Travis Wear

Eastern Notes: Knicks, Pistons, Cavs, Sixers

Team USA continued their run through the FIBA World Cup with a 96-68 victory over Lithuania earlier today. Kyrie Irving led the way with 18 points and four assists, James Harden and Klay Thompson added 16 points each, and Stephen Curry dropped 13. For Lithuania, Jonas Valanciunas led the way with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Here’s the latest from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Knicks have partially guaranteed the contracts of Travis Wear for $62K, and Langston Galloway for $31K, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). Both players were recently signed to one-year, minimum salary deals.
  • The Cavaliers had the biggest offseason of any franchise with the return of LeBron James and the acquisition of Kevin Love. The crew at Basketball Insiders previews Cleveland’s upcoming season, and the consensus has them finishing first in the Central Division.
  • There’s a new regime in Detroit this season with the arrival of Stan Van Gundy. In their season preview, the majority of the staff at Basketball Insiders pick the Pistons to improve slightly and finish third in the Central Division this upcoming season.
  • The Sixers might “best” their 2013/14 total of 63 losses this upcoming season, according to Adi Joseph of USA Today. In his pre-season rankings, Joseph predicts Philadelphia will lose 74 games next season, which would eclipse the current NBA record of 73 losses set by the 1972/73 Sixers team.

Knicks Sign Langston Galloway, Travis Wear

The Knicks have signed combo guard Langston Galloway and power forward Travis Wear, the team announced (on Twitter). The pair are presumably on minimum-salary contracts for camp, either without guarantees or with only small partial guarantees attached to their deals.

Galloway and Wear played on New York’s summer league team in July after going undrafted the previous month. Galloway averaged 17.7 points and 4.3 rebounds with impressive 44.3% three-point accuracy in 36.2 minutes per game this past season with St. Joseph’s. Wear’s numbers for UCLA weren’t as flashy, as he put up 7.2 PPG and 3.2 RPG in 23.9 MPG. As with brother David Wear, who signed a camp deal with the Kings, Travis Wear’s playing time decreased with each successive season he spent as a Bruin.

New York is carrying 13 fully guaranteed deals, plus a partially guaranteed pact for Samuel Dalembert, who figures to compete for the starting job at center. The team’s contract with 34th overall pick Cleanthony Early is almost certainly fully guaranteed, which would force the team to have to unload someone’s guaranteed salary if Galloway, Wear or both make the club in their longshot bids. It seems more likely the team will use the camp invitations as a tool to secure the D-League rights to Galloway and Wear for their new affiliate in Westchester.

Draft Rumors: Bucks, Parker Exum, Randle

There’s no truth to the that idea Bucks GM John Hammond would be reluctant to draft Dante Exum because he’s concerned about losing his job, a source tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. It’s not clear whether Milwaukee, which picks second overall, is sold on taking the Australian guard, but the team won’t hesitate to do so if the front office determines he’s worthy, Deveney’s source adds. Here’s more chatter surrounding the draft:

  • Jabari Parker will work out for the Cavs a week from today, the Plain Dealer reports (on Twitter). The tweet also makes note of Andrew Wiggins‘ audition for the team next week, echoing an earlier report that he was set to work out for the club close to draft time.

Earlier updates:

  • Julius Randle said today that no NBA teams expressed a desire at last month’s draft combine for him to have surgery on his right foot even though they knew that he’d broken the foot as a high school senior, observes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com (on Twitter). Still, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com insists multiple clubs are worried about the foot becoming an issue in the future, believing that the foot didn’t heal correctly (Twitter link). However, the Jazz aren’t among the teams with worries, tweets Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune.
  • Randle is nonetheless taking a cautious approach, telling reporters, including Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com, that he worked out solo for the Celtics instead of against competition to lessen the chance of injury. Gary Harris, Jordan Clarkson and Elfrid Payton are the previously unreported names taking part in today’s group audition for the Celtics, Forsberg tweets.
  • Baylor big man Isaiah Austin was red-flagged with several medical issues at last month’s draft combine, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com reports in an Insider-only piece. Austin’s lack of sight in one eye is well-documented, but it appears as though that isn’t his only malady.
  • Doug McDermott is the marquee name set to perform Saturday for the Hornets, who’ll also audition T.J. Warren, Travis Wear, Jermaine Marshall, Roberto Nelson and Brandon Young, the team announced in a press release.
  • Zach LaVine is set to work out Saturday for the Nuggets, Blakely tweets.
  • Shabazz Napier highlighted a Wolves audition today that also included LaQuinton Ross, Eric Moreland, Ronald Roberts Jr., Tim Frazier and Rion Brown, the team announced (via Twitter). Adreian Payne will show off for Minnesota on Saturday, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.

Pacific Notes: Lakers, LeBron, Suns, Warriors

The Lakers haven’t been in a rush to find a replacement for Mike D’Antoni since the team still maintains hope that they have a shot at signing one or more superstars this summer, a source tells Sam Amick of USA Today. Management fears hiring a particular coach right now might dissuade superstars such as Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James from signing in LA this summer, hears Amick. Let’s take a look at more from around the Pacific:

  • Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders sees the Suns as a much more viable trade partner for the Wolves in a Kevin Love deal than the Bulls.  Phoenix has Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic and three first-round picks in this year’s draft (No. 14, No. 18, and No. 27) to offer.
  • Today’s Suns workout included UCLA’s Kyle Anderson and Travis Wear, Syracuse F C.J. Fair, Ohio State forward LaQuinton Ross, Cal guard Justin Cobbs, and Oregon forward Mike Moser, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (on Twitter).
  • The Warriors don’t have any selections in the 2014 draft, and it’ll be difficult for the team to purchase or trade for one, says director of scouting Larry Riley on KGO-TV (h/t Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group)In 2011, the W’s bought second-round pick Jeremy Tyler for $2 million, and last June, they traded for the rights to first-round pick Nemanja Nedovic.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Draft Links: Hancock, Jazz, Vonleh

The 76ers worked out Luke Hancock, who’s also set to audition for the Pistons, Bucks, Jazz and Rockets, agent Pedro Power of You First Sports tells Hoops Rumors.

You can find more of tonight’s draft links worth passing along below:

  • In addition to Hancock, Utah will bring in Semaj Christon, DeAndre Kane, Travis Wear, and Jamil Wilson for workouts tomorrow, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (via Twitter).
  • Noah Vonleh has drawn serious praise after his Wednesday workout in New York, tweets Chad Ford of ESPN. Though Vonleh’s shot may have been off, one NBA executive told Ford that Vonleh was impressive in every other category. “Vonleh was good. Didn’t shoot it well but everything else was very good to ridiculously good.” Another executive feels that Vonleh has the requisite athleticism to rival those at the top of his draft class. “(He’s) got elite physical tools and is very skilled. He should be in the same group with Wiggins, Embiid, Parker & Exum” (All Twitter links). 
  • The Raptors reportedly like both Nik Stauskas and Tyler Ennis, but they also know that neither will realistically be available by the time the team selects at No. 20 on draft night. The team could possibly attempt to trade for a higher selection, but Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun says that it’s highly unlikely (Twitter link).
  • Wolstat adds (via Twitter) that Melvin Ejim has a workout with the Raptors on June 4. Ennis has upcoming workouts with the Kings, Lakers, and Magic.
  • Ejim will also join Thanasis Antetokounmpo, DeAndre Daniels, and Cleanthony Early in a workout for the Hornetstweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
  • Former Iona guard Sean Armand will work out for the Bulls, a source tells SNY.tv’s Adam Zagoria (Twitter link).