Draft Notes: Anderson, Brown, Randle
Virginia’s Justin Anderson worked out with the Lakers on Thursday and afterward said he expects to be selected in the middle or toward the end of the first round based on conversations with his agent and interviews during draft workouts and the NBA pre-draft combine, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. Anderson, who is ranked 23rd by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and is pegged at No. 28 by Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required), believes he can thrive in the league with his strength, defense and ability to knock down shots, Medina adds. Johnson has also worked out with the Bulls and Spurs and plans to work out with the Celtics, Medina notes.
“I’m just going to be a complete and smart defender as well as a knockdown shooter,” Anderson said. “I’ll use my physicality and strength and be as complete as I can be. Whatever system I land, I know I can adjust.”
Here’s more news on the draft:
- Stanford’s Anthony Brown also worked out with the Lakers, and his shooting ability could be of use to the to the Lakers, who own the second, 27th and 34th picks, Medina writes in a separate story. Brown shot 44.1% from 3-point range in two seasons at Stanford, Medina notes. The Lakers received poor shooting seasons from several players, including Nick Young, who shot a career-low 37% from the field, as Medina points out. “I’m a great shooter,” Brown said. “That’s the number one thing I hang my hat on, shooting the basketball. I’m also going to defend you. I’m a three-deep player.”
- Stanford guard Chasson Randle‘s next workout will be with the Sixers, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe tweets. Randle has already worked out for the Thunder and Celtics, Washburn adds.
- Jarvis Threatt has workouts with the Wizards, Suns and Rockets next week, Adam Johnson of D-League Digest tweets.
- BYU’s Tyler Haws wants to hear his name called on draft night, but if he doesn’t, he will have opportunities to play overseas, Jeff Call of the Deseret News writes. “He’s got a couple of offers already overseas,” said BYU coach Dave Rose, who added he expects Haws to be drafted.
Western Draft Notes: Towns, Grant, Jazz
Karl-Anthony Towns will interview with the Wolves and the Lakers, but won’t work out for any teams, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv reports. The big man would relish the opportunity to play in Minnesota. “It would be a blessing and an honor to even have a chance to play for Minnesota and be able to have the chance to play for a great organization and learn from a great mentor like Kevin Garnett,” Towns said.
Here’s more on the upcoming draft:
- Jerian Grant, whom I profiled earlier today, will work out for the Raptors, Heat, Hornets, Nuggets and Wizards according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Grant previously worked out for the Pacers, Suns, Thunder and Rockets.
- The Suns are looking for play-makers off their bench and Grant may be a good candidate for the No. 13 pick, Coro opines in the same piece. “We’re looking at the guys who could possibly be backup point guards,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “The more guys we can get on this team, whether it’s point guard, off-guard, three-man, center, forward, whatever it is — that bring intelligence to the game can only help us.”
- The Jazz own the No. 12 selection in the draft and Kincade Upstill of the Deseret News wonders if the team should trade its pick. Upstill examines some hypothetical trades involving the team’s first-rounder, including an intriguing swap with the Clippers that involves sending J.J. Redick to the Jazz for Trey Burke and the No. 12 pick.
Draft Notes: Holmes, Christmas, Mickey, Vaughn
Richaun Holmes, Rakeem Christmas, Jordan Mickey and Rashad Vaughn have improved their stocks considerably, as one Eastern Conference GM tells Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
“All four have helped themselves so far during the workouts,” the anonymous GM said. “Vaughn has a chance to go in the first round. The other three are second-round picks. Although Christmas has apparently intrigued some teams at the bottom of the first round.”
Here’s more from Scotto on these prospects:
- Holmes will work out for the Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Raptors and Grizzlies as well as other teams that should bring him to roughly 15 workouts. He has already worked out for the Jazz, Spurs, Suns, Pacers and Mavericks. Holmes previously spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors about how he changed his form to improve his shooting.
- Mickey will work out for the Wolves and Spurs. He has already worked out for the Bulls, Rockets and Celtics. “I like Mickey,” an Eastern Conference GM told Scotto. “He’s an NBA shot blocker and rebounder. He’s a more athletic Taj Gibson.”
- Vaughn has already worked out for the Heat and Pacers. “I really like Vaughn,” one GM told Scotto. “He’s a good shooter with range. He can get his own shot and is athletic.”
Pacific Notes: Dellavedova, Lacob, Thompson
Australian center Andrew Bogut tried to get the Warriors to sign countryman Matthew Dellavedova in 2013, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. After Dellavedova went undrafted, Bogut petitioned GM Bob Myers to take a chance on the guard, but Golden State didn’t have a roster spot available. Instead, Dellavedova signed with the Cavaliers’ summer league team, earned a place on the roster and will face the Warriors in the NBA Finals.
There’s more tonight from the Pacific Division:
- Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob hasn’t addressed a crowd since he was booed off the court three years ago, writes Tim Kawakami of The Bay Area News Group. With Golden State in the NBA Finals, the response would assuredly be different, but Lacob wants to wait until he has a championship trophy in hand to speak to fans again. The booing incident came during Chris Mullin’s jersey retirement ceremony in March of 2012, less than two years after Lacob and Peter Guber purchased the team. Public opinion about ownership has changed since then, especially after the Warriors compiled the NBA’s best record and lost just three games while storming through the Western Conference playoffs. “I don’t think he thinks about it as redemption in any sense like that,” said Joe’s son, Kirk Lacob. “I think the booing thing just adds … it’s just another cool part of the story, hopefully.”
- With Game 1 of the NBA Finals five days away, Warriors coach Steve Kerr is confident that Klay Thompson will be ready, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. Thompson suffered a concussion in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals and will not be able to practice until he is symptom free. “He’s going through the [concussion protocol] process, but all is going well,” Kerr said today.
- Julius Randle, the Lakers‘ top pick in the 2014 draft, is almost fully recovered from a broken leg, writes Bill Oram of The Orange County Register. Randle has made steady progress since fracturing his tibia in the team’s season opener and hopes to be ready for summer league action in July. “The last time I checked probably about a month ago, the bone was 95% healed,” Randle said. “I feel great.”
Pacific Notes: Clippers, Russell, Jordan
Shelley Sterling found it appealing that Steve Ballmer would put up all of the money in his bid for the Clippers by himself and not as part of an investment group, since it signaled he’d treat the team like family instead of as another asset, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. “I never wanted to sell it, and we never would’ve sold it,” Sterling said. “But I didn’t want to see it being dismantled. I mean, maybe they wouldn’t even play for the whole year. I didn’t know what the league was going to do. The only thing I knew is that I had to keep the team from being dismantled.”
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Though many mock drafts peg the Lakers to snag a big man with the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, the team is considering Ohio State guard D’Angelo Russell at that spot as well, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “For us, we [have] some holes to fill. So it’s not like we only have one need,” coach Byron Scott said. “We have three or four different needs we need to fill. Obviously in this draft, you got two great bigs and you got a great point guard in Russell, as well. We got to wait and see what Minnesota does. So we are going to do our due diligence to bring them in and work them out and go from there.” You can view Hoops Rumors’ full prospect profile for Russell here.
- With DeAndre Jordan set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and a challenging salary cap situation for the team to navigate, the Clippers have an important decision to make regarding the big man. Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) breaks down the different scenarios for the franchise regarding re-signing Jordan, as well as what could happen if he departs this offseason.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Draft Notes: Vaughn, Randle, Heat, Sixers
The draft is less than four weeks away, and Hoops Rumors has you covered. Check out our full log of draft news right here. Our Eddie Scarito runs down the first round in his Mock Draft, and we dive deeper into key figures with our Prospect Profile series. We’ve gained insight from a wide array of prospects through their interviews with our Zach Links, and, as always, we’ll pass along the latest news, including these reports on team workouts:
- UNLV shooting guard Rashad Vaughn will work out Monday for the Lakers and will soon do so with the Warriors, Suns and Spurs, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
- Chasson Randle auditioned for the Thunder and also plans to show off for the Sixers, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). The Celtics have already worked out the two-guard from Stanford, as we noted earlier.
- Shooting guards K.T. Harrell of Auburn and Josh Richardson of Tennessee worked out Thursday for the Heat, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald hears.
- The Sixers are taking a look today at Delaware State big man Kendall Gray, sources told Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (on Twitter), and they’re doing the same with Arizona point guard T.J. McConnell, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
- Syracuse big man Rakeem Christmas is working out for the Spurs today and already got a look from the Mavericks, Pompey reveals in a separate piece.
Western Notes: Rockets, Muhammad, Lakers
Now that the Rockets have been eliminated from the playoffs the franchise will begin working toward its offseason plans. Josh Smith, Jason Terry, and Corey Brewer, all of whom are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer, have indicated that they want to return to Houston next season, Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle writes. “I like the future if we can keep all the pieces together,” Smith said. “I like what the future holds for us. You never know in free agency what may occur. The city of Houston and this team has definitely embraced me for my individuality and the way I play the game. It would be great to do something special for the city and for this team.”
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Wolves swingman Shabazz Muhammad has parted ways with agent Bill Duffy of BDA Sports Management and signed with Rob Pelinka of Landmark Sports, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports relays (Twitter link).
- The Lakers held workouts earlier today for Justin Anderson, Askia Booker, Anthony Brown, Charles Jackson, Stefan Nastic, and Delon Wright, the team announced (via Twitter).
- Arkansas forward Bobby Portis is scheduled to work out for the Thunder this Friday, Gary Washburn of Boston Globe tweets.
- The Nuggets brought in Florida guard Michael Frazier for a workout today, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops relays (Twitter link).
- Center Andrew Bogut praised the Warriors‘ front office for keeping the core of the team intact and not going for a “home run” in the NBA draft, via trades, or through free agency, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays (on Twitter).
And-Ones: Wolves, Lakers, Pacers, Celtics
Several players and agents suggested to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that any given Eastern Conference team would be more attractive than a comparable one from the Western Conference given the disparity between the conferences. One agent told Kennedy that players “absolutely” want to be the East and that he hopes his draft clients are taken by Eastern teams, though an executive cautioned that the presence of LeBron James might dissuade free agents from jumping out of the West. James is set to represent the East for the fifth straight time in the NBA Finals, and while we wait more than a week for tip-off, here’s more from around the NBA:
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com hears D’Angelo Russell is in the mix for the Timberwolves at No. 1, says Karl-Anthony Towns, but not necessarily Jahlil Okafor, would be a lock for the Lakers at No. 2, and also writes in his chat with readers that the Pacers and Celtics would love to move up. Ford has heard chatter among GMs that the Thunder have promised Cameron Payne they’ll take him at No. 14, but he isn’t sure just how much truth there is to that, as the ESPN scribe writes in the same piece. Sources have suggested to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that Payne has a promise from some team. Our Eddie Scarito has Payne going to the Thunder in the Hoops Rumors Mock Draft.
- UNLV shooting guard Rashad Vaughn had an especially impressive workout this past weekend, Ford observes in an Insider-only piece, and Vaughn also opened eyes in his workout Tuesday for the Heat, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Ford adds in his piece that scouts have told him that French center Alpha Kaba is willing to stay in the draft rather than withdraw by the June 15th deadline if he receives a promise from a team.
- The Bulls and Pelicans have interest in former 16th overall pick Royce White, reports Shams Charania of RealGM, though it’s not clear if they’re yet considering him for any sort of deal that would go beyond summer league.
Knicks Eye Paul Millsap, DeMarre Carroll
The two way games of soon-to-be Hawks free agents Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll have Knicks president Phil Jackson intrigued, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Still, the Hawks are “supremely confident” that they can retain both, according to USA Today. A source close to Carroll tells Berman he’d like to play with Knicks coach Derek Fisher, his former workout partner. Berman reported last month, when Carroll responded affirmatively to a question about whether he would have interest in playing in New York, that Fisher was similarly high on Carroll. Carroll nonetheless said in the wake of Tuesday’s season-ending loss to the Cavs that he’s prioritizing a new deal with the Hawks, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“In the end my agent is going to do all the work,” Carroll said. “He understands [the] situation for me. Right now, I’m a Hawk until the Hawks don’t want me any more — that’s the way I look at it.”
Carroll’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, is believed to be looking for an average annual value of $12MM in his client’s next deal, Berman writes. The forward who blossomed on the two-year, $5MM deal he signed with the Hawks in 2013 admits that money will play a role in determining where he goes next but said city, team and fit would also be factors, Vivlamore notes. Reporters have heard estimates from executives and other sources ranging from $8-9MM to $9-12MM to $12.5MM or more about what Carroll can expect to receive each year in his next contract. The Lakers, in particular, and the Celtics and Pistons are also interested in Carroll, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
There are whispers that Millsap, ostensibly even more valuable, might need surgery on his sprained right shoulder, as Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck heard. Speculation suggests Millsap will command the max, or close to it. Still, Atlanta seems more confident in re-signing Millsap than Carroll, as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt said recently, and the power forward’s recent comments and remarks from agent DeAngelo Simmons support the idea that the Hawks need not fret.
The Knicks are armed with plenty of cap flexibility, since they only have about $32.4MM in commitments for next season, not counting the No. 4 overall pick. The Hawks have only Early Bird rights on both Millsap and Carroll, but with just approximately $39.3MM in guaranteed salaries for 2015/16, they can also use cap room to re-sign their talented forwards.
Draft Notes: Spurs, Grizzlies, Payne
Hoops Rumors has a full log of 2015 draft news that you can see anytime at the link here. You can also set that page up as an RSS feed to receive constant updates. All you’d need to do would be to add /feed to the url, like so: hoopsrumors.com/2015-nba-draft/feed. Other draft-related resources include our latest Mock Draft, the full list of early entrants, as well as our ongoing Prospect Profile series. Here’s more news regarding the 2015 NBA Draft:
- League sources have suggested to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link) that Murray State guard Cameron Payne has a draft promise from a team, and that there is a very good chance he is going to be a lottery pick. If Payne has indeed been targeted by a lottery team, his most likely destination is the Thunder, whom I predicted would be selecting the guard in my latest mock draft, though this is merely my speculation of course.
- The Spurs brought in Syracuse forward Chris McCullough for an interview today, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets.
- Scheduled for workouts this Friday with the Grizzlies are Josh Richardson, Ky Madden, Aaron Thomas, Pat Connaughton, Chris Walker, and Brandon Ashley, Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal (subscription required) relays.
- Arkansas forward Bobby Portis has workouts scheduled with the Thunder, Heat, Pistons, Raptors, Pacers, Hornets, Bucks, Suns, and Jazz, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe tweets.
- Former Colorado guard Askia Booker worked out for the Suns on Tuesday, and has upcoming workouts scheduled with the Lakers and the Jazz, Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post relays (Twitter link).
- Booker said that he was asked about his refusal to play in this year’s College Basketball Invitational tournament by the Sixers, and also expects the subject to come up in other interviews, Dempsey relays in a series of tweets. “It’s something I’m willing to address no doubt. I have no issue addressing that. When the question comes I’ll be able to answer it,” Booker said. “It was a mutual decision. We came to an agreement, and the decision was made.” Booker reportedly passed on playing in the tourney to prepare for the upcoming draft instead.