LSU SG Antonio Blakeney To Test Draft Waters
LSU freshman shooting guard Antonio Blakeney will enter this year’s draft but hold off on hiring an agent, the school announced. He can return to college ball as long as he pulls out by May 25th and doesn’t hire an agent. He has at least an outside chance to be drafted this year if he doesn’t withdraw, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com lists him as the 87th-best prospect. The 6’4″ 19-year-old is outside the top 100 for Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, who nonetheless ranks him 35th among freshmen.
Blakeney was a well-regarded recruit coming out of high school last year, when he was 15th in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index. LSU teammate Ben Simmons was No. 1 in those rankings, but the Tigers struggled this season, finishing 19-14 and failing to make the NCAA Tournament. Blakeney didn’t put up eye-popping stats, as he averaged 12.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game with 33.5% shooting from 3-point range. He struggled with inconsistency, scoring 32 and 31 points in games against Florida and Mississippi State, respectively, but totaling seven or fewer points on a dozen occasions.
Simmons and fellow LSU teammate Tim Quarterman are also entering the draft, but unlike Blakeney, they’re hiring agents, so they won’t be returning to the Tigers. Blakeney, who saw only 9.8 field goal attempts per game this season, would seemingly be in line for more offensive chances next year if he pulls out of the draft and goes back to LSU.
UConn SG Rodney Purvis To Test Draft Waters
Connecticut junior shooting guard Rodney Purvis will enter this year’s draft but hold off on hiring an agent, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). He’ll be eligible to return to college next year as long as he pulls out of the draft by May 25th and doesn’t hire an agent. The odds are against Purvis hearing his name called on draft night, as he’s just the 198th-best prospect in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider rankings. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress only lists the top 100 in his overall rankings, and Purvis isn’t in those, but Givony pegs the 6’4″ 22-year-old at No. 79 among juniors.
Much was expected of Purvis coming into his college career, as he was No. 17 in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index as a high school senior, right behind current Nuggets starting two-guard Gary Harris. Purvis began at North Carolina State in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina, but he transferred after the 2012/13 season, his freshman year.
Purvis saw only a negligible increase in minutes in his first season with the Huskies, but he shot about three more times per game with Connecticut than he did with the Wolfpack, leading to higher scoring numbers. He notched 12.8 points per game this season as nearly half his field goal attempts came from behind the arc. He nailed 38.5% of his 3-point looks this season and 37.6% for his college career, so he figures to be at least a fair shooter at the NBA level. Two of his best scoring games of the season came in the NCAA Tournament, when he put up 19 in a first-round win over Colorado and 17 in a loss to top-seeded Kansas, helping erase the memory of the two-point performance he delivered in his only NCAA Tournament game as a freshman.
Southeast Notes: Wittman, Whiteside, McRoberts
The relationship between coach Randy Wittman and Wizards players isn’t what it used to be after in a season in which he’s endured criticism and public questioning of his authority, writes J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic. Marcin Gortat has simmered all year after Wittman criticized his lack of rebounding after a November game, and he and the coach went months without having a conversation to address the matter as Gortat chose to remain silent on the issue, Michael writes. The coach, who has only a partially guaranteed salary for next season, and the center had their ups and downs even before this season, as Michael points out.
See more from the Southeast Division:
- Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald examines the improving offensive game of Hassan Whiteside, who’s No. 10 in our latest Free Agent Power Rankings. Whiteside has engendered himself to Heat brass as he’s given more deference to winning instead of statistics of late, as The Herald’s Ethan Skolnick examined this week, and he’s looking at ways to apply the influx of cash he’s expected to receive starting next season toward bettering his performance, as Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post relays. “It’ll help me do things to better myself and finally get to do some things I’ve wanted to do, different things like going to train at places I couldn’t afford,” Whiteside said. “I couldn’t afford them places. That’s why I was working out at the Y. I could get a nutritionist and a chef. I could get a massage therapist. Stuff I could use to better myself that are a little hard for me right now.”
- Josh McRoberts will still have two years and more than $11.8MM left on his contract after this season, but Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel finds it tough to envision him remaining with the Heat for next year, given coach Erik Spoelstra‘s reluctance to use him.
- Many have wondered whether the Tobias Harris trade signaled that coach Scott Skiles is usurping some of GM Rob Hennigan‘s influence within the Magic organization, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Decision-making power in Orlando looms large ahead of a summer that presents lots of key choices, as Bontemps examines.
Decisions On Some Player Options Due Early
Two Kings will have to make major decisions earlier than most. The player option in the contract for James Anderson must either be picked up or declined by no later than the seventh day after Sacramento’s last game, and the 10th day after Sacramento’s finale is the decision date for Seth Curry‘s player option. The Kings aren’t headed for the playoffs, so that means the deadlines for Anderson and Curry to make their choices come in late April, two months before most who have player options.
The standard deadline date is June 29th. Contracts are allowed to specify an earlier date, but not a later date. Many contracts take advantage of this provision, though April dates are rare. Bismack Biyombo‘s player option also triggers as early as seven days after Toronto’s last game, but since the Raptors are primed for a deep playoff run, he won’t have to make his call for a while.
The most popular decision date this year is June 22nd, the day before the draft. A least 13 players have to opt in or opt out no later than that day, and Biyombo could join that list if the Raptors make the finals. Note that players don’t have to take action by those dates if they want to opt out. Player options only require players to say whether they’re opting in. The option is automatically declined if the player doesn’t file paperwork.
We went in depth on all the player options here and here, but below is a list of players whose option decisions come due before the standard June 29th:
April 20th
- James Anderson, Kings ($1,139,123)
April 23rd
- Seth Curry, Kings ($1,015,696)
June 1st
- Quincy Acy, Kings ($1,050,961)
June 13th
- Mo Williams, Cavaliers ($2,194,500)
June 15th
- DeMar DeRozan, Raptors ($10,050,000)
June 21st
- Brandon Bass, Lakers ($3,135,000)
- Alonzo Gee, Pelicans ($1,379,400)
June 22nd
- Arron Afflalo, Knicks ($8,000,000)
- Cole Aldrich, Clippers ($1,227,286)
- Darrell Arthur, Nuggets ($2,940,630)
- *Bismack Biyombo, Raptors ($2,940,630)
- Caron Butler, Kings ($1,551,659)
- Manu Ginobili, Spurs ($2,940,630)
- Wesley Johnson, Clippers ($1,227,286)
- Jeremy Lin, Hornets ($2,235,255)
- Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks ($8,692,184)
- Chandler Parsons, Maverics ($16,023,000)
- Austin Rivers, Clippers ($3,344,106)
- David West, Spurs ($1,551,659)
- Deron Williams, Mavericks ($5,621,026)
- Derrick Williams, Knicks ($4,598,000)
June 27th
- Pau Gasol, Bulls ($7,769,520)
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Atlantic Notes: Afflalo, Durant, Powell, Early
Executives around the league believed Arron Afflalo was likely to turn down his $8MM player option for next season with the Knicks even before the shooting guard and interim coach Kurt Rambis began publicly disagreeing about whether they discussed Afflalo’s benching, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Afflalo’s choice is key since the team would have the cap flexibility necessary to chase middle-tier max free agents if he opts out, Begley notes. Afflalo and teammate Derrick Williams must decide on their player options no later than June 22nd, the day before the draft.
See more from the Atlantic Division:
- Former Providence College head coach Tim Welsh said in an appearance on “Toucher & Rich” on WBZ-FM that his conversations with NBA types of late indicate that the Celtics will be on the list of teams Kevin Durant‘s will at least look at in free agency this summer, in large measure because of the allure of coach Brad Stevens (video link via Comcast Sports Net Northeast).
- DeMarre Carroll‘s injury has given Raptors 2015 second-round pick Norman Powell more of a chance at the NBA level that first-rounder Delon Wright has had, and Powell is playing a much different role in Toronto than he did early this season on assignment with the team’s D-League affiliate, notes Eric Koreen of Sportsnet. Still, Raptors D-League coach Jesse Mermuys sees Powell’s time with Raptors 905 reflected in his play of late. “All he saw was the rim, no matter how many bodies were there,” Mermuys said of Powell’s D-League performance. “We really wanted to try to develop when he got to the paint and got to the rim and there was a crowd, [that he would be] able to make the right play and the simple play, which he dramatically improved in his time. The more time he played and worked at it, it was a pretty rapid improvement, which was a huge sign for him. His ability to improve at that rate is why he is in the position he’s in now.”
- The Knicks have recalled Cleanthony Early from the D-League, the team announced (Twitter link). Early has made only one 19-second appearance at the NBA level since he was injured in a December shooting.
Central Notes: Gasol, Butler, Caldwell-Pope, Cavs
The Bulls aren’t as intent on re-signing Pau Gasol, who plans to opt out and hit free agency this summer, as they were after the trade deadline in February, when GM Gar Forman referred to him as part of the core, sources tell K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Gasol is open-minded about hearing from other teams, Johnson adds, though it’s unclear if that’s a change from earlier, when Johnson identified the Bulls as the front-runners to re-sign him. Gasol said in February that how the team played down the stretch would influence his decision. Chicago has gone 11-12 since the All-Star break.
See more from the Windy City amid news from the Central Division:
- Bulls brass is reportedly thinking about trading Jimmy Butler, but teams would have to make overwhelming offers to get Chicago to bite, Johnson writes in the same piece. Some in the organization nonetheless believe Butler’s personality has changed over the last year, according to Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. Coach Fred Hoiberg denied Thursday that any idea about trading Butler would come from tension between them, Johnson notes, and for what it’s worth, Butler made it clear he wants to remain with the Bulls, as Friedell relays. “Jimmy and I have a very good relationship,” Hoiberg said. “Obviously I have a lot of trust in Jimmy, putting the ball in his hands late in games. I communicate with Jimmy as much as anyone on this team. I obviously think the world of him for how hard he pushes himself and how much he just has improved over the years with his work ethic. That rubs off on the other guys.”
- The Pistons often use Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to defend point guards, and his versatility and durability are earning high praise from coach/executive Stan Van Gundy, who thinks he should be in the discussion for the NBA’s All-Defensive teams, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press examines. “He should get consideration, for sure,” Van Gundy said. “I think that every night he draws our toughest perimeter assignment, and he’s played absolutely huge minutes. It’s not easy to do. It’s not like you can go out there and just use all your energy for 6 minutes and get a rest. Put those two things together, and I think he should definitely get consideration.” Caldwell-Pope will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason.
- LeBron James and the Cavaliers are essentially in the same position in their second year since reuniting as the Heat were in their second LeBron season, struggling to live up to expectations, observes SB Nation’s Tom Ziller. The key is the playoffs, where the Heat made a title run that year, Ziller writes.