Hornets Notes: Williams, Forwards, Free Agents
Sitting at 26-48, the Hornets head to Golden State tomorrow night to take on the Warriors. With only eight games remaining, it sounds like the team will have some decisions to make in the offseason. Let's round up all things New Orleans here on this Tuesday night:
- Hornets coach Monty Williams does not foresee the Hornets (soon to be the Pelicans) having any problems attracting top talent this offseason, writes John Reid of The Times-Picayune. Along with the name change, the New Orleans franchise has a 55,000 square foot practice facility in the works as well as ample cap space to make a splash. Williams says that multiple free-agents-to-be have suggested to him during games that they'd love to play for him in New Orleans.
- Williams addressed the idea of changes to the team's roster over the summer, notes Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com (Twitter link). "That’s just the nature of it. When you have a record like we have, you’re not going to settle for this production," Williams said.
- Williams expressed his displeasure with the team's small forwards earlier this season, and Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune echoes that sentiment, imploring the team to prioritize an upgrade at the three this summer. As it stands now, the Hornets use Al-Farouq Aminu, Darius Miller and Lance Thomas at that spot, who barely combine for 12 points per night.
- The Hornets could have as many as eight players become free agents when the season ends in two weeks, including the entire small forward trio mentioned above, Reid writes. Aminu will become a free agent, along with Xavier Henry, Roger Mason and Louis Amundson. The Hornets must decide whether to extend team options to Miller, Thomas and backup point guard Brian Roberts. Per Reid, this has resulted in an environment where the current players are desperate to make an impression. While Reid doesn't mention him, Terrel Harris has a non-guaranteed deal next season and could also become a free agent.
Draft Notes: McGary, Risers, Adams, Thunder
As more draft news pours in, be sure to check out our Early Entrants tracker which will be continuously updated as more underclassmen declare for the draft. Here are the latest news and notes on the NBA Draft:
- Goodman also tweets that all signs still point toward Nerlens Noel entering the NBA Draft. Noel's rehab is "well ahead of schedule" according to Goodman, who adds that he doesn't envision Noel making an announcement by the April 16 NCAA deadline. Since he will likely sit out next season regardless, Noel has the luxury of being able to wait until the April 28 NBA deadline to make dis decision.
Earlier updates:
- Despite his exploding draft stock, Michigan freshman sensation Mitch McGary will return to Ann Arbor for his sophomore season regardless of what happens in the Final Four, he told MLive.com's Kyle Meinke on Tuesday. McGary and Trey Burke have fueled the Wolverines run this March, and some draft experts think his performance was impressive enough to have moved him into the first round conversation.
- In an Insiders Only piece, Chad Ford of ESPN included McGary in his list of five draft prospects who gave NBA scouts and GMs something positive to think about with their play in the NCAA Tournament. Also included are Louisville's Russ Smith, Ohio State's Deshaun Thomas and LaQuinton Ross, and Syracuse's C.J. Fair.
- Meanwhile, Pittsburgh 7-footer Steven Adams has decided to enter the NBA Draft, writes Jeff Goodman, adding that NBA executives have indicated to CBS Sports that Adams will be a first round pick. Adams, from New Zealand, averaged 7.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and two blocks per game as a freshman Panther. Goodman is told that Adams primary motivation is to provide for his family. Adams and his 18 siblings lost their father when he was 14.
- Royce Young of Daily Thunder breaks down the draft odds for the Thunder, who stand an excellent chance of being able to utilize the protected pick they received in the James Harden deal now that the Raptors have been officially eliminated from playoff contention. The pick is top-3 and 15-30 protected and Toronto is currently tied for the seventh worst record. Young outlines who should be available at seven or eight, according to an assortment of big boards and mock drafts.
- Here are a handful of early entry draft trackers, courtesy of Draft Express, ESPN and HoopsWorld.
Alex Poythress To Return To Kentucky
Alex Poythress will return to Kentucky for his sophomore season, reports the Courier-Journal's Kyle Tucker (via Twitter). Yesterday, we heard that Poythress was leaning towards entering the draft. As Tucker points out via Twitter, Poythress' decision means the Wildcats will have at least eight McDonalds All-Americans and 10 top-40 recruits on the roster next year. Both of those numbers could go up by one if the Cats land Andrew Wiggins, who many believe is the front runner to be the No. 1 pick in 2014.
"I want to come back and do what we said we wanted to do and that's win a national title," Poythress said, adding, "I want to develop more as a player and the competition coming in next year should help me do that."
This decision is a curious one largely because Kentucky's roster is so insanely loaded next year. Per Tucker, John Calipari is quoted in the press release that he has "only scratched the surface" with Poythress. Yes, the 6-foot-7 forward could certainly improve under Cal for one more year. But those improvements may only be visible behind closed practice doors, as Poythress is likely to be buried on the bench unless he significantly improves, as Tucker points out.
According to Jeff Goodman of CBS, Poythress was told by NBA scouts he was a lock to be a first-round pick and could have even gone in the lottery had he come out. With that said, Goodman likes the decision, tweeting that even if Wiggins does commit to Kentucky, it only means that Poythress will stay for three years. Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com agrees with the draft assessment of the NBA scouts, tweeting that Poythress' projection was the middle of the first round. Poythress's announcement comes only one day after teammates and fellow freshman Willie Cauley-Stein and Kyle Wiltjer communicated their intent to return to Lexington.
Odds & Ends: Free Agency, Draft, Marketability
As more teams are eliminated from playoff contention, fans will undoubtedly turn some of their attention to this summer's free agent crop and draft, looking for a quick-fix that will land their team back in the playoffs next year. As a result, we are sure to see an increase in the publication of free agency and draft rankings. Let's look at a few lists here, as well as some other notes from around the league:
- Amin Elhassan, formerly of the Suns front office, ranks this summer's top 30 free agents for ESPN Insiders based on the average annual value (AAV) that he believes the player deserves. Among other things, Elhassan says that he considered the following factors: age, injury history, value of recent comparable player contracts, irreplaceability of skill set, contribution to winning, history of production, fit with style and culture, marketability and current cap situation.
- Also from ESPN, Israel Gutierrez and a panel from the TrueHoop Network break down how some of the offseason's top free agents compare to one another. Of the five presented comparisons, the only consensus is that Brandon Jennings is more valuable than his teammate Monta Ellis.
- We saw a pair of underclassmen declare their intent to enter the draft earlier today. Jeff Goodman of CBS gives his take on which of the other underclassmen should follow suit. The players have until April 16 to reverse their declaration if they want to maintain their college eligibility. Also, Goodman links to his early entry tracker.
- Jonathan Givony tweets that his Draft Express Top 100 was updated today, with the players headed back to school removed. Hoops Rumors' Prospect Profile series page is sorted based on Givony's rankings, and should become more complete every week as we approach the June 27 draft date.
- David Aldridge of NBA.com gives his take on the point guards that will be available in June's draft, concluding that while there isn't a Kyrie Irving-type of star within the crop, there are plenty of solid pros available. The strength of this draft has consistently been downplayed throughout the year, but we are now starting to see more experts, like Aldridge, suggest that what it lacks in star power, the crop makes up for in depth.
- Joe Kotoch of Sheridan Hoops releases his first mock draft, projecting a top three of Nerlens Noel, Marcus Smart and Ben McLemore.
- There's uneasiness among executives regarding
the marketability of the NBA going forward, along with a "healthy"
level of doubt about incoming commissioner Adam Silver, according
to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who wonders
whether tanking and side stories are overshadowing the games.
Prospect Profile: Ben McLemore
While his college career is likely over – Kansas lost in the Sweet 16 tonight to Michigan in overtime – the biggest of basketball games are still to come for Jayhawks freshman Ben McLemore. The 6-foot-5 silky-smooth shooting guard from St. Louis is one of a handful of candidates to be the first named called at June 27’s NBA Draft. Assuming he declares for the draft – and all indications are that he will – McLemore is a virtual lock to go in the top five.
McLemore, ranked second on the Draft Express Top 100, has everything you want in a shooting guard – elite athleticism, good size/length and picture-perfect form on his jump shot. Using his length, he has shown the ability to be a plus defender. Jayhawks head coach Bill Self described McLemore as the most talented kid he has ever coached. As a freshman, McLemore averaged 15.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2 assists per game.
But the path to get to those solid numbers has been anything but steady for the freshman, perhaps best evidenced by the four games prior to tonight’s contest against Michigan. Against North Carolina last Sunday, McLemore went 0-for-9 from the field and finished with 2 points. His three games before that – 11, 5 and 10 points – gave him a collective 8-for-26 effort from the field over that vital four game span.
It is this inconsistency that has fueled increasing skepticism about whether McLemore is worthy of the draft’s top selection. He clearly possesses all the tools for NBA stardom. In 37 games this year, McLemore topped the 23-point mark eight times, three times dropping 30. But he also scored in single-digits six times.
The looming question on McLemore has begun to proliferate. If this is McLemore against college competition, how long until he can score consistently at the NBA level? Because make no mistake about it, McLemore will have to be a consistent scorer in the NBA to justify where he will be drafted. To his credit, the freshman bounced back against Michigan tonight, hitting four treys en route to 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting in a losing effort.
McLemore’s faults really seem to typecast him in that “long on talent, short on feel” mold. His ball handling, particularly with regard to creating his own shot, needs work. Some question his competitiveness and his feel for the game, though he has shown above average shot selection. It is easy to point to these shortcomings to explain how it’s possible for such a gifted offensive player to disappear at times.
But regardless of the questions about him, those gifts are exactly what will land McLemore a top five selection come June 27. His form, quick release and athleticism give him a “perfect world” ceiling of Ray Allen. He is also likely to get compared to Bradley Beal since he is likely to be drafted in a similar spot and their obvious sharp-shooting similarities. But he has a few inches on Beal and is a more explosive athlete.
With reports of skepticism on the rise, expect McLemore to be a hot topic come the pre-draft workout period. He has tools that will make NBA talent evaluators drool, all he will have to do is convince one of them that he has the mental game to go with it and he will be one of the first names called.
Draft Notes: Anderson, Muhammad, Hoosiers, Suns
With the second night of Sweet 16 games kicking off shortly, let’s consolidate all news on soon-to-be NBA prospects here:
- It appears that Kyle Anderson plans to return to UCLA for his sophomore year next season, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY. Anderson’s father sent out a text message to several media outlets to confirm that his soon will stay in school, quelling the fears of Bruins fans that were worried Anderson would bolt in the wake of Ben Howland’s firing. Before news broke today, Jonathan Givony of Draft Express tweeted that he heard Anderson was “100% planning on declaring for the draft.”
- In an Insider-only story, Kevin Pelton of ESPN gauges the draft stock of Anderson’s teammate and fellow freshman at UCLA, Shabazz Muhammad. Pelton maintains a draft-related database that indicates a prospect’s age is nearly as important a predictor of NBA success as anything else, which doesn’t bode well for Muhammad. While he was only a freshman this year, the Los Angeles Times discovered last week that Muhammad is actually 20 years old, not 19 as was previously thought. Muhammad currently ranks seventh on the Draft Express Top 100 list. Pelton suggests that the news on Muhammad’s age should bump him down from that spot, though it remains to be seen if that actually happens.
- Neither Cody Zeller nor Victor Oladipo said much last night regarding their future after their Hoosiers fell to Syracuse in the Sweet 16. Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star writes that most scouts think Oladipo’s stock can’t get much higher, and it is likely that the uber-athletic junior will declare for the draft because of it. Zeller is a different story, however. After entering the season projected as a top-3 pick, Zeller’s lack of toughness and inability to dominate have scouts questioning his potential, Wells says. It seems like another year at Indiana might be the best bet for the 7-foot sophomore. Our Chuck Myron profiled Oladipo yesterday in our Prospect Profile series.
- After they held out Goran Dragic on Wednesday against the Jazz, it was only natural for questions about tanking to come up inside the Suns locker room. Paul Coro, reporting for USA Today, writes that Suns players have continued to play hard in part because many of them believe that this year’s draft is lacking on impact players.
- According to an Eastern Conference talent evaluator, this year’s draft class should not be classified as “weak”, writes Michael Lee of the Washington Post. While there may be no sure-fire studs, this draft will likely turn out as many NBA starters or even NBA All-Stars as most. Lee says that many recent drafts have also received the “weak” label, only to produce a respectable crop of players. “And I think this draft is going to be no different,” the talent evaluator said.
Odds & Ends: Collins, Saunders, Martin, Jennings
With 22 NBA teams in action on Friday night, let's round up all of the odds and ends from around the league here:
- Sam Amico of Fox Sports points out, via Twitter, that Sixers coach Doug Collins has never coached longer than three years in his coaching career, which includes stops in Detroit, Chicago and Washington. This is relevant, of course, because Collins in currently in his third year in Philly and the wreckage of the Andrew Bynum disaster has many wondering if he will return next season.
- Flip Saunders is drawing interest from the University of Minnesota as well as the Timberwolves, tweets NBC's Ric Bucher. The return to the Gophers, Saunders' alma mater, would be as the team's head coach while the Wolves are interested in securing their former coach to replace current general manager David Kahn. While Bucher says that current Wolves owner Glen Taylor is tight with Saunders, he thinks that Saunders would rather coach, even in college, than enter an NBA front office.
- The addition of Kenyon Martin has been the last of a series of successful moves by Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald, over the past few years, that have resulted in the team closing in on its first division title in 19 years, writes Moke Hamilton of Sheridan Hoops.
- Brandon Jennings, a restricted free agent come summer, should hope to ink a new deal more commensurate with his potential than his performance, writes Sean Deveney of Sporting News. Jennings, who was recently benched, has had his moments over his four-year career and seemed to be nearing a breakout last year when he averaged 19.1 points.
- The Los Angeles D-Fenders have acquired former UCLA Bruin Reeves Nelson, tweets Eric Pincus of the L.A. Times. Nelson hooked on with the Lakers and Houston in the preseason, but was waived by both teams prior to the season.
Schmitz On Magic: Harrington, Dead Money, Noel
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel provides his latest update on all things Orlando Magic, addressing the Al Harrington situation, tallying all of the dead money on the Magic roster and questioning whether the Magic can risk gambling on Kentucky's Nerlens Noel.
- Harrington told Schmitz that while he refuses to let his knee injury end his NBA career, the 33-year-old veteran understands that his time in Orlando is likely over. Schmitz says the Magic will probably try to trade Harrington. If they can't, they will buy out the remaining two years on his deal, which is worth $14.7MM though Schmitz says it would cost Orlando about half of that since the deal is not fully guaranteed. Harrington added that he is "through playing with bad teams" and hopes that his 10-game stint on the court earlier this season was enough to draw interest from a contender next season.
- Schmitz says that the Magic currently have about $62MM committed to players who are currently not playing or are not on the roster. The team has two years and $43.1MM remaining on their deal with Gilbert Arenas and is still paying (or has paid) Hakim Warrick ($4MM), Quentin Richardson ($2.6MM), Christian Eyenga ($1.7MM) and Justin Harper ($762K), none of whom are on the roster. Hedo Turkoglu ($11.8MM), Arron Afflalo ($7.5MM), Harrington ($6.6MM) and Glen Davis ($6.4MM) are all injured or have been shut down.
- Schmitz opines that the lack of high-impact talent in June's draft makes Nerlens Noel a worthwhile gamble for the Magic. While Nikola Vucevic has emerged this year as an elite rebounder, the 7-footer is not really a shot blocker (only 1.0 blocks-per-game this year). Enter Noel, who would seem to fit nicely alongside Vucevic. The Magic probably won't be ready to compete for several years, so Schmitz says they could give the Kentucky shot blocker all the time he needs to recover.
Cavs Sign Chris Quinn For Rest Of Season
10:11am: The Cavaliers have officially signed Quinn, the team announced in a press release. The deal will be for the remainder of the season, according to the Cavs.
WEDNESDAY, 8:23am: Quinn is expected to finalize his deal and be in uniform tonight against the Heat if he passes a physical today, tweets Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
TUESDAY, 8:24pm: The Cavaliers will sign Chris Quinn of the NBDL's Tulsa 66ers, reports Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside (via Twitter). With Kyrie Irving potentially sidelined for the remainder of the season, the Cavs just learned that Dion Waiters will now miss at least a week. Per Schlosser, Quinn will serve as a short term fix in Cleveland.
Quinn, a Notre Dame product, has five years of NBA experience on three teams but has not played in the league since 2010-11 with the Spurs. Since then, he has bounced between the NBDL and overseas and was one of the final cuts last fall in training camp with the Jazz. At 29 years old, this audition might be the last in the regular season for Quinn if he cannot prove his worth.
Royce White: Rockets, NBA Want Me Gone
The last time we heard from Royce White, he was quietly attempting to salvage his rookie season in the D-League after being suspended by the Rockets in January. White had then just finally accepted the D-League assignment after an extended "holdout" resulting from his perception that the team and league did not have sufficient support in place for players suffering from mental illness.
That silence has officially ended. In a video interview with the Huffington Post, White said that he thinks the NBA and the Rockets would prefer if he just went away, citing his independent voice and his commitment to improving the way NBA handles players with mental health issues. Here is a sizeable chunk of White's comments, courtesy of Ben Golliver at Sports Ilustrated:
“I went through the bumps and bruises of having to advocate for myself against a billion-dollar corporation. Other than that, I think I’ve actually been successful, if you look at the rate of success, or what could have went wrong. I could have easily been out of the league or blackballed or things like that. But that hasn’t happened yet…
“I’m a problem because I’m not afraid to say what I think and I’m not afraid to stand alone. Even amongst the NBA community, the players, the union, the NBA office, and [commissioner] David Stern and [deputy commissioner] Adam Silver. I’m not afraid to stand alone in my own circle, and say, hey listen, you guys aren’t respecting mental health…
“If I was to make an educated guess, I would guess that Adam Silver and David Stern and the Rockets organization, some other owners in the league, GMs, want me gone. And why do they want me gone? Because business is about convenience, it’s not about doing what’s necessary, right? It’s about cutting overhead… Being efficient. And a lot of times, what’s best for us as human beings doesn’t meet that criteria for business people.”
What happens with White now is anyone's guess, but it is probably safe to say that neither the Rockets nor the NBA will appreciate these comments. As Golliver points out, the Rockets have already expressed plenty of frustration with their rookie. We will be certain to keep an eye on this story, as there is sure to be some sort of fallout or reaction from the Rockets or the NBA.