Ivan Rabb Declines To Enter 2016 NBA Draft
Potential 2016 lottery pick Ivan Rabb has decided to return to the University of California for his sophomore season and he will not be among the players available on draft night this June, the university announced via press release (h/t to ESPN.com). “Ivan is a tremendous person and student-athlete to have on our team. He and his family have put a lot of thought into making a decision that was right for him,” coach Cuonzo Martin said in the school’s official release. “He is a talented basketball player with a very bright future, and we are excited to have Ivan continue as a member of our Cal basketball program.”
Rabb is currently ranked as the No. 11 overall player according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress slots him at No. 14 overall. The power forward had a solid freshman season at Cal, averaging 12.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks on 61.5% shooting in 34 appearances. He arrived at California as the eighth-best player in his class according to the Recruiting Services Consensus Index.
The 19-year-old is an intriguing physical prospect, but he should benefit from returning to school for another season. According to Givony, the 6’10” forward needs to add strength and bulk to his slender 215-pound frame, as well as improve his overall offense in the post if he hopes to make the successful jump to the NBA. Rabb could have declared his intent to enter the draft in order to go through the predraft evaluation process, and provided he didn’t hire an agent, he could have withdrawn prior to the May 25th deadline and still returned to school for the 2016/17 campaign.
2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Bulls
The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams have one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those NBA organizations without their own affiliates were required to assign players to D-League clubs associated with other NBA franchises. D-League teams could volunteer to take on the assigned players, and if no volunteers emerged, the players were assigned at random.
This significant change from the 2014/15 season came about after the Pacers purchased the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and turned them into their one-to-one partner for the 2015/16 campaign. Other NBA teams have interest in following suit in the years ahead, and the NBA’s ultimate goal for the D-League is for all 30 NBA franchises to have their own D-League squads. You can view the complete list of D-League affiliates here.
We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign for each team and we’ll continue with the Chicago Bulls, one of the 11 NBA franchises without their own D-League affiliate:
The Bulls made four assignments for the 2015/16 campaign, sending three players to the D-League for a total of 32 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Chicago for the 2015/16 campaign:
- November 21st: Assigned Cameron Bairstow (1st) [Austin Spurs] — Recalled December 7th
- December 31st: Assigned Cristiano Felicio (1st) [Canton Charge] — Recalled January 14th
- January 15th: Assigned Cristiano Felicio (2nd) [Canton Charge] — Recalled January 16th
- February 1st: Assigned Mike Dunleavy (1st) [Santa Cruz Warriors] — Recalled February 3rd
Here is how the Bulls players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Cameron Bairstow: In five D-League appearances, the forward averaged 14.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 26.5 minutes per outing. Bairstow’s shooting line was .475/.000/.824.
- Cristiano Felicio: In four D-League appearances this season, the big man averaged 14.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 23.7 minutes per contest. His slash line was .641/.400/.750.
- Mike Dunleavy: The swingman was assigned to the D-League for practice/rehab purposes and didn’t appear in any games while with Santa Cruz.
Prospect Profile: Jakob Poeltl (Part Two)
PROJECTED DRAFT RANGE: Poeltl is projected to come off the board within the top 10 picks, with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranking him No. 8 overall while Chad Ford of ESPN.com slots him tenth and has the big man penciled in as the top available center in this year’s draft. His biggest draft competition is likely to be Marquette freshman big man Henry Ellenson, whose offensive skills and higher upside could trump Poeltl’s abilities in the eyes of scouts.
RISE/FALL: The premium that the league places on athletic big men who can protect the rim makes it difficult to envision Poeltl dropping out of the top 10 on draft night. Poeltl had a legitimate shot at being a lottery pick in 2015, so it would certainly be a shock to see him tumble out of the top 14 picks this season. The significant increase in Poeltl’s productivity from his freshman campaign at Utah to this season’s numbers certainly bode well for his future and illustrate that the best is still to come from the 20-year-old. Poeltl’s predraft workouts will be vital in determining where he lands come June. If the Austrian shows scouts that he can regularly connect on his midrange shots and demonstrate solid footwork in the post while on offense, he could creep into the top seven selections, though it may take a team reaching for fit for him to come off the board that high.
I don’t see Poeltl landing outside the lottery unless he appears to be severely overmatched physically during his workouts, assuming he even agrees to compete against other players instead of limiting himself strictly to individual showcases. His medical assessments will also play a part, given that teams are especially wary of big men who have lower body issues. Poeltl has no reported medical or physical problems, but NBA medical exams have been known to turn up previously undiagnosed maladies, so some level of uncertainty always exists in this area.
FIT: There aren’t many teams that couldn’t benefit from adding a player with Poeltl’s skills and potential. The Bucks immediately come to mind as a prime destination, since he’d be a solid fit alongside Greg Monroe, provided Milwaukee doesn’t trade Monroe this summer. Orlando could also use some interior help, though the Magic are looking to add veteran depth and may well end up trading their first-rounder. The Bulls are also a strong possibility with the futures of Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah unresolved, and Poeltl’s athleticism would blend well with coach Fred Hoiberg‘s system.
FINAL TAKE: There will always be work in the NBA for skilled big men, so Poeltl shouldn’t have to wait too long on draft night to hear his name called. His intriguing size, rebounding ability, shot-blocking acumen and coordination in the pick-and-roll should make him a serviceable player for seasons to come. Still, Poeltl will need to add strength and improve his post arsenal if he hopes to become more than simply a rotation player in the NBA.
(For Part One of Jakob Poeltl’s prospect profile, click here.)
Atlantic Notes: Colangelo, Holland, Rambis
New Sixers GM Bryan Colangelo indicated that he is unlikely to make dramatic changes to the team’s front office personnel this summer, Derek Bodner of Philadelphia magazine relays. “It’s important to point out that I didn’t come in here with the notion that I was just going to torch the place and start anew,” Colangelo told Bodner. “There’s a lot of smart people here, even to the point where it’s fully in line with some of the thinking that I’ve already been migrating towards over the last several years. The team that’s here now, for all intents and purposes, more or less will be the same.” The executive did provide himself a little wiggle room on his statement, adding that the team is still “evaluating what’s here, and discussing the roles and responsibilities,” Bodner notes.
The executive also noted that navigating the free agency waters this offseason would be tricky given that the team’s roster is still unsettled, Bodner relays. “As much as I want to say ‘Let’s go complement those players,’ I think we’re still looking for that cornerstone piece to start with,” Colangelo said. “That’s not to say that some of the young guys on the current roster can’t ultimately become that, and it’s not doubting that, it’s just saying, as we speak today, nobody has stepped into that role of star player. We’re looking for our first star. This year there’s a lot of uncertainty, a lot of unknowns. We have to let some of it play out. This might not be the year that a big splash is made in free agency, but key pieces, or glue pieces, what I’ll call team building pieces, will be added to try to put a balanced roster on the court for coach [Brett] Brown.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Celtics used $25K of their room exception to sign John Holland to his two-year deal, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insider relays (via Twitter). Utilizing that sliver of the exception allowed Boston to pay Holland $25K for the remainder of this season instead of the $9,266 he would have earned if he had simply signed a minimum-salary arrangement.
- If Kurt Rambis is named coach of the Knicks, a major reshuffling of his coaching staff is likely, with assistant coaches Brian Keefe, Joshua Longstaff and David Bliss all candidates to join Scott Brooks and the Wizards, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. All three previously worked under Brooks when he was coach of the Thunder and were brought to New York by former coach Derek Fisher, Berman notes. The Post scribe also adds that Rambis has been said to carry an arrogance about him that could turn off younger players, especially since his career coaching record of 65-164 doesn’t warrant such bravado.
Prospect Profile: Jakob Poeltl (Part One)
OVERVIEW: Austrian big man Jakob Poeltl was projected as a borderline lottery pick in the 2015 NBA draft, but the center decided to return to Utah for his sophomore campaign, a move that should pay off handsomely for him this June. Not only is the 20-year-old now virtually assured of being a top-10 pick, but his game is now better suited to succeed at the NBA level thanks to the extra year in school. Poeltl made some significant strides during his sophomore campaign. His confidence level and efficiency were noticeably improved. He’s still far more valuable as a defender than as an offensive weapon at his current stage of development, but Poeltl has shown flashes of the potential to evolve into the two-way threat that NBA scouts crave when analyzing big men.
STATS: In 35 appearances for Utah this season, Poeltl averaged 17.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.6 blocks in 30.4 minutes per outing. His slash line on the year was .646/.000/.692.
STRENGTHS: The first thing that stands out about the 7’1″ Poeltl’s game is how fluid and deceptively athletic he is. While he’s not an athletic freak in the vein of a Karl-Anthony Towns or Kristaps Porzingis, two distinguished members of the draft class of 2015, Poeltl is certainly mobile and quick enough to effectively guard players on the perimeter, which is an uncommon skill for big men. Poeltl is quite effective when running in transition, and his soft hands allow him to make some difficult catches in traffic. It’s extremely tough to prevent him from scoring when he gets close to the rim, though he’ll need to develop a stronger and more diverse post game if he hopes to be a consistent offensive threat in the NBA. Poeltl has shown the potential to be an elite defender at the NBA level, though I don’t necessarily believe he’ll be a dominating rim protector in the league during his career. His true defensive value will come from his ability to play effective team defense, his high motor and basketball IQ, as well as his ability to be extremely effective against the pick-and-roll.
WEAKNESSES: Poeltl has demonstrated the ability to score close to the basket, but he still has a ways to go in his offensive development. The big man hasn’t shown the ability to create his own offense, and he’ll need to continue to work at improving his midrange jump shot, which has the potential to become an effective weapon for him down the line. Poeltl’s offensive output during his rookie campaign is likely to consist primarily of putbacks and transition buckets and he shouldn’t be counted on to produce much initially. He’s not rail-thin at 240 pounds, but he’ll need to add strength and bulk if he hopes to survive prolonged exposure to the NBA’s elite big men on a nightly basis. Poeltl also needs to improve his decision-making when facing multiple defenders, as his 2.1 turnovers per game are a touch high for a player not generally tasked with handling the ball or facilitating an offense.
(For Part Two of our Jakob Poeltl Prospect Profile, click here.)
Pacific Notes: Looney, Casspi, Livingston
Warriors combo forward Kevon Looney underwent a successful left hip arthroscopy on Friday to repair a torn labrum, the team announced. Looney will begin rehabilitation from the surgery immediately and is expected to be out a minimum of four to six months before returning to basketball activity, per the team. This is the second such procedure that Looney has endured, the first occurring in August of last year. The 20-year-old was the No. 30 overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft and he appeared in just five games for the Warriors this year, averaging 1.8 points and 2.0 rebounds in 4.1 minutes per outing. Looney also appeared in 12 games for the team’s D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, posting averages of 9.8 points and 7.4 rebounds in 19.3 minutes.
Here’s more from out West:
- Kings small forward Omri Casspi lamented the firing of coach George Karl and blamed the players for the team’s woes this season, international journalist David Pick relays (via Twitter). Casspi, who is under contract for $2,963,814 next season, believes he will be a part of the team’s plans moving forward, Pick adds. “The Kings want me back next season, I’m not sure who the coach will be, but I’m adaptable, I’m comfortable in most systems,” Casspi told Pick. “I’m confident I’ll be back in Sacramento next season.”
- Shaun Livingston, whose $5,782,450 salary for 2016/17 is partially guaranteed for $3MM, wants to remain with the Warriors next season and beyond, notes Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group. “I want to stay here as long as I can,” Livingston said. “It’s a unique and special situation. A lot of guys including myself, I want to [be] here for as long as I possibly can depending on the contract situation.”
- Former Clippers team owner Donald Sterling is appealing the dismissal of his $600MM antitrust lawsuit against the NBA and his wife, Shelly Sterling, as Nathan Fenno of The Los Angeles Times. U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin had ruled against Sterling, noting that he was “skeptical Sterling suffered any injury at all, let alone an antitrust injury” by the sale of the team for $2 billion to Steve Ballmer, Fenno adds, also noting that the judge called other parts of the lawsuit implausible.
Hoops Rumors Originals 4/17/16-4/23/16
Here’s a look back at the original analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this past week…
- If you missed the week’s live chat, you can view the transcript here.
- As part of our Top Bloggers series, Chuck spoke with Adam Mares, site manager of SB Nation’s Denver Stiffs, a Nuggets blog.
- Dana Gauruder profiled Michigan State freshman power forward Deyonta Davis.
- I ran down the 2015/16 D-League usage for the Celtics and Hornets.
- In a reader poll, we asked who should have won the Defensive Player of the Year award.
- As a part of our glossary, we explained how cap holds work and reviewed some obscure Bird rights rules.
- Zach Links highlighted some of the better basketball blogs around in his weekly installment of Hoops Links.
- If you missed any of our daily reader-driven discussions, be sure to check out the Community Shootaround archives.
- Here’s how you can follow Hoops Rumors on social media and RSS feeds.
- We reviewed our commenting policy. Play nice everyone.
- Here’s how you can follow specific players on Hoops Rumors.
Week In Review 4/17/16-4/23/16
The Timberwolves officially hired Tom Thibodeau as head coach and president of basketball operations and Spurs assistant GM Scott Layden as their new GM. The pact will pay Thibodeau approximately $8MM per season over five years, while Layden is reportedly set to earn $2MM annually. Thibodeau had plenty of on-court success in his five seasons with the Bulls, who had given the longtime assistant his first NBA head coaching job. He went 255-139 in the regular season, winning the 2010 Coach of the Year award, though he was just 23-28 in the playoffs. Chicago parted ways with Thibodeau last May.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Tom Thibodeau back to the Timberwolves,” team owner Glen Taylor said. “Through this process we quickly identified Tom as the best leader to shape our talented team and help them realize their full potential. Tom’s resume speaks for itself. He is a proven winner, leader, and one of the most well-respected NBA head coaches over the last decade. His teams have annually been among the league leaders in defense and we are excited about the approach and mentality he will bring to that side of the ball. The future of the Minnesota Timberwolves has never been brighter and we are very pleased to have Tom as our basketball operations leader moving forward.”
Here’s a look back at more of the notable events from around the NBA this past week…
NBA Draft News
Underclassmen Entering
- Ege Arar, PF/C, International
- Jaylen Brown, G/F, California (freshman)
- Conor Clifford, C, Washington State (junior)
- Charles Cooke, G, Dayton (junior)
- Isaia Cordinier, SG, International
- Moustapha Diagne, PF/C, Northwest Florida State (freshman)
- Ilimane Diop, C, International
- Tyler Dorsey, SG, Oregon (freshman)
- Josh Hawkinson, PF, Washington State (junior)
- Nigel Hayes, PF, Wisconsin (junior)
- Juan Hernangomez, PF, International
- Ike Iroegbu, PG, Washington State (junior)
- Dedric Lawson, SF, Memphis (freshman)
- Kennedy Meeks, C, North Carolina (junior)
- Aleksej Nikolic, PG, International
- Marc-Eddy Norelia, PF, Florida Gulf Coast, (junior)
- Georgios Papagiannis, C, International
- Adam Pechacek, PF, International
- Malachi Richardson, SG, Syracuse (freshman)
- Kenan Sipahi, PG, International
- Rolands Smits, F, International
- Ethan Telfair, PG, Idaho State (junior)
- Berk Ugurlu, PG, International
- Andrew White, SF, Nebraska (junior)
- Guerschon Yabusele, PF, International
Underclassmen Withdrawing
- Antonio Blakeney, SG, LSU (freshman)
You can keep track of all the early entrants for the 2016 NBA Draft here.
Miscellaneous News
- The Nets hired Kenny Atkinson as their new head coach.
- The Wizards reached an agreement in principle with Scott Brooks that would make him the team’s new head coach.
- The Suns removed the interim tag from Earl Watson‘s title and formally named him head coach.
- The Nets named Ronald Nored as head coach of the team’s new NBA D-League affiliate, the Long Island Nets.
- The Nuggets announced a number of title changes for their front office personnel. Denver named Jared Jeffries as the team’s director of pro personnel, Tommy Balcetis was named director of analytics, Scott Howard was named director of college scouting and Steve Hess will now hold the title of director of performance/assistant coach and head strength and conditioning coach.
- Brandon Bass will reportedly turn down his $3.135MM player option for next season and become a free agent this summer.
- Quincy Acy has reportedly decided to turn down his minimum-salary player option for next season and hit free agency this summer.
- Seth Curry reportedly intends to decline his player option worth $1,015,696 for 2016/17 and become a restricted free agent this summer.
Awards
- For the second consecutive season, the Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
- Jamal Crawford won the Sixth Man of the Year award for a record third time.
- Trail Blazers shooting guard CJ McCollum won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.
Community Shootaround: Brooks/Durant
The Wizards have reached an agreement in principle with Scott Brooks that will make him the team’s new head coach. Brooks has reportedly landed a five-year, $35MM pact to come to Washington and take over for Randy Wittman, whom the franchise fired last week. In seven seasons as an NBA coach, all with Oklahoma City, Brooks has a regular season record of 338-207. His career postseason mark is 39-34.
There was apparently a time element involved in the negotiations, with Washington wanting to secure Brooks prior to the Rockets post opening up, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Brooks and Jeff Van Gundy were the reported co-favorites for Houston’s head coaching job. The Rockets still haven’t officially decided the fate of interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who reportedly enhanced his chances of keeping the job when the team clinched a playoff berth on the final night of the regular season, but the latest reports seem to cast significant doubt on his return. Brooks was reportedly wary of the uncertainty surrounding Dwight Howard‘s player option, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com noted, even though Howard has long been expected to opt out. Stein reported earlier that the Rockets were second only to the Wizards among the options Brooks was considering.
While Brooks is certainly a solid coach, one of the reasons the Thunder fired him was that his teams were believed to have underachieved. It remains to be seen what impact Brooks can have for the Wizards on the court, but he may have been hired just as much for what he can do off of it with regard to Kevin Durant. The Oklahoma City small forward, who is from Washington, D.C. and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, played for Brooks with the Thunder and the pair reportedly had a solid relationship. Signing Durant is apparently far from assured for the Wizards, with friends of the forward telling the Vertical’s Chris Mannix that he doesn’t want to deal with the pressure of being surrounded by family, friends and hangers-on from his native Washington.
This brings me to the topic for today: Was Scott Brooks a smart hire for the Wizards if the team FAILS to land Kevin Durant this summer?
If hiring Brooks leads to Durant signing with the Wizards, then it was a wise move for the franchise to lock him up before other teams came calling. But how will the addition of Brooks appear if Durant remains in OKC or heads elsewhere? Take to the comments section to share your thoughts and opinions on the hiring of Brooks, to declare whether you believe this tilts the scales in Washington’s favor in regard to signing Durant, and to express what you think of the move if the team fails to land the Slim Reaper. We look forward to what you have to say.
And-Ones: Zizic, Freeland, Zubac
Center Ante Zizic has agreed to a buyout with the Croatian club Cibona Zagreb that will allow him to join the NBA in 2016/17, agent Misko Raznatovic of BeoBasket relays (Twitter link). The 19-year-old, 6’11” Zizic is considered a first-round talent. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranks him No. 26, and he’s No. 22 on ESPN Insider Chad Ford’s Big Board. The center had been debating whether to go the draft-and-stash route or withdraw from the draft, according to international journalist David Pick, but Pick tells Hoops Rumors that Zizic doesn’t intend to pull out.
Here’s more from around the NBA and abroad:
- Croatian big man Ivica Zubac wants to join the NBA immediately if he is drafted this June, as he told Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. “I have decided to enter NBA draft this year, and if I get drafted, I would like to go to the NBA right away. [The] NBA has always been my dream. I can’t wait to play there and prove myself on the biggest basketball stage in the world,” Zubac told Cauchi. The analysts are split on Zubac, with Givony pegging him 25th while Ford has him all the way down at 71st.
- Former Providence point guard Kris Dunn‘s combination of elite athleticism, ability to get to the rim, passing ability and defensive upside should land him highly among lottery selections, Derek Bodner of DraftExpress opines in his scouting report of the player. Dunn is ranked No. 5 overall by Givony, while Ford lists him seventh. You can check out our profile of Dunn here and here.
- Former NBA player Joel Freeland, who signed a two-year deal with the Russian club CSKA Moscow this past summer, will miss the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury, and the team isn’t likely to re-sign him, Pick reports (via Twitter). Freeland averaged 3.8 points and 4.4 rebounds in Euroleague play this season.