James Bell

Draft Notes: Clippers, Vonleh, Hornets, Hairston

The Clippers are interested in trading up from pick No. 28, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Shelburne’s piece centers on a profile of former University of Colorado guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who can’t work out because he’s still recovering from a torn ACL. Dinwiddie’s nonetheless had meetings with the Bucks, Wizards, Bulls and Celtics, and he’s scheduled interviews and physicals with the Clippers, Heat, Hawks and Thunder, according to Shelburne. The ESPN scribe also says that he’ll interview and take a physical for the Jazz, advancing an earlier report that he was set to interview with the team. Here’s more on the draft:

  • Julius Randle is set to work out for the Jazz tomorrow, tweets Utah’s radio announcer David Locke.
  • Marcus Smart and Elfrid Payton are expected to work out for the Lakers on Friday for the second time, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports Spears advises his readers to “keep an eye” on Payton (via Twitter) in light of the second workout.
  • Nik Stauskas is expected in for his first workout with the Lakers, who have struggled to get Stauskas in, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times.
  • Rodney Hood had to sit out most of his Hornets workout today due to illness, reports Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
  • Gary Harris and Zach LaVine will work out for the Hornets tomorrow, tweets Bonnell, who adds Charlotte’s other new workout appointees in a separate tweet: Rion Brown; Ronald Roberts Jr.; and Markel Brown, who missed an earlier workout due to travel issues.
  • The Rockets worked out Shabazz Napier, Xavier Thames, Patric Young, Nick Russell, and Kadeem Coleby, tweets Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
  • Sim Bhullar, Earnest Ross, Ian Chiles, Cameron Clark, Philipp Neumann, and Jordan Bachynski will work out for the Wizards tomorrow, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.

Earlier updates:

  • Noah Vonleh will work out for the Sixers on Thursday, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
  • Elfrid Payton, Josh Huestis, James Bell and Jordan Clarkson are the previously unreported prospects performing for the Hornets today, as Chris Littmann of The Sporting News tweets.
  • P.J. Hairston will audition for the Hawks, as he tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, who also reports that Hairston will show off for the Grizzlies, Lakers and Bulls (Twitter links).
  • Kyle Anderson will work out for the Suns, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, as well as the Grizzlies, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter links). A previous report indicated that the Suns were set to audition Anderson a week ago, so this appears to be his second workout with Phoenix.
  • Anderson will also perform for the Bulls, as will Clint Capela and DeAndre Daniels, Zagoria tweets.
  • Jordan Adams, Devyn Marble, Sean Kilpatrick, C.J. Wilcox and Jarnell Stokes are working out for the Raptors today, the team announced. A report from last month indicated that Stokes had already worked out for Toronto, but given that the dispatch came in the middle of the draft combine, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was actually an interview between Stokes and the club, rather than a workout.
  • The Wizards are auditioning Semaj Christon, Nick Johnson, Deonte Burton, Alec Brown and Khem Birch today, according to Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (on Twitter).

And-Ones: Draft, Yao, LeBron

James McAdoo, Roscoe Smith, James Bell, Chris Fouch, Luke Hancock, and Niels Giffey all worked out for the Sixers today, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. All project to be selected in the second round at best, where Philadelphia owns five draft picks. Here’s a roundup of the night’s news, including plenty from the draft:

  • The Bucks are having some difficulty scheduling pre-draft workouts with Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins, and Jabari Parker, director of scouting Billy McKinney tells Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel“I still think there’s a lot of thinking on their agents’ part of, ‘Hey, he’s not going to be there [at No. 2].'” McKinney said. “We’re going to have to be a little creative…which you have to do certain times to go out and get your private discussion and workouts in. That’s all part of it.”
  • C.J. Fair will workout for the Bucks and Hornets this week, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
  • Wally Judge will work out for the Jazz, tweets Zagoria.
  • A front office executive tells Gino Pilato of D-League Digest that P.J. Hairston is expected to go either late in the first round, or early in the second.
  • Former Pelicans forward Lance Thomas will be among players participating in a mini-camp at the Nets facility next week, Zagoria reports (via Twitter).
  • Yao Ming earlier denied reports that he was assembling an investment group to purchase the Clippers, but told news outlets including ChinaDaily USA that he won’t rule out the possibility he will. “I know there are a lot of rumors, but I don’t think I have time to clarify the rumors one by one,” Yao said. “Nowadays, sports are globalized, and anything is possible, but so far, there is nothing substantial.”
  • In the case that LeBron James decides to opt out and leave the Heat in the offseason, Dwyane Wade doesn’t want the blame to be laid on his performance or health issues, he told Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today“Just don’t solely put it on me,” Wade said, laughing. “That’s what I’m saying. Don’t put the X on me… There’s a lot that goes into [the decision], so just don’t say, ‘If Dwyane Wade doesn’t have the year that we’re accustomed to, it’s over.'”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.