2016 NBA Draft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Spanish PF Juan Hernangomez Enters Draft

April 18th, 2016 at 12:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

Spanish prospect Juan Hernangomez has declared for this year’s draft, agent Igor Crespo tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). A wide gap exists in the projections for the 6’9″ 20-year-old, with Givony pegging him a late first-round pick at No. 29 in his prospect rankings while Chad Ford of ESPN.com has him outside draft range at No. 71. Givony lists Hernangomez as a combo forward in his profile but refers to him as a power forward in his tweet, while Ford’s profile shows him as a power forward.

Hernangomez, who is the younger brother of Knicks draft-and-stash prospect Guillermo (Willy) Hernangomez, has offensive versatility and is a competitive rebounder, but his decision-making and youthful mistakes on defense are his shortcomings, according to Givony. Ford points to his standout midrange game as well as his lack of strength and underdeveloped post-up game.

He averaged 9.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in 23.7 minutes per game with 33.8% 3-point shooting across 28 appearances this year for Movistar Estudiantes of Spain. The club gave him a starting role for the majority of the season, a breakout campaign for him after he saw just 10.0 per contest last year.

Xavier PF Jalen Reynolds Will Remain In Draft

April 17th, 2016 at 6:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

APRIL 17TH, 6:54pm: Reynolds will remain in the draft and has hired Mike Silverman and Brandon Grier of Athlete Management Group as his agents, according a Facebook post from Shams Charania of The Vertical.

MARCH 29TH, 3:03pm: Xavier junior power forward Jalen Reynolds will enter the draft without an agent, sources told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). He’ll have the chance to return to college ball if he withdraws before the May 25th deadline. That seems likely, as Reynolds is a long-shot NBA prospect, coming in just 161st overall on Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider rankings. He’s outside the top 100 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, who simply lists him as the 21st best junior.

Reynolds only averaged 19.6 minutes per game despite starting in all but two of his appearances this season, in part because of foul trouble. He led the Big East with 115 personal fouls. Still, the 6’10” 23-year-old made the most of his time on the boards, pulling down 6.5 per contest to go with 9.6 points per game. He had one of his best outings in Xavier’s season-ending loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament, notching 13 points and nine rebounds.

Teammate Trevon Bluiett is also reportedly testing the draft waters this year. Unlike Bluiett, Reynolds entered Xavier unranked in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index, so he’s less likely to have been on the radar for NBA teams.

Draft Notes: Labissiere, Hield, Dunn

April 17th, 2016 at 11:27am CST by ChrisCrouse

Washington State power forward Josh Hawkinson, point guard Ike Iroegbu and center Conor Clifford have all declared for the draft, according to a school press release. All three have declined to hire an agent, so they will all be eligible to return to school if they withdraw their names by the May 25th deadline. None of the three are expected to be drafted.

Here’s more on the prospects in the upcoming draft:

Skal Labissiere has signed with Travis King of Relativity Sports, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
UConn sophomore Daniel Hamilton has signed with Sam Goldfeder of Excel Sports, Goodwin reports in a separate tweet.
Buddy Hield hasn’t convinced the league that he has star potential, but if he can prove that he can be more of a facilitator during the predraft process, he could improve his stock, as one scout tells Derek Bodner, who writes a piece for USA Today.
Kris Dunn is excited for the predraft process and views it as a opportunity to make believers out of the doubters, as he tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. “Every player in the draft wants to show what they can do and prove all of their doubters wrong. I’ve been doubted my whole life – on and off the court. I’m used to that and it definitely fuels my fire,” Dunn said.

Oregon SG Tyler Dorsey To Test Draft Waters

April 16th, 2016 at 6:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

Oregon freshman shooting guard Tyler Dorsey will enter this year’s draft but will not hire an agent, reports Jeff Borzello of ESPN.com. That gives him the option of withdrawing by May 25th and staying in school.

“My family and I just thought that was the best decision to make going further,” the 6’4″ Dorsey said, “giving me the option to come back to Oregon as well.”

Dorsey is not included in the DraftExpress list of top 100 prospects, but he is ranked 37th among NCAA freshmen. He is the 60th-ranked prospect on Chad Ford’s ESPN.com ratings.

Dorsey averaged 13.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game as he helped the Ducks post a 31-7 record and secure a No. 1 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. Teammate Dillon Brooks announced Thursday that he was also entering the draft and not hiring an agent, while Chris Boucher doesn’t plan to enter the draft.

And-Ones: Salary Shortfall, Maker, Isaac, Diversity

April 16th, 2016 at 5:26pm CST by Arthur Hill

An NBA memo says teams had an estimated $93MM shortfall in player salaries this season, writes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, players must receive 49% to 51% of basketball-related income. The league will finalize a full audit of revenue and expenses in July to determine the exact amount they will receive. The memo projects a $375MM shortfall for next season, which averages about $12.5MM per team. Also for next season, the league expects a $92MM salary cap and a $111MM luxury tax threshold. The salary floor, which is the 90% of the cap that teams are obligated to pay to players, would be set at $82.8MM. For 2017/18, the salary cap is expected to be $107MM with the luxury tax threshold set at $127MM. Seven teams are expected to pay $121MM in luxury taxes this season, with half of that earmarked for the revenue-sharing plan. The other half will be split by franchises under the $84.7MM tax threshold, giving them approximately $2.6MM per team.

There’s more from the basketball world:

The loophole that allowed Thon Maker to become eligible for this year’s draft may inspire future prospects to try the same thing, writes Jeff Eisenberg of The Dagger. Maker, 19, qualified for the draft because he graduated from high school in Canada in 2015, meeting both the age requirement and the rule that a year must have passed since a player’s graduating class.
Jonathan Isaac, who will be a freshman at Florida State in the fall, is no longer looking at this year’s draft, relays Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. The 6’10” power forward worked out for NBA scouts this week, but is focused on playing for the Seminoles. There were reports in February that Isaac was thinking of trying to go straight to the NBA from IMG Academy. He is 19 and is a year beyond his graduating class, but he wouldn’t be draft-eligible because he doesn’t have a diploma. Isaac is ranked 13th in the 2017 mock draft by DraftExpress.
Front-office diversity was among the topics addressed at the NBA board of governors meeting this week, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Oris Stuart, the league’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, made a presentation on the benefits of diversity in management. The league is putting together a Basketball Operations Associates Program for ex-players and others who want to pursue front-office careers.

And-Ones: Salary Cap, Draft, Jersey Ads

April 15th, 2016 at 4:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Croatian power forward Marko Arapovic will enter this year’s NBA draft, as he announced on Twitter, and the same is true for Slovenian shooting guard Blaz Mesicek, as his agent, Benjamin Stevic, told Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Both hold a degree of intrigue, with Givony having slotted the 6’6″, 18-year-old Mesicek at No. 32 in his 2017 mock draft, though he’s not in Givony’s top 100 prospects for this year. The 6’9″, 19-year-old Arapovic is 96th among this year’s prospects, as Givony ranks them, and he’s No. 100 with Chad Ford of ESPN.com. International prospects aren’t bound to NCAA rules, so they can hire agents and withdraw from the draft as late as June 13th.

Here’s more from around the league:

The latest official projection for next year’s salary cap is $92MM, according to a memo the NBA sent to executives around the league, notes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link). That’s an increase on the $90MM projection reported in February, though many had already estimated the cap would wind up in the $92MM to $95MM range.
Owners sense the league is prosperous and the collective bargaining agreement is working, commissioner Adam Silver said today about this week’s board of governors meetings, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com relays (Twitter link). Silver remains optimistic about avoiding a work stoppage next year as negotiations with the players union progress toward a new labor deal, tweets Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.
The addition of jersey ads, which the board of governors have formally approved for the start of the 2017/18 season, are liable to raise the salary cap $2MM to $3MM annually based on projections circulating around the league, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Silver estimates the ads will generate $100MM in annual revenue, according to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
French power forward/center Mathias Lessort intends to enter the 2016 NBA draft, YouFirstBasket.com announced (via Twitter). The 20-year-old is a long shot to be selected, not appearing among the top 100 players on either Ford’s or Givony’s rankings.
Vanderbilt junior center Damian Jones intends to enter the draft and will sign with Austin Brown of CAA, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com relays (Twitter links). Jones is ranked as the No. 21 overall prospect by Givony and comes in at No. 43 according to Ford. Jones has long planned to go into the draft this year, having said as much in October.
Former Pelicans big man Jarnell Stokes was named the MVP of the NBA D-League, the Sioux Falls Skyforce announced. In 28 D-League appearances, Stokes averaged 20.6 points and 9.3 rebounds in 30.7 minutes per contest.
Wichita State senior shooting guard Ron Baker has signed with agent Aaron Mintz of CAA, Goodman tweets. The 23-year-old is the No. 98 overall prospect in this year’s draft according to Givony.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Kings Get Lift As Drawings Break Ties For Draft

April 15th, 2016 at 3:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Kings were the most significant winners and the Bulls the biggest losers as the NBA resolved ties for the draft order in a drawing today shown on NBA TV and NBA.com. Sacramento won a three-way drawing that gives the team the eighth spot in the lottery order, meaning three teams from the bottom four in the lottery would have to beat long odds and move into the top three for the Kings to fall out of the top 10. The Bulls would get Sacramento’s pick if that happened, but it’s tough to envision that coming to pass, since none of those teams has more than a 3% chance to move up. The Kings could have fallen to 10th in the drawing, meaning only one of the bottom four teams would have had to move up for the Bulls to get the pick. The pick will be top-10 protected again next year, but if the Bulls don’t get it then, they’ll instead receive Sacramento’s 2017 second-rounder.

The NBA has a complex set of tiebreakers for playoff position, but when two teams tie in the draft order or for lottery position, the league leaves it to random drawings. The order is now set for picks 15 through 60. The lottery, set for May 17th, will determine the top 14 picks, as always.

The NBA essentially splits the lottery odds among teams that tie for those positions, though in many cases an even split is impossible. In those cases, a slight edge will go to the team that wins the drawing. The drawing results are reversed for the second-round order, so the teams that end up with better position in the first round have less favorable second-round position.

There were four ties this year. Two were simple and involved only a pair of teams each. The Celtics, who inherited the Mavericks’ pick via the Rajon Rondo trade, won a tiebreaker with the Grizzlies for No. 16, while the Pistons won a tiebreaker with the Nuggets, who previously traded for the Trail Blazers’ pick, for No. 18.

Sacramento won a three-team draw with the Nuggets and Bucks to get the eighth position in the lottery, and Denver then won a draw against Milwaukee for the ninth lottery slot. Most complex of all was a four-team tie involving the Hawks, Hornets, Celtics and the Sixers, who acquired the Heat’s pick through an earlier trade. Atlanta won a draw involving all four teams for the 21st pick, and the Hornets then beat the Celtics and Sixers for No. 22. Boston won out over Philadelphia for No. 23, sending the Sixers to No. 24.

Here’s a look at the first-round draft order as it will stand going into the lottery:

Lottery order and odds of landing top pick

1. Sixers — (could send pick to Kings; see note 1 here) — 25%
2. Lakers — (could send pick to Sixers; see note 2 here) — 19.9%
3. Celtics (via Nets) — 15.6%
4. Suns — 11.9%
5. Timberwolves — 8.8%
6. Pelicans — 6.3%
7. Knicks (will send pick to either Nuggets or Raptors; see note 5 here) — 4.3%
8. Kings (could send pick to Sixers or Bulls; see note 7 here) — 1.9%
9. Nuggets (could send pick to Raptors; see note 6 here) — 1.9%
10. Bucks — 1.8%
11. Magic — 0.8%
12. Jazz — 0.7%
13. Wizards (likely to send pick to Suns; see note 8 here) — 0.6%
14. Bulls — 0.5%

Remainder of first round

15. Nuggets (via Rockets)
16. Celtics (via Mavericks)
17. Grizzlies
18. Pistons
19. Nuggets (via Trail Blazers)
20. Pacers
21. Hawks
22. Hornets
23. Celtics
24. Sixers (via Heat)
25. Clippers
26. Sixers (via Thunder)
27. Raptors
28. Suns (via Cavaliers)
29. Spurs
30. Warriors

Second round

31. Celtics (via Sixers)
32. Lakers
33. Clippers (via Nets)
34. Suns
35. Celtics (via Timberwolves)
36. Bucks (via Pelicans)
37. Rockets (via Knicks)
*38. Bucks
*39. Pelicans (via Nuggets)
*40. Pelicans (via Kings)
41. Magic
42. Jazz
43. Rockets
44. Hawks (via Wizards)
45. Celtics (via Grizzlies)
46. Mavericks
47. Magic (via Bulls)
48. Bulls (via Trail Blazers)
49. Pistons
50. Pacers
51. Celtics (via Heat)
52. Jazz (via Celtics)
53. Nuggets (via Hornets)
54. Hawks
55. Nets (via Clippers)
56. Nuggets (via Thunder)
57. Grizzlies (via Raptors)
58. Celtics (via Cavaliers)
59. Kings (via Spurs)
60. Jazz (via Warriors)

* The order of picks 38 through 40 depends on the lottery. The Bucks’ second-round pick and the second-rounders originally belonging to the Nuggets and Kings will go in the reverse order of the picks originally belonging to each team in the first round.

Chinese Center Zhou Qi To Enter Draft

April 15th, 2016 at 11:30am CST by Chuck Myron

11:30am: Zhou remains under contract with his Chinese team for at least one more season with no NBA buyout clause, Pick tells Hoops Rumors.

10:34am: Chinese center Zhou Qi will enter this year’s draft, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical. Tony Leng, a representative for the 7’2″ 20-year-old, confirmed the news to international journalist David Pick, who hears Alex Saratsis of Octagon will serve as Zhou’s NBA agent (Twitter link). Opinions are split on Zhou’s potential, with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress pegging him the 28th-best prospect in this year’s draft while Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks him only 68th.

Zhou averaged 15.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in 34.2 minutes per game for Xinjiang Guanghui in the Chinese Basketball Association this season. The same team featured current and former NBA players Andray Blatche, Andrew Goudelock and Bryce Cotton, and several NBA teams saw Zhou in action, Pick notes (Twitter link). He had two points, three rebounds and two blocks in just over 12 minutes of play at last year’s Nike Hoop Summit, a premiere showcase that pits international talent against top U.S. high schoolers.

No guarantee exists that Zhou will remain in the draft, as international early entrants can withdraw as late as June 13th, since they don’t have to worry about NCAA eligibility. By NBA rule, he wouldn’t become automatically eligible for the draft until 2018, the year he turns 22. However, NBA scouts have questioned Zhou’s age, with some saying he’s already 22 and others saying he’s 24, as Pick reported in February (Twitter link).

Oregon SF Dillon Brooks To Test Draft Waters

April 15th, 2016 at 7:36am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 7:36am: Boucher won’t enter the draft “as of now,” Oregon coach Dana Altman told Goodman, but Brooks confirmed to the ESPN.com scribe that he’ll test the waters.

THURSDAY, 3:22pm: Oregon junior power forward Chris Boucher and sophomore small forward Dillon Brooks will enter this year’s draft but hold off on hiring agents, sources told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Boucher is listed as a senior in some places, but Oregon has him down as a junior, so it appears the community college transfer has one year of eligibility remaining. He’s the 63rd-best prospect in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings, though he’s outside the top 100 for Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Brooks is just No. 175 in Ford’s listing, but Givony classifies him as a 2017 prospect and has him 37th in his 2017 mock draft. Both forwards will be able to return to school as long as they don’t hire agents and withdraw by May 25th.

Boucher, a 6’10” 23-year-old, averaged 12.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in 25.8 minutes per game this year during his first season of Division I college ball. He displayed a touch of range, nailing 33.9% of his 3-pointers on three attempts per game. Brooks had almost precisely the same accuracy from 3-point range, hitting on 33.8% of his 3.7 attempts per contest, though that isn’t quite as impressive for a small forward. The 6’7″, 20-year-old Brooks compiled averages of 16.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.3 turnovers.

Both prospects came to Oregon from Canada, though Boucher is originally from Castries, St. Lucia. Neither appeared in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index top 100 as they came out of high school.

NBA Declares Thon Maker Eligible For Draft

April 14th, 2016 at 1:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

The NBA has ruled international prep star Thon Maker eligible for this year’s draft, reports Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Maker will hire an agent, thus forgoing his college eligibility, and formally enter the draft, Ford adds.

The 19-year-old Maker attends Orangeville District Secondary School in Ontario, Canada, but he graduated from high school last June. The NBA rule for American players stipulates they must turn 19 the year they enter the draft and be one year removed from the graduation of their high school class to meet the minimum standards for draft eligibility. Maker could also make a case that he qualifies as an international player and is thus exempt from rules regarding his high school graduation, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress pointed out. It’s unclear what basis the NBA used to clear him from the draft, but he’ll be a part of it nonetheless.

Originally from Sudan, Maker previously played at two high schools in Louisiana and one in Virginia. He’s impressed along the way, but his stock has been falling of late, as Givony and The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski noted. Maker is No. 41 in Givony’s prospect rankings, while Ford lists him 20th, a wide split that demonstrates the difficulty NBA types are having as they try to assess his value. So, workouts with NBA teams, which begin later this month, and the combine in May figure to be key.