrote. There’s more on the Wolves amid the latest from the Northwest Division:

Frank Kaminsky, Tyler Harvey, Joseph Young and Terry Rozier are among the draft prospects who interviewed Wednesday with the Timberwolves, reports Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (on Twitter). Minnesota native Tyus Jones is set to meet with the Wolves on Friday, Wolfson hears (Twitter link).
Dorell Wright‘s playing time cratered this season, but The Oregonian‘s Joe Freeman points to his locker room presence as reason why the Blazers would be well-served re-signing him if he’s willing to accept a pay cut from the $3.135MM he made this season, as Freeman writes in a roundtable piece. Still, fellow Oregonian scribe Mike Richman believes Wright will look elsewhere for more playing time, while Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com and Erik Gundersen say that where he plays next season will depend on what other free agents decide to do.
New Thunder head coach Billy Donovan won’t be keeping assistant coach Rex Kalamian on the Oklahoma City staff, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Some believe the longtime top aide to ex-Thunder head man Scott Brooks has the capability to become an NBA head coach someday, according to Stein.

Montrezl Harrell, Terry Rozier To Enter Draft

April 2nd, 2015 at 7:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 7:12pm: Rozier has officially signed with Verus Management, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets.

MONDAY, 2:06pm: Louisville junior power forward Montrezl Harrell and sophomore combo guard Terry Rozier are entering this year’s draft, coach Rick Pitino said today during his season-ending press conference, as The Courier-Journal relays. Harrell is 21st on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and 24th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com. There’s more of a gulf in opinion on Rozier, who’s the 26th-best prospect according to Ford but just 39th-best as Givony has it.

Harrell’s stock slipped during the season, as he was No. 12 with Givony and No. 16 with Ford prior to the season. He stands 6’8″, and he’s neither a natural power forward nor a true small forward, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors writes in our latest Draft Prospect Power Rankings. The 21-year-old averaged 15.7 points and 9.2 rebounds in 35.1 minutes per game this season, all higher numbers than last year, but his per-36-minute figures in scoring and rebounding declined as the Cardinals moved from the American Athletic Conference to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The difference in projections on the 6’2″ Rozier were even more pronounced during the preseason, when Ford ranked him 11th and Givony had him 50th. Rozier, also 21, had a breakout campaign after failing to see much action as a freshman, putting up 17.1 PPG and 5.6 RPG in 35.0 MPG this season. He also averaged 3.0 assists against 2.2 turnovers per game.