2015 NBA Draft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Jordan, Ledo, Cauley-Stein, Hawks

December 6th, 2014 at 10:48am CST by Eddie Scarito

DeAndre Jordan‘s continued emergence as one of the best defensive big men in the NBA could put him in line to command a max salary contract when he hits free agency next summer, which would also be the first significant financial test of the Clippers‘ new owner, Steve Ballmer, Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times writes. A maximum five-year contract for Jordan projected at $103.5MM would probably nudge Los Angeles over the luxury tax threshold for a third consecutive season in 2015/16, which would trigger the repeater tax the following year, notes Bolch. Ballmer has stated that he would make whatever financial commitment was necessary to preserve the core of his team, but this dollar-for-dollar charge tacked onto the existing luxury tax fees will surely test the billionaire’s commitment to his stated goal, Bolch adds.

Here’s more from around the league:

Despite all the hype leading up to the 2014 NBA draft, this season’s crop of rookies are off to the worst statistical first year start of any rookie class in the last 10 years, Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com writes.
The Hawks have recalled Adreian Payne from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and have assigned Mike Muscala to the D-League, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (Twitter link).
With his 21 points, 12 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks against Texas Friday night, Kentucky junior Willie Cauley-Stein, “Made himself some money,” according to one NBA scout, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv writes. Cauley-Stein is currently projected as the 10th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by DraftExpress. The big man returned for his junior season specifically to improve his draft stock, notes Zagoria. “For sure,” Cauley-Stein said. “You know, that is one of the biggest reasons that I came back is to just develop myself more as a basketball player. I feel like I am just starting to do that. It’s only December. I still have three months left.”
The Mavericks have recalled Ricky Ledo from the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League, the team announced in a press release. In five games this season for the Legends, Ledo has averaged 12.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 2.2 steals in 34.0 minutes per contest.

Will Bynum Signs To Replace Mudiay In China

December 5th, 2014 at 8:32am CST by Chuck Myron

Will Bynum has officially signed with China’s Guangdong Southern Tigers, the team announced (translation via Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, via Twitter). The guaranteed deal is worth more than $1MM, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote overnight. Bynum will replace marquee draft prospect Emmanuel Mudiay while he recovers from his sprained ankle, initially on a temporary basis, and the team will decide later whether to make the move permanent based on how the ankle responds and the way Bynum plays, Givony notes (Twitter link). Wojnarowski first reported the sides were nearing a deal late Thursday.

Mudiay’s timetable for recovery is three to four weeks, according to the club, and with 13 games this month, Guangdong wants to have a capable replacement, while Mudiay wants to take a cautious approach, as Givony explains (Twitter links). Mudiay hasn’t been making as much progress as Guangdong would have liked with the injury, which has kept him out since November 24th, and there was some disagreement over his recovery timetable, according to Givony (on Twitter). The 18-year-old played 10 games before the injury, averaging 17.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists, and NBA executives told Wojnarowski that his performance helped his draft stock. Mudiay, who abruptly scuttled plans to play for Southern Methodist University this season to sign a one-year deal worth $1.2MM with Guangdong this past summer, is No. 2 in the prospect rankings of both Givony and Chad Ford of ESPN.com. The Spurs and Suns were among several teams to scout Mudiay early in the season, but the ankle injury kept others from traveling to observe the 6’5″ point guard, Wojnarowski writes.

Bynum, a Mark Bartelstein client, is landing an attractive overseas deal after the Celtics waived his guaranteed contract, worth nearly $2.916MM, in a crunch for roster space shortly after acquiring him from the Pistons in a preseason trade. The Chinese deal should allow Boston to recoup a small portion of that amount through set-off rights, though that amount wouldn’t be nearly as much as what Bynum’s new contract gives him. The seven-year NBA veteran will presumably be eligible to return stateside for the stretch run of the regular season, if not sooner.

And-Ones: Wallace, Kirk, Pistons, Draft

November 30th, 2014 at 9:35pm CST by Zachary Links

Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace is glad to be back in the driver’s seat, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald writes. “I basically stepped aside. No one told me to step back,” Wallace explained. “My role was reduced, but I intentionally stepped back from the players and the coaches. I did not want to be seen as someone that was a meddler last year. I went to games, but I did not interact with the players or coaches during that time. I stayed involved in the game. I was watching the college game closely and the NBA game and attending games at both levels, because I planned on getting back. I didn’t know it was going to be here.” More from around the NBA..

The Cavs announced that they have assigned center Alex Kirk to their D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge. Kirk averaged 23.7 PPG and 9.7 RPG in three games for the Charge this season. He has also appeared in three games for the Cavs this season.
The Pistons recalled Tony Mitchell from the Grand Rapids Drive of the D-League, according to the RealGM transactions log.
If the draft was tomorrow, Kansas guard/forward Kelly Oubre might not be a top pick, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Oubre has been seeing limited minutes so far for the Jayhawks, but there’s still plenty of season ahead for the frosh. He’s currently rated No. 5 in DraftExpress’ 2015 mock.

And-Ones: Labor, Mudiay, Prospects, Cobbs

November 28th, 2014 at 3:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

The sharp exchange between Adam Silver and Michele Roberts of late has seemingly served as indication that a work stoppage is on the way in 2017, but Roberts is optimistic that the sides will be able to settle their differences, as she explains to Chris Mannix of SI.com.

“But of course I think it’s avoidable,” Roberts said of a work stoppage. “Does anyone really expect Adam and I will sing kumbaya every day? We’re grown ups. He has a constituency, and I do. We disagree. But that’s the world. You know what we do agree on? We don’t want a work stoppage. Neither one of us wants to see that happen. We have said it to each other. We have said it out loud. Our teams are all smart, we all have the same goals and we should be able to sit down and avoid it. I’d be surprised, frankly, if we had one, but I’m ready if we do.”

While NBA fans hope that Roberts is right about that, here’s the latest from around the league:

About half of the league’s teams plan to send either scouts, executives or both to China to check out highly touted draft prospect Emmanuel Mudiay, and teams are calling almost daily for information about the point guard, a source tells Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling (Twitter link). Mudiay, who signed with China’s Guangdong Southern Tigers rather than attend SMU for what would have been his freshman season this year, is No. 2 in the rankings of both Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
Errick McCollum, who worked out for the Cavs, Kings and Rockets this summer, is one of several overseas prospects who are making a mark after having gone undrafted, as David Pick examines for Basketball Insiders.
German club VEF Riga has let go of Hornets camp invitee Justin Cobbs after what amounted to a one-month tryout, the team announced (Twitter link; translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Cobbs signed with Riga earlier this month shortly after the Hornets released him in advance of opening night. The 23-year-old point guard averaged just 2.0 points in 13.7 minutes per game across seven overseas appearances.

And-Ones: Realignment, Jones, D-League, Draft

November 26th, 2014 at 8:21pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Mavs owner Mark Cuban has come up with a proposal to level the playing field between the NBA’s two conferences that involves realignment, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com reports. In Cuban’s plan, the Spurs, Rockets, Pelicans and Mavs would shift to the Eastern Conference, and the Bulls, Pacers, Pistons, and Bucks would relocate to the west. Cuban acknowledged that Dallas could benefit from the shift, but added, “It’s not like it’d be the first time we’ve ever realigned. It’s happened many times before, so there’s precedent and I just think it shakes things up and makes things interesting. It’s not like you’re reducing competition. You keep Cleveland, Washington and other good teams in the East. It kind of shakes things up in terms of not just interest but also in terms of how people rebuild.”

Here’s more from around the league:

The Fort Wayne Mad Ants have acquired the rights to Dahntay Jones through the D-League’s waiver process, the team announced today. Jones last appeared in the NBA during the 2012/13 season when he appeared in 50 games for the Mavericks, and he spent the preseason last month with the Jazz. His career NBA averages are 5.6 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.
With the Lakers receiving a disabled player exception for the season-ending injury to Steve Nash, Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times ran down the long list of players who are mathematically attainable via a trade using the $4.851MM exception the league granted the franchise.
With an increase in higher-profile players entering the D-League’s player pool, it is lowering the incentive for fringe players to remain in the league, writes Gino Pilato of D-League Digest. A D-League team source told Pilato, “If you’re in there right now [player pool] and were either undrafted or cut in camp and not picked up yet, there’s no reason to stay. And with an abundance of guys either coming back early from Europe or deciding that the D-League is the best option, there are just too many new faces coming in to really consider the guys that other teams have already decided don’t have what it takes to play in this league.”
ESPN.com draft guru Chad Ford (Insider subscription required) runs down eight college prospects who have raised their draft stock with excellent early-season play, including Kevon Looney (UCLA); Justise Winslow (Duke); Buddy Hield (Oklahoma); and Kennedy Meeks (North Carolina).

2014/15 NBA Reverse Standings

November 26th, 2014 at 11:29am CST by Chuck Myron

The 2014/15 season is only about a month old, but many scouts and executives around the league are already preparing for the 2015 NBA draft. They’re no doubt cognizant of how their respective NBA teams are doing as they attempt to get an idea of where they’ll be picking, and with our Reverse Standings, which list the NBA’s 30 teams from worst to first, you can easily follow along, too. Hoops Rumors will be updating these standings daily to reflect the outcomes of the games that took place the night before.

The Reverse Standings take into account playoff teams in each conference, so they’re essentially a reflection of what the 2015 first-round order would look like with no changes to lottery position. Traded picks are also included via footnotes. For instance, the notes next to the Hawks’ and Nets’ picks indicate that Atlanta has the right to swap its selection with Brooklyn’s. For now, that looks like a plus for the Hawks, since they’d be able to grab the Nets’ lottery pick (currently No. 11) and send their own pick (currently No. 19) to Brooklyn.

The existence of the lottery means there’s no guarantee that teams atop the Reverse Standings will draft in the order in which they finish, but the worse a club’s record, the better shot it has at landing the cream of the 2015 draft class. This year’s group of prospects, which includes Jahlil Okafor, Emmanuel Mudiay, Karl-Anthony Towns, isn’t as highly touted as the 2014 draftees were, but there’s still plenty of star potential.

Our Reverse Standings feature can be found at anytime on our right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features.” It’s a great resource not just for monitoring a team’s draft position, but also for keeping an eye on whether or not traded picks with protection will be changing hands in 2015. Be sure to check back often!

And-Ones: Thompson, AK-47, Nets, Mirotic

November 23rd, 2014 at 9:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

After agreeing to an extension with the Warriors last month, Klay Thompson got some words of wisdom from his father, reports Billy Witz of The New York Times. “I told him, with a contract extension like that comes a lot of responsibility,” said Mychal Thompson, a former overall No. 1 draft pick and now part of the Lakers broadcast team. “Now you have to prove to people that you’re underpaid. That means showing up every night and playing at the highest level. Now you have to prove that you’re worth that.” More from around the NBA..

The Warriors gambled by holding on to Thompson instead of trading for Kevin Love. Right now, it looks like that gamble is paying off, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Meanwhile, Thompson was happy to get an extension done. “It was great,” Thompson said. “It was a big relief, but it was cool to see just how much the Warriors believe in me, and believe I’m a building block. It makes me want to go out there and play hard every day.”
There are “hints out there” that the market for Nets forward Andrei Kirilenko may be broader than reported, both in terms of teams interested and what Brooklyn could get in return, according to Robert Windrem of Nets Daily.
Nets guard Deron Williams wishes his team had the same approach to team building as the Spurs, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “[San Antonio] is a team you envy, because they’ve had a system, they’ve had a coach and pretty much the same group of guys for a long time,” Williams said of the Spurs.
Sam Smith of NBA.com is impressed with the play of Bulls rookie Nikola Mirotic. Mirotic is a tremendous shooter at 6’10” and also boasts the ability to pass off the dribble.
Comparisons to James Harden might be a bit much, but basketball people are high on Duke star Justise Winslow, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. “Top ten,” one veteran NBA scout told Zagoria “He is getting better, a little more experienced and he will slow down a little and soften his shot and watch out.”

Zach Links contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Mudiay, Gordon, Parsons

November 22nd, 2014 at 2:43pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Emmanuel Mudiay, a surefire lottery pick in next year’s NBA draft, has denied reports that he’ll leave China prior to the end of the CBA season in order to boost his draft stock, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv reports. Unnamed NBA sources were quoted as saying that Mudiay could opt to leave China early to keep his draft stock high if he’s playing well there, which would keep an aura of mystique around him similar to what surrounded Dante Exum last year, notes Zagoria. “This is all rumors, it’s completely false,” Mudiay said. “The media are the ones that like to come out with these things, but it’s not the reality.” Mudiay is currently projected as the No. 2 overall pick next year by Draft Express.

Here’s more from around the league:

In his weekly mailbag column, Nakia Hogan of The Times-Picayune addressed the possibility of the Pelicans dealing Eric Gordon. New Orleans still views Gordon as a key piece of the team and value continuity as they try to build a contender around Anthony Davis, notes Hogan. But Hogan also adds the caveat that if a deal came about that would make the franchise immediately better and help their future cap situation, then moving Gordon would be considered.
Hogan also believes that New Orleans should think twice about considering a deal for the Nets‘ Andrei Kirilenko, despite the Pelicans‘ need for depth at small forward. The Times-Picayune scribe cites Kirilenko’s possible off the court issues, as well as his ineffectiveness when he has played this season, as reasons New Orleans should pass on the Russian veteran.
In advance of Chandler Parsons‘ first visit to Houston since signing with the Mavs, the Rockets James Harden went on record saying the team was better off with Trevor Ariza, who replaced Parsons in Houston, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com reports. “His [Ariza’s] leadership, his defensive abilities, his shot-making — all three of those things are something that we were lacking last year,” said Harden. “[Ariza] brings that ability to the table this year.” The Rockets’ significant improvement on the defensive end certainly lends credence to Harden’s statement, notes MacMahon, with Houston lowering their points allowed per 100 possessions to 94.3, down from last season’s number of 103.1.

And-Ones: TV Deal, Okafor, Taylor, Powell

November 19th, 2014 at 8:51pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s new TV deal has prompted the league to increase the amount of money that franchises may borrow from the league to $250MM apiece, an increase of greater than 40%, reports Daniel Kaplan of the SportsBusiness Journal. The league is seeking to add about $1.5 billion to its coffers for the purposes of lending, which would bring that reserve close to $4 billion, Kaplan also writes.

Here’s more from around the Association:

The increase in the allowable debt level to $250MM for NBA teams is a sign of two things: the impact of the league’s $24 billion broadcast deal and the increasing valuations of teams, Nick Zobel of USA Today writes. The increase in the debt limit also makes purchases of franchises more attractive for potential owners because they are more readily able to secure financing from the league, notes Zobel.
Josh Powell has officially joined the Rockets coaching staff, Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets. Powell had turned down multiple offers to play overseas to pursue this opportunity, and he received a one-year deal from the team, Berman adds.
There is strong support from NBA front office types across the board for Duke center Jahlil Okafor as the front-runner to become the No. 1 overall pick, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com writes in a chat with readers.
Jeff Taylor‘s 24 game suspension for domestic violence isn’t setting a precedent for such cases, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). The league intends to handle these situations on a case-by-case basis, notes Stein.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: West, Draft, Butler, Jackson

November 18th, 2014 at 9:19pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Delonte West has been released by the Shanghai Sharks after making only four appearances for the team, Sam Amick of USA Today writes. West had played for the Clippers‘ summer league squad this year but was unable to secure a training camp invite. The 31-year-old guard had hoped to play his way back into the NBA but this latest setback in his career doesn’t bode well for that possibility, Amick notes. West last played in the NBA during the 2011/12 season when he made 44 appearances for the Mavericks.

Here’s more from around the league:

With the college season underway we are getting our first good look at a number of prospects who are expected to fill out next year’s NBA draft lottery. Basketball Insiders’ Yannis Koutroupis has released his first mock draft of the season and it is headlined by the Sixers selecting Emmanuel Mudiay, who is currently displaying his wares for Guangdong of the Chinese Basketball Association, first overall.
It originally appeared that University of Kentucky would keep NBA personnel out of their practices for much of the season after the Wildcats held an unusual October combine, but the school has let NBA teams know they’re welcome again, a source tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link).
Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders runs down the 10 biggest surprises in the NBA so far this season, which include the stellar play of the Bulls‘ Jimmy Butler, the Cavs’ defensive woes, and Reggie Jackson putting up career-best numbers for the Thunder. Both Butler and Jackson are set to become restricted free agents next summer and the competition for their services should be increased if they can continue their early-season performances, notes Kennedy.
Robert Covington‘s four-year, $4.2MM deal with the Sixers will pay him $1MM for the first year which includes a partial guarantee of $400K, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). Covington’s second year is also slated to pay him $1MM but is non-guaranteed, and the last two seasons are for the league minimum and include no guaranteed money, notes Pincus.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.