Kelly Oubre To Enter Draft
10:43am: Oubre’s father tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that his son is indeed declaring for the draft (Twitter links).
10:04am: Lottery prospect Kelly Oubre is planning to enter this year’s draft, a source tells Evan Daniels of Scout.com (Twitter link). The Kansas freshman small forward has disappointed this year, but he’s still the 12th-best prospect in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles and No. 13 on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress list.
The 19-year-old’s inconsistency is a sign that he’d benefit from another year with the Jayhawks, Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors wrote as he rated him 11th in our Draft Prospect Power Rankings, but it’s long seemed likely that he’d turn pro. He played fewer than 10 minutes in five of the team’s first seven games and finally broke out with a 23-point, 10-rebound performance in 25 minutes against Lafayette, an eventual NCAA Tournament team, in late December. The 6’7″ Oubre saw more playing time in other games as the season wore on, but he never scored as many points or pulled down more rebounds. He wound up averaging just 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in 21.0 minutes per game, troubling numbers offset to some degree by respectable 35.8% three-point shooting.
Oubre was a projected top-five pick in both the Ford and Givony rankings prior to the season, though he was a more modest No. 8 in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index coming out of high school last year. He had the burden of replacing Andrew Wiggins at his position for Kansas, but Oubre’s team went just as far in the NCAA Tournament as Wiggins’ Jayhawks did, with both losing in the round of 32. This year’s Kansas squad also featured Cliff Alexander, Givony’s No. 33 prospect and Ford’s No. 39, though it’s unknown whether he’ll join Oubre in the 2015 draft.
Melo Trimble Staying Out Of Draft
Maryland freshman point guard Melo Trimble has decided to remain in school for another year and won’t enter the 2015 draft, the school announced. The 20-year-old was in line to become a mid-second-round pick, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranked him as the 44th-best prospect. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress already projects him as a 2016 draftee, listing him 32nd in his mock for that year.
The 6’3″ Trimble led a strong Maryland team in scoring with 16.2 points on just 9.7 shots in 33.5 minutes per game. He nailed 41.2% of his three-pointers, though ball distribution wasn’t his forte, as he averaged just 3.0 assists against 2.5 turnovers per outing.
The Terrapins entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed but fell to No. 5 seed West Virginia in the round of 32. Trimble had a strong tournament, with a triple-double against Valparaiso in Maryland’s opening game and 15 points, seven assists and seven rebounds versus the Mountaineers. He’s set to play next season with Maryland recruit Diamond Stone, currently a high school senior and the projected No. 4 pick in Givony’s 2016 mock.
Tyler Harvey To Enter Draft
Eastern Washington junior shooting guard Tyler Harvey is set to declare for this year’s draft, a source tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). He’ll hold off on signing with an agent, Goodman adds, so it would appear as though Harvey will be able to withdraw by April 12th and retain his NCAA eligibility even if he makes a formal announcement before that date. The 21-year-old is the 41st-best prospect and the third-best among shooting guards, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress rates him much lower, at No. 84. Givony has been projecting him as a 2016 draft entrant and has him at No. 45 on his 2016 mock.
Harvey was the leading scorer in NCAA Division I with 23.1 points per game this season. He achieved that on 15.3 shots in 36.9 minutes per contest with 43.1% three-point shooting. His long-range accuracy is his calling card, and he’s been remarkably consistent, having made between 43.1% and 43.4% of his three-point attempts in each of his three college seasons. The 6’4″ Harvey averaged 4.0 made three-pointers per contest this year.
Eastern Washington won the Big Sky Conference tournament to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in March but fell to Georgetown in its opening game, in spite of 27 points from Harvey. The school has produced one other NBA player, Rodney Stuckey, though he played under a previous head coach.
Latest On Monty Williams
Monty Williams declined to elaborate today after telling reporters that he and the Pelicans haven’t spoken about an extension on his deal with the team, which runs out after next season, as John Reid of The Times-Picayune relays. New Orleans plans an evaluation of Williams as well as GM Dell Demps after the season, Reid hears. Demps’ contract has a team option for 2015/16, but the Pelicans haven’t given any indication about whether they’ll pick that up, according to Reid.
Williams did point to the team’s accomplishments this season, one in which New Orleans has a chance at the playoffs if it can make up a deficit of two and a half games to catch the Thunder for the final playoff spot. Ryan Anderson also offered his support, saying that Williams has “handled everything perfectly,” Reid notes.
”Look at the improvements we’ve made — we were 34 wins last year,” Williams said. ”I don’t want to think that far ahead, but we’ve overcome a lot. I don’t think our guys get enough credit for what they’ve been able to do under some weird circumstances. We’ll see how we finish up. One of our goals this year was to have a winning record and we want it badly to make the playoffs. We have a chance to do both, so I would say we have come a long way.”
Williams has reportedly been under pressure this season, his fifth as coach of the Pelicans, who haven’t appeared in the playoffs since his first year in charge of the team. There was a perception around the league at midseason that he and Demps were on “thin ice,” as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders wrote at the time. Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher reported in January that there was talk around the NBA that owner Tom Benson, who’s since been embroiled in a legal battle regarding control of the team, was eyeing former Pistons president of basketball ops Joe Dumars and former Mavs and Nets coach Avery Johnson. Still, Bucher heard that New Orleans hadn’t contacted either and that there were no definitive signs that the Pelicans wanted to move on from Demps and Williams.
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It’ll be an interesting summer for soon-to-be restricted free agent Draymond Green, an integral part of the Warriors. He’ll no doubt wind up with a dramatic raise on the minimum salary he’s making this season, but the majority of Hoops Rumors readers who voted in our poll think he’ll fall short of the max. For reader
- Here’s the thing: for the Warriors, he’s a max player. For teams like the Spurs, Grizzlies, Hawks, Bulls, etc. who have pieces around him and who play in a strong system system, he’s a max player. If teams like the Lakers, Knicks, Kings, etc. sign him then they are fools. Not that he isn’t very valuable, but he is not the type of player that will transcend a system and be your 1st or 2nd best player. He is, however, the 3rd best player on a championship team. He is as good a defender as anyone in the league, he can guard all 5 positions legitimately, he’s a great rebounder especially for his size, and his offensive game is really improved.
Raptors GM Masai Ujiri referred to the team’s pursuit of Canadian players as an “obligation,” and while most of the voters in a Hoops Rumors poll believe he should simply focus on finding the best talent regardless of nationality, RapFan99 sees greater meaning.
- It would be a Canadian ratings bonanza if they landed Andrew Wiggins. And I do think they have chance eventually, because national pride is different from city to city pride. I also think it would be great for kids to see someone from their country playing for their team. I think Americans don’t realize how lucky they are to have mostly Americans playing for them. If the US had a soccer team filled with all Europeans, they’d still cheer for the team, but would definitely want an American on there to root for. So I hope it happens, but I hope Masai doesn’t just do it to do it.
Heat team president Pat Riley most assuredly won’t win the Executive of the Year award after losing LeBron James in free agency this past summer, but Jeremy Nierenberg believes he still deserves recognition for other moves.
- Pat Riley never gets any respect man … Hassan Whiteside, Tyler Johnson, Henry Walker … nabbing the best available player at the trade deadline … If the Heat were healthy (only played 2 games all season with a healthy roster FYI) they would be one of, if not the best team in the East, with or without LeBron. He should get credit for that. Maybe next year when these moves get to really manifest themselves.
Check out what more readers had to say in previous editions of Hoops Rumors Featured Feedback. We appreciate everyone who adds to the dialogue at Hoops Rumors, and we look forward to seeing more responses like these from you!
Jherrod Stiggers To Turn Pro
University of Houston junior guard Jherrod Stiggers will forgo his senior season and turn pro, reports Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston, making him eligible for the NBA draft. However, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll be drafted, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him unranked as a prospect, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com doesn’t have a draft profile page for him. Stiggers was nonetheless the leading scorer the Cougars, who compete in the American Athletic Conference.
Stiggers put up 14.2 points on 12.4 shots in 35.6 minutes per game this season, and he nailed 34.3% of his three-point shots. The Cougars, under former NBA assistant Kelvin Sampson, finished 13-19 this season.
The 6’4″, 22-year-old Stiggers has already hired an agent, according to Berman, so he can’t withdraw his name and play in the NCAA again even if he has a change of heart. He seems destined to land in the D-League or on an overseas team, though it wouldn’t be surprising if he drew at least some predraft workouts from NBA teams and played in the summer league.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Greg Monroe
A strained right knee has kept Greg Monroe out since March 14th, but while he said he’ll definitely make it back before the regular season ends two weeks from Wednesday, it’s quite conceivable, if not probable, that he’s seen his last moments of meaningful basketball in a Pistons uniform. The Pistons are in 12th place and four and a half games out of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and Monroe’s unrestricted free agency looms in July. The end of the season will signal the end of a period of relative financial sacrifice for the former seventh overall pick, who turned down reported offers of eight-figure salaries to take a one-year qualifying offer of slightly less than $5.48MM and hit unrestricted free agency as soon as possible.
The move appeared to signal that Monroe wanted out of Detroit, as signing a lucrative, long-term offer sheet with any other team of his choosing last summer could have simply tethered him to the Pistons for that much longer if they had matched. Still, agent David Falk insists that his client will “absolutely” consider re-signing with the Pistons, echoing Monroe’s own comment on the matter from before the season. Falk also made it seem as though Monroe was a long way from thinking about where he wants to play next year, though the impending end of the season will no doubt bring him a step closer to that.
Monroe and Falk reportedly discouraged teams from presenting him with offer sheets. The big man said he was wary of committing for the long term to Detroit before he became comfortable with Stan Van Gundy, who was then just a few months into his job as coach president of basketball operations. A sign-and-trade was an alternative solution, since that would have allowed Monroe to sign a market-value deal for multiple years with another team without the threat of a match from Van Gundy and company. The Pistons reportedly talked to the Blazers, Hawks and Pelicans about sign-and-trades, but nothing materialized. The Magic and Cavs apparently had interest in Monroe, too, but Orlando felt “lukewarm at best” about him, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press put it, and Cleveland seemed to move away from him once LeBron James committed to go back there.
Nearly a year has passed since last year’s free agency, and Monroe has had just about a full season to get a feel for Van Gundy. Monroe dismissed rumors that he didn’t want to play alongside Josh Smith, but Van Gundy’s bold decision to waive Smith in December, less than halfway into a $54MM contract, had a marked effect on Monroe’s production. The former Georgetown Hoya was putting up 14.7 points and 8.8 rebounds in 29.0 minutes per game prior to Smith’s release, all figures that would have represented his lowest season numbers since he was a rookie. Since then, he’s put up 16.9 PPG and 11.5 RPG in 32.6 MPG, and those scoring and rebounding figures would be career highs if extrapolated over an entire season. The contrast could scarcely be more stark.
One executive estimated to Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops around the time of the Smith waiver that Monroe would merit a four-year, $48MM deal, but he’s probably lifted his value quite a bit since then. He denied that he received an offer from the Pistons that would have eclipsed the value of Smith’s deal, and he said that it wouldn’t have taken a maximum-salary offer for him to commit to Detroit. He downplayed the idea of accepting the highest bid and Falk reiterated that this season, insisting that money won’t be the primary determinant for where Monroe will play next year.
That’s an inauspicious sign in one respect for the Pistons, who can offer a fifth year and higher raises than any other team can. It’s a stance that could also ease a burden for a team that’s already planning a push to re-sign restricted free agent Reggie Jackson and faces rookie scale extension negotiations with Andre Drummond in the offseason ahead. Having Monroe back at any sort of discount would no doubt accelerate Van Gundy’s rebuilding plans.
That idea still seems a long shot, particularly with other teams already showing interest. The Hawks, who were one of the teams apparently in sign-and-trade talks with Detroit this past summer, and Knicks were reportedly planning pursuits as far back as December. The Lakers reportedly asked the Pistons about trading for Monroe before this year’s deadline. Surely others will be in the mix for the promising big man, who turns 25 in June, and even if he winds up with a max deal, it would likely cost his team a starting salary of no more than $16MM, since he’s in the 25% max bracket, a rarity for a high-level unrestricted free agent.
Monroe’s PER number is a flattering 21.1 this season, and while he’s not an elite defender, he holds his own, as his No. 20 ranking in ESPN’s Real Defensive Plus/Minus for power forwards shows. He’s No. 10 in Basketball-Reference’s Box Defensive Plus Minus among the 18 players who swing between forward and center and who’ve compiled at least 500 minutes this season. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t score a deal that at least comes quite close to the max. Pistons owner Tom Gores has made it seem as though he’s willing to open his checkbook to make it happen, but I suspect Monroe will settle for lower raises and one fewer year on his contract to head to another team. Still, that’s just my speculation, and the market can shift between now and July as others distinguish themselves even if Monroe isn’t playing, especially come draft time.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jordan Mickey Entering NBA Draft
LSU sophomore power forward Jordan Mickey has decided to enter this year’s NBA draft, as he tells Randy Rosetta of The Times-Picayune. Still, there’s a decent chance the 20-year-old won’t hear his name called on June 25th. He’s just 69th in the prospect rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 80th.
The news is no surprise, as Goodman reported a week ago that Mickey was leaning toward declaring for the draft, though the school released a statement around the same time in which the 6’7″ All-SEC honoree cautioned that he hadn’t yet made up his mind. Mickey dealt with injuries this season, but he still averaged nearly a double-double, putting up 15.4 points and 9.9 rebounds in 34.9 minutes per game, with an impressive 3.6 blocks per contest, too. Mickey’s stock nonetheless slipped from this time last year, when he decided to return to school amid rankings that projected he’d go in the late first round or early second round this year.
He’ll join fellow LSU sophomore big man Jarell Martin in this year’s draft, as our log of 2015 early entrants shows. The Tigers lost current Bucks power forward Johnny O’Bryant to the draft last year, but combo forward Ben Simmons, who’s No. 2 on Givony’s 2016 mock draft, has committed to the school for next season. Mickey and Martin helped lead the team to a ninth seed in the NCAA Tournament this season, though LSU lost its first tournament game to eighth-seeded N.C. State.
Rockets Plan Push To Re-Sign Patrick Beverley
The Rockets are “determined” to re-sign Patrick Beverley this summer amid no shortage of interest from other clubs around the league, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes in a report on the latest surrounding the point guard’s season-ending wrist injury. Beverley, whom the Rockets have employed as their starting point guard for just the minimum salary, is set for restricted free agency this summer.
It will take four months for Beverley to recover from the surgery he underwent today, league sources tell Wojnarowski. There was a “fleeting hope” prior to surgery that Beverely could have been back to play in the Western Conference Finals if the Rockets made it to that round, according to Wojnarowski, but that’s not to be. A four-month timetable would mean he wouldn’t be ready until August, a month after free agency begins, but Beverley is expected to be near full recovery by the time he hits the market, Wojnarowski writes.
Houston has reportedly held interest in fellow soon-to-be free agent Goran Dragic since before the season began, though he apparently didn’t make them a preferred trade destination at the deadline because he worried that the Rockets would seek to trade him if he signed a long-term deal with them. The Rockets likely would have given up Beverley in a trade for Dragic, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, and when Houston was close to signing Chris Bosh last summer, the Heat were poised to target Beverley in sign-and-trade talks, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reported.
Still, it appears that absent a desire from Dragic to sign with the Rockets, Houston is prepared to recommit to Beverley, and according to Wojnarowski, the Rockets want a long-term deal. Beverley has expressed contentment in playing for the team. The BDA Management client has a reputation as a strong defender, though he’s down the list of point guards on ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus/Minus ratings and of guards as ranked by Basketball-Reference’s Defensive Box Plus/Minus. Still, he averaged a career-high 3.4 assists this season, and he shot 35.6% from three-point territory.
Eastern Notes: LeBron, Irving, Stevens, Shved
The relationship between LeBron James and Kyrie Irving was “rocky” at points earlier this season, Irving admits, but it’s grown into a bond that appears much stronger than the one between James and Kevin Love, as Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group details. Love and James say it doesn’t matter whether they become as tight as Irving and James are as long as they can develop a greater on-court connection, Vardon writes.
“People get so infatuated with the best of friends, things of that nature,” James said. “First of all, I’ve got three very good friends in this league, and that’s Carmelo [Anthony], and that’s C.P. [Chris Paul], and that’s [Dwyane Wade] Wade. And after that I have a bunch of teammates. I have guys I ride for every day. But Kyrie is a guy I understand how important he is to this team, how important he is. And the same with Kev as well.”
James and Love can opt out to hit free agency this summer, while Irving will enter year one of his five-year extension next season. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated and CBS hears “some Brad Stevens chatter” in connection to the University of Texas coaching job (Twitter link). It’s unclear whether there’s interest on either side, though Texas athletics director Steve Patterson has spoken with NBA coaching agents of late, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com. Davis identifies Avery Johnson as a possible sleeper for the job. Stevens is just finishing up the second season of a six-year, $22MM deal and there have been no indications that he wants to leave the Celtics. Further, the Celtics would probably deny him permission to go, as Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com surmises (Twitter link).
- Alexey Shved loves playing for coach Derek Fisher and is open to re-signing with New York after his contract expires this summer, sources tell Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). The Knicks can make Shved a restricted free agent if they tender a qualifying offer of nearly $4.103MM.
- The Cavs have assigned Joe Harris to the D-League, the team announced. It’s the eighth time Cleveland has sent last year’s 33rd overall pick to its affiliate, though none of the seven previous assignments have lasted as long as a week, as our leaguewide assignments/recalls log shows.