R.J. Hunter To Enter Draft
11:46am: Hunter confirmed his decision in an interview with Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, adding that he’s been told he’ll likely be drafted between the 15th and 35th overall picks.
8:07am: Georgia State junior shooting guard R.J. Hunter will soon formally announce that he’s entering this year’s draft, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The NCAA Tournament hero is the 20th-ranked prospect on Chad Ford’s ESPN.com list, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 27th.
Hunter hit a long three-pointer with 2.7 seconds left to seal Georgia State’s upset of No. 3 seed Baylor on the first full day of the tournament, sending his father and coach Ron Hunter tumbling on the sidelines and giving March another iconic moment. Still, R.J. Hunter was well-positioned for a shot at NBA glory even before that, having continued to climb prospect rankings this past season. He was 59th among Givony’s top prospects when he declined to enter the draft last year. He cooled after a hot start vaulted him into consideration for a mid-first-round pick earlier this season, but his passing ability has him poised to play a prominent role as an NBA sixth man, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors writes as he ranks him 19th in our latest Draft Prospect Power Rankings.
The 6’5″ 21-year-old averaged 19.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 37.0 minutes per game this season for the Panthers, who compete in the Sun Belt Conference. He made 39.5% of his three-pointers as a sophomore and 35.4% for his college career, but he was just a 30.5% three-point shooter this season.
Eastern Notes: Dudley, Monroe, Fisher
Jared Dudley didn’t really want to play for the Bucks after the Clippers traded him to Milwaukee this summer, but his new team’s training staff, Jason Kidd‘s coaching style, and Milwaukee’s competitiveness helped convince him otherwise, as Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel details. Dudley has a $4.25MM early termination option for next season, and while he hasn’t said what he’ll do with that, he told Nickel that he’d like a long-term deal with the Bucks and that he’s willing to take a discount to sign one, citing Kidd as his top reason why. Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Greg Monroe believes former Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars deserves another chance to run a team, as Terry Foster of The Detroit News relays. Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher wrote in January that Pelicans owner Tom Benson had some interest in Dumars, and Monroe, soon to be an unrestricted free agent, is a New Orleans native. “I mean, yeah,” Monroe said when asked if Dumars should have another shot at team building. “He put together a championship team. Obviously he knows what it takes to get it done. For a stretch he had one of the most successful teams in the league. Obviously he is good at that job. I don’t see how that would be a problem to get back.”
- Derek Fisher says he doesn’t have regrets about taking on the Knicks coaching job even with the team in possession of the league’s worst record and added that he talks daily with team president Phil Jackson, notes Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. Coaching colleagues, like Tom Thibodeau, have no shortage of praise for Fisher, Botte adds.
- Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers believes the Celtics almost had to trade Rajon Rondo this season with his contract running out this summer, as he told reporters, including Brian Robb of Boston.com. Rivers said a rebuilding team like the Celtics, whom he used to coach, can’t afford to risk that a soon-to-be free agent walks and added that he believes Rondo, and not the Celtics front office, was the catalyst for the move, as Robb passes along.
Myles Turner Announces He’s Entering Draft
Texas freshman center Myles Turner has decided to enter the draft, as he announced in a YouTube video (hat tip to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com). The 19-year-old is a lottery prospect, checking in 10th in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings and 12th on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress list.
The 6’11” Turner blocked an eye-popping 2.6 shots per contest this season, but he otherwise didn’t put up impressive numbers for the Longhorns, posting just 10.1 points and 6.5 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game. Still, Ford and Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM pinned blame for Turner’s shortcomings on Texas coach Rick Barnes, who’s since been fired.
Turner helped the school to an 11th seed in the NCAA Tournament, but Turner had just two points to go along with 10 rebounds off the bench as Texas lost its first game of the tournament to Butler. The Texas native was No. 6 in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index coming out of high school last year, but his stock didn’t change much over the course of his lone college season, as Ford had him ninth prior to tipoff while Givony had him 16th. Turner will take a while to develop in the NBA and his odd style of running is an injury concern, but the rangy scorer has too much upside for lottery teams to ignore, writes Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors in our most recent Draft Prospect Power Rankings.
Michael Frazier To Enter Draft
FRIDAY, 5:55pm: Frazier confirmed via his Twitter account that he will indeed enter the NBA draft this year.
THURSDAY, 11:11am: University of Florida junior shooting guard Michael Frazier will enter this year’s NBA draft, reports Forbes contributor and Sports Agent Blog editor Darren Heitner (Twitter link). Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress also hears from a source who confirmed the news (Twitter link). Frazier will sign with agents Andy Miller and Matt Ramker of ASM Sports, a source tells Heitner.
It’s somewhat of a surprise to see the 21-year-old set to turn pro so soon, as Givony listed him on his mock draft for 2016 rather than this year. He’s Givony’s 79th-ranked prospect overall and checks in at No. 84 with Chad Ford of ESPN.com. Frazier’s not unaware of such projections but is ready to work to improve his standing, a source tells Givony, who believes he’ll generate plenty of interest in spite of a down year this season (Twitter links). The 6’4″ Frazier shot 43% from three-point territory for his college career, as Givony notes, and 38% this season. He averaged 12.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in 29.2 minutes per game for the 2014/15 Gators, who saw their season end with an SEC Tournament loss to Kentucky.
Florida, normally a national power, finished only 16-17 despite the presence of Frazier and fellow pro prospect Chris Walker, whose stock has slipped quite a bit. Frazier’s reputation has remained more or less steady, as he came in at No. 86 on the Recruiting Services Consensus Index coming out of high school in 2012.
Poll: Do Thunder Need Upgrades To Win In 2016?
Kevin Durant is done for this season thanks to the broken foot that had already limited him to just 27 games, leaving just one season for Durant to help the Thunder to a title before his contract expires. There’s little clarity on whether he’s leaning toward re-signing with the team or not, so uncertainty clouds the summer of 2016, when the salary cap is projected to jump to near $90MM, with most teams possessing enough cap flexibility to lure Durant with a max offer.
What is clear is that the Thunder aren’t trading Durant out of fear that he’ll leave them, with GM Sam Presti having recently referred to the idea as “ludicrous.” That signals that the Thunder will keep trying to build around him, as they’ve done for the past several years to mixed results. The Thunder made it to the Finals in 2012 with a core of Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka, but the decision to trade Harden before the next season began has turned out poorly, and Oklahoma City hasn’t been back to the Finals since.
Harden has developed into an MVP candidate, but so has Westbrook, and Durant won the MVP last season. The Thunder went over the tax threshold to acquire Dion Waiters in January, and while that move hasn’t exactly been a revolutionary upgrade, Presti kept tinkering, sending out Reggie Jackson for fellow soon-to-be restricted free agent Enes Kanter and bench help at the deadline. Kanter’s performed well offensively and on the boards, having put up 17.6 points and 10.8 rebounds in 16 games as a member of the Thunder. Oklahoma City will have to pay to keep the young big man, who turns 23 in May, and with more than $78MM in guaranteed salary already committed for next season, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders shows, the cost of keeping the Thunder together is high.
So, too, would be the psychological and historical cost to the franchise if Durant leaves without having delivered a Larry O’Brien trophy. The Thunder have 13 players on guaranteed contracts for next season, an unusually large number. It would be easy to re-sign Kanter or match another team’s offer sheet for him, bring back everyone else and make a run at the 2016 title with a healthy Durant. But the Thunder probably wouldn’t be the favorites to win it all if they did that, not with LeBron James leading another supercharged Cavs team and the Warriors well-positioned to keep on winning.
So, perhaps Presti should get aggressive this summer. There are trade rumors surrounding DeMarcus Cousins, so maybe the Thunder should see what it would take to shake him loose from Sacramento. The past two No. 1 overall picks and the reigning Rookie of the Year have all been traded with the past seven months, so elite young talent could be available. The Warriors were similarly capped out in 2013 when they worked a sign-and-trade that netted Andre Iguodala, who’s one of the keys to a roster that’s the best in the Western Conference this season. So, the Thunder aren’t necessarily out of the mix for this summer’s top free agents.
Tell us what you think. Should Presti bring back Kanter, keep the rest of the team intact and prepare for one more run with a largely unchanged cast? Or should he be bold and make a play for a better complement to Durant before the star forward’s contract runs out? Let us know, and elaborate on your choice in the comments.
Draft Notes: Mudiay, Maker, Russell, Looney
Emmanuel Mudiay isn’t sure he’d recommend playing overseas to other top draft prospects, particularly those who wouldn’t merit the kind of high-dollar deal he received, but he has no regrets about his decision to play in China instead of at SMU, as he tells Evan Daniels of Scout.com.
“I was playing against 30-year old men that are trying to feed their family,” he said, answering affirmatively when Daniels asked if he feels he has an edge on prospects from the NCAA. “In college, they are trying to get an education and try to get a job after that. I was put in a job position.
Mudiay told Daniels that he’s heard that elite 2016 draft prospect Thon Maker is thinking about playing overseas, though Mudiay’s not sure if that’s the case. Either way, here’s more on the draft, with just 12 teams remaining in the NCAA tournament:
- Chris Mannix of SI.com looks at Ohio State freshman D’Angelo Russell, Mudiay’s primary challenger to become the first point guard drafted in June and a prospect who’s impressed at least one NBA GM with a level of court awareness beyond his years.
- There’s a wide range of opinion on the draft stock of UCLA power forward Kevon Looney, whom Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks as the seventh most well-regarded prospect while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 19th. Ford and ESPN.com colleague Kevin Pelton debate the merits of the 19-year-old who’ll probably take a while to develop regardless of his potential, as they write in an Insider-only piece.
- Stanley Johnson doesn’t have flashy numbers, but he and his game have matured in his freshman season at Arizona, as Zach Hefland of the Los Angeles Times examines. The small forward is the No. 6 prospect in Givony’s rankings and No. 12 with Ford. Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors has him sixth in our Draft Prospect Power Rankings.
- Nigel Williams-Goss makes a habit of outperforming expectations, and while he isn’t a highly regarded NBA prospect, there are at least a few people around the game who are confident he can make it in the pros, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group details. The University of Washington sophomore told Haynes that he isn’t sure whether he’ll stay in college another year or declare for the draft.
Cavs Notes: Gilbert, Irving, J.R. Smith, Lue
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert is a nine on a scale of one to 10 in terms of an owner’s involvement in his team, with the ubiquitous Mark Cuban a 10, a prominent agent tells Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Gilbert was the only Cavs representative in his pitch meeting to LeBron James when the four-time MVP was a free agent last summer, and the owner was alone with GM David Griffin when they helped convince Kevin Love to accept a trade later this past summer, according to Windhorst. Gilbert insists he’s not so hands-on, but his ballooning net worth and willingness to spend it on the Cavs has played a major role in the team’s rise to prominence, as Windhorst details. Here’s more from around Cleveland:
- Kyrie Irving hasn’t had nearly the trouble meshing with James as Love has, Fred Kerber of the New York Post examines. That’s surely a relief for the Cavs, who committed a five-year extension to Irving this past summer that won’t kick in until next season.
- The Knicks’ division championship of two years ago is but a memory to J.R. Smith, who isn’t high on the return the Knicks got when they traded him to the Cavs in January, as Kerber notes in the same piece. “It seems extremely distant, like one of the first years I was in the league, that’s how far back it seems,” Smith said. “Honestly, I don’t really think about it. If anything, it’s their fault for making a bad business move, I guess.”
- Assistant coach Tyronn Lue has been instrumental in keeping the Cavs’ locker room together, as Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com writes in an Insider-only piece that tabs Lue as one of the league’s top head coaching prospects. Cleveland made Lue the highest-paid assistant of all-time this past summer. “He respects the work that’s required to do the job and he has the gift of being able to verbalize things to players in a straightforward way without being offensive,” said Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers, Lue’s former boss. “He sees things in games a lot of people can’t see. He’d see opportunities for us — in games, watching film, observing — and would bring them to me. He has a chance to be very special.“
Wizards Sign Will Bynum To 10-Day Contract
The Wizards have officially signed Will Bynum to a 10-day contract, the team announced via press release, a statement that also formalized the termination of Toure’ Murry‘s second 10-day contract with the club. Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post originally reported both moves late Thursday. Bynum and the Wizards have been linked for quite some time as the point guard had seemingly been the team’s top target since at least the beginning of February. Shams Charania of RealGM first reported in January about Washington’s interest in Bynum, who’d been playing for China’s Guangdong Southern Tigers.
Bynum, 32, signed his Chinese deal, a guaranteed arrangement reportedly worth more than a $1MM, in December after spending about a month as a free agent following his release from the Celtics just before opening night. Boston had acquired the seven-year NBA veteran from the Pistons, his longtime team, via trade earlier that month. He put up 22.3 points, 7.0 assists and 3.2 turnovers in 32.1 minutes per game for Guangdong, which strung together the majority of its 26-game winning streak with Bynum on the roster. There was reportedly mutual interest that developed between the Cavs and Bynum while he was overseas, but Cleveland’s addition of Kendrick Perkins, who filled the team’s last open roster spot, seemingly put the Cavs out of the mix. A hamstring injury had Washington looking at Bobby Brown and eventually led the Wizards to Murry, but the team never lost interest in Bynum.
Washington slides Bynum into its only roster spot not occupied by a player who has a contract that runs through at least the end of the season. It’s somewhat surprising to see the Wizards give the point guard only a 10-day deal, given the team’s longstanding interest, but it allows for maximum flexibility, and it seems likely that the team will retain Bynum once his short-term deal is up, though that’s just my speculation.
Suns Tops In Newcomers Since Start Of Season
The Suns have done a lot of roster shuffling this season to reach more or less the same point. Phoenix was widely expected when 2014/15 began to fall somewhere near the final playoff berth in the Western Conference, just as the team did last year, and that’s right where the Suns are, three games out of eighth place. They nonetheless have a league-high seven players who weren’t around for opening night, thanks in large measure to six trades, including three on deadline day. The likes of Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas have given way to Brandon Knight and Brandan Wright, but the Suns are more or less right where they started.
A pair of new coaches who also run the basketball operations for their teams have been active as well. Stan Van Gundy and Flip Saunders have brought six new players apiece to their respective rosters since the beginning of the season, though neither the Pistons nor the Timberwolves are playoff-bound. The same is true of the Sixers, who have just as many new faces, to no one’s surprise. By contrast, the Heat, whose most significant move was either acquiring Dragic from the Suns or signing Hassan Whiteside midseason, are in position to make the postseason with six players who weren’t around on opening night.
They’re competing for a playoff spot with the Pacers, who clearly haven’t panicked with Paul George out. Indiana picked up A.J. Price earlier this season via the hardship exception, letting him go when some of the team’s other injured players returned. Aside from that, the Pacers have stood pat in the face of a trying season. The Magic haven’t touched their roster all year, instead seemingly placing the blame for their continued struggles on Jacque Vaughn, whom they fired as coach. The Bulls and Raptors have high hopes for deep playoff runs, but neither team has anyone it didn’t have when the season began.
Here’s a look at how each team stacks up in terms of additions since the beginning of the season, categorized by the volume of new players. Those on 10-day contracts have an asterisk by their names.
Seven newcomers
- Suns (Earl Barron, Reggie Bullock, Danny Granger, Brandon Knight, *-A.J. Price, Marcus Thornton, Brandan Wright)
Six newcomers
- 76ers (Furkan Aldemir, Isaiah Canaan, Robert Covington, Glenn Robinson III, Thomas Robinson, Ish Smith)
- Heat, (Michael Beasley, Goran Dragic, Zoran Dragic, Tyler Johnson, Henry Walker, Hassan Whiteside)
- Pistons, (Reggie Jackson, John Lucas III, Quincy Miller, Tayshaun Prince, Anthony Tolliver, Shawne Williams)
Five newcomers
- Celtics (Jae Crowder, Gigi Datome, Jonas Jerebko, Shavlik Randolph, Isaiah Thomas)
- Jazz (Jack Cooley, Bryce Cotton, Grant Jerrett, Chris Johnson, Elijah Millsap)
- Knicks (Lou Amundson, Langston Galloway, *-Ricky Ledo, Alexey Shved, Lance Thomas)
- Mavericks (J.J. Barea, Bernard James, Dwight Powell, Rajon Rondo, Amar’e Stoudemire)
- Thunder (D.J. Augustin, Enes Kanter, Steve Novak, Kyle Singler, Dion Waiters)
- Timberwolves (Lorenzo Brown, Kevin Garnett, Justin Hamilton, *-Sean Kilpatrick, Adreian Payne)
Four newcomers
- Cavaliers (Timofey Mozgov, Kendrick Perkins, Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith)
- Rockets (Corey Brewer, K.J. McDaniels, Pablo Prigioni, Josh Smith)
- Pelicans (Norris Cole, Dante Cunningham, Toney Douglas, Quincy Pondexter)
Three newcomers
- Bucks (Michael Carter-Williams, Tyler Ennis, Miles Plumlee)
- Clippers (Jordan Hamilton, Dahntay Jones, Austin Rivers)
- Grizzlies (JaMychal Green, Jeff Green, Russ Smith)
- Nets (*-Earl Clark, Darius Morris, Thaddeus Young)
- Nuggets (Will Barton, Joffrey Lauvergne, Jameer Nelson)
Two newcomers
- Hornets (Mo Williams, Troy Daniels)
- Kings (Andre Miller, *-David Wear)
- Lakers (Tarik Black, *-Jabari Brown)
- Trail Blazers (Arron Afflalo, Alonzo Gee)
- Wizards (*-Will Bynum, Ramon Sessions)
One newcomer
- Hawks (*-Austin Daye)
- Spurs (Reggie Williams)
- Warriors (James Michael McAdoo)
No newcomers
- Bulls
- Magic
- Pacers
- Raptors
Nets Sign Earl Clark To 10-Day Contract
The Nets have signed Earl Clark to a 10-day contract, the team announced via press release. The 27-year-old had been a free agent following a stint with China’s Shandong Lions. Brooklyn had an open roster spot, so there’s no need for a corresponding move.
The five-year veteran is poised to see his first action of the regular season with the Nets after failing to make it to opening night with either the Grizzlies, who signed him to a non-guaranteed contract for training camp, or the Rockets, who grabbed him off waivers in late October. Houston released him just a few days later.
The combo forward spent a brief time in the D-League with the affiliate of the Rockets, racking up 26.2 points and 8.0 rebounds in 34.3 minutes over six appearances. The Lakers appeared poised to sign him in late November, but they never did, and by the middle of December he was off to China, where the former 14th overall pick once more shined against weaker competition. He put up 26.4 PPG and 10.3 RPG in 32.6 MPG with impressive 44.7% three-point shooting for Shandong.
Clark struggled to find NBA work this season, little more than a year removed from having signed a two-year, $8.5MM deal with the Cavs after a strong season as a member of the Lakers. The Cavs traded him to the Sixers midway through year one of that contract, which was non-guaranteed for year two. That saved the Sixers some cash when they waived him right after the trade. He inked a pair of 10-day contracts soon thereafter with the Knicks, and it was on those brief deals that he saw his last official NBA action.
The Nets, fighting for a playoff berth, will be without Thaddeus Young tonight against the Cavs. There’s a distinct possibility that the injury led directly to the signing. Young is at shootaround this morning and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get into the game, tweets Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.