Wenyen Gabriel Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers Rumors: Lopez, Clarkson, Draft Workouts

June 8th, 2018 at 10:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Brook Lopez‘s ability to space the floor would make him a good match with the Bucks, according to Frank Urbina of HoopsHype. Lopez’s 3-point shooting would open up the floor for Giannis Antetokounmpo. However, the Bucks are already over the projected salary-cap limit and would thus only be able to offer the unrestricted free agent their non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Other potential landing spots for Lopez if he doesn’t re-sign with the Lakers include the Trail Blazers, who could lose restricted free agent Jusuf Nurkic, and the Nets, his former team.

We have more on the Lakers:

Jordan Clarkson‘s struggles in the playoffs make it clear that the Lakers got the best of their trade deadline deal with the Cavaliers, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report opines. Clarkson was benched in Game 3 after making only 23.1% percent of his shots attempts in the first two games and he shot just 30.9% in prior playoff games, Pincus notes. Clarkson also hasn’t been a playmaker, doling out just one assist over the last eight games, Pincus continues. The Lakers also gave up forward Larry Nance Jr. while getting back Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye and a first-round pick. The draft pick, plus Thomas’ expiring contract, sets up the Lakers for a potentially momentous summer, Pincus adds.
The Lakers will work out mainly second-round prospects on Saturday, according to a team release. Brian Bowen II, Jacob Evans (Cincinnati), Wenyen Gabriel (Kentucky), Tra Holder (Arizona State), Nick King (Middle Tennessee) and Theo Pinson (North Carolina) will pay a visit. Evans is the top-rated prospect in the group, currently ranked No. 29 overall by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
What are the team’s biggest offseason questions? Hoops Rumors’ Luke Adams takes a closer look.

West Draft Workouts: Jazz, T-Wolves, Blazers, Suns

June 4th, 2018 at 5:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

UCLA point guard Aaron Holiday and Duke guard Grayson Allen were among the first-round prospects that the Jazz evaluated on Monday, according to a team tweet. Holiday is ranked No. 17 by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony on his latest Top 100 prospects list, while Allen checks in at No. 30. Creighton’s Khyri Thomas (No. 27), Villanova’s Jalen Brunson (No. 34), Louisville’s Ray Spalding (No. 52) and San Diego State’s Malik Pope were the other prospects who visited Utah.

We have some other draft workouts involving Western Conference clubs to pass along:

Villanova point guard Donte DiVincenzo and Miami (Fla.) shooting guard Bruce Brown were the top prospects that the Timberwolves worked out on Monday, according to Darren Wolfson of KSTP. DiVincenzo and Brown are ranked No. 28 and No. 29 by Givony. They were joined by Rawle Alkins (Arizona), Jeffrey Carroll (Oklahoma State), D.J. Hogg (Texas A&M) and Josh Okogie (Georgia Tech). Contrary to a previous report, Okogie visited Minnesota for the first time (Twitter links here).
Kentucky shooting guard Hamidou Diallo headlined the prospects that the Trail Blazers brought in on Monday, according to a team press release. Diallo is ranked No. 36 by Givony. Anfernee Simons, Jairus Lyles (UMBC), Victor Sanders (Idaho), Trevon Duval (Duke) and Shake Milton (SMU) were the other guards that Portland checked out.
French guard Elie Okobo topped the list of prospects the Suns evaluated on Monday, according to a team tweet. Okobo is ranked No. 21 by Givony. He was joined by Jevon Carter (West Virginia), Joel Berry (North Carolina), Wenyen Gabriel (Kentucky), Thomas Welsh (UCLA) and Ajdin Penava (Marshall).

Draft Decisions: Happ, Matthews, Gabriel, Riley

May 30th, 2018 at 7:24pm CST by Arthur Hill

Draft decisions have been rolling in all day as we move closer to the 11:59pm Eastern deadline. While some prominent names such as Jontay Porter, PJ Washington, Brian Bowen, Tyus Battle and Lindell Wigginton have announced their choices, we’re still waiting to hear from prospects such as Kentucky’s Jarred Vanderbilt, Nevada’s Caleb Martin and Cody Martin and a few others.

Here are some of the players who reached decisions today:

Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ will return to the Badgers for his senior season, tweets Gery Woelfel of Woelfel’s Press Box. He averaged 17.9 points and 8.0 rebounds this season and was a first team All-Big 10 selection for the second straight year.
Charles Matthews will return to Michigan for his senior season, according to Tom Wywrot of MGoBlue.com. Matthews averaged 13.0 points per night in helping the Wolverines reach the national title game. “I learned a lot throughout this process, but my main focus will now be completing my education at Michigan and leading my teammates to more success next season,” he said.
Kentucky’s Wenyen Gabriel plans to sign with an agent and remain in the draft, relays Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). He appeared in 38 games as a freshman, averaging 4.6 points and 4.8 rebounds.
Cody Riley will play another season at UCLA, Rothstein adds (Twitter link). Riley was held out the entire year after being involved in an alleged shoplifting incident in China.
Iowa’s Tyler Cook will also leave the draft, according to Rothstein (Twitter link). He averaged 15.3 points and 6.8 rebounds as a sophomore.
Noah Dickerson will return to Washington for another season, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Goodman. Dickerson earned first team All-Pac 12 honors as a junior, averaging 15.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
Wyoming’s Justin James has withdrawn from the draft, according to a story on GoWyo.com. The 6’7″ guard averaged 18.9 points and 6.0 rebounds as a junior. “I received some very promising feedback from around the NBA,” James said. “I will continue to grow my game here in Laramie and put myself in position to live my dream and play at the next level following one more season playing for the Cowboys.”
Robert Franks will play his senior season at Washington State, tweets the school’s basketball program. Franks posted a 17.4/6.6/1.9 line this year.

Draft Notes: Robinson, Kings, Bluiett, Rorie, Caldwell

May 22nd, 2018 at 9:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Despite reports suggesting otherwise, the Lakers aren’t believed to have made a promise to Mitchell Robinson to take him in the first round, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. Robinson skipped last week’s combine and a report surfaced that the Lakers made a pledge to him with the No. 25 overall pick. The seven-footer did not play college basketball, as he withdrew from Western Kentucky as a freshman last September to focus on the draft. He’s ranked as the No. 22 prospect on ESPN Jonathan Givony’s Top 100 list.

In other draft-related developments:

The Kings will work out Jaylen Hands (UCLA), Thomas Wilder (Western Michigan), Devon Hall (Virginia), Rawle Alkins (Arizona), B.J. Johnson (La Salle) and George King (Colorado) on Wednesday, according to the team’s website. They brought in Trevon Bluiett (Xavier), Jevon Carter (West Virginia), Wenyen Gabriel (Kentucky), Caleb Martin (Nevada), Cameron Reynolds (Tulane) and Gabe Vincent (UC Santa Barbara) on Monday.
Bluiett also has workouts scheduled with the Jazz, Bulls and Suns, according to Xavier’s Twitter feed (Twitter link).
Montana guard Ahmaad Rorie will return to school for his senior year, ESPN’s Jeff Goodman tweets. He averaged 17.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG and 3.7 APG as a junior.
J.J. Caldwell will be going pro, as Goodman relays (via Twitter). The Texas A&M guard had a rocky college career, as he was ineligible as a true freshman, then got kicked off the team this past season in February for off-the-court issues.

Draft Updates: Gabriel, Bowen, Mokoka, Marinkovic

April 18th, 2018 at 1:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Kentucky forward Wenyen Gabriel has decided to declare for the 2018 NBA draft, but won’t hire an agent for now in order to retain his NCAA eligibility, he announced today on Twitter.

“After talking with Coach Cal (John Calipari) and the staff, they believe it’s in my best interest to see where I stand in the eyes of the NBA,” Gabriel said in his statement. “I’m confident I can play at the next level, but I want to be absolutely certain that this is the right decision for me at this time.”

In his sophomore year for the Wildcats, Gabriel averaged a modest 6.8 PPG and 5.4 RPG, but showed the ability to protect the rim (1.1 BPG) and hit outside shots (.396 3PT%). He’s the fifth Kentucky underclassmen to declare for this year’s draft, joining teammates Hamidou Diallo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Knox, and PJ Washington.

Here are a few more draft-related updates:

South Carolina forward Brian Bowen, who enrolled at the school in January, is hoping to be granted eligibility for the 2018/19 season. However, he tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN (Twitter link) that he plans to declare for the NBA draft just in case he’s not reinstated by the NCAA.
A pair of international prospects, French shooting guard Adam Mokoka and Serbian shooting guard Vanja Marinkovic, have declared for the 2018 NBA draft, according to their agency BeoBasket (Twitter links via agents Pedja Materic and Misko Raznatovic). Mokoka, who was born in 1998, currently plays for Gravelines in France, while 1997-born Marinkovic is a member of Partizan Belgrade.
Spanish wing Xabier Lopez-Arostegui has declared for the draft, sources tell Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link). Lopez-Arostegui has spent the season with Joventut in Spain’s ACB, averaging 5.7 PPG and shooting 37% on three-pointers.