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Draft Notes: Culver, Fall, Edwards, Clarke

June 5th, 2019 at 11:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver made his case to be drafted third overall during a workout today with the Knicks, relays Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Calling himself “an elite two-way player,” Culver told reporters his defensive abilities separate him from other top prospects.

“Nowadays, it’s hard to find people who take pride in defense. But I’m one of them,” he said. “I take pride in defense. Being at Texas Tech taught me a lot, so I feel like on the defensive side I’m elite.”

Most mock drafts have Duke’s R.J. Barrett headed to New York, following Duke’s Zion Williamson and Murray State’s Ja Morant off the board. Culver said he’s confident in what he has to offer and doesn’t compare himself to Barrett.

“I feel like we’re great players, both of us,” Culver said. “He has a lot of talent, I have a lot of talent. And at the end of the day it’s not our choice where we go, it’s for everybody else to choose. So we just put in the work. I know he’s working hard, I’m working hard. So it is what it is.”

Culver already had a workout with the Lakers, who hold the No. 4 selection, and he has sessions scheduled with the next three teams in the draft, the Cavaliers, Suns and Bulls.

There’s more draft news tonight:

Central Florida’s Tacko Fall wasn’t able to participate in shooting drills with the Pacers today after rolling his ankle earlier in the workout, writes Wheat Hotchkiss of NBA.com. The injury doesn’t sound serious and the 7’7″ center made an impression by towering over his workout partners. “Whenever people see me, it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s tall, but can he play?,'” Fall said. “It’s something that I had to work on. I have worked really hard. I have great people around me that have helped me become the player I am today. I just have to keep working.” Others at the session included Indiana’s Juwan Morgan, Florida State’s Mfiondu Kabengele and Clemson’s Elijah Thomas.
Purdue’s Carsen Edwards, who worked out for the Sixers today, has also been through sessions with the Pacers, Jazz and Nets, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He has upcoming workouts set with the Bucks, Celtics and Thunder.
Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke has worked out for several teams already and has sessions scheduled with the Celtics, Nets, Bulls, Pistons and Timberwolves, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).

More Names Revealed For Team USA World Cup Tryouts

June 5th, 2019 at 5:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

Team USA’s training camp roster for the FIBA World Cup will be announced next week, but four players have already been confirmed, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.

Anthony Davis, James Harden, Donovan Mitchell and Kemba Walker will definitely be part of the team, while the other 14 slots are still being worked out. The roster will be trimmed to 12 when the players gather in Las Vegas in early August to prepare for the tournament, which takes place from August 31 to September 15 in China.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski drops a few more names in a full story on the World Cup tryouts, which sources tell him are also expected to include Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, Bradley Beal and Kevin Love. Others planning to be part of the camp include Eric Gordon, Jayson Tatum, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, LaMarcus Aldridge, Andre Drummond and Kyle Kuzma.

P.J. Tucker will attend training camp as well, tweets ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, and league sources tell Woj that Paul Millsap also plans to be there. Other names leaked for the camp are Tobias Harris (Twitter link from Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer) and Myles Turner (Twitter link from Scott Agness of the Athletic).

Zion Williamson, expected to be the first pick in the draft later this month, has been invited to camp as part of the 10-man select team that will scrimmage against the 18-man roster, Stein tweets. Williamson will be given a chance to play his way onto the final roster if he has a standout performance in that role, according to USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo (Twitter link).

The select team will also include John Collins and Marvin Bagley, tweets Tim Bomtemps of ESPN.

The camp will be held from August 5-8, with exhibition games to follow before the start of World Cup play. Gregg Popovich will serve as head coach.

Jazz, Magic, Wolves, Pacers Expected To Show Interest In D’Angelo Russell

June 4th, 2019 at 4:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz, Magic, Timberwolves, and Pacers are among the teams expected to display interest in D’Angelo Russell when he hits the free agent market this summer, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic. Of course, since Russell will be a restricted free agent, the Nets will open the offseason in the driver’s seat to retain him.

With the Nets expected to be in the hunt for top free agents like Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving, Russell may have to be patient and wait for those stars to make decisions before Brooklyn moves on him, as he acknowledged earlier this week. However, a rival suitor could speed up his free agency timeline by putting a huge offer sheet on the table, forcing the Nets to decide whether or not to match that offer once the July moratorium ends.

Still, the teams named by Charania as probable suitors for Russell don’t look particularly well-equipped to put together that sort of lucrative offer sheet. Neither the Timberwolves nor the Magic project to have any cap room available, and the mid-level exception obviously won’t be enough to make a serious play for the All-Star point guard.

The Jazz have a clearer path to creating cap space, but they might need to waive Derrick Favors to create the necessary room, which would be a risky play without any assurances that the Nets wouldn’t match an offer sheet for Russell. Tony Jones of The Athletic suggests (via Twitter) that Utah would only be interested if Russell becomes unrestricted or if it’s clear the Nets won’t match.

The Pacers are the one team in the aforementioned group with the cap flexibility required to make a strong bid for Russell, though they have plenty of moving parts to consider too, with a handful of starters and rotation players up for new deals.

Russell, who set new career highs in 2018/19 with 21.1 PPG, 7.0 APG, a .434 FG%, and a .369 3PT%, would be eligible to sign for up to $158MM over five years with the Nets, based on current cap projections. The most a rival team could offer would be about $117MM for four years.

Draft Workouts: Clarke, Caroline, Franks, Murphy, Bolden

June 3rd, 2019 at 10:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Potential lottery pick Brandon Clarke of Gonzaga worked out for the Heat on Monday, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. The 6’8” forward is ranked No. 13 overall by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. the same draft spot that Miami possesses. Team president Pat Riley and the Heat’s brass recently attended Priority Sports’ Chicago workout, in which Clarke participated. Cal State Fullerton guard Kyle Allman Jr. will also work out for the team this week, Jackson adds.

We have more draft workouts:

Nevada forward Jordan Caroline will work out for the Cavaliers on Tuesday, Jordan Schultz of ESPN tweets.
Washington State forward Robert Franks, ranked No. 94 by Givony, worked out for the Celtics, Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype tweets.
Minnesota forward Jordan Murphy will visit the Nets and Spurs, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets.
Duke center Marques Bolden will work out for the Knicks on Friday, Ian Begley of SNY TV tweets. He also has workouts scheduled with the Lakers, Spurs, Hornets, Cavs and Celtics.
Ole Miss guard Terence Davis will visit for the Jazz on Tuesday, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets. Davis has been asked to second workouts with the Celtics and Warriors, Jones adds.

Ekpe Udoh Considering Return To EuroLeague

June 3rd, 2019 at 12:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Jazz center Ekpe Udoh will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and there’s no guarantee he’ll remain in the NBA. According to Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News, Udoh is drawing significant interest from a handful of EuroLeague teams.

A source tells Woodyard that Udoh has “up to four or five multi-million-dollar offers” on the table from teams in Spain, Italy, and Turkey. Woodyard adds that if Udoh is interested in playing overseas, he could look to reach an agreement within the next week.

Udoh, who began his career with the Warriors in 2010 after being selected sixth overall in that year’s draft, remained in the NBA through the 2014/15 season, then joined Turkish team Fenerbahce for two years. He won a EuroLeague title with the club in 2017 and was named the EuroLeague Final Four MVP before heading back to the NBA with the Jazz.

Now that his contract with Utah is set to expire, the veteran big man could be intrigued by a return to Europe, where he’d have a more sizable role than the one he has had in the NBA. In 114 total games for the Jazz over the last two seasons, Udoh averaged 2.5 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 0.9 BPG in limited minutes (9.9 MPG). He’s open to staying in the NBA, depending on his role, sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link).

If Udoh remains in the NBA, he and his representatives will be able to talk to and meet with potential suitors beginning at the end of June. There’s nothing stopped European teams from reaching out to his camp before then, since they’re not subject to the NBA’s anti-tampering rules.

Jazz Could Pursue New Starting Point Guard In Free Agency

June 2nd, 2019 at 8:33pm CST by JD Shaw

With Ricky Rubio set to become an unrestricted free agent on June 30, the Jazz could be in the market for a new starting point guard moving forward, Kincade Upstill of the Deseret News writes.

The Jazz could pursue other available point guards in free agency such as Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Malcolm Brogdon, D’Angelo Russell or Derrick Rose if the franchise mutually agrees to part ways with Rubio, who has served as the team’s starting point guard over the last two seasons. However, Jazz vice president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey went on the record to state that Ricky could still re-sign on a new contract.

“He’s got a decision to make on his end and we’ve got a decision to make on our end, but there’s a lot of scenarios I can see Ricky back. … We really appreciate who he is and we think we can get him better from a health perspective and skill standpoint,” Lindsey said, according to Upstill. “We know who he is — he has Jazz DNA. So he’ll have options, we’ll have options and we’ll talk to him and his agent.”

Ricky Rubio Not Counting On Return To Jazz

June 2nd, 2019 at 5:29pm CST by JD Shaw

Jazz guard Ricky Rubio doesn’t appear to be counting on a return to the team for another season, with the veteran point guard making some rather interesting comments this week on his upcoming free agency period.

“Utah has already let me know I’m not a priority for them,” Rubio said, according to Ernest Macia of Catalunya Radio (Twitter link).

Rubio appeared in 68 games with the Jazz this season, averaging 12.7 points, 6.1 assists 1.3 steals in 27.9 minutes per contest. He’s set to join a talented free-agent group that includes point guards such as Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, D’Angelo Russell, Malcolm Brogdon and more, giving the Jazz several options to consider outside of Rubio.

Rubio, 28, was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. He has served as the team’s starting point guard over the last two seasons, spending six years with the Timberwolves before being traded to Utah in June of 2017.

In addition to Rubio (who made $14.9MM last season), the Jazz also have wing Thabo Sefolosha and center Ekpe Udoh to address in unrestricted free agency this summer. Utah finished with the fifth-best record in the Western Conference at 50-32 during the regular season, but the team lost to Houston 4-1 in the opening round of the playoffs.

Jazz To Work Out Bruno Fernando, Others

June 1st, 2019 at 11:03am CST by Luke Adams

Maryland’s Bruno Fernando, who also projects as a potential first-round pick, also worked out for the Celtics, and will do the same for the Hawks, Pacers, Timberwolves, Spurs, and Jazz, tweets Robbins. Workouts with Charlotte, Detroit, and Orlando had been previously reported for Fernando.
After visiting the Lakers on Friday, French center Darel Poirier had workouts lined up with the Heat, Sixers, Jazz, and Timberwolves, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando (Twitter link). Poirier played in the G League in 2018/19 with Washington’s affiliate, but remains draft-eligible for 2019.
According to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (via Twitter), the workout list for Indiana forward Juwan Morgan includes the Suns, Pacers, Bulls, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Jazz, and Kings.

Notes On Jazz Draft Workouts, No. 23 Pick

May 30th, 2019 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz worked out 12 draft-eligible prospects on Sunday, according to Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. Mfiondu Kabengele (Florida State), Grant Williams (Tennessee), Naz Reid (LSU), KZ Okpala (Stanford), Carsen Edwards (Purdue), Dylan Windler (Belmont), Nicolas Claxton (Georgia), Jared Harper (Auburn), Shamorie Ponds (St. John’s), Louis King (Oregon), Ignas Brazdeikis (Michigan), and Justin Wright-Foreman (Hofstra) all got a look from the club.
Many of those players could be in the mix for the Jazz‘s No. 23 pick in the first round. Tony Jones of The Athletic explores 10 prospects Utah may be eyeing at that spot, naming Reid, Okpala, Edwards, and Windler as potential targets. Jones adds (via Twitter) that Admiral Schofield (Tennessee) is working out with the Jazz this week.

Exum Staying Positive During Latest Rehab

May 24th, 2019 at 1:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Injured Jazz point guard Dante Exum is trying to focus on the positives as he goes through another rehab process, per Aaron Falk of UtahJazz.com. “It’s frustrating to go into an offseason injured,” said Exum, who underwent knee surgery in March. “But I’ve thrown a lot of my energy and time into planning what my offseason will look like so I can be the best player I can be coming out of it.”