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Draft Workout Notes: Kings, Wizards, Wolves, Jazz, More

June 16th, 2022 at 4:19pm CST by Rory Maher

The Kings hosted several prospects for pre-draft workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday, the team announced (Twitter links).

The Tuesday group featured Trey McGowens, Ziga Samar, Ron Harper Jr., Brady Manek and Dallas Walton. Wednesday’s group was Jacob Gilyard, Fatts Russell, Yoan Makoundou, Karlo Matkovic, Yannick Nzosa and Kai Sotto.

The Kings control the fourth, 37th and 49th picks in the 2022 draft, and a handful of those players could be targets with one of those second-round picks. Nzosa, Samar, Harper and Matkovic are ranked between 53rd and 58th on ESPN’s big board.

Here are more workout-related notes from around the NBA:

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Northwest Notes: Blazers, Daniels, Kroenke, Jazz

June 1st, 2022 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

G League Ignite guard Dyson Daniels was the headliner of the Trail Blazers‘ first pre-draft workout on Tuesday, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Of the six prospects who auditioned for Portland, Daniels is the only one expected to receive consideration at No. 7, assuming the Blazers keep the pick and he’s still on the board.

Julian Champagnie (St. John’s), Darius Days (LSU), Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State), Fatts Russell (Maryland), and Dallas Walton (Colorado), all of whom are viewed as probable second-round or UDFA prospects, were the other players to work out for the Trail Blazers on Tuesday. In addition to controlling the No. 7 overall pick, Portland also holds the 36th and 57th selections in this month’s draft.

  • The media availability for Nuggets governor Josh Kroenke, who is expected to address Tim Connelly‘s departure, was postponed again, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link). Kroenke was originally scheduled to speak last Thursday, then had that session tentatively pushed back to Tuesday after he tested positive for COVID-19. It will likely happen later this week once he clears the health and safety protocols, says Singer.
  • The Jazz held a free agent mini-camp on Tuesday, according to our JD Shaw, who notes (via Twitter) that G League standouts Justin Tillman and Craig Randall II were among the attendees.
  • Loyola guard Lucas Williamson has a pre-draft workout on tap with the Jazz on Thursday, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. Williamson has already worked out for several teams, including the Bucks, Celtics, and Grizzlies, Jones adds.
  • Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune proposes 29 hypothetical offseason trades involving the Jazz — one with each of the NBA’s teams.
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Northwest Notes: Forrest, Jazz Offseason, A-Rod, Wolves

May 13th, 2022 at 7:17pm CST by Rory Maher

Sarah Todd of The Deseret News wonders what’s next for Jazz guard Trent Forrest. The 23-year-old spent the past two seasons on a two-way deal with Utah after going undrafted out of Florida State, but his contract was converted to a standard deal on the last day of the regular season.

Although that technically made him eligible for the playoffs, Forrest was dealing with a left midfoot sprain, so the conversion was mostly ceremonial. The front office deferred to coach Quin Snyder‘s preference for the 15th roster spot, and Forrest was rewarded after earning the trust of Snyder, sources tell Todd.

As of last week, Forrest was still experiencing pain while rehabbing the injury and had yet to resume on-court work, but it’s not a long-term concern, Todd writes. Forrest will be a restricted free agent this summer if the team tenders him a qualifying offer worth just over $2MM.

Although he’s considered a strong defender, he knows he needs to work on his shot to have lasting success in the NBA.

“This summer is going to be a lot of the same thing,” Forrest said. “I don’t need much pick-and-roll or things like that. A lot of (my work) is just gonna be a lot of left hand finishing and working on my shot.”

Here’s more from the Northwest:

  • In a mailbag column about how the Jazz should approach their offseason, Tony Jones of The Athletic says he believes Utah should keep both Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert and surround them with “bigger, longer, more athletic” players who are significantly better defensively. Juancho Hernangomez and Danuel House — two players who were on the verge of being out of the league — both made a big impact on the club due to their length, athleticism and competitive defense, and Jones thinks the Jazz need several more players in that mold. If he were part of the front office, he says he’d try to trade for a second-round pick in the draft and use the taxpayer mid-level exception (projected to be $6.4MM) to acquire players who meet that criteria. Utah does not own a pick at the moment.
  • After recent rumors that Timberwolves minority owner Alex Rodriguez might be interested in purchasing the Miami Marlins, his PR representative denied the claim. “Alex Rodriguez is 100 percent focused on owning the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx. Any report of him having interest in also buying the Miami Marlins or any other MLB team is entirely false,” said Ron Berkowitz of Berk Communications (via Twitter). A-Rod and co-owner Marc Lore are set to become majority shareholders of the Wolves in 2023/24.
  • Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News reports that the Timberwolves worked out several draft prospects on Thursday and Friday, including UCLA’s Johnny Juzang, Maryland’s Fatts Russell, Alabama’s Keon Ellis, North Carolina’s Kerwin Walton, and Richmond’s Jacob Gilyard (all Twitter links here).
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Gilyard, Ado, Russell Withdrawing From NBA Draft

May 21st, 2020 at 11:31am CST by Luke Adams

Three early entrants have decided to pull their names out of the 2020 NBA draft poll and will return to school for one more year, according to reports from Jeff Goodman of Stadium and Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

Richmond guard Jacob Gilyard told Goodman (Twitter link) that he’ll withdraw from the draft, while Rothstein (Twitter links) hears that Mississippi State center Abdul Ado and Rhode Island guard Fatts Russell will do the same. All three players are coming off their junior years, so they’re now on track to become automatically draft-eligible in 2021.

Gilyard averaged 12.7 PPG, 5.7 APG, and an impressive 3.2 SPG for the Spiders in 31 games in 2019/20. Ado, who also appeared in 31 games, had a more modest stat line for the Bulldogs, recording 5.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 1.9 BPG. Russell, meanwhile, led the Rams with 18.8 PPG while chipping in 4.6 APG, 3.4 RPG, and 2.9 SPG in 30 contests.

None of the three prospects held spots on ESPN’s top-100 list for the 2020 draft, so it doesn’t come as a major surprise that they’re holding off on going pro.

Our complete tracker of this year’s early entrants can be found right here.

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Draft Notes: Russell, Williams, Vassell, Mays

March 27th, 2020 at 9:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rhode Island guard Fatts Russell has declared for the draft but will maintain his college eligibility throughout the process, he wrote on an Instagram post. The junior averaged 18.8 PPG, 4.6 APG and 2.9 SPG this season. The 5’10” Russell averaged 14.2 PPG last season.

We have more draft news:

  • Cincinnati’s Keith Williams announced his intention to enter the draft and hire an agent on his Twitter feed. The 6’5” Williams averaged 12.6 PPG and shot 34.2% from long range as a junior this season. Williams has started two seasons for the Bearcats after being a rotation reserve as a freshman.
  • Oregon guard Payton Pritchard, Florida State guard Devin Vassell, Utah State guard Sam Merrill, Penn State forward Lamar Stevens and LSU guard Skylar Mays are five players who could make a surprising impact in the NBA, Jon Rothstein declares in a Yahoo Sports video post. Vassell, currently ranked No. 19 on ESPN’s Best Available list, is the only prospect among that group considered a likely first-rounder.
  • Potential lottery selection Killian Hayes has declared for the draft. Get the details here.
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