Victor Oladipo Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Updates: Agents, Oladipo, Larkin, Burke

May 9th, 2013 at 7:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Hoops Rumors Agency Database isn't just for current NBA players. Several draft prospects have already selected their agents, and we'll keep track of them in the database as well. We'll also pass along the news in a regular post whenever a player changes agents or chooses one for the first time. That's what we're doing here as we round up the latest on the draft ahead of next week's Pre-Draft Camp in Chicago:

Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports tweets that Nerlens Noel and Alex Len are expected to show up, although neither are expected to do much of anything.
Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com shared the list of players invited to the pre-draft camp (Sulia link). ESPN's Chad Ford tweets that James Ennis and Norvel Pelle are among the most interesting names on the list, and that it'll be surprising if Rudy Gobert and Dennis Schroeder show up, on account of the rarity of international prospects making the trip in years past.
Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times tweets that potential lottery pick Dario Saric will not be attending the Pre-Draft Camp, as he is still playing overseas.
Former Indiana shooting guard Victor Oladipo is going with Raymond Brothers of IAM Sports & Entertainment, tweets Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com. Brothers' list of NBA clients includes Zach Randolph and Caron Butler.
Happy Walters of Relativity Sports is expected to sign Shane Larkin, Goodman reports via Twitter.
Trey Burke's father, Benji, will represent his son, opening up a basketball division of his family's agency to do, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. The agency, Infinite Sports, specializes in football (Twitter links).
In his NBA AM piece, Lang Greene of HoopsWorld explores the question of whether highly touted underclassmen should stay in school, like Marcus Smart, or enter the draft. Greene also passes along a video interview with first-round hopeful Jamaal Franklin.

Victor Oladipo To Enter Draft

April 9th, 2013 at 3:20pm CST by Luke Adams

3:20pm: Oladipo has officially announced his intent to enter the draft at this afternoon's press conference.

11:41am: ESPN.com's Chad Ford reported earlier today that Ben McLemore is expected to announce his decision to go pro this afternoon, but McLemore isn't the only likely lottery pick that will declare his intent today. According to Ford, (via Twitter) Indiana's Victor Oladipo will also officially enter the draft today at a 3pm CT press conference. Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com confirms Ford's report (via Twitter).

Oladipo, 20, averaged 13.6 PPG on 59.9% shooting in his junior year on a stacked Indiana team. Ranked as 2013's sixth-best prospect by Ford, Oladipo saw the No. 1 seeded Hoosiers fall to Syracuse in this year's NCAA tournament, but provided some late-game heroics a round earlier against Temple, when his late three-pointer sealed a victory for Indiana.

Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors examined Oladipo's draft stock last month.

Draft Links: Oladipo, Wiggins, Noel, Gordon

April 2nd, 2013 at 11:53am CST by Luke Adams

UNLV's Anthony Bennett is the latest NCAA underclassmen to be added to our list of 2013 early entrants, and with a number of deadlines on the calendar for April, that list figures to continue growing exponentially in the coming weeks. Here are the latest updates and stories on the 2013 NBA draft:

Indiana's Victor Oladipo remains noncommittal on whether he'll enter this year's draft, as he tells Andy Katz of ESPN.com (Twitter link via Jeff Rabjohns of Peegs.com): "I haven’t even really thought about that yet." I'm guessing that when he eventually does think about it, Oladipo will decide to go pro.
Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com agrees that Oladipo should and will go pro, and takes a look at another 30+ underclassmen, weighing whether or not they should stay in school.
NBA executives tell Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (writing for SheridanHoops.com) that this year's draft would look entirely different if not for the NBA's age restrictions. Zagoria breaks down how the lottery might play out with no age limit, suggesting that Andrew Wiggins and three other prep players could be selected in the top five before Kentucky's Nerlens Noel. A pair of scouts also share their hypothetical mock lotteries, with Wiggins first and Noel second.
Aaron Gordon, one of the prep stars in Zagoria's top four, announced today that he'll attend Arizona, as Jeff Borzello of CBSSports.com details.
For underclassmen projected to be selected in the first round this year, returning to school is a high-risk, low-reward move, argues Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.
Aran Smith of HoopsHype.com has updated his 2013 mock draft.

Draft Notes: Anderson, Muhammad, Hoosiers, Suns

March 29th, 2013 at 8:10pm CST by Alex Lee

With the second night of Sweet 16 games kicking off shortly, let’s consolidate all news on soon-to-be NBA prospects here:

It appears that Kyle Anderson plans to return to UCLA for his sophomore year next season, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY. Anderson’s father sent out a text message to several media outlets to confirm that his soon will stay in school, quelling the fears of Bruins fans that were worried Anderson would bolt in the wake of Ben Howland’s firing. Before news broke today, Jonathan Givony of Draft Express tweeted that he heard Anderson was “100% planning on declaring for the draft.”
In an Insider-only story, Kevin Pelton of ESPN gauges the draft stock of Anderson’s teammate and fellow freshman at UCLA, Shabazz Muhammad. Pelton maintains a draft-related database that indicates a prospect’s age is nearly as important a predictor of NBA success as anything else, which doesn’t bode well for Muhammad. While he was only a freshman this year, the Los Angeles Times discovered last week that Muhammad is actually 20 years old, not 19 as was previously thought. Muhammad currently ranks seventh on the Draft Express Top 100 list. Pelton suggests that the news on Muhammad’s age should bump him down from that spot, though it remains to be seen if that actually happens.
Neither Cody Zeller nor Victor Oladipo said much last night regarding their future after their Hoosiers fell to Syracuse in the Sweet 16. Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star writes that most scouts think Oladipo’s stock can’t get much higher, and it is likely that the uber-athletic junior will declare for the draft because of it. Zeller is a different story, however. After entering the season projected as a top-3 pick, Zeller’s lack of toughness and inability to dominate have scouts questioning his potential, Wells says. It seems like another year at Indiana might be the best bet for the 7-foot sophomore. Our Chuck Myron profiled Oladipo yesterday in our Prospect Profile series.
After they held out Goran Dragic on Wednesday against the Jazz, it was only natural for questions about tanking to come up inside the Suns locker room. Paul Coro, reporting for USA Today, writes that Suns players have continued to play hard in part because many of them believe that this year’s draft is lacking on impact players.
According to an Eastern Conference talent evaluator, this year’s draft class should not be classified as “weak”, writes Michael Lee of the Washington Post. While there may be no sure-fire studs, this draft will likely turn out as many NBA starters or even NBA All-Stars as most. Lee says that many recent drafts have also received the “weak” label, only to produce a respectable crop of players. “And I think this draft is going to be no different,” the talent evaluator said.

Prospect Profile: Victor Oladipo

March 28th, 2013 at 7:08pm CST by Chuck Myron

If his track record of yearly improvement is any indication, Victor Oladipo could turn out to be the best player in the 2013 draft class. The rise of Indiana's athletically gifted swingman may not be fast enough to make him the No. 1 overall selection this June, but suffice it to say that TNT's Kenny Smith will get enough practice saying his name that he won't mispronounce it as he did on air last weekend.

Oladipo was a starter for just one season in high school at powerhouse DeMatha in Maryland, and was a middling prospect as he made his way to Indiana. Last season was his first as a full-time starter for the Hoosiers, and he made his mark as an energetic defender, delivering 1.4 steals per game in 26.7 minutes of action. Offensively, he was raw, at best. He notched just 10.8 points per game and shot a woeful 20.8% from three-point range. Thanks in large measure to a dramatic rise in his outside shooting ability, Oladipo has ascended into the elite this year. He's a 43.3% three-point shooter as a junior this season, and his overall field goal percentage has risen to 59.4%, remarkably high for a perimeter player. Together, that gives him an effective field goal percentage of 64%, and no lottery prospect has done better, as DraftExpress points out.

Oladipo is sixth on both the DraftExpress and ESPN rankings of draft hopefuls, though there's dispute over whether he's the best prospect on his own team. Cody Zeller was supposed to be the focal point for Indiana entering the season, but his relatively disappointing play coupled with Oladipo's emergence has forced the center to share the spotlight, if not cede it completely. The stacked Hoosiers roster helps explain why scouts are so high on Oladipo even though he averages just 13.6 PPG. He takes just 8.5 shot attempts a game, a number that figures to be higher next season in the NBA. In a way, it's reminiscent of Dion Waiters' role with Syracuse last season. Though Waivers was a sixth man and Oladipo starts, Waiters averaged about one more shot attempt per game than Oladipo does this year. The Cavs drafted Waiters No. 4 overall, and now he's putting up 14.7 PPG on 13.4 field goal attempts per game as the starting two guard for Cleveland.

The glaring difference between Oladipo and Waiters is on defense, where Oladipo's athleticism and motor have allowed him to dominate. Much could come down to Oladipo's pre-draft measurements. He's listed at 6'5", but if the tape shows he's any shorter, teams might downgrade him based on the concern that he couldn't guard small forwards. His effort and skill have never been in question, and that could help him overcome a size disadvantage, but such hairs are often split when deciding between the top 10 most heralded players in the world. In any case, he should be able to defend both guard positions, at least, and his enticing combination of athleticism and rebounding ability might be enough to sway any skeptics. His 6.4 rebounds per game average is second only to Zeller's on the team.

Often, fast risers up the draft board are international players about whom relatively little is known. This time, it's a homegrown product turning heads, and NBA executives will no doubt pay keen attention to his performance in the final rounds of the NCAA tournament. A poor shooting night may put a dent in his stock, particularly among teams that question whether this season's numbers are unsustainably high, but Oladipo doesn't seem conditioned to end with a whimper. There's a long way to go between March and the June 27th draft, and as some execs get their first in-person glimpses at him during pre-draft workouts, I wouldn't be surprised to see Oladipo's rise continue.

Ford’s Latest On 2013 NBA Draft

February 28th, 2013 at 4:57pm CST by Luke Adams

We may still have nearly a third of the NBA regular season left to play, but it won't be long before talk of this summer's draft starts to increase exponentially. With just three weeks until March Madness and the June draft less than four months away, the busy season is around the corner for ESPN.com's Chad Ford, who has a number of draft-related items up for us today. Let's round them up….

Ford's mock draft tool, which provides mock results for 2,184 different lottery scenarios, is up and running for the 2013 draft.
There doesn't seem to be a consensus No. 1 pick this year yet, as one veteran general manager tells Ford (ESPN Insider link): "As you look at the guys atop your Big Board, I'm struck with how depleted the talent pool is this year at the top. This is a pretty good draft if you want to talk depth. I just don't see a player who turns our franchise around at the top. I could be wrong. I didn't see Kyrie Irving doing what he's doing for the Cavs right now. But this year is especially troubling."
Based on his conversations with GMs, Ford says six players appear to be in contention for the first overall pick: Ben McLemore of Kansas, Kentucky's Nerlens Noel, Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart, Anthony Bennett of UNLV, Indiana's Victor Oladipo and Alex Len of Maryland. Cody Zeller of Indiana and UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad have fallen out of contention for now, according to Ford.
McLemore is currently atop the Suns' big board, according to Ford.
In a separate Insider-only piece, Ford and ESPN.com's Jay Bilas discuss which players top their respective big boards, with Ford choosing Smart and Bilas going with McLemore.

Odds & Ends: Harkless, Clark, Bynum, Oladipo

February 5th, 2013 at 7:39pm CST by Alex Lee

With only five games on the NBA schedule for Tuesday night, let's round up some odds and ends from around the league here:

Now getting extended minutes, Magic rookie Maurice Harkless – acquired from Philadelphia in the Dwight Howard trade – has begun to show the skills that made him the 15th overall selecton last June, writes Josh Robbins of Orlando Sentinel. Coupled with the pleasant surprise that is Nikola Vucevic, Harkless' development makes the haul that Orlando received for Howard look better and better, especially considering past deals involving a departing superstar.
Another forgotten piece of the Howard deal, Earl Clark has thrived since joining the Lakers, writes Josh Newman of Zags Blog. Now in his fourth year out of Lousiville, Clark has seen his minutes double in Los Angeles.
Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops calls the Pistons' Will Bynum a prime trade target, mentioning the Thunder as an ideal candidates for a match. With James Harden in Houston and Eric Maynor and Reggie Jackson unlikely solutions to spelling Russell Westbrook, Sheridan says Bynum would be a better pick up for Oklahoma City than Derek Fisher was a year ago.
Scheduled for June 27, the NBA Draft is just less than five months away. But as the NCAA calendar moves towards March, draft talk should start to heat up. Jeff Goodman, CBS Sports' NCAA guru, provides his updated prospect rankings as well as a mock draft.
Three days following Indiana's thrilling win over No. 1 Michigan, Draft Express publishes a scouting report on Hoosiers' guard Victor Oladipo. Previously thought to be a defensive specialist, the ultra-athletic Oladipo has nearly ensured himself a first round grade with a breakout offensive performance as a junior.