Draft Notes: Boatright, Kaminsky, Brooks
De’Mon Brooks of Davidson has chosen Keith Kreiter of Edge Sports to represent him heading into the draft, per a tweet from Shams Charania of RealGM. Charania adds that Brooks is a potential second rounder, although DraftExpress isn’t as optimistic, ranking the power forward as just the 86th best senior prospect. Here’s a roundup of the rest of tonight’s draft notes:
- While UConn’s DeAndre Daniels chose to enter the draft this year, fellow Huskie Ryan Boatright has decided to return for his senior season, the team announced via Twitter.
- Boatright wanted to declare, but took the advice of those who cautioned he might not get drafted, per a tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski says that advice was accurate, and it lines up with the projections of Draft Express and ESPN Insider Chad Ford, who didn’t have the point guard getting selected in either round in 2014.
- Frank Kaminsky told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com that he will return to Wisconsin rather than enter this year’s draft. Kaminsky has been expected to wait to enter 2015 draft, where DraftExpress has him projected as a late first-rounder.
- The big man tells Goodman he wavered somewhat on his decision. “It was a tough decision, but I think the best thing for me is to stay another year and develop even more,” the 7-footer told Goodman. “I made a commitment to the school and I don’t think I can turn my back on the people who have been there for me.”
- An NBA scout tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that UNLV’s Khem Birch is a second-rounder at best who will need to work on his offense in the D-League (Twitter links).
Thunder Rumors: Brooks, Fisher, Presti
The Thunder are in a 1-2 hole against the Grizzlies, fueling speculation about the organization that expected to reach the Finals with a healthy Russell Westbrook for the playoffs. A few quick wins could quiet the chatter, otherwise it will only grow louder. Here’s a roundup of Oklahoma City notes:
- Westbrook spoke in support of Scott Brooks on Friday after Westbrook’s brother took to Twitter to call for the Thunder coach’s ouster, as Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman observes. “Me and Scotty have a great relationship,” the point guard said. “I’ve never once mentioned that I want Scotty to leave ever since I’ve been here. We created a bond with each other that’s grown.”
- Multiple executives tell Marc Berman of the New York Post that they believe Steve Kerr and Thunder guard Derek Fisher are the most intriguing coaching candidates in Knicks president Phil Jackson‘s eyes. Still, Fisher, who’s set to retire at season’s end, has said coaching the Knicks or any other team isn’t on his mind.
- SB Nation’s Tom Ziller looks ahead at the tough decisions that await GM Sam Presti if the Thunder come up empty in the playoffs again, as Kevin Durant‘s ability to become a free agent in 2016 looms.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Rudy Gay
Rudy Gay was so torn about whether to exercise his $19.3MM+ player option for 2014/15 when the month began that he couldn’t so much as identify the criteria he’d use to come to his decision. He now has little more than two months to make a choice that seemed a certainty in the wake of his trade to the Kings in December, when he appeared ready to opt in. He spent the rest of the season reviving his game to the point that accepting a season of guaranteed maximum salary is no longer a slam dunk.
The former eighth overall pick hit a nadir in Toronto at the beginning of the season, becoming the epitome of the inefficient albatross so many of his analytically minded detractors had regarded him to be. He was shooting just 38.8%, a career low, and yet he was taking a career high 18.6 shots per game through 18 contests with the Raptors, 12 of which were losses. His PER was 14.7, a tick below the mark of an average NBA player.
Enter an NBA owner and advanced metrics devotee who had a different view of Gay. Vivek Ranadive has said repeatedly that his numbers suggested that Gay would perform much better with the Kings, for whom he could be a secondary option to the inside presence of DeMarcus Cousins. Gay was a 20.1 PPG scorer in a partial season in Sacramento, an average identical to the one he posted during 2007/08, his highest scoring season of his eight years in the NBA. He shot 48.2% with the Kings, which would have exceeded his all-time best mark. He also dished out 3.1 assists per game, a volume great enough to set a new career high of 2.9 for the season.
The advanced metrics tell a similar story. His PER spiked to 19.6 in Sacramento, 1.8 points better than his previous career best. He notched .114 win shares per 48 minutes on a team that finished with 28 wins. Tellingly, the average distance of his shot attempts decreased to 11.6, nearly a foot closer than his career average, according to Basketball Reference.
Ranadive had coveted him for months and reportedly was the catalyst behind the trade. There probably isn’t an owner who’s a greater fan of Gay’s, or more willing to open his checkbook for the Octagon Sports client. Perhaps Gay feels as though the time to capitalize on this is now, before any regression happens, before another losing season in Sacramento spoils the owner’s mood, and before the Kings make another move that ties up their books.
There hasn’t been much chatter about an extension after it seemed in the wake of the trade that there was a decent chance it would become a topic of discussion. Former Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo had broached the subject before his ouster last summer. Still, unless Gay opts in and signs an extension after the end of June, it could only run two years longer than his current deal. It wouldn’t give him the kind of long-term financial security that a new, five-year deal from the Kings could provide.
Even a four-year deal with an interested suitor from outside Sacramento would probably ensure more money than an extension would. Some GMs said early in the season that he wouldn’t be worthy of mid-level exception salaries, but that group probably doesn’t include Suns GM Ryan McDonough, as Phoenix appears to have him in its sights. The Suns have been linked to a number of potential free agents this summer, as they’re set to have plenty of cap flexibility even with a new max deal for Eric Bledsoe.
Phoenix, coming off a 48-win season, might be an intriguing destination for Gay, who suggested in December that he wants to play for a winning team. He made similar comments when he spoke about his option decision at the beginning of the month, saying that while he can see himself continuing to play for a rebuilding team, it’s not ideal. Gay was part of a high-scoring trio with Cousins and Isaiah Thomas in Sacramento, but the Kings are miles from contention, and Thomas is set to become a restricted free agent this summer.
Gay has expressed a fondness for Sacramento and said in February that he appreciates the on-court freedom Kings coach Michael Malone and his staff have given him. Gay’s arrival in Sacramento was certainly a boon for his on-court production, even if it meant joining a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2005/06. The vast majority of that streak of lottery appearances was under the ownership of the Maloof family. Ranadive was right about Gay’s improved play this season, and his complete reboot of the front office and coaching staff since buying the team last year is reason for optimism. Sacramento has a decent chance to make significant improvements between now and the end of Gay’s next deal.
That next deal is one I think he chooses to sign with Sacramento after opting out of the final season of his existing contract. Hoops Rumors readers pegged his value at between $10MM and $15MM before his time in Sacramento began, and I think he’ll warrant salaries at the high end of that spectrum from Ranadive and company, if not slightly more. That kind of long-term money will more than make up for sacrificing his lucrative option year.
Karl, Fratello Interested In Cavs Front Office Job
3:40pm: Amico cautions that just because the Cavs don’t have designs on reaching out to Karl now doesn’t mean they won’t later, Amico clarifies (on Twitter).
3:18pm: The Cavs have no plans to talk to Karl about any position right now, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
11:27am: George Karl would love to be considered for the top job in Cleveland’s front office, and Mike Fratello would have interest, too, according to Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer. The job they appear to have in mind would be team president, though owner Dan Gilbert hasn’t indicated whether he wants to create that job to oversee the GM position, which David Griffin currently occupies on an interim basis.
A report in February indicated that the Cavs had interest in Karl, though it wasn’t entirely clear whether they thought of him as a coach or an executive. Karl, last year’s Coach of the Year with the Nuggets, apparently isn’t looking to return to the bench for a rebuilding team, and the Cavs, in the lottery for the fourth straight year, probably fit that description. Still, it appears Karl is eager to get back in the game.
“Being a leader, running a team and organizing a group with the common goal of winning a championship would be the ultimate challenge in my career,” Karl wrote in an email to Boyer.
Karl, like Fratello, is a former Cavs coach, and Fratello still lives in Cleveland, as Boyer points out. He was last on an NBA bench in the 2006/07 season with Memphis, and neither Fratello nor Karl has ever run an NBA front office.
Griffin’s future with the team is unclear, though he made comments this week indicating that he’d prefer to remain with the Cavs rather than jump to the Pistons or Knicks, teams to which he’s been linked. He seemed to give the impression that his job is safe, though he said he didn’t know when he and Gilbert would talk about it.
Central Rumors: Boozer, Billups, Pistons, Pacers
The Central Division representatives in the playoffs are in a world of hurt, with the Pacers stunningly behind the sub-.500 Hawks in their series and the Bulls facing an 0-2 deficit and heading to Washington for their next two games. Here’s more from a division that’s seen better days:
- Carlos Boozer‘s anger at Tom Thibodeau over a lack of fourth quarter playing time has intensified in the playoffs, a source tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Still, it hasn’t become a problem in the locker room, Cowley writes, praising Thibodeau for deftly handling the situation and pointing to the coach’s comfort with the Bulls as another reason to suggest he won’t head elsewhere this summer.
- Sam Smith of Bulls.com answers Chicago-centric questions in his latest mailbag column, and also suggests that Chauncey Billups undermined former Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks in an effort to curry favor with ownership. Billups has expressed interest in a front office role with the Pistons.
- The schedules of many potential Pistons front office candidates make it a tough week for the team to make progress on its search for a GM, writes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Ellis gets the sense that the Pistons aren’t too concerned with having someone in place in time for the draft and free agency.
- Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard dismisses the notion that Frank Vogel‘s job is on the line in the playoffs, but Vogel should take the fall if the team goes out early and he doesn’t bench struggling center Roy Hibbert, opines Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star.
DeAndre Daniels To Enter Draft
Connecticut junior DeAndre Daniels is headed into the NBA draft, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The small forward is No. 28 on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress list of the top prospects, while he checks in 34th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com, putting him squarely on the bubble to become a first-round pick.
Daniels, who turned 22 earlier this month, was a key part of UConn’s title-winning team this year, averaging 13.1 points and 6.0 rebounds in 29.0 minutes per game. His three-point shooting has improved consistently over his college career, vaulting from 24.0% accuracy as a freshman, to 30.9% last season, and 41.7% this year.
A lack of consistency has plagued Daniels, who followed a season-high 31 points against Temple with just seven against Rutgers. He sprung for 20 points and 10 rebounds versus No. 1 overall seed Florida in the Final Four, then put up only eight points and six boards in the championship game against Kentucky.
Harrison Twins Decline To Enter Draft
Kentucky freshman twins Aaron Harrison and Andrew Harrison have decided to return to school next season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The guards were highly touted entering the season, and Andrew was a particularly hot prospect, checking in at No. 8 on both Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and Chad Ford’s ESPN.com Big Board in late October. Aaron was at No. 32 with Givony at the time, but Andrew and Aaron have slipped to 39th and 53rd, respectively, in Givony’s ratings. Ford has Andrew 31st and Aaron 33rd.
The brothers were torn and went back and forth on the idea of entering this year’s draft as Sunday’s deadline to declare approached, Wojnarowski adds via Twitter. They were reportedly leaning toward going into the draft as of earlier this month, but people around the league weren’t enamored with them. The Harrisons heard from several teams that they would be late first-round picks, but they feel they can up their stock with another year in school, tweets Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
Andrew, a combo guard, averaged 10.9 points, 4.0 assists and 2.7 turnovers in 31.7 minutes per game for Kentucky this season. Aaron, who plays shooting guard, put up 13.7 PPG in 32.6 MPG. They’ll compete for shots and playing time on a loaded Kentucky team that returns potential 2014 draftees Willie Cauley-Stein, Alex Poythress, Dakari Johnson and others to go along with another strong recruiting class, so there’s certainly no guarantee the Harrisons will be in better position for the 2015 draft.
Lefteris Bochoridis, Martin Peterka To Enter Draft
A pair of longshot European prospects are heading to the NBA draft. Greek shooting guard Lefteris Bochoridis has officially declared for the draft, as his agents at Lotsos & Associates tweet, while a source tells Eurobasket.com that Czech power forward Martin Peterka will declare, too. Neither Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress nor Chad Ford of ESPN.com list either of them in their top 100 prospects, but Bochoridis is No. 19 among international prospects born in 1994, according to Givony, who has Peterka at No. 44 among those born in 1995.
The 6’5″ Bochoridis has averaged 5.2 points in 19.4 minutes per game for Aris BC in Greece this season, and his three-point shooting has been anemic, as he’s hit just 23.5% on 2.1 attempts per contest. Peterka has put up 9.1 PPG in 20.8 MPG to go along with 5.0 rebounds per game this year for BK JIP Pardubice in the Czech Republic. Peterka has stretched the floor at 6’8″, nailing 41.0% of his three-pointers.
College was a consideration for Peterka, but he’s ultimately decided to turn pro. He won’t be able to play NCAA ball after officially declaring for the draft at this point, but he and Bochoridis could still withdraw from the draft anytime between now and June 16th. Bochoridis won’t be automatically draft-eligible until 2016, and Peterka can wait until 2017.
Steve Mills Again In Running For Top Union Job
Knicks GM Steve Mills is once more a strong candidate to become the next executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, reports Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Many around the league had considered it a foregone conclusion that Mills would head the players union last summer, but that changed when the Knicks pulled off a September surprise and hired Mills to run their front office.
Mills lost his title of team president to Phil Jackson when the Knicks brought aboard the Zen Master last month, and Howard Beck of Bleacher Report wrote earlier this week that it was likely that Mills would cut loose or reassigned from his role as GM. Still, Jackson said Wednesday that hiring someone new for the front office is “not a priority.”
The union recently formed a search committee, headed by Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, to come up with a replacement for Billy Hunter, who was ousted in February 2013. Screen Actors Guild executive director David White and attorney Michele Roberts appeared to be the finalists for the position as of this past February, but the committee is to come up with a new list of three to five finalists by early June.
Failed Drug Test Pushes Mitch McGary Into Draft
Michigan sophomore Mitch McGary will enter this year’s NBA draft, he tells Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports, rather than face a one-year NCAA suspension for failing a drug test that showed he took marijuana. McGary had been thinking about declaring for the draft anyway, but the looming suspension “pushed it overboard,” he said, and it’s prompted him to turn pro in spite of back surgery that limited him to just eight games this season.
McGary was in line to become a lottery pick had he declared for the draft after his inspired NCAA tournament play as a freshman, but he’ll do well to sneak into the back end of the first round this year. He’s the 32nd-ranked prospect onJonathan Givony’s DraftExpress list and No. 41 with Chad Ford of ESPN.com. It’s unclear how much the failed drug test will affect McGary’s stock, but surely it won’t help his cause. There’s also disparity over which position he’s best suited for, as Givony lists him as a center, while Ford has him as a power forward.
Energy, athleticism and rebounding are the calling cards of the 6’10” McGary, but he leaves much to be desired on the offensive end, as Zach Links of Hoops Rumors examined in his Prospect Profile on the 21-year-old. He averaged just 9.5 points this year and 7.5 as a freshman. He came to prominence helping Michigan to the NCAA title game in 2013, scoring a career-high 25 points against top-seeded Kansas in the Sweet 16. He also pulled down 14 rebounds in that game, and he averaged 11.6 rebounds per 36 minutes over his college career.