Amine Noua

Draft Decisions: Antetokounmpo, Bowen, Kurucs, Bonga

Kostas Antetokounmpo opted to remain in the draft prior to Monday afternoon’s early-entry deadline, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony tweets. The 6’10” forward, Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s brother, cancelled all of his remaining scheduled private workouts, Givony adds. That suggests that he might have a guarantee from some team to draft him.

The Dayton freshman averaged a mere 5.2 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 15.1 MPG during his lone college season. Givony has the younger Antetokounmpo ranked No. 57 in his latest Top 100 rankings.

We have other early-entrant decisions to pass along:

  • Swingman Brian Bowen has withdrawn his name from the draft, Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com reports. Bowen, who was swept up in the Louisville scandal and then transferred to South Carolina, would have had to sit out next college season. He is now free to pursue opportunities in the NBA G League or overseas and then potentially re-enter the draft next year, Zagoria adds.
  • Rodions Kurucs will remain in the draft, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. The 6’10” Latvian forward, who withdrew from the draft last year, is ranked No. 42 by Givony. Isaac Bonga has also remained in the June draft, Charania adds in another tweet. The 6’9”, 18-year-old German forward is ranked No. 54 by Givony.
  • Matur Maker, brother of the Bucks’ Thon Maker, has withdrawn from the draft, Zagoria tweets.
  • Karim Jallow, a small forward from Greece, has decided to pass on this year’s draft, according to Givony (Twitter link). He was ranked No. 67. Georgios Kalaitzakis and Vasilis Charalampopoulos, another pair of Greek prospects, have withdrawn their names, Givony tweets. The same goes for two French prospects, Adam Mokoka and Amine Noua, Givony adds in another tweet.
  • We relayed several other prospects’ decisions earlier today, including that of Luka Doncic.

Draft Notes: Doncic, Bridges, Holiday, Diallo, Rodriguez

Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and general manager Vlade Divac are both in Madrid, Spain, to watch Luka Doncic in the ACB Playoffs, tweets basketball journalist David Pick. Doncic, widely expected to be a top-three selection in the draft, has already secured numerous accolades, including the EuroLeague MVP, Rising Star, and Final Four MVP.

While there has been talk of Doncic going No. 1 overall to the Suns, it’s more likely he ends up with either the Kings or Hawks, who own the second and third picks, respectively. Doncic has said that it’s not certain that he will come stateside next season despite the expectation that he will be a top draftee. Just recently, a report suggested that both the Hawks and Kings may pass on Doncic and instead focus on frontcourt players.

[The Kings] have a real hole there in the frontcourt. I don’t think that they’re in love with Willie Cauley-Stein by any means. They started Zach Randolph at the four all year long,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givony said“What do they do there? Do they go with Marvin Bagley who is going to be a compelling prospect for them? 

Check out more draft news below:

  • Michigan State’s Miles Bridges is set to work out for the Knicks this Saturday, reports ESPN’s Ian Begley. The Knicks own the ninth overall pick and Bridges, along with Villanova’s Mikal Bridges have been reported as possible targets for New York.
  • UCLA’s Aaron Holiday had his second workout with the Suns on Thursday, the team announced. Five other prospects were part of the workout, with Troy Brown (Oregon), Jalen Brunson (Villanova), Marcus Derrickson (Georgetown), Amine Noua (France), and Desi Rodriguez (Seton Hall) also participating.
  • Seton Hall’s Desi Rodriguez also worked out for the Thunder on Wednesday, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.
  • Kentucky’s Hamidou Diallo has scheduled workouts with the Lakers and Mavericks, Sean Deveney of Sporting News tweets. Diallo will have also worked out for the Bulls, Wizards, Suns, Blazers, Kings, Nets, Knicks, and Bucks.

Draft Notes: Noua, Moore, Spellman, Silva

French forward Amine Noua is declaring for the 2018 NBA Draft, reports Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Noua, 21, stands 6’8” tall and has been a staple of the French national teams since he was 16 years old, averaging 19 PPG during the 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Cup. He currently plays for ASVEL Basket of LNB Pro A, which is owned by French basketball legend and current Spurs point guard Tony Parker.

Noua is currently ranked as the No. 78 prospect by Givony, but has been heavily scouted all season by NBA teams with draft picks in the second round, with many international talent evaluators considering Noua to be one of the better draft-and-stash options in this year’s draft. Noua was born in 1997, meaning he will have one more opportunity to go through the NBA draft process in 2019 should he elect to withdraw his name at the early-entry deadline on June 11.

In other draft-related news:

  • Wake Forest junior big man Doral Moore has declared for the draft and will hire an agent, thereby forgoing his senior year, he tweeted this afternoon. The 7’1” Moore averaged 11.1 PPG and 9.4 RPG this past season, while also setting a single-season school record by shooting 68.9 percent from the field.
  • Villanova freshman forward Omari Spellman will enter the 2018 NBA Draft, but will not hire an agent, per an official release from the university. Spellman was named the Big East Freshman of the Year this season after averaging 10.9 points and 8.0 rebounds per game for the national champion Wildcats.
  • South Carolina junior forward Chris Silva announced today that he plans to submit his name for the 2018 NBA Draft, but will not hire an agent, per an official release from USC. Silva led the Gamecocks in points (14.3 per game) and rebounds (8.0 per game) this season, and was named First Team All-SEC.