2016 NBA Draft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Dunleavy Sr., Diallo, Murray

March 30th, 2016 at 10:22pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Mike Dunleavy Sr. has officially been hired as head coach of Tulane, the university announced. “We could not be more excited to welcome Mike Dunleavy to the Green Wave family,” Tulane’s athletic director Troy Dannen said. “His reputation as a great evaluator of talent, master of strategy and teacher of the game define him today as one of the top basketball minds in the country at any level. His commitment to Tulane athletics is a game changer for our program.” Dunleavy has zero college coaching experience but owns a career NBA mark of 613-716 from his stints with the Lakers, Bucks, Trail Blazers and Clippers.

Here’s more from around the league:

Hawaii junior combo forward Stefan Jankovic intends to sign with an agent and enter the 2016 NBA draft, Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com reports (via Twitter). The 22-year-old is the No. 78 ranked junior according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
Creighton junior point guard Maurice Watson Jr. intends to declare for the draft but won’t hire an agent, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets. Watson is the No. 70 ranked junior according to Givony.
Kansas freshman forward/center Cheick Diallo, who has announced his intention to enter this year’s NBA draft, may be better served to return to school for another season, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays. “He will get drafted but he could be in a much better position if he stayed another year to develop. He is headed to the D-League if he stays in the draft,” an NBA executive told Zagoria regarding Diallo’s NBA prospects. The young big man is currently ranked 36th in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider rankings and 39th according to Givony.
University of Washington freshman Dejounte Murray intends to sign with agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, reports Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group (on Twitter). Hiring an agent would eliminate the possibility of the combo guard returning to school in 2016/17. The 19-year-old is the No. 37 overall prospect, according to Givony, though Haynes notes that Murray is a potential lottery selection come June.
The Celtics have assigned James Young to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Young’s 12th jaunt to Maine on the season.

Malik Beasley To Enter Draft

March 30th, 2016 at 7:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

MARCH 30th, 7:52pm: Beasley has hired ASM Sports to represent him, which would eliminate the opportunity for him to return to Florida State, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets.

MARCH 21st, 8:15pm: Florida State has announced that freshman Malik Beasley will enter the NBA draft, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. Goodman doesn’t believe Beasley is simply taking advantage of new regulations that allow players to work out for NBA teams without losing their eligibility, suggesting his ultimate decision may match up with that of fellow FSU freshman Dwayne Bacon Jr. (Twitter link).

A 6’4″ shooting guard, Beasley averaged 15.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Seminoles, whose season ended last week with a loss to Valparaiso in the NIT. ESPN draft specialist Chad Ford puts him “firmly on the first-round bubble” (Twitter link). Ford has Beasley listed 45th overall and eighth among shooting guards in his latest mock draft. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress puts Beasley 32nd on his list of the top 100 prospects.

Beasley would have been “foolish” not to enter the draft this year, tweets Mike Schmitz of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. In his evaluation of the 19-year-old, Schmitz says Beasley offers athleticism, shooting and slashing ability and is particularly dangerous in the open court. Question marks include his abilities as a shot creator, playmaker and defender.

Brannen Greene To Enter NBA Draft

March 30th, 2016 at 3:44pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kansas swingman Brannen Greene intends to enter the 2016 NBA draft, Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com reports (via Twitter). The junior intends to hire an agent, which would eliminate the opportunity for Greene to withdraw and return to school for his senior campaign, Rothstein adds.

Greene’s decision to hire an agent is a risky one, given that he is currently ranked No. 173 overall by Chad Ford of ESPN.com and is the No. 23 ranked junior by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. The 6’7″ small forward entered college as the No. 33 prospect in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index.

The 21-year-old appeared in 29 games this season and averaged just 5.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 12.4 minutes per outing. His career NCAA numbers are 4.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists to accompany a shooting line of .446/.422/.872.

Isaiah Whitehead To Enter NBA Draft

March 30th, 2016 at 3:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

MARCH 30th, 3:20pm: Whitehead confirmed that he is entering the NBA draft via his personal Twitter account. The shooting guard also relayed that he doesn’t intend to hire an agent at this time.

MARCH 18th, 10:15pm: Seton Hall shooting guard Isaiah Whitehead intends to enter the 2016 NBA Draft, Pirates coach Kevin Willard tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. The 21-year-old is currently ranked as the 30th best sophomore in the NCAA by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and he lands at No. 30 overall on Chad Ford of ESPN.com‘s big board.

Despite his reported intent on entering the NBA next season, it doesn’t mean that Whitehead is necessarily draft-bound, as new rules allow underclassmen to “test the waters” and take part in the NBA combine while still maintaining their college eligibility should they decide to withdraw from the draft. It’s unclear if the sophomore intends to hire an agent, Zagoria notes. However, if Whitehead does secure representation, it would preclude him from returning to school in 2016/17 per NCAA rules.

Whitehead appeared in 34 games this season and averaged 18.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 32.3 minutes per contest. His slash line for the campaign is .379/.365/.760.

Demetrius Jackson To Enter Draft

March 29th, 2016 at 9:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 9:22pm: Jackson intends to hire an agent, Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com tweets. If Jackson does indeed secure representation, it would eliminate his ability to return to Notre Dame next season.

MONDAY, 7:58am: Notre Dame junior point guard Demetrius Jackson will enter his name in the draft but hold off on hiring an agent, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv confirms (Twitter link). Coach Mike Brey indicated as much after the Fighting Irish’s loss Sunday to North Carolina, though Jackson stopped short of stating his intentions, according to Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune (Twitter links). No final decision is due until May 25th, the deadline for early entrants to withdraw from the draft and retain their college eligibility.

Projections are split for the 21-year-old who ranks No. 11 in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress listings but just 25th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com. A shallow point guard crop and Jackson’s intriguing set of tools led to his high DraftExpress ranking, Givony tweets. Jackson no doubt helped himself Sunday when he scored 26 points against the top-seeded Tar Heels. He’s averaging 15.8 points, 4.7 assists and 2.2 turnovers per game, but it’s his capabilities, including his explosiveness, strength, scoring ability, playmaking and defense, that make the case for him rather than production, according to Givony and DraftExpress colleague Mike Schmitz.

Jackson’s numbers nonetheless steadily improved throughout his college career. He averaged just 6.0 points per game as a freshman after entering college as the No. 33 prospect in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index.

UConn C Amida Brimah To Test Draft Waters

March 29th, 2016 at 3:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

Connecticut junior center Amida Brimah has declared for the draft, league sources told Shams Charania of The Vertical. He has no immediate plans to sign with an agent, and he’ll retain his college eligibility as long as he doesn’t hire representation and withdraws by the May 25th deadline. Brimah is just 123rd in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider rankings, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress lists him at No. 57 in his 2017 mock draft. That lends credence to the idea that the 7’0″ 22-year-old will be back with the Huskies next season, though he’ll work to draw the attention of NBA teams this spring, Charania writes.

Brimah was second in NCAA Division I with 3.5 blocks per game during the 2014/15 season, but he swatted only 2.7 per contest this past season as his minutes declined and he fell out of the starting lineup. He nonetheless found a way to up his rebounding despite seeing less time on the court, but his 4.6 boards per game were still low, considering his size. The 7-footer blocked five shots and collected seven rebounds against Colorado in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, one of his better performances of the season.

He was outside the Recruiting Services Consensus Index top 100 coming out of high school in 2013, but he was still a part-time starter on UConn’s 2013/14 national championship team as a freshman. He went scoreless with four rebounds and one block in the title game that year.

Trevon Bluiett To Test Draft Waters

March 29th, 2016 at 1:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

Xavier sophomore small forward Trevon Bluiett will enter this year’s NBA draft but hold off on hiring an agent, thus retaining his college eligibility should he elect to withdraw by May 25th, sources told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Bluiett is a fairly well-regarded prospect, but the general belief has been that he’ll stay in school for another year. He’s the 19th-best sophomore in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings, but Givony lists him on his 2017 mock draft, at No. 52, rather than his 2016 mock. Chad Ford of ESPN.com doesn’t have the 6’6″ 20-year-old among this year’s draft prospects.

Bluiett took on more of the offensive burden for the Musketeers this season and handled it capably, averaging 15.1 points on 11.8 shots per game with 39.8% accuracy from behind the 3-point line. His turnovers remained steady despite his increased role, and he rebounded well for his size, pulling down 6.2 per contest.

It’s been an up-and-down March for Bluiett, who tied a career high with 24 points against Marquette in the Big East tournament and scored only seven versus Wisconsin in a season-ending NCAA Tournament loss. He averaged just 5.2 points in five NCAA Tournament games the past two years after entering school at No. 38 in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index.

Wayne Selden Declares For Draft

March 29th, 2016 at 1:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

Kansas junior shooting guard Wayne Selden is entering this year’s draft and plans to sign with an agent in the coming weeks, he announced through the school. He’ll lose his college eligibility once he hires representation. The 6’6″ 21-year-old is a second-round prospect, checking in at 44th in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and 55th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com.

Selden’s stock has declined since he entered school at No. 13 in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index, one spot above Bobby Portis, whom the Bulls drafted 22nd last year. This season was nonetheless a renaissance of sorts for Selden, who put up 13.8 points per game, his first double-digit scoring average with the Jayhawks, and shot 39.2% on 3-pointers. He delivered a landmark 33-point performance against Kentucky on January 30th and averaged 17.8 points per contest in the NCAA Tournament this month.

This season was the first during Selden’s tenure that he wasn’t overshadowed by a first-round prospect on his own team. Andrew Wiggins, the 2014 top pick, and Joel Embiid were on the Jayhawks during Selden’s freshman year, and Kelly Oubre was there last season.

West Virginia PF Devin Williams To Enter Draft

March 29th, 2016 at 8:17am CST by Chuck Myron

West Virginia junior power forward Devin Williams will enter this year’s NBA draft, the school announced. The statement doesn’t make it entirely clear whether Williams intends to hire an agent right away, but sources told Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com that he plans to do so (Twitter link). That means he won’t be able to withdraw from the draft before the May 25th deadline and return to college ball. It’s a risky decision for the 6’9″ 21-year-old, since he’s just the 94th-best prospect in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider rankings. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him outside the top 100, simply listing him as the 35th-best junior.

Williams does his best work on the boards, having pulled down an impressive 9.5 in just 25.4 minutes per game this season, the top per-game rate in the Big 12. He averaged 13.3 points a night but isn’t a floor-stretcher at all, having missed the only 3-point attempt he took during his college career. He does have a solid midrange game, according to Ford, and he led the Big 12 in defensive rating this year, according to Sports Reference.

The stoutly built Williams helped the Mountaineers to a No. 6 ranking in the Associated Press poll at one point this year, but West Virginia’s season ended with a first-round upset loss to No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin in the NCAA Tournament, despite 17 rebounds from Williams, one off his season high. Williams was coming off a career-high 31 points against Kansas in the Big 12 championship game. He steadily improved throughout his college career after finishing high school at No. 55 in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index.

And-Ones: Lawson, Thompson, Bacon

March 28th, 2016 at 9:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pacers point guard Ty Lawson feels he was used improperly by the Rockets during his stint with them this season, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports. Lawson felt Houston interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff erred by playing him off the ball instead of making him the primary ballhandler. “I just know I was a better player than what I was showing there,” Lawson told Feigen, while adding he harbors no resentment toward the organization. “I wasn’t being used the right way. I’m not a space player. I like to have the ball in my hands.” Bickerstaff acknowledged in the story that he could have utilized Lawson differently. The Pacers signed Lawson earlier this month after he reached a buyout arrangement with the Rockets and cleared waivers. “I don’t know if it was just the early transition of him learning to play without the ball, the limited opportunity he got,” Bickerstaff said. “That may be some of my responsibility because he didn’t get the opportunity he was accustomed to. For whatever reason, it didn’t work and I was sad to see him go.”

In other news around the league:

Ohio State 6’11” sophomore center Trevor Thompson will declare for the draft but not hire an agent, he told ESPN’s Jeff Goodman. Thompson posted modest numbers as a sophomore, averaging 6.5 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.9 minutes per game. Thompson has a long climb ahead of him to make himself a draft-worthy prospect, as he’s not currently among the Top 100 prospects listed by either Chad Ford of ESPN.com or Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
Florida State freshman small forward Dwayne Bacon has decided to return to school for another season, according to both Goodman and CBSSports.com’s Jon Rothstein (Twitter links). Rothstein reported last week that Bacon intended to enter the draft but not hire an agent. The 6’7” Bacon was ranked as the No. 72 overall prospect by Ford and No. 74 by Givony. Bacon had a strong freshman campaign, averaging 15.8 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Seminoles.
The Clippers recalled C.J. Wilcox from the D-League’s Canton Charge, the team announced. Wilcox averaged 21.7 points in three games during his latest assignment and has appeared in 14 games for the Charge. He’s also played 14 games for the Clippers, averaging 1.6 points in 4.4 minutes.
The Hawks assigned swingman Lamar Patterson to the D-League’s Austin Spurs, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Patterson has played in a combined 16 games for Austin and the Canton Charge under the league’s flexible assignment rule. Patterson has also appeared in 35 games with the Hawks, averaging 2.4 points in 11.3 minutes.