University of Kentucky coach John Calipari this week erased nearly any doubt that sophomore point guard Tyler Ulis will enter this year’s draft, telling reporters he’ll be drafted this year, as Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal relays. The 20-year-old, who today won the SEC Tournament MVP award, hasn’t made a formal announcement, but Chad Ford of ESPN.com lists him among those “officially” in the draft, for what it’s worth. Ford ranks Ulis as the 25th-best draft prospect this year, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 37th on his top prospects list. See more from around the NBA:
- Clippers rookie Branden Dawson is in custody on $50K bail after police arrested him this morning on felony domestic violence charges, reports TMZ Sports. Dan Woike of the Orange County Register confirmed the arrest (Twitter links). The team recalled Dawson, last year’s 56th pick, from the D-League on Saturday.
- The contract Ty Lawson signed with the Pacers was a prorated minimum-salary deal that covers just the rest of this season, meaning he’s still on track to hit free agency this summer, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. He’ll see $265,068 from Indiana, meaning he came out slightly ahead after giving up $225K in his buyout with the Rockets.
- Pincus also lists the Pacers with a $5MM cap hit for the waived contract of Chase Budinger, indicating that he didn’t give up any of his salary to secure his release. Previous reports referred to the parting of ways as a buyout.