2015 NBA Draft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Knicks, Wolves, Draft

April 11th, 2014 at 10:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Knicks won tonight but their playoff chances took a hit when the Hawks also were victorious, reducing their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to one. New York has had its share of issues this season, but the one that sunk the team the most was the trade for Andrea Bargnani, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Besides acquiring his large and difficult to trade contract, the team could have potentially used the 2016 first rounder they gave up for Bargnani in a deal for the Raptors Kyle Lowry, writes Berman.

R.J. Hunter Won’t Enter 2014 Draft

March 25th, 2014 at 11:56am CST by Chuck Myron

Georgia State shooting guard R.J. Hunter will stay out of the draft and remain in school for the 2014/15 season, as his father Ron Hunter, who doubles as Georgia State’s coach, tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The 20-year-old is No. 59 on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com doesn’t list him on his big board, perhaps because Hunter has been expected to remain in school. Givony has him in his 2015 mock draft, rather than his 2014 version.

Hunter averaged 18.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 39.5% three-point shooting this season for the Panthers, who compete in the Sun Belt Conference. He popped for 41 points, including a 12 for 19 performance from beyond the arc, against Texas-San Antonio, but he went just 4 for 16 from the field in his final game, a loss to Clemson in the NIT.

Givony lists Hunter at No. 42 in his 2015 mock, suggesting he’s not far off from first-round consideration for next year. Goodman calls him an underrated prospect, so perhaps he’ll be a player to watch in 2014/15.

Lowe’s Latest: Draft Lottery, Wheel, Cuban

March 18th, 2014 at 9:17am CST by Chuck Myron

The current draft lottery system probably won’t last much longer, writes Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who examines a variety of proposals for changing the system. Perhaps at the root of much of the desire for change is what Lowe identifies as a growing contingent of owners and GMs whose only goal is to win titles, rather than maintaining competitive teams. Lowe goes over several ideas for changing the lottery, and we’ll highlight the ones that appear to be the subject of serious discussion around the league:

Celtics assistant GM Mike Zarren has come up with a new version of his wheel proposal, Lowe reveals. Zarren suggests that randomly selected teams go into “buckets” with picks grouped one through six, 25 through 30, and so forth, with a mini-lottery within each bucket to determine the precise pick that each team ends up with.
There is serious concern around the league that the wheel will make it difficult for moribund teams to improve. Lowe doesn’t specify which version of the wheel he’s referring to, but I assume the worry is over the original wheel proposal.
People around the league like the idea of an unweighted lottery system in which each non-playoff team has an equal shot at the No. 1 pick.
There’s also discussion about the idea of expanding the lottery to include the bottom 22 teams, and guaranteeing high picks to some of the bottom four playoff teams in each conference.
Many executives like the idea of factoring a team’s record over the last three seasons into the lottery. Mavs owner Mark Cuban is a proponent of giving the lottery team with the best record the greatest chance of winning the top pick, though he thinks it should be less than the 25% chance that the team with the worst record has of winning the lottery under the current system.
Cuban and others are also high on the idea of having a random draw determine every lottery pick, rather than just the top three picks, as is the case now.

Draft Links: 2015, D-League, Saric

March 11th, 2014 at 2:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

GMs are split on whether raising the NBA’s minimum age is wise, and one of them tells Chad Ford of ESPN.com for an Insider-only piece that there are a lot of teams “eyeing 2015 with some real fear” that the change will be made quickly, stripping next year’s draft of talent. Commissioner Adam Silver is a strong proponent of moving the minimum age up from 19 years old, but the issue would be collectively bargained with the player’s union, which remains without an executive director. I’d be surprised if it happened in time for next year’s draft, but whenever the age goes up, it would no doubt slow the rebuilding process for a few teams. Here’s more:

In another ESPN.com Insider piece, Amin Elhassan hears from an Eastern Conference executive about a proposal to raise the minimum age to 20 or 21 for collegiate players but keep it at 19 for anyone who entered the D-League out of high school. It’s unclear if the idea is gaining traction within the league.
Lottery prospect Dario Saric tells Toni Horvat of the Croatian website 24Sata that he believes it would be best for his development to stay in Europe, but the 6’10” forward says he won’t make a decision about whether to declare for this year’s draft until after the season (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).
Saric reportedly has a lucrative offer on the table from a Turkish team, and his father tells Horvat and 24Sata colleague Ivan Zuric that his son would also consider other European options that would allow Dario to see sufficient playing time. Predrag Saric wants to see his son remain in Europe for two more seasons (translation via Carchia).

Draft Notes: Embiid, Wiggins, Parker

March 5th, 2014 at 5:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

Commissioner Adam Silver’s desire to raise the minimum draft age by another year has fueled plenty of talk about the most effective way to develop NBA prospects. Tom Ziller of SB Nation takes a look at Mavs owner Mark Cuban’s recent assertion that the D-League should supplant the NCAA. College basketball isn’t going away, as Cuban suggests it should, but Ziller thinks a higher minimum age could result in greater use of the D-League as a conduit to the draft. In the meantime, here’s the latest from a landscape still dominated by one-and-done collegians:

Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker are Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in Jonathan Givony’s updated mock draft and top-100 prospects list at DraftExpress. Givony has Jahlil Okafor atop his new 2015 mock draft.
Chad Ford of ESPN.com agrees with Givony through the first two picks for this year, but Ford has Dante Exum going No. 3 to the Magic in his Insider-only mock draft.
Ford and Givony place Arizona shooting guard Nick Johnson 54th and 60th, respectively, in their prospect rankings for this year, but sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com that the junior is leaning toward entering the draft (Insider link).

Odds & Ends: Mavs, Kings, Draft, Cavs

January 29th, 2014 at 4:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson says he’s confident his team is attractive to marquee free agents, the sort he confirms the club will again be chasing this summer, observes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.

“The hope is … we’ll be able to [make a marquee hire] sooner than later,” Nelson said. “I think we’ve made an attempt to do that the last two summers. So much for second place. But, yes, that would be the plan and the hope at some level to be able to do that.”

Nelson also suggests the team won’t be aggressive before the trade deadline, and Sefko outlines the reasons why in a separate piece. As we wait to figure out what the Mavs do with the chance to open up roughly $30MM worth of cap space, here’s more on their rivals from around the league:

A group opposed to a $258MM civic expenditure for a new Kings arena has sued the city of Sacramento, report Ryan Lillis and Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee. The legal action has been anticipated since last week, when the city rejected a petition to put the funding up for a public vote.
The NCAA has cleared draft prospect Chris Walker to play for the University of Florida, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, who adds via Twitter that the decision makes it a near-certainty that the small forward will return to school for next season. Walker, ranked as the 25th-best prospect for 2014 on the ESPN.com Insider list and No. 27 at DraftExpress, could become a lottery pick in 2015, Goodman says.
Cavaliers GM Chris Grant expressed confidence today in coach Mike Brown and said he’s unsure if the team will make any changes to the roster in advance of the trade deadline. Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer has more from Grant’s rare chat with reporters today.
The Cavs have assigned Sergey Karasev to the D-League, the team announced. Carrick Felix, Karasev’s usual traveling partner on trips to the Canton Charge, is out for the next six to eight weeks with a stress fracture in his left knee.

Draft Notes: Embiid, Parker, Smart

January 21st, 2014 at 5:57pm CST by Zachary Links

Jabari Parker is universally regarded as the top talents in the 2014 draft class, but the Duke star may not enter his name into the mix at all. Executives around the league are reportedly starting to wonder if he might take an extra year with Coach K & Co. while his father says that he has yet to make up his mind. Here’s tonight’s latest draft notes..

The 2015 draft could actually shape up to be better than the highly-anticipated 2014 draft, writes Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insider. With Parker and Kansas center Joel Embiid reportedly on the fence about jumping in this June, they could help bolster a draft that features five big men with All-Star potential in Jahlil Okafor (Duke), Myles Turner (Undecided), Cliff Alexander (Kansas), Trey Lyles (Kentucky) and Karl Towns (Kentucky).
Parker and Embiid appear undecided on entering this year’s draft, but it’s common for players in their position to have some doubts, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders writes. Kyler figures there’s little chance either will pass up the chance to start drawing NBA paychecks next season.
Today on ESPN.com (Insider sub. req’d), five draft experts battled it out over some hot draft topics. The group looks at how Marcus Smart would fit alongside Magic rookie Victor Oladipo, who could fall out of the lottery, whether Andrew Wiggins would make the Cavs playoff contenders, and more.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Draft Rumors: 2015, Parker, Wiggins, Exum

November 15th, 2013 at 4:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

A pair of players widely considered to be among the five best draft picks for 2015 made their college choices today, with Jahlil Okafor headed to Duke and Cliff Alexander bound for Kansas. Longtime recruiting analyst Tom Konchalski told Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that if Okafor picked Duke, it might influence top 2014 prospect Jabari Parker to stay an extra year in school so he can play with his AAU teammate. That would be quite a surprise, but there’s plenty of time left before Parker and other potential 2014 early entrants have to decide whether to declare for the draft, so a lot can happen. Here’s the latest on the 2014 class:

Tuesday’s talent showcase at the Champions Classic was quite a spectacle, but it didn’t help at least one GM draw any conclusions, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick. “To be honest, I think (Tuesday) night muddied the waters even more,” the unnamed GM said.
Another GM gave Amick his top five prospects: Andrew Wiggins, Parker, Dante Exum, Aaron Gordon and Julius Randle. That’s the same top five that a GM listed for Zagoria, though it’s unclear whether those are different GMs or the same one.
Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times compares the 2014 draft class to the one that came 20 years before it, opining that Wiggins, Parker and Randle are analogous to Glenn Robinson, Jason Kidd and Grant Hill, the top three picks from 1994 (Twitter link).