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Central Notes: Cavs, Pacers, Pistons, Bucks

June 15th, 2017 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Since the Cavaliers fell to Golden State earlier this week in the NBA Finals, there has been a ton of speculation about how the Cavs should respond this summer, and the idea of acquiring Pacers forward Paul George in a trade involving Kevin Love has been a popular one.

There are no reports at this point suggesting that either team is considering such a deal, but Ben Golliver of SI.com makes the case that a Love/George would make a lot of sense for both the Cavaliers and Pacers. Golliver argues that Cleveland would get a badly-needed perimeter defender to combat Kevin Durant, while Indiana would land an impact player in his own right and could avoid embarking on a lengthy rebuilding process.

While Golliver’s piece is an interesting one, I’m less inclined to believe that the move would be in the Pacers’ best interests. The club isn’t yet at a point where it needs to trade George to avoid losing him for nothing. Even if and when that time comes, Indiana may prefer to move him for a package that includes picks and/or young players, rather than for a pricey veteran like Love.

Here’s more from around the Central division:

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Draft Roundup: Bullock, Johnson, Taylor, Williams

May 1st, 2017 at 1:08pm CST by Arthur Hill

May is an important month for draft-eligible players, with the draft combine next weekend in Chicago, the lottery on May 16th and the deadline to withdraw on May 24th.

Several early entries have made their commitments, and Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports passes along the decisions:

  • Providence forward Rodney Bullock will return to school for his senior season. The Friars’ top scorer and rebounder this season had declared for the draft, but did not hire an agent.
  • Darin Johnson of Cal State Northridge signed with an agent and will stay in the draft. A transfer from Washington, Johnson averaged 13.8 points and 3.7 rebounds during his lone season at Northridge. He did not receive an invitation to the combine and is not projected to be selected on draft night.
  • New Mexico’s Matt Taylor also signed with an agent. The junior guard averaged just averaged 6.5 points and 3.0 rebounds and is not projected as a draft pick.
  • Ohio State’s Kam Williams will return to school for his senior year. The junior guard is shooting 39% from 3-point range as a collegian and was not projected to be drafted.
  • Khadeem Lattin will return to Oklahoma for his senior season. He averaged  8.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks last season after being named to the Big 12 All-Defensive team as a sophomore.
  • Central Michigan’s Cecil Williams will return for his senior season. The swingman averaged 8.0 points and 6.0 rebounds last season.
  • Trae Bell-Haynes will return to Vermont next season. He averaged 11.2 points and 3.9 assists last season as the Catamounts won a record 29 games.
  • Tony Farmer, a junior college standout at Lee College, has signed with an agent and will stay in the draft. He is not projected to be selected.
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NBA Confirms 182 Early Entrants For 2017 Draft

April 25th, 2017 at 5:40pm CST by Luke Adams

With the deadline for early entrants to enter the 2017 NBA draft now behind us, the league has officially released the list of this year’s early entry candidates, and it’s a long one. According to the NBA’s announcement, 182 players have declared early for the draft — 137 college players and 45 international prospects. That’s a new record.

As was the case a year ago, NCAA rules changes allow underclassmen to “test the waters” before officially committing to the 2017 NBA draft. NCAA early entrants can withdraw their names any time up until May 24 while maintaining their NCAA eligibility, as long as they haven’t hired agents. That means that prospects testing the waters can take part in the NBA draft combine from May 9-14 – if invited – and they can work out for individual teams in the coming weeks.

International early entrants can also withdraw their names from the draft pool within the next several weeks. The final draft list will be set after the early entrant withdrawal deadline for international and other non-NCAA players passes on June 12.

A year ago, a whopping 162 NCAA and international players declared their intent to enter the draft early, but 91 of those players eventually withdrew. This year should follow a similar pattern, so the group of eligible draftees for 2017 figures to be reduced significantly by June 12.

Listed below are the current early entrants, according to the NBA. Players whose intent to declare wasn’t previously reported on Hoops Rumors are listed in italics.

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