Draft Notes: UNC, Jackson, Enechionyia
Congratulations to the North Carolina Tarheels for winning the National Championship! Coach Roy Williams has now brought home three championships since arriving at Chapel Hill and he’s done so without having a single NBA All-Star come through the program. In tonight’s Community Shootaround, we asked who’s the best NBA player Williams has ever coached at UNC?
Justin Jackson may earn his way into the conversation once he enters the league, as he’s expected to be a top-10 pick if he decides to declare for the draft. That decision should come over the next few days and as we wait for that news, check out some notes on the upcoming draft:
- Obi Enechionyia will declare for the draft, but will not hire an agent, Marc Narducci of Philly.com relays. The Temple Owl explains his reason for declaring. “I didn’t see any negative in doing this, and I thought why not,” Enechionyia said. “I know my parents and some old coaches have talked to a few teams and scouts and I know there are some teams that are interested in me.”
- USC guard Shaqquan Aaron has declared for the NBA Draft, E. Carchia of Sportando relays. Aaron has not hired an agent.
- Wright State’s Mark Alstork has declared for the draft but has also not hired an agent, according to Jay Morrison of the Dayton Daily News. The guard averaged 19.0 points during his junior season, which led the team.
And-Ones: Goodwin, Lopez, Harrell
Archie Goodwin, whose second 10-day deal with Brooklyn will expire tonight, is on the verge of signing a two-year deal with the Nets. Coach Kenny Atkinson is excited about the opportunity to bring him back, as Brian Lewis of the New York Post relays.
“I think Archie has shown some really good things. Even in [his short stints], it’s like, ‘Man, I want to see more,’” Atkinson said. “Archie, he’s been showing good things. Let’s find a way to get him in.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Brook Lopez, who has long been the subject of trade rumors, is shooting more than ever from behind the arc, SB Nation’s Net Income details. Lopez entered the season with just three made 3-pointers in his career, but Atkinson installed an offense that emphasizes the 3-ball and the center now has a chance to break a record for most long distance swishes by a 7-footer. Lopez has 129 made 3-pointers for the Nets this season and with 23 more made buckets, he’ll break Dirk Nowitzki‘s single season record of 151 made shots.
- With both Sam Dekker and Ryan Anderson sidelined, the Rockets‘ void at power forward might suggest that Montrezl Harrell will get more of an opportunity to play the four. Coach Mike D’Antoni said that won’t the case, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle relays. “I like guys who space the floor,” D’Antoni added. Harrell played power forward during Sunday’s win over Phoenix, but he missed all three of his 3-point attempts.
- Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer explains how the next five games will determine the Sixers‘ chances of getting a top-3 pick. Philadelphia currently owns the fifth spot in our Reverse Standings.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 4/3/17
Here are Monday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Raptors have assigned Bruno Caboclo and Pascal Siakam to the Raptors 905, the team’s D-League affiliate, according to their Twitter feed. Siakam is one of the many 2016 first-round picks who have seen action in the D-League this season, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors detailed.
- The Cavaliers have assigned Kay Felder to the Canton Charge, according to the team’s Twitter feed. The rookie has appeared in 11 games for Cleveland’s D-League affiliate, scoring 29.9 points per contest.
- The Clippers have recalled Brice Johnson from the Salt Lake City Stars, Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times relays (Twitter link). Los Angeles doesn’t have its own D-League affiliate, so Johnson played for the Stars via the flex assignment rule.
Community Shootaround: UNC Players In The NBA
University of North Carolina coach Roy Williams came to Chapel Hill in 2003 and he’s led the school to four national title games. During his time at the program, he’s sent countless UNC prospects to the NBA, but not one of the players have made an All-Star game, as Jonathan Tjarks of the Ringer notes.
That led Hoops Rumors to wonder: Out of all the Roy Williams-coached UNC players in the NBA, who’s the best?
Ty Lawson may be the leading candidate. The Nuggets traded away Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony at the 2010/11 deadline and the move gave Lawson an opportunity to take control of the franchise. From 2011 to 2015, Lawson averaged 16.5 points and 8.0 assists while shooting 45.4% from the field and he helped Denver reach the playoffs each season. However, the franchise never won a playoff series while Lawson was the starter.
Danny Green is the most accomplished choice. He has a championship ring with the Spurs and he’s one of the best active UNC products. His role in San Antonio should allow him to be productive for the next several years, giving him longevity over players like Lawson. However, he’s never been an NBA team’s top option, which hurts his candidacy for the distinction.
Marvin Williams is another excellent role player who could be considered the best. He’s never lived up to his No.2 overall draft pick status, but he’s currently one of the Hornets’ most important players.
Harrison Barnes has the potential to be the best NBA player who Roy Willaims coached at UNC. He didn’t get the opportunity to showcase his all of his ability until he signed with the Mavericks this past offseason. He’s scoring 19.5 games in an expanded role in Dallas and he’s sporting an auspicious 16.6 player efficiency rating.
Does Raymond Felton belong in the conversation? How about John Henson? Let us know who you think is the best NBA player to play under Roy Williams at UNC. Is it one of the aforementioned names or is there another player who should be considered the best? Take to the comment section below to share your thoughts. We look forward to what you have to say!
Jrue Holiday On His Future, Fit With The Pelicans
Jrue Holiday is set to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career, but he hasn’t yet begun to evaluate his options outside of New Orleans, as William Guillory of the Times- Picayune relays. “I haven’t thought about it, not even a little bit,” Holiday said.
Holiday’s teammates want to see him in a Pelicans’ uniform next season. “He’s huge for what we want to do here. I look at the situation, and if we have a full season, I’m pretty sure we’re in the playoffs,” Solomon Hill said. “He’s a game-changer. He’s top-10 in assists, defensively he’s one of the best point guards on both ends of the floor. That’s everything, I think that’s the main goal this offseason is to get him to re-sign and to get him to sign as long as he possibly can.”
The point guard believes he’s a good fit in coach Alvin Gentry’s system and he’s optimistic about the future of the franchise. “It’s been fun to play,” Holiday said when asked about the Pelicans‘ offense since the team traded for DeMarcus Cousins. “Obviously, we’ve been winning more frequently, put some streaks together. It’s been really good. Obviously, we added a big piece and we want to win more frequently, or whatever, but it’s been fun.”
Gentry has recently given Holiday more of a combo-guard role, playing him alongside point guard Tim Frazier in the starting lineup.
“I think that’s when he’s at his best,” said Gentry. “It’s not a negative, it’s more of a positive that, when we have two ball-handlers out there, we can create situations for Jrue where all the responsibility is not on him. I think Jrue is at his best when he’s thinking about scoring also.
“With DeMarcus [on the team], he has a tendency to want to be this ‘point guard’, but I want Jrue to always be aggressive offensively because we need those 16, 17 points that he gives us pretty much on a nightly basis.”
Holiday’s 2016/17 salary is worth slightly under $11.3MM. He’ll almost certainly see an annual salary above that figure on his next deal.
Carmelo Looks Forward To Offseason Meeting With Knicks
The Knicks have a handful of games remaining in their disastrous season and Carmelo Anthony, who was rumored to be on the move at this year’s trade deadline, may find himself playing for a new team next season. However, Anthony won’t be moved before sitting down with team president Phil Jackson, as Ryan Lazo of the New York Post relays.
“The chips will be on the table in that meeting. I mean, I don’t know what to expect, but I got a good feeling. Chips will be on the table,” Anthony said.
It appears as if Anthony is ready to leave New York, something that wasn’t clear earlier in the season, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes. During today’s media session, the Olympian didn’t seem committed to playing for the Knicks beyond this season. Instead, he was cryptic about his future.
“I see the writing on the wall,” Anthony said. “You don’t know what the writing is on the wall, though, but I see it.”
The 32-year-old was more direct when asked about Scottie Pippen‘s recent comments, in which the Hall Of Famer criticized the Zen Master.
“I’m just glad people are speaking up,” Anthony said. “Whether it’s good or bad, people are speaking up having their opinion rather than me trying to convince or not convince people of the situation of what’s going on and I can just play basketball. Everybody sees what’s going on. So they’re going to have their own opinion.”
Anthony has two seasons worth approximately $54.2MM left on his deal after this season, though he could become a free agent as soon as the 2018 offseason should he activate his Early Termination Option.
LeBron Endorses Extension For David Griffin
GM David Griffin, who built the Cavaliers into a championship team, isn’t signed beyond this season but has a powerful advocate in the organization, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com.
LeBron James, who returned to Cleveland under Griffin’s watch, is among many supporters he has in the locker room. James said Griffin “has tried to make every move happen” to raise the talent level in Cleveland.
“He went out, we needed some interior help, he went out and got Timo [Timofey Mozgov],” James said. “We needed some perimeter defense, some perimeter shooting, he made a trade to be able to get Swish [J.R. Smith] and Shump [Iman Shumpert]. And that was the start of it. We needed more interior depth, he got Perk [Kendrick Perkins]. We got guys. We brought guys in. We needed some more athletic wings, he made a move, I don’t know how he finagled it to get RJ [Richard Jefferson] here. And so on and so on …”
“I mean, all the guys that are here. We wanted a stretch-4 to help [Kevin Love] out, we make a trade to get Channing [Frye]. I mean, I can name all the pieces that he’s been able to [acquire].”
Griffin is working on the final year of his contract after extension talks failed last summer. He joined the organization in 2010 as vice president of basketball operations, was named acting GM in 2014 and got the job on a full-time basis later that year.
In addition to acquiring on-court talent, Griffin made the decision to fire coach David Blatt midway through last season and replace him with Tyronn Lue. Griffin rewarded Lue with a five-year, $35 million extension in July.
James understands that many outsiders believes he really runs the franchise, which causes Griffin to get less respect than he deserves.
“Obviously they always want to bring my name into it and say that obviously, it’s easier because guys want to be here because I’m here,” James said. “But at the end of the day, he still has to press the right buttons because I’m not in the war room, I’m not in the draft room with those [front office] guys. I don’t know how much we may be over the luxury tax or if we have a trade exception here or how that’s going to work there or how many days we got to do this. So, it wouldn’t, seriously, I don’t know why it would make any sense to bring in a new GM. That don’t make no sense.”
Georgetown Hires Patrick Ewing
1:40pm: Ewing will leave the Hornets staff and start his duties at Georgetown immediately, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
1:28 pm: Former Georgetown star Patrick Ewing has agreed to become the university’s head basketball coach, according to Casual Hoya. (Twitter link).
Currently an assistant with the Hornets, Ewing has been in touch with Georgetown officials since John Thompson III was fired nearly two weeks ago. He had his first face-to-face interview for the post today.
Ewing was a dominant center for the Hoyas, who were one of college basketball’s best teams during the 1980s. He played for John Thompson Jr., who was a major advocate for Ewing to be hired as coach.
After a Hall of Fame career with the Knicks, Ewing turned to coaching in 2003, working for the Rockets and Magic before being coming to Charlotte four years ago. He has reportedly been considered for several NBA head coaching jobs, but will now turn his attention toward the college game.
De’Aaron Fox To Enter NBA Draft
Kentucky point guard De’Aaron Fox will sign with an agent and declare for the NBA draft, tweets Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
The move was widely expected as Fox is projected to be a high lottery pick. He is ranked fifth on the prospect lists compiled by both Jonathan Givony at DraftExpress and by Chad Ford of ESPN.com. Ford cites Fox’s speed and play in the open court as assets, but cautions that he is prone to turnovers and doesn’t shoot well from distance.
A 6’4″ freshman, Fox helped the Wildcats compile a 32-6 record, averaging 16.7 points and 4.6 assists per game. He was named to both the all-conference and all-rookie teams in the SEC.
Kyle Lowry Practices; Return Date Still Uncertain
Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, who has been sidelined since the All-Star break by a right wrist injury, participated in practice today, tweets Josh Lewenburg of TSN Sports.
Lowry only did some “light shooting” with his right hand, but it’s still a significant step for a player that Toronto will need in the postseason. An All-Star the past three years, Lowry was averaging 22.8 points and 6.9 assists per game at the time of the injury. He said the decision on when to return will be up to him. (Twitter link).
Coach Dwane Casey offered few clues as to how Lowry looked today, but Lewenburg says it’s clear that he is making progress (Twitter link). “I’m not going to get into specifics on when Kyle’s coming back, what did he do today, did he use the bathroom this morning,” Casey said (Twitter link).
Lowry told reporters that he has set a goal to be ready by playoff time (Twitter link). He still has pain in the wrist and would like to be fully healed before he plays again. Lowry, who underwent surgery February 28th, said he remains on schedule with doctors’ original projections of four to six weeks. He has ruled himself out of Tuesday’s game at Indiana. (Twitter link).
Asked if he has to get medical clearance, Lowry responded, “No no no. It’s me, Kyle Lowry, who’s going to clear me. That’s who’s going to clear me.” (Twitter link)