Hoops Rumors Originals: 6/3/17 – 6/10/17
Every week, the Hoops Rumors writing team compiles original content to complement our news feed. Here are some of our favorite segments and features from the past seven days:
- Luke Adams provides a list of players eligible for rookie scale extensions in 2017.
- We offer two more installments in our Five Offseason Questions series with the Kings and Wizards.
- Luke Adams breaks down team’s specific salary cap landscapes with six more analyses in his Salary Cap Digest series: the Heat, Pistons, Celtics, Spurs, Cavaliers, and Warriors. Find your favorite team’s entry here.
- Arthur Hill talks Dion Waiters‘ expected contract, the Celtics‘ plans for their second round picks, and whether the Mavericks might trade for Emmanuel Mudiay in his weekly Sunday mailbag. Submit your questions via Twitter (@HoopsRumors) or by sending us an email (hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com).
- In his weekly Hoops Links roundup of interesting articles from around the blogosphere, Austin Kent shares pieces on Thon Maker‘s enormous potential, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s fascinating background, whether the Nuggets should ink Danilo Gallinari long-term, and more.
- Luke Adams answered your questions about the upcoming draft, free agency, the Cavs, and other NBA topics in our weekly Thursday afternoon live chat. Read the transcript here.
- Check out our free Trade Rumors app available for IOS and Android.
- Here are the questions we asked you in our Community Shootaround discussions and polls this week:
- Should strict media obligations be required of NBA players?
- What adjustments must the Cavs make ahead of Game 3?
- Will the Warriors go a perfect 16-0 in the playoffs?
- Will LeBron James be a Cavalier for the rest of his career or does his future lie elsewhere?
- Had the Warriors won the Finals last year and been two-time defending champions, how, if at all, would the team be viewed differently?
Draft Notes: Ball, Lakers, Pre-Draft Workouts
There has been much innuendo and rumor in recent weeks that Lonzo Ball would not necessarily be taken by the Lakers with their second overall pick. Still, a majority of executives at the adidas EuroCamp expect the Lakers to draft Ball second, reports Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com (link via Twitter). Howard goes on to state that these executives believe that the purple and gold like De’Aaron Fox and Josh Jackson, but still lean towards Ball.
Check out the latest news in pre-draft workouts here:
- On Saturday, the Blazers held their fourth of six pre-draft workouts, hosting Bam Adebayo (Kentucky), Dwayne Bacon (Florida State), Dillon Brooks (Oregon), Terrance Ferguson (NBL – Australia), Nigel Hayes (Wisconsin), and Melo Trimble (Maryland), reports Casey Holdahl of NBA.com.
- Nigel Hayes (Wisconsin) is also scheduled to work out for the Knicks, which will occur this coming week, reports Ian Begley of ESPN.com.
- Kyle Kuzma will work out for the 76ers on Monday, according to Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (link via Twitter).
- TJ Leaf has a workout scheduled with the Jazz for Sunday, also per Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (link via Twitter).
- Zach Collins (Gonzaga) will work out for the Kings on Sunday, as reported by James Ham of NBC Sports (link via Twitter).
Five Key Stories: 6/3/17 – 6/10/17
Here are some of the biggest stories from the last week at Hoops Rumors:
Steve Kerr returned to coach Game 2 of the NBA Finals. The Warriors head coach had been away since Game 3 of the team’s first-round series against the Blazers and intends to patrol the sidelines for the remainder of the Finals. Mike Brown served as head coach while Kerr’s back pain kept him out.
French prospect Jonathan Jeanne was diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome. This diagnosis almost certainly thwarts Jeanne’s chances of being drafted this year. The big man had previously been viewed as a probable first-round selection in the draft. Earlier this year, former Baylor prospect Isaiah Austin, whose career was also derailed by Marfan Syndrome, made his professional debut overseas.
The Bucks have narrowed down their GM search to three finalists. The leading contenders for the position are Nuggets assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas, Hawks advisor and former GM Wes Wilcox, and Bucks assistant GM Justin Zanik. Interviews for the opening began earlier this week.
The Magic will hire Pete D’Alessandro as their new assistant general manager. The new hire last served as an executive with the Nuggets. D’Alessandro served as general manager of the Kings from 2013 to 2015.
3-on-3 basketball will debut as an event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The new competition will feature 64 players in total, with eight teams apiece for men and women. It remains unclear whether NBA players will participate in the event. If FIBA rules for three-on-three play are adopted, the games will last 10 minutes if neither team reaches 21 points first, with only one- and two-point shots.
Ten More Stories
- The Jazz reportedly view the Heat as a serious threat to land Gordon Hayward in free agency.
- The Pistons are gauging the trade market for Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson.
- Former sixth overall pick Jan Vesely is drawing interest from NBA teams.
- What’s the latest on the Pistons‘ plans to move to downtown Detroit?
- Dwight Howard is working on adding a three-point shot ahead of next season.
- The Pelicans hired Chris Finch as an assistant coach.
- Markelle Fultz worked out for the Celtics this week.
- Paul George is currently not being discussed by the Pacers in trade talks.
- Jimmy Butler has hired a new agent.
- Former Knicks head coach Derek Fisher was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving following a car accident.
Draft Notes: Monk, Kennard, Green Room Invitations
The Knicks‘ workout with Kentucky’s Malik Monk this week will be private, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Projected as a high to mid-lottery pick, Monk has already worked out for the Suns, who own the fourth selection, and Magic, who have No. 6. New York’s front office is giving serious consideration to Monk at No. 8, along with French point guard Frank Ntilikina and North Carolina State point guard Dennis Smith, Begley notes. Smith had a session scheduled with the Knicks this week, but wound up having dinner with team president Phil Jackson and didn’t participate in a workout.
There’s more draft news as June 22nd approaches:
- Shooting specialist Luke Kennard of Duke also has a private workout scheduled for the Knicks, Begley adds in the same piece. Kennard may have pushed himself into the top 12 with his performance in pre-draft workouts, including CAA’s event last weekend in Los Angeles, according to Begley, who adds that the Knicks would like to trade for another first-rounder and may be targeting Kennard if that happens. New York has discussed a deal with the Trail Blazers, who hold picks 15, 20 and 26. The Pistons have expressed a willingness to swap the 12th selection for veteran help, and Begley believes the Knicks have reached out to them.
- Kennard is part of a high-profile group to work out for the Pistons today, tweets Keith Langlois of MLive. He is joined by Duke’s Harry Giles, Wake Forest’s John Collins and Kentucky’s Isaac Humphries. Teams are permitted to bring in up to six players at a time, but Detroit is having difficulty getting players to visit because it doesn’t own a second-round pick (Twitter link). Kennard told reporters he has upcoming sessions with the Magic, Knicks, Mavericks and Hornets, who all pick before the Pistons. (Twitter link).
- Ntilikina, Collins and Jarrett Allen of Texas have been added to the list of green room invites for draft night, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. That brings the total to 13, with more invitations to be extended Monday.
- Creighton’s Justin Patton held his first pre-draft workout this week for the Trail Blazers, tweets Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. He also plans to visit the Nuggets, Pistons, Hornets, Heat and maybe the Thunder.
- Wisconsin’s Bronson Koenig will work out for the Clippers Monday, Begley posts on ESPN Now. He has a session later in the week with the Rockets.
- Georgetown’s L.J. Peak had a workout with the Sixers this week, tweets Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly. He has future sessions set up with the Hawks, Nets, Knicks, Celtics, Spurs, Wizards and Suns.
- Vanderbilt’s Luke Kornet worked out for the Knicks this week, relays Marc Berman of The New York Post. He also had workouts for the Kings, Celtics, Suns and Jazz.
- Indiana’s James Blackmon Jr. has worked out for the Pistons, Kings, Wizards, Magic and Rockets, with more on the schedule, tweets Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype.
Pacific Notes: David West, Jerry West, Kings, Bell
No one gave up more to be part of this year’s NBA Finals than the Warriors‘ David West, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet. The 37-year-old turned down a $12MM player option with the Pacers in 2015 to pursue a ring, signing veteran’s minimum contracts with San Antonio and Golden State. Grange estimates West could have earned about $20MM over the past two seasons if he had sought a long-term deal instead of a championship. “I’m 36 and I’ve been playing basketball for 30 years of my life and you get to a point where [The Finals] is the only environment, the only stage I haven’t been in,” West explained. “I’ve been in high school championships, played collegiately at a high level, but you want to get this final stage and it was an opportunity where personally I felt I had to jump at.”
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- The Warriors plan to meet with consultant Jerry West after the playoffs are finished to discuss his future with the team, according to Tim Kawakami of The San Jose Mercury News. West recently met with the Clippers to discuss a similar role in their organization and confirmed he received an offer. West has been with Golden State for six seasons and GM Bob Myers and owner Joe Lacob have said they want him to stay. However, West said isn’t sure if the team still needs his input now that it has risen to the top of the league.
- Markelle Fultz‘s willingness to visit the Kings is a sign that Sacramento no longer has a toxic reputation among potential draftees, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. The Kings, who own picks No. 5 and 10, were only able to bring in one first-rounder, Vanderbilt’s Wade Baldwin, in last year’s pre-draft workouts. The team has already had sessions with Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox, North Carolina’s Justin Jackson and Louisville’s Donovan Mitchell.
- Texas center Jarrett Allen, another potential lottery pick, will have a private workout with the Kings today, the team announced on its website. Also on today’s schedule is a group session with SMU’s Semi Ojeleye, St. Mary’s Joe Rahon, Loyola’s Milton Doyle, Texas A&M Corpus Christie’s Rashawn Thomas, BYU’s Eric Mika and Central Florida’s Matt Williams.
- The Suns are intrigued by Oregon’s Jordan Bell, who worked out for the team Friday, relays Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic. Bell, who compares himself to Draymond Green, enhanced his reputation when he blocked eight shots in an NCAA Tournament win over Kansas. “I very much take pride in my defense,” Bell said. “That’s what I hang my hat on every time I step on the floor. I think my ability to guard perimeter players, switch on screens and keep people in front of me is definitely something that will help me in the long run and keep me in the league for a long time.”
Southeast Notes: Hayward, Hornets, Hawks, Workouts
The Heat have the flexibility to sign Gordon Hayward and create room for another top-level free agent, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. A report Friday said the Jazz consider Miami a legitimate threat to sign the free agent forward, who is coming off the best season of his career. In response to a reader’s question, Winderman notes that the Heat can give $30MM to Hayward and open up another $23MM or so by trading Tyler Johnson, Josh McRoberts and Justise Winslow. However, he cautions that the team tried to find a taker for McRoberts’ contract last summer, and that was before he missed more than half a season with injuries. If Miami were able to pull off such a scenario, it would be in the range for players such as Serge Ibaka, Paul Millsap or the combination of Zach Randolph and a re-signed Dion Waiters.
There’s more this morning out of the Southeast Division:
- The Hornets have limited resources to work with as they try to improve on this year’s 36-46 record, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. With six players who have salaries topping $12MM, Charlotte is already over the salary cap for next season, leaving GM Rich Cho with little to offer prospective free agents. The team will have its mid-level exception [worth about $8.4MM] and its bi-annual exception [about $3.3MM], but neither will be enough to add a difference maker. The Hornets own both of their picks at 11 and 41, but the team’s draft record has been mixed in recent years. Trade assets are limited, with only Kemba Walker able to bring a significant return. Bonnell cites depth, defense and closing out games as areas in which Charlotte needs to improve.
- Duke’s Amile Jefferson is among six players who will work out for the Hornets today, Bonnell relays in a separate story. He will be joined by Antonio Blakeney of LSU; Torian Graham of Arizona State; Kyle Kuzma of Utah; Derrick Walton of Michigan; and Nigel Williams-Goss of Gonzaga. Several more workouts are planned for next week.
- Kuzma held a second pre-draft workout for the Hawks on Thursday, tweets Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Joining him at that session were Dwayne Bacon of Florida State, Nigel Hayes of Wisconsin and Nik Slavica of Croatia.
Southeast Notes: D’Alessandro, Batiste, Smith Jr.
The Magic will hire Pete D’Alessandro as their new assistant general manager, Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical tweets. D’Alessandro last served as an executive with the Nuggets, having previously served as the general manager of the Kings.
Just last month we wrote about the Magic adding Bucks executive John Hammond to fill their general manager role following the departure of Rob Hennigan.
D’Alessandro will return to the basketball operations side of a franchise for the first time since his stint with the Kings which ranged from 2013 to 2015.
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Hornets have hired Mike Batiste as an assistant coach, a report on the team’s official site states. Batiste was a player development assistant with the Nets last season. Stephen Silas will serve as the team’s designated lead assistant in 2017/18, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer adds.
- Per Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog, Dennis Smith Jr. met with the Magic for a second time. He had previously worked out for the club.
- The Hawks worked out Justin Jackson this week, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. The North Carolina product could realistically fall to them at No. 19.
- Potential second-round pick V.J. Beachem worked out with both the Hawks and the Hornets this week, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweeted.
Community Shootaround: Draymond Green
The Cavaliers and Warriors are in the middle of a competitive Game 4 with the NBA title hanging in the balance (for one of them). If Cleveland can’t eke out a victory by the end of the night, they’ll be on the losing end of Golden State’s historic 16-0 playoff run and the offseason will have officially begun.
Such an impressive run, just one season removed from their historic 73-win 2015/16 campaign would put the already legendary Warriors club in even more impressive territory.
This isn’t a post about the Warriors winning the 2017 NBA title, however, as we at Hoops Rumors remain dutifully impartial and simply hopeful that the series will continue and hoops fans the world over get several more games of NBA action.
This is a post about last year.
Earlier this week, notoriously emotional Draymond Green told Zach Lowe of ESPN that he believes his suspension in Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals cost his team the title. Green, of course, was sidelined after an incident in which he appeared to take a swipe at LeBron James‘ groin.
Whether or not you agree that the suspension was warranted, the question we’d like to propose is whether or not you think having Green in the lineup for Game 5 last year would have changed the outcome of the best-of-seven series.
If the Dubs had pulled off the 2016 title, they’d be within a game from a threepeat here tonight, which comes with its own place among the league’s greatest dynasties.
The question is, if Golden State were reigning two-time defending champions, would they be perceived any different than they are? Would Kevin Durant still have signed? Would James’ legacy be impacted?
It’ll be a long 15 minutes as we await the third quarter of this fourth game of the 2017 NBA Finals, so join us on a hypothetical journey back to last year.
Atlantic Notes: Olynyk, Monk, Draft
A big time signing could jeopardize Kelly Olynyk‘s future with the Celtics, Jay King of Massachusetts Live writes. The organization would need to explore renouncing the restricted free agent’s contract in order to free up cap space.
Still, King writes, it’s possible that the franchise could free up money in other ways that don’t involve parting ways with the sharp shooting big man. The British Columbia native averaged 9.0 points per game in 75 contests with Boston this season.
Olynyk could yield as much as $10-$12MM this summer, his value no doubt inflated by the NBA’s growing emphasis on outside shooting, but whether or not the C’s will be in a position to retain him depends on the rest of their plans over the course of a busy offseason.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Knicks will bring Kentucky’s Malik Monk in for a workout early next week, Ian Begley of ESPN writes. New York picks eighth in this month’s draft and NBADraft.net actually slots Monk in at the No. 8 spot in their latest mock draft.
- While there will be plenty of intriguing options available to the Sixers when they select third in the NBA Draft particularly Justin Jackson and De’Aaron Fox, Keith Pompey of the Inquirer says not to overlook Duke product Jayson Tatum.
- The latest list of free agents and rookies to be worked out by the Nets has been published by Nets Daily.
- The Raptors auditioned a number of draft prospects this week, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun wrote about their workouts.
Markelle Fultz Will Not Work Out For Kings
7:06pm: Although he may swing by Sacramento for a meeting prior to the draft, Fultz is not expected to work out with the Kings after all, James Ham of NBC Sports California reports.
1:09pm: Voilin has followed up her initial report, tweeting that Fultz’s workout with the Kings is still likely to happen, but appears to have been pushed back closer to the draft.
11:46am: Multiple sources tell Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link) that Fultz won’t visit the Kings on Sunday after all, shooting down The Bee’s earlier report. According to Jones, a visit is possible, but it’s not scheduled for this weekend.
10:08am: Despite rumblings that Markelle Fultz may only work out for the Celtics, the odds-on favorite for the No. 1 pick has reportedly lined up a meeting with another team for this weekend. According to Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link), Fultz is scheduled to participate in a workout with the Kings on Sunday.
The fact that Fultz is on track to work out for the Kings is somewhat unexpected. The general belief was that if the former Washington point guard were to audition for teams besides the Celtics, his logical next stops would be Los Angeles and Philadelphia, since the Lakers and Sixers hold the second and third overall picks, respectively. Sacramento has the fifth and 10th overall selections, and there’s virtually no chance that Fultz drops that far.
The Kings have allegedly had internal discussions about the possibility of packaging their two top-10 picks to move up in the draft, though their target in that scenario was believed to be Kentucky point guard De’Aaron Fox. Celtics GM Danny Ainge confirmed last week that multiple teams have contacted him to ask about the No. 1 pick, so it’s possible the Kings are one of those teams, and are doing their due diligence on Fultz in case a deal materializes. Still, a trade of that magnitude would be a surprise.
Even if the Kings don’t ultimately have a chance to draft Fultz, the fact that he’s willing to meet with the club is a great sign for a front office that has had a hard time attracting top prospects for workouts in recent years.