- The Wizards will go the draft-and-stash route with the No. 44 pick, Issuf Sanon, Candace Buckner of the Washington Post tweets. The Ukrainian combo guard is just 18 years old and played in the Slovenian League last season.
In one of the major surprises of draft night so far, Michael Porter Jr. – who was once considered a frontrunner to be the No. 1 pick of 2018 – nearly slipped out of the lottery, going to the Nuggets at No. 14.
According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter), Denver strongly considered selecting Zhaire Smith before deciding to roll the dice on Porter.
Word began circulating hours before the draft that Porter could slide out of the top 10 due to concerns about the long-term health of his back and hip. Many teams were said to be put off by a medical report on Porter earlier this week.
As Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders tweets, at least one team’s doctors believe that Porter will require surgery on his back, and the possibility that he’d miss most or all of his rookie season was apparently enough to scare several clubs away. According to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link), the Wizards wouldn’t have taken Porter at No. 15 if Denver had passed.
Still, Porter makes for an interesting gamble for the Nuggets, who already have several core building blocks in place. He’ll join Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, and Nikola Jokic as long-term cornerstones in Denver.
The Wizards are working to deal center Marcin Gortat, but are refusing to part with the No. 15 pick to make it happen, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.
Teams to watch tonight, according to Stein, are the Mavericks, who have the cap space to take on Gortat, and the Trail Blazers, who have a trade exception that will cover his $13.57MM contract for next season (Twitter link). Stein adds that many more clubs will have the cap space to fit Gortat if a verbal agreement is reached on a deal that won’t be finalized until July.
It’s not the first time Gortat’s name has come up on the trade market, as Washington tried to work out a deal at the February deadline. Gortat has expressed dissatisfaction with his role in the past, and a mini-controversy emerged this winter when Gortat tweeted about a great “team” victory while star guard John Wall was sidelined after knee surgery.
A source close to Gortat told Ben Mehic of The Step Back there’s “a good chance” the center will be traded soon (Twitter link), adding that both sides believe it’s time for “an amicable divorce.” The Mavericks signed Gortat to an offer sheet in 2009 and may still have some interest, Mehic notes (Twitter link).
Gortat has been a steady part of the Wizards’ foundation for the past five years, missing just eight games since arriving in Washington in 2013. He played all 82 games this season, averaging 8.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per night.
The Celtics are giving strong consideration to signing Euroleague star Brad Wanamaker, international basketball journalist David Pick tweets. Wanamaker, the MVP of the Turkish finals with Fenerbahce, is a 28-year-old, 6’4” shooting guard who went undrafted in 2011. He has spent most of his pro career overseas, though he had a stint in 2012 with the G League’s Austin Toros. The Magic, Nets, Sixers and Heat have also expressed interest in him, according to Pick. However, Wanamaker has a $3.8MM contract with Barcelona that runs through 2020, so he may stay in Europe, Pick adds in another tweet.
In other news on the domestic and international front:
- Jonathan Jeanne, who was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome, has been cleared by his doctor to play, his agent told Sportando. Jeanne, a 7’1” center from France, was considered a potential first-round prospect before the diagnosis was made last June. He went undrafted and now will explore all international possibilities, Sportando adds.
- Veteran guard Jamal Crawford is looking for the best fit in free agency after deciding to opt out, he told Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Crawford insisted he wasn’t unhappy with the Timberwolves, despite leaving $4.5MM on the table. “For me, it’s just fit. I don’t think anything’s wrong (in Minnesota),” Crawford told Krawczynski. “There’s nothing wrong that’s not wrong anywhere else. It’s the NBA. Everybody’s not going to get along every second. That’s not realistic.”
- The G League Expansion Draft will be held August 22, tweets 2 Ways & 10 Days. The only team utilizing the draft is the Capital City Go-Go, the new affiliate of the Wizards.
- How does a swap of Chander Parsons and the Grizzlies’ picks at No. 4 and No. 32 for the Clippers’ lottery picks at No. 12 and No. 13 plus Danilo Gallinari sound? ESPN’s Insiders throws out a number of trade scenarios heading into the draft.
- Longtime NBA coach Larry Brown officially signed his contract to coach Fiat Torino in Italy, Sportando relays.
- Jerome Robinson will have an individual workout with the Wizards on Wednesday, the team announced today in a press release.
- The Wizards are letting teams know that they’re open to trading down from No. 15 if a team is willing to take on one of Washington’s expiring contracts, a league source tells Ben Standig of The Sports Capitol. Marcin Gortat ($13.57MM) and Jason Smith ($5.45MM) look like a couple of the club’s prime trade candidates.
- Depth has long been an issue for the Wizards, especially at the point guard position, and Candace Buckner of The Washington Post examines which prospects the team may consider at No. 15 if it looks to find a long-term backup to John Wall. Aaron Holiday, the brother of New Orleans point guard Jrue Holiday, is among the players Washington should consider, Buckner writes.
The Nets may be willing to package their picks to move up for Bosnia’s Dzanan Musa, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The 19-year-old small forward has spent the past week visiting teams that might be willing to use a first-round selection on him. The Nets hold the 29th pick, but may have to give up their second-rounders at 40 and 45 to get into Musa’s range.
Musa has two years remaining on his contract with KK Cedevita in the EuroLeague, but he plans to come to the NBA next season.
“I want to compete at the highest level and to compete with the best players in the world,” Musa said in an interview with CBS Sports affiliate 1430-AM in Indianapolis. “[My strength is] scoring: shooting, midrange floaters, to the rim. … I just want to get picked by the team who sees me as a project. But I think I’m a lottery pick for sure.”
There’s more draft-related news to pass along:
- Musa is scheduled to participate in a workout with the Jazz today, tweets Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News. With him are Louisville’s Deng Adel, Cincinnati’s Jacob Evans, USC’s De’Anthony Melton, Lithuania’s Arnoldas Kulboka and Duke’s Gary Trent Jr.
- Kentucky forward Kevin Knox tells Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer that he expects to be taken between the sixth and 12th picks on Thursday (Twitter link).
- Knox participated in a session today with the Hornets, according to a story on the team website. Also on hand were Oregon’s Troy Brown, Colorado’s George King, Maryland-Baltimore County’s Jairus Lyles, UNLV’s Brandon McCoy, Mercer’s Demetre Rivers, Western Michigan’s Thomas Wilder and Bosnia’s Billy Preston.
- Texas A&M center Robert Williams will hold a solo workout for the Wizards tomorrow, according to a tweet from the team. Washington holds pick No. 15.
- The Sixers also have a workout scheduled for Monday, mainly for players projected to go in the second round, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Scheduled to attend are Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado, Bucknell’s Nana Foulland, Butler’s Kelan Martin, Purdue’s Dakota Mathias, Arizona’s Allonzo Trier and George Washington’s Yuta Watanabe.
- Trier was part of a session Saturday for the Pistons that also included Purdue’s Isaac Haas, Texas A&M’s DJ Hogg, Wake Forest’s Doral Moore and North Carolina’s Theo Pinson. Maryland’s Justin Jackson had an individual workout.
Longtime NBA coach Larry Brown will sign his contract to become the head coach of the Euroleague’s Fiat Torino on Sunday, according to a Sportando report. Brown’s agent, Massimo Rizzo, said his client has already signed a letter of intent to coach the club but won’t ink the official contract until his press conference this weekend, the report adds. The 77-year-old will be taking his first head coaching position since resigning from Southern Methodist two years ago.
We have more international and domestic basketball news:
- Forward Donatas Motiejunas will remain in China next season, Sportando relays. He re-signed with Shandong for approximately $3MM, the report adds. Motiejunas played 34 games with the Pelicans in 2016/17 after beginning his career with the Rockets, but long-terms concerns over the soundness of his back sidetracked his NBA career.
- Australian swingman Ryan Broekhoff has visited several teams this week hoping to land an NBA contract, HoopsHype tweets. Broekhoff, who went undrafted out of Valparaiso in 2013, was scheduled to visit and work out for the Wizards, Timberwolves, Bucks and Nets, HoopsHype adds.
- Reggie Hearn, Jonathan Holmes, Amile Jefferson, David Stockton and Xavier Munford are among the 14 players who will be on the training camp roster for the USA World Cup Qualifying Team, according a USA Basketball press release. Training camp begins on Wednesday and the final roster will be pared to 12 players. In the FIBA World Cup Qualifying games, the U.S. will face Mexico on June 28th in Mexico City and Cuba on July 1st in Havana.
- The Hornets and Raptors are interested in adding Sergio Scariolo, who is currently the head coach of the Spanish national team, to their staffs, according to another Sportando post.
Newly-hired Magic head coach Steve Clifford recently visited Aaron Gordon in San Jose, California as part of an effort to get to know his players, tweets Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Gordon is a restricted free agent this summer, but reports have indicated that the Magic are likely to retain his services, even if they have to go up to the maximum salary to do so.
In April, Gordon addressed what his “ideal’ contract would be this summer. “Ideal is max,” Gordon said, per Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). “That would be ideal. Three letters. … Definitely here (in Orlando).”
While injuries limited him to 58 games this past season, Gordon posted the best totals of his career. Gordon, 22, averaged 17.6 PPG and 7.9 RPG for the Magic.
Check out more Southeast Division notes below:
- Magic swingman Jonathon Simmons underwent surgery on his right wrist in late April, a team spokesman confirmed to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Simmons missed the final 12 games of the season due to a wrist injury. It’s unclear when Simmons will resume basketball activities. In 69 games, Simmons averaged 13.9 PPG while shooting 46.5% from the field.
- Hawks big man Mike Muscala remains undecided about what he will do with his $5MM player option for 2018/19, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Muscala has until June 29 to make a decision on that option.
- While the possibility may be slim, LeBron James leaving the Cavaliers to join the Wizards is not that far-fetched, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington opines. Hughes writes that the opportunity to stay in the Eastern Conference, a chance to win now, and a fondness for D.C. are just a few reasons why James could consider the nation’s capital.