Draft Notes: Okafor, Upshaw, Vezenkov
Duke center Jahlil Okafor is more concerned about finding the right fit than what draft spot he is selected at, Ian Begley of ESPN.com relays. “I don’t know that I should go No. 1,” Okafor said to SI Now’s Maggie Gray. “I don’t care. I just want to go to the right environment for me and the right team. I think the hype about No. 1 is more for the fans.” With the recent report that Okafor prefers to go to the Lakers rather than the Wolves, Okafor’s statement could potentially be construed as the player angling to be bypassed by Minnesota in June’s draft in favor of Los Angeles, who holds the No. 2 overall pick, though that is merely my speculation.
Here’s the latest regarding the 2015 NBA Draft:
- Big man Robert Upshaw has a wealth of potential, but him having been dismissed from two college teams due to substance abuse issues has put a damper on his draft stock, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes in his profile of the player. Upshaw is currently ranked as the No. 29 overall prospect by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) places him 38th.
- Early second-round prospect Aleksandar Vezenkov, who is expected to withdraw from this year’s draft, is garnering interest from a number of European teams, Vezenkov’s agent Nick Lotsos told Sportal.bg (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). “So far some teams showed interest in Vezenkov but there are no concrete proposals yet. We are not in a hurry to decide the future. We’ll consider carefully what is the best for him to develop as a player. Barcelona? It is one of the teams interested and Aleksandar is interested as well, but as I’ve said it is too early,” Lotsos relayed.
- A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com looked at a number of players, including Jerian Grant, Kristaps Porzingis, and Willie Cauley-Stein, who have improved their draft stock over the past year.
- Draft prospect George Lucas, who is also known as George de Paula, said the hardest part of the draft combine was the interviews since he is still learning English, Kennedy writes in his profile of the player. “The language is the most hard,” Lucas said. “I’m trying to learn English the best that I can, so it’s a long process for me and I’m trying to communicate with other people. I’ve always had an English class since high school, but I haven’t had a lot of conversations with other people.”
Central Notes: Dellavedova, Smith, Johnson
Shooting guard J.R. Smith has made the most of his time with the Cavs and is still working toward changing the perception of him around the NBA, Tom Withers of The Associated Press writes. “I’m generally a good person, that’s what the people who know me tell me anyway,” said Smith. “I’m just being me in a better situation. Unfortunately, this picture of me got painted early in my career, so it’s pretty much taken me nine to 10 years to get over it. To be in this situation with these guys, going this far and to be playing this well, it’s a dream come true.” Smith has a player option worth $6,777,589 that he can opt out of this summer if he wishes to become an unrestricted free agent.
Here’s more from the NBA’s Central Division:
- When asked his evaluation of the 2015 NBA Draft class, Pacers president Larry Bird said, “I’d like to take a couple home with me. The talent pool this year is very good. There are a lot of good players out there, so all of us sitting up here tonight should be happy about that,” Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star relays. In the same piece, Buckner runs down the list of prospects who have interviewed and worked out for the franchise thus far.
- Matthew Dellavedova has received his fair share of criticism this season as the Cavs‘ backup point guard, but the team’s faith in the Australian is paying off in the playoffs, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes. Dellavedova can become a restricted free agent this summer if Cleveland tenders him a qualifying offer worth $1,147,276.
- Arizona forward Stanley Johnson believes that he would be a great fit alongside the Pistons‘ current personnel, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press relays. “I know Reggie [Jackson] and I know Andre [Drummond] really well,” Johnson said. “They’ve reached out to me and they’ve told me obviously that’s where the team needs the help at. I think I’m a good player and I can help out in that way. I think with the position I play it’s wide open for me to come in there and do something special.“
Pacific Notes: Hill, Kings, Kerr, Lakers
The Lakers landing the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft lottery could spell the end for center Jordan Hill in Los Angeles, Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times writes. With the Lakers expected to select either Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor, coupled with Hill’s team option for 2015/16 worth $9MM, the franchise could find the veteran big man expendable, especially if it wishes to land a max level free agent this offseason, Pincus adds. The 27-year-old appeared in 70 games this past season, averaging 12.0 points and 7.9 rebounds in 26.8 minutes per contest.
Here’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Despite the Kings not moving up in the draft lottery, team executive Vlade Divac believes the team can turn the No. 6 overall pick into an asset, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. “We have some options,” Divac said. “I think this class of rookies are very strong. We should be able to get someone who can help us next year.” This could also include the team dealing the pick, Jones adds. “I think we should be very open,” Divac said regarding a potential trade. “Our goal is we want to improve next year. We want to be much, much better.”
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr downplayed his role in the team winning a franchise best 67 games, and said that he simply joined the organization at the best possible time, Brian T. Smith of The Houston Chronicle writes. “I can’t say I expected it but I knew it was a possibility,” said Kerr, referring to the team’s success this season. “It was one of the reasons I took the job. The team has great talent; they were on the rise already. And I felt like we could make improvement and that we would be right in the thick of it in the West. … I probably took over the team at the ideal time. They were good but very hungry.”
- The Lakers securing the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft has made the franchise much more attractive to free agents who are on the market this summer, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. “I think it is something that helps out their sales pitch in a big, big way,” one agent told Deveney. “The past couple of years, their pitch has sort of been, ‘Come play for us because we’re the Lakers and the weather is nice.’ That’s not enough. You’ve seen that. They have not had a direction, and that’s why players don’t want to go there.”
Atlantic Notes: Mudiay, Sixers, Celtics
While at the draft lottery, Sixers GM Sam Hinkie was asked if the team looked at Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel as franchise cornerstones, and how he sold the midseason trade of Michael Carter-Williams to the two big men, Zach Lowe of Grantland relays. “If your question is more about a particular trade we made, and how that might make [Noel and Embiid] feel, I called them immediately as we traded that person. Immediately,” said Hinkie. “I explained to them about how they should think about things — how some things spill over into others, and some don’t. That they shouldn’t read too much into these things. And I talked to them in exit interviews about what kind of program we were trying to build, and where they might fit in. And how the way they might fit has as much to do with them as it does with any grand design — with how they step into a particular void. Sometimes those voids — voids of leadership, of who the best player is, or voids in play — don’t stay open very long. Someone steps into it. They’ll have the first two chances at that, but there are gonna be maybe six more guys right behind them that will be looking to get theirs, too.”
Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Many insiders around the NBA believe that it is a foregone conclusion that the Sixers will select Ohio State guard D’Angelo Russell with the No. 3 overall pick this June, Derek Bodner of DraftExpress tweets.
- With the Knicks being the only team in the draft lottery to fall to a lower than projected pick, New York will likely be in line to select Emmanuel Mudiay this June, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv writes. Knicks GM Steve Mills already spoke with the young guard while at the NBA Draft lottery, Zagoria notes. “Mudiay is potentially a good player,” Mills said. “We haven’t worked him out yet, but he’s a guy that we think will obviously be in the mix, but we will look at all of our options and we will feel good about whoever we end up selecting.”
- The Celtics have workouts scheduled today with Aaron Thomas (Florida State), Anthony Brown (Stanford), Dez Wells (Maryland), Malcolm Miller (Holy Cross), Julian Washburn (UTEP), SirDominic Pointer (St. John’s), Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com relays (Twitter link).
Northwest Notes: Wolves, Thunder, Lopez
The Timberwolves secured the top pick in Tuesday night’s NBA Draft lottery, and though the franchise is unlikely to trade the pick, team owner Glen Taylor indicated that the idea will at least be discussed internally, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes. “You never know what it could mean, if you could get the right one or two guys that could change your team,” Taylor said. “When you already have a bunch of young guys, you have to look at this type of stuff. But I think it’s a very hard decision to make.”
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- The Wolves owner also noted that the Cavs were reluctant to part with Andrew Wiggins, last year’s No. 1 overall pick, in the deal for Kevin Love, Berger adds. “They didn’t want to do that,” Taylor said. “I can tell you, because I ended up negotiating with their owner. They didn’t want to do that, because you just don’t know how good Wiggins could be in the future and you’re going to hear about that forever and ever and ever. So I think it’s probably highly unlikely, but I think it’s part of the discussion.”
- The Thunder achieved payroll flexibility as a result of the James Harden trade, and while the deal hasn’t resulted in an NBA title as a result, it has allowed the franchise to add a number of useful players to its roster, Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman writes.
- Robin Lopez is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and the big man indicated that he would like to return to the Blazers for the 2015/16 campaign, Mike Richman of The Oregonian writes. “Nothing’s 100% certain,” Lopez said. “Obviously I’ve loved my time here in Portland. I would love to come back. I’d be very open to coming back, but it’s hard to say 100%. You just never know what’s going to happen.“
- With the Timberwolves having secured the top overall pick in June, Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders breaks down Minnesota’s potential choices and what each player could bring to the franchise. The three players who make the most sense for the franchise to potentially take are Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor, or Emmanuel Mudiay, Brigham opines.
Southeast Notes: Grant, Hornets, Heat
Notre Dame point guard Jerian Grant tells Hoops Rumors (Twitter link) that he’ll be working out for the Hornets on June 8th. That audition will mark just the second team workout for Grant, who previously worked out for the Pacers.
Grant and his agent are hearing (link) that he could go as high as No. 8 with teams estimating his range to be somewhere between No. 8 and No. 20. He added that based on those rumblings, it sounds unlikely that he’ll be available for teams selecting beyond No. 22. Stay tuned for Grant’s entire conversation with Hoops Rumors as a part of our Draft Prospect Q&A series which also features conversations with Cameron Payne, Richaun Holmes, and more.
Here’s today’s look at the Southeast Division..
- Historically, the No. 10 pick — owned by the Heat this year — has produced plenty of high-caliber, rotation-worthy players, as Couper Moorhead of Heat.com writes. Some of the most notable players to come off the board at No. 10 include Paul Pierce, Eddie Jones, Jason Terry, and Joe Johnson. In recent years, Brook Lopez, Andrew Bynum, Paul George, and Brandon Jennings have heard their names called at No. 10.
- Heat president Pat Riley has indicated that he’ll be looking for perimeter defending and three-point shooting in the draft, Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald writes. In a perfect world, Riley has said he would like a player similar to Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson, who was the 11th pick of the 2011 draft.
- The Magic weren’t thrilled to land at No. 5, but GM Rob Hennigan and CEO Alex Martins put a positive spin on it, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel writes. “We feel good about it,” Hennigan said. “We stayed where we expected to stay. Luckily, we didn’t move back, so we’ll take the hand that was dealt to us and certainly make the most of the pick we have.”
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel is less bullish about the talent available at No. 5 and he feels that the Magic should dangle the pick in a trade.
- More from Schmitz, who looked back at Kyle O’Quinn‘s season. Fellow Sentinel scribe Josh Robbins reported last month that the Magic will make O’Quinn the qualifying offer necessary for them to be able to match offers for him in free agency this summer.
Wizards Ready To Give Max To Bradley Beal
The Wizards have made it clear that they’re committed to paying Bradley Beal the maximum salary, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes amid his Playoff Buzz column. Berger raises the question of whether it’ll come in the form of an extension this offseason or a new contract in the summer of 2016, though J. Michael of CSNWashington.com reported in October that the club was planning an extension for the promising shooting guard. Coach Randy Wittman signaled earlier this week that the Wizards intend to keep Beal, whose rookie scale contract expires after next season, for the long term.
Giving Beal the max, regardless of whether it comes in the form of an extension or a new contract, would be a bold investment from Washington, since the deal would kick in just as the salary cap jumps to a projected $89MM for 2015/16. League execs nonetheless told Shams Charania of RealGM that they were confident that Beal would be able to command the max this summer, as Charania reported in November. Max salaries rise right along with the cap, and Beal would garner an estimated starting salary of around $21MM, about $4MM more than the team is set to pay John Wall that season.
Wall just finished the first season of a five-year max extension he signed in 2013, which made him the team’s Designated Player. That means the Wizards can’t give Beal an extension that covers more than four seasons, though they can ink him to a new five-year contract if they allow him to hit restricted free agency in 2016.
Washington also stands to benefit from a new contract instead of an extension because that would allow the team to keep Beal’s 2015/16 cap hold of about $11.389MM on the books into the summer of 2016, as Berger points out. D.C. native Kevin Durant is poised to headline the 2016 free agent class and it’s no secret that the Wizards would like to talk him into a homecoming. Passing on an extension with Beal and signing him in restricted free agency could afford the team an extra $10MM or so in flexibility to chase Durant or other targets in 2016. The Wizards could wait to officially sign Beal while chasing other free agents, though there’s always the risk that Beal would find an offer sheet with terms more to his liking from another team, forcing Washington to decide whether to match. Making it clear that they intend to give him the max would dissipate that threat, however.
Melvin Hunt’s Chances At Nuggets Job Improving
2:45pm: The Nuggets are “not an option” for Thibodeau, sources tell Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, though it’s unclear if there’s a lack of interest from Denver’s side, from Thibodeau’s, or both.
12:46pm: The odds that the Nuggets will formally fill their head coaching vacancy with interim coach Melvin Hunt are getting better, though Mike D’Antoni remains in the mix, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Scott Brooks has dropped out of the running, as Adrian Wojnarowski reported today, and while the field of potential coaching candidates remains wide, the emergence of the Pelicans on the coaching market last week has given Denver more competition.
The Nuggets are apparently willing to spend, as Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post heard, and it’s believed that Tom Thibodeau is the front-runner if he becomes available, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Of course, Thibs appears to be the front-runner elsewhere, too, so there are plenty of obstacles between the Nuggets and him. Alvin Gentry is a Nuggets candidate, too, but he’s already interviewed with the Pelicans, according to Wojnarowski. Gentry’s also an apparent favorite to replace Thibodeau in Chicago if he and the Bulls indeed part ways. Michael Malone, Scott Skiles, Fred Hoiberg and David Vanterpool are others who’ve been in contention for the job, as Wojnarowski reported last month.
The team’s search was to have intensified within the last couple of weeks, Dempsey wrote earlier this month, though it still seemed likely then that it would run through May. The Nuggets apparently prefer a veteran, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, but GM Tim Connelly said last month that the team would indeed consider Hunt, who had never held an NBA head coaching job before taking over for the fired Brian Shaw in March.
D’Antoni has spent parts of a dozen seasons, including one with Denver, as an NBA head coach, and Stein first identified him as a likely candidate in the immediate wake of Shaw’s dismissal. Other names that surfaced at that time include Mark Jackson, Adrian Griffin, Avery Johnson, Vinny Del Negro, Nate McMillan, Pelicans assistant Brian Gates and Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga, though there hasn’t been much to advance the idea that any of them are indeed in the picture for Denver.
Interest Remains Between Celtics, JaVale McGee
The notion of JaVale McGee and the Celtics circling back to negotiate a deal this summer isn’t out of the question after the sides failed to close on a contract in early March, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Boston wouldn’t be able to sign him until after the July Moratorium, and it would be surprising if the Celtics prioritized him, but it appears as though there’s an opportunity for the 7-footer to return to the NBA after he went unsigned following his release from the Sixers.
Blakely suggests that a two-year deal with a player option for 2016/17 would be in order, though it’s not entirely clear if that’s merely speculation. Negotiations between the Celtics and the B.J. Armstrong client this past season reportedly fell apart over McGee’s insistence on a player option for 2015/16, though weeks later the center backed off the idea that he had to have a player option wherever he signed.
The Celtics have only about $40.4MM committed for next season, so they can open significant cap room, though doing so would wipe out the team’s copious trade exceptions. Still, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see McGee settle for the minimum, since Philadelphia’s obligated to $12MM for McGee next season after waiving him shortly after the trade deadline without striking any sort of buyout arrangement.
The Mavs apparently had serious interest in McGee this spring but later dropped out, and he was also linked to the Rockets, Raptors and Heat. The Sixers acquired him along with a protected first-round pick from the Nuggets at the deadline. The 27-year-old put up career lows this season in several categories, including his 11.1 minutes per game across 23 appearances split between Denver and Philadelphia as he struggled to regain his health after missing all but five games last season with a stress fracture in his left leg.
Leonard, Green, Allen Lead All-Defensive Teams
Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green, Tony Allen, DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul comprise this year’s All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced via press release. Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler, Andrew Bogut, John Wall and Tim Duncan are on the second team. Bogut’s selection is perhaps most important, since he triggers a bonus worth 15% of his nearly $12.973MM salary for this season, giving him approximately $1.946MM in extra pay. It also means his cap hit for next season jumps to $13.8MM instead of $12MM, since the bonus will fall in the category of a likely bonus. Still, the extra $1.8MM wouldn’t count against the tax next season unless Bogut again plays in 65 games and makes an All-Defensive team.
Leonard was the leading vote-getter from the media members who cast the ballots, which is no surprise, since he also won the Defensive Player of the Year award. The latest honor is further ammunition for a max contract this summer from the Spurs, though it appears he and San Antonio were already set to quickly agree to terms on one come July. Green and Jordan are also soon-to-be free agents on the first team, while Butler and Duncan are heading to free agency from the second team.
Davis, who’s eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer, topped the voting among second-teamers. The balloting went by a points system in which two points were awarded for a first team vote and one point for a second. Rudy Gobert, who received five first team votes, garnered the most points among those who missed the cut for both teams. LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Avery Bradley, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Klay Thompson, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley were others who garnered multiple first team votes but didn’t make it on either team. Click here to see how each media member voted.