Draft Notes: Embiid, Exum, McDermott, Stauskas
Joel Embiid has suffered a right foot injury, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, and there’s fear that it’s broken, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Cavs discovered the injury during his physical exam with the team, it’s prompted Cleveland to want to work out Dante Exum, Wojnarowski says (Twitter link). Agent Arn Tellem tells fellow ESPN scribe Chad Ford that Embiid probably won’t be doing any more workouts before the draft (Twitter link). He was to have auditioned for the Bucks later this week, Goodman notes on Twitter, though the Bucks haven’t heard from Embiid’s camp about whether the workout is canceled or not, according to TNT’s David Aldridge (on Twitter). Tellem told Andy Katz of ESPN.com that he’ll know more about the injury on Friday, as Goodman notes in his piece, so while the top of the draft hinges on tomorrow’s news on Embiid’s foot, here’s more on the wider field of prospects:
- Representatives from the Kings, Nuggets, Wolves and Warriors observed Doug McDermott and Nik Stauskas work out Wednesday in Chicago, Ford tweets.
- C.J. Fair will audition Monday for the Mavericks, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
- The Magic are bringing Kendrick Perry in for a second workout, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Perry will also audition Saturday for the Wolves, along with Roscoe Smith, Joe Jackson and Taylor Braun, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops.
- Isaiah Austin, Aaron Craft, T.J. Bray, Eric Moreland and Daniel Miller are the previously unreported prospects who are showing off for the Raptors today, the team announced via press release. Austin is fresh off an audition on Wednesday for the Clippers, according to Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link).
- Jabari Brown, Markel Brown, Devin Oliver, Khyle Marshall and Xavier Munford are among those working out for the Celtics today, notes Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Oliver reportedly auditioned for the Celtics last week, too.
- The Kings will audition Michael Dixon on Monday, Scotto tweets.
Draft Notes: Randle, Payne, Tavares, Grizz, Suns
With the draft only eight days away, we should expect a steady stream of updates leading up to next Thursday night’s festivities in Brooklyn. Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders profiles prospects whose stock is on the rise; a list that includes Doug McDermott, Elfrid Payton, Rodney Hood, T.J. Warren, Zach LaVine, Jarnell Stokes, Rodney Hood, Shabazz Napier and Mitch McGary. In addition, here are some more team-specific draft notes from Wednesday:
- Duke’s Andre Dawkins will work out with the Pistons, Mavericks and Magic after Friday’s session with the Wizards, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.
- The Clippers worked out C.J. Fair, Glenn Robinson III, Cleanthony Early and Jakarr Sampson on Wednesday, adds Zagoria via Twitter.
- Zagoria also tweets that the Pacers will work out Ohio guard Nick Kellogg next Monday and the Nets will work out Fair next Wednesday (Twitter links).
- The Jazz got a revealing look at Noah Vonleh in Monday’s six-man workout, writes Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News. Many draftniks foresee Vonleh going to Utah at No. 5.
- In an Insider Only piece, ESPN’s David Thorpe outlines a handful of pre-NBA similarities between Syracuse product Jerami Grant and current NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard.
Earlier updates:
- Working out for the Cavaliers today, Andrew Wiggins looked “very good” according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (via Twitter). Amico adds that Cleveland’s first overall selection remains wide open.
- Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe profiles Australian backcourt prospect Dante Exum. Meanwhile, NBA.com offers their pre-draft breakdown of Clemson product K.J. McDaniels.
- The Kings, who pick 8th, will work out Hood, LaVine, Sim Bhullar, Nick Johnson, Elijah Pittman and RIchard Solomon on Friday, according to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee, who adds that LaVine has fans in the Sacramento front office (Twitter links are here).
- With concerns about his right foot in the air, Julius Randle impressed in his workout with the Jazz today, writes Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune. As he has since the original report, Randle maintained today in Utah that he does not need surgery.
- The Bulls will work out Michigan State’s Adreian Payne on Monday, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. Owners of the 16th and 19th selections, Chicago figures to be in the market for outside shooting, making Payne a realistic possibility.
- The Celtics brought 7-foot-3 prospect Walter Tavares in for a workout on Thursday, reports Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops.com. As Scotto notes, Tavares seems to be making a late push up draft boards.
- The Grizzlies will host Napier, Jordan Clarkson, Jerami Grant, P.J. Hairston, LaQuinton Ross and C.J Wilcox on Thursday, the team announced.
- Michael Cohen of The Commercial Appeal profiles Grant and Hairston along with Payne and Hood in his examination of which players may slip to Memphis at pick 22.
- Thanasis Antetokounmpo will work out for the Spurs, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (via Twitter). As Zillgitt points out, Antetokounmpo’s talent, bloodlines and the fact that he will have worked out for nearly half the league by next Thursday make him an intriguing prospect.
- Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek considers smarts nearly as valuable as athleticism when evaluating draft prospects, writes Matt Petersen of Suns.com, who points to Gerald Green as an elite athlete who thrived in Phoenix after showing signs of basketball I.Q. despite a rocky start to his career.
Draft Rumors: Embiid, Nets, Celtics, Lakers
The Cavs are strongly leaning toward taking Joel Embiid first overall, a source tells Chris Mannix of SI.com. Of course, earlier reports have indicated leanings toward Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, and Cleveland threw a curveball with last season’s selection of Anthony Bennett at No. 1, so it’s tough to get a read on owner Dan Gilbert’s team. Still, Mannix and others have plenty of intel surrounding the draft with eight days to go:
- The Nets are seeking a first-round pick, according to Mannix, who echoes earlier reports that the Pelicans and Knicks are doing the same.
- The Celtics like Aaron Gordon the best among the power forwards likely to be available at No. 6, Mannix hears.
- The Lakers are leaning toward keeping their No. 7 pick rather than trading down for multiple picks, believing there’s a drop-off after the top 10 prospects, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. McMenamin nonetheless doesn’t say whether the team is leaning toward keeping the pick rather than acquiring a veteran, and the Lakers and the Kings are reportedly more open to trades than any other lottery clubs.
- The Jazz aren’t necessarily seeking Parker as they attempt to trade up from the fifth pick, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com writes in a chat with readers.
- Several teams were disappointed when Kristaps Porzingis decided to withdraw from the draft, and one executive told Mannix that he believes the Latvian has a decent chance to become a top-five pick next year. The Thunder, who’d reportedly promised to draft him, and Mavs were particularly high on him, according to Mannix, while the Hawks were also enamored with him, Ford says in his chat.
- The Grizzlies appear likely to trade into the second round, as we passed along earlier.
Texas Rumors: Nowitzki, Rockets, Spurs
Dirk Nowitzki has said he wants the Mavs to keep in mind that he’s still a productive player when they negotiate a new contract for him this summer, but he doesn’t foresee a stumbling block, as he tells Brian Gutierrez of ESPNDallas.com. The 2014 All-Star, who turns 36 on Thursday, hits unrestricted free agency July 1st.
“We all know that [owner Mark] Cuban took care of me for a long time. He was loyal to me,” Nowitzki said. “This deal is not going to be about squeezing out the last dollar. This is about being respected as a player that I still am, and that’s about it. There’s nothing more that we’re trying to squeeze out. We’ll just have to wait and see what the years and the final number are. I’m sure it’ll be very respectable for both sides.”
There’s more on the soon-to-be free agent who’s probably more likely to return to his current team than other player on the market amid the latest from the Texas Triangle:
- Signing a deal that reduces Nowitzki’s nearly $23.9MM cap hold before the end of the July Moratorium will be crucial for the Mavs, and Nowitzki looks ready to cooperate in that regard, too, as Gutierrez notes in the same piece. Nowitzki also dismisses the idea that he couldn’t play with Carmelo Anthony and urges Mavs to consider signing ‘Melo, who reportedly has Dallas on his list of preferred destinations.
- Anthony is also on the mind of Dwight Howard, who says he’d love to play with him or LeBron James but isn’t planning to recruit the stars to the Rockets, as he tells USA Today’s Sam Amick.
- Gregg Popovich, who retains Spurs front office power in tandem with GM R.C. Buford, doesn’t plan on following up the championship with a splashy summer of moves, as Raul Dominguez of The Associated Press chronicles. “I haven’t sat down with R.C. and talked about what we want to do, but one would think it’s logical to not make major changes with the group,” Popovich said. “Usually we don’t make major changes anyway, so, I wouldn’t anticipate any.”
Mavs To Pursue Chris Andersen
The Mavs will ask Chris Andersen‘s representatives about his interest in playing in Dallas, but the Birdman prefers to remain with the Heat, according to Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick (Twitter link). Andersen is reportedly set to opt out of his contract and hit free agency next month.
Andersen proved even more valuable to the Heat this year than he did in 2012/13, when he joined Miami at midseason and helped the club to a championship. He averaged 19.4 minutes per game, his most in four years, and his 5.9 rebounds per contest in the playoffs were second on the team behind LeBron James, as Andersen outdid starting center Chris Bosh in that category.
Andersen is a native of Iola, Texas, a town in between Dallas and Houston. Still, Dallas almost certainly sees the Mark Bryant client as a secondary priority, as the Mavs are again poised to go after marquee free agents. Andersen was on a minimum-salary contract with Miami, but his decision to opt out gives the Heat more cap flexibility, and it’s quite conceivable that Miami, which owns Andersen’s Early Bird rights, winds up bringing the Birdman back once the futures of Bosh, James and Dwyane Wade are resolved.
Draft Notes: Bucks, Parker, Embiid, Hornets
The Bucks aren’t having any trouble getting a look at the top prospects. Milwaukee is reportedly set for a pair of workouts with Andrew Wiggins, and Chad Ford of ESPN.com hears that Jabari Parker will work out again for the club this week after having done so last week (Twitter link). Joel Embiid was already apparently slated to audition for the club, and GM John Hammond also met with the Kansas big man last week, Ford tweets. The Bucks appear to be the only team with which Wiggins, Parker, Embiid and Dante Exum have all agreed to visit and work out, Ford notes (Twitter link). Here’s more on the draft, now just 10 days away.
- Jerami Grant, De’Mon Brooks, Josh Davis, Jarell Eddie and Mike Moser are among the draft prospects showing off for the Hornets today, the team announced via press release.
- The Heat are auditioning Walter Tavares today, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops.
- Keith Appling, Dave Dudzinski, Markel Starks, Tyler Stone and Jermaine Marshall are showing off for the Celtics today, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com notes via Twitter. Marshall will also audition for the Cavs, Sportando reports (via Twitter).
- Roscoe Smith has the Raptors and Mavs on his agenda, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv hears (Twitter link).
- Richard Harris of NBADraft.net adds the Bulls to the list of teams for which Johnny O’Bryant III has worked out. O’Bryant also has auditions slated with the Rockets, Heat, Hornets, Bucks, Grizzlies, Raptors and Pistons, Harris reports.
- Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic adds the Sixers, Mavs, Rockets and Heat to the list of teams that are getting a look at Jordan Bachynski (Twitter link).
- Jahii Carson, Kendrick Perry, Earnest Ross and Alec Brown are all performing for the Rockets, Scotto tweets.
- The Lakers are one of more than a dozen teams for which Ronald Roberts Jr. is working out, a source tells Zagoria (Twitter link).
- The Warriors are auditioning Eric Moreland, Roberto Nelson and Travis Bader, according to Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter links).
Draft Notes: Embiid, Silins, Pelicans
Brad Stevens tells Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com that the Celtics haven’t yet established a draft board. “I have not sat down with our front office all in one room and talked about a draft board,” Stevens said. “We’ll sit down now, after probably next week’s workouts, and talk more as we continue to get closer to the draft. But clearly with two picks in the top 20, we’ve got a lot of evaluating to do.” Here a rundown of today’s draft notes:
- T.J. Warren, Scottie Wilbekin, Roscoe Smith, Davion Berry, and Isaiah Armwood will work out for the Nuggets, reports Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post (Twitter links).
- A league source confirmed to John Reid of The Times-Picayune that the Pelicans are in discussions with several teams looking to trade their first round pick (Twitter link). The Pelicans are reportedly taking an aggressive approach to trading into the first round.
- Magic executives are high enough on Marcus Smart‘s intangibles to consider selecting him with the fourth pick in the draft, reports Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Robbins adds that had Smart declared for last year’s draft, Orlando might have selected him at No. 2.
- Bob Finnan of The News-Herald urges his readers to monitor whether Joel Embiid schedules work outs for the Bucks or Sixers between now and the draft. If Embiid shuts out those teams, Finnan believes it would indicate a promise from the Cavs to take him at No. 1. Such a development would be significant, considering Embiid is already scheduled to work out for Milwaukee.
- Adi Joseph of USA Today takes a look at the draft needs for the Hornets and Mavs.
Earlier updates:
- While the Cavs had some concerns when evaluating Joel Embiid‘s back, Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer says there were no “red flags,” and that Cleveland was blown away by his workout. The belief that Embiid’s physical went well is mounting, after a report to the contrary initially surfaced.
- Ojars Silins has decided to keep his name in the NBA draft pool, reports Jānis Freimanis of Sportacentrs.com (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Silins will take the Grizzlies up on their workout invitation, and will also work out for the Spurs and Pistons over the next couple weeks.
- The Pelicans are aggressively trying to trade into the first round in hopes of selecting a young small forward or center, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- Sean Deveney of The Sporting News is hearing rumors that a team has promised to take Elfrid Payton in the teens of the first round (H/T Basketball Insiders).
- T.J. Warren‘s stock is rising into the mid-first-round, sources tell Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- Kennedy tweets that league executives are “fascinated” by Walter Tavares. The 7’3″ center is projected as an early second round pick by both Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and ESPN Insider Chad Ford.
- Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com speculates that the conflicting reports out of Cleveland regarding Embiid’s health could be a smoke screen aimed at convincing the Sixers they need to trade up to the No. 1 spot in order to get Andrew Wiggins.
Mavs Exercise Team Option On Jae Crowder
The Mavericks have exercised their team option on Jae Crowder, according to the RealGM Transaction log. The 6’6″, 23 year-old swingman’s salary for the 2014/15 season will be $915, 243, which is a small increase over this season’s salary of $788,872.
This move gives the Mavs eight players with guaranteed contracts, and increases their guaranteed salary commitments for next season from $28,267,575 to $29,182,818. If the team declined his option Crowder’s qualifying offer and cap hold would have been $1,115,243, unless the team decided to non-tender him.
Crowder has been a regular part of the Mavs’ rotation the last two seasons, and with a salary under $1MM, is a relative bargain. The only negative for the team is they lose some cap flexibility in the event they wish to pursue big ticket free agents.
Crowder, in his second season with the Mavs, averaged 4.6 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 0.8 APG in 16.1 minutes per night. He appeared in 78 games this season, eight as a starter. His slash line was .439/.331/.754.
Western Notes: Spurs, Lowe, Togashi
With the Spurs core of stars nearing retirement the team will need to look ahead to the future, writes Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. That future will begin with Kawhi Leonard, as well as having a wealth of cap room in 2015, when only Tiago Splitter is under contract, notes Beck. The franchise also has Livio Jean-Charles, a 6’9″ forward from French Guiana, who was drafted 28th in 2013, and Davis Bertans, a 6’10″ forward from Latvia, a 2011 second-round pick who was acquired from the Pacers, to help jump start the team’s next phase, according to the article.
More from the west:
- The Wolves hiring of Sidney Lowe as an assistant coach could be announced as early as tomorrow, reports Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune (Twitter link).
- The Mavericks are going to take a look at Japanese point guard Yuki Togashi, with the hope that he could be developed as a potential NBA player with the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. The 5’8″ Togashi is expected to attend the D-league draft camp next week, and isn’t expected to be selected in this year’s draft, notes Sefko.
- Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman hands out grades for Reggie Jackson’s season with the Thunder. Jackson averaged 11.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 2.4 APG this season.
Knicks Selling ‘Melo On 2015 Pursuit Of LeBron
The Knicks are telling Carmelo Anthony that they will pursue LeBron James in the summer of 2015 as they continue to attempt to persuade Anthony to opt in for next season, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Still, Anthony, who told Knicks president Phil Jackson that he’d think about opting in when Jackson first asked him to do so, is considering the Bulls, Rockets and Mavs as potential free agent destinations, Stein adds.
Jackson and company also expect to be contenders for Kevin Durant in 2016, believing that they’ve helped themselves in that regard with the hiring of Derek Fisher, until recently a teammate of Durant’s, as coach. A source told Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com that Fisher’s presence would “definitely be a factor” when Durant ponders his free agency.
James, like Anthony, can hit free agency this summer, but it appears increasingly likely that he’ll remain with the Heat for at least one more season. Anthony has long said that he’ll opt out of his deal and become a free agent this summer, but New York’s attempts to dissuade him from doing so seem to have him at least considering the idea of opting in for the final season of his contract, worth more than $23.333MM. Anthony must decide on his option by June 23rd, which complicates the matter, since James, along with Heat teammates Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, have until June 30th to decide on their options. The Knicks will likely be over next season’s salary cap regardless of what Anthony decides to do, but almost every player on New York’s roster can come off the books next summer.
The Mavs have been linked to ‘Melo before, but the last report about his interest in other teams seemed to cast the Bulls as the front-runner. The Rockets, Lakers and Clippers drew mention, but Dallas did not. The Mavs apparently aren’t interested in Anthony at the maximum salary, but they’re not alone in that regard. Anthony has raised the idea of signing for less than the max, but that was in reference to a new deal with the Knicks.