Marcus Eriksson

International Notes: White, Eriksson, Pasecniks, Radicevic

After being waived by the Cavaliers earlier this week, Okaro White is nearing a deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, according to Stavros Barbarousis of EuroHoops. White has prior overseas experience, playing in Italy and Greece before signing with the Heat in 2016.

He played in 41 games in a season and a half with Miami before being traded to the Hawks at this year’s deadline and then waived on the same day. He signed with the Cavaliers in March, but never made it on the court and was released before a partial guarantee on his 2018/19 salary kicked in. White played seven Summer League games for the Cavs, averaging 6.0 PPG and 7.4 RPG.

There’s more international news to pass along:

  • Marcus Eriksson, a draft-and-stash player whose rights are owned by the Hawks, re-signed with Herbalife Gran Canaria in Spain, tweets Keith Smith of Real GM. A 24-year-old Swedish forward, Eriksson was the 50th player taken in 2015.
  • Anzejs Pasecniks, a 2017 first-rounder whose draft rights are owned by the Sixers, also re-signed with Herbalife Gran Canaria, according to Smith (Twitter link). Orlando took the 7’2″ center with the 25th pick and traded him to Philadelphia.
  • Nikola Radicevic, a second-round selection in 2015, signed with Dolomiti Energia Trento in Italy, Smith adds (Twitter link). The Nuggets own the draft rights to the 24-year-old point guard.
  • Jonathan Holmes, who spent part of last season with Maine in the G League, has signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv, relays Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. He averaged 7.3 PPG and 7.4 PG in 11 games with the Red Claws.

Southeast Notes: Deng, Oubre, White, Eriksson

It’s still unclear what Luol Deng will do with his player option, worth nearly $10.152MM, with tonight’s deadline to decide looming, but the Heat absolutely wants him back, as team president Pat Riley made clear after the draft, notes Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post (Twitter link). That’s in spite of Miami’s selection of small forward Justise Winslow at No. 10. While we wait to see just what Deng will do, here’s more from around the Southeast:

  • GM Ernie Grunfeld didn’t think the Wizards would have the chance to trade up and nab Kelly Oubre until a day before the draft, and in so doing, Washington landed a player who has a relationship with D.C. native and 2016 free agent Kevin Durant, as Benjamin Standig of The Associated Press examines.
  • J. Michael of CSNWashington.com looks at the options the Wizards have if Paul Pierce, who’s opting out, doesn’t re-sign.
  • Forward Aaron White, whom the Wizards drafted 49th overall out of Iowa, will “definitely” play overseas this coming season, as Michael hears, but Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post writes that a decision has not yet been made. “Aaron will play Summer League with the Wizards and then we will evaluate if it is best to go overseas or not this season,” White’s agent, Chris Emens, wrote in an e-mail to Castillo. “Aaron is open to doing whatever the Wizards think is best for his development.”
  • The pair of players the Hawks drafted in the second-round Thursday will stay overseas, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Swedish shooting guard Marcus Eriksson, the 50th pick, and Greek forward Dimitrios Agravanis, pick No. 59, remain under contract with Barcelona of Spain and Olympiacos of Greece, respectively, according to Vivlamore.
  • Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel breaks down the new Magic assistant coaches whose hires the team officially announced Friday: former Bulls assistant Adrian Griffin, former Mavs assistant Monte Mathis, Mario Elie, who last was an NBA assistant with the Nets in 2012/13, and former Lakers D-League coach Conner Henry.

And-Ones: Salary Cap, Draft, Harris, LaVine

GMs widely expect next season’s salary cap to wind up even higher than the most recent projection of $63.2MM, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News (Twitter link). 

Here’s more from around the league:

  • It was reported earlier that Spanish league shooting guard Marcus Eriksson is pulling out of this year’s draft. Prior to that announcement Eriksson had a workout scheduled with the Bucks, reports Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times (Twitter link).
  • NBA.com released their full prospect profile on former Michigan State guard Gary Harris. Harris is a projected lottery pick in this year’s draft.
  • Zach LaVine is projected to be taken anywhere from late in the lottery to the middle of the first round. NBA.com published their prospect profile for LaVine.
  • Mark Snyder of The Detroit Free Press adds the Wolves and the Bulls to the list of teams working out Jordan Morgan, and also reveals that Russ Smith, Jahii Carson, Sean Kilpatrick and Jordan McRae auditioned Wednesday for the Wolves, too.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Draft Rumors: Randle, Magic, Eriksson, Capela

Julius Randle and his family deny that there’s anything wrong with his right foot, in spite of a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that the potential top-five pick will likely require surgery. Randle issued his denial in a pair of tweets, while his mother and godfather spoke with Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal and Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, respectively. The procedure would force Randle to miss six to eight weeks but allow him to start training camp on time, according to Wojnarowski. Wojnarowski’s original report indicated that the surgery wouldn’t affect his draft stock, but later said via Twitter that it was “an issue,” echoing what an NBA executive told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, who suggests the injury could indeed affect his stock. NBA teams are worried that putting off surgery will lead to major problems in the future, Wojnarowski tweets. There’s more on Randle amid our latest on the draft:

  • The Celtics, who pick sixth, say Randle has “full clearance” as far as they’re concerned, tweets Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe.
  • Tucker’s report adds the Magic to the teams auditioning Randle.
  • Spanish league shooting guard Marcus Eriksson is pulling out of this year’s draft, agent Andy Miller tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).  Eriksson is No. 80 in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress prospect rankings, but Chad Ford of ESPN.com doesn’t have him ranked. There have been no reports of Eriksson setting up interviews or workouts with teams.
  • Clint Capela is the leading name in a Raptors workout today that also includes LaQuinton Ross, Jamil Wilson and Markel Brown, the team announced (on Twitter).
  • Brown has worked out for the Thunder, a source tells Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Slater also passes along an earlier report from Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that Kyle Anderson worked out for the team, and another report from Jeremy Rauch of Fox 19 in Cincinnati that adds the Thunder, Heat and Bulls to the list of teams auditioning Semaj Christon (Twitter links).
  • Zach LaVine is among the prospects who’ll show off for the Celtics on Friday, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. The Celtics are auditioning Luke Hancock and Geron Johnson on top of previously reported names today, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com reveals via Twitter.

Porzingis, Eriksson, Van Oostrum Enter Draft

Three Spanish league prospects officially declared for this year’s draft before Sunday night’s deadline, reports Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Big man Kristaps Porzingis reversed course from his earlier decision to stay out of the draft, while You First Sports agent Pere Gallego told Givony that clients Marcus Eriksson and Devon Van Oostrum are in the 2014 draft, too (Twitter links).

Porzingis is the best prospect of the bunch, checking in at No. 23 in Givony’s rankings. Chad Ford of ESPN.com still has him in his 2015 class, ranked No. 15, though Ford had him as only the 65th-best prospect for this year as of last week. Eriksson, a shooting guard, is No. 78 in Givony’s rankings for this year, while Van Oostrum, a point guard, isn’t in Givony’s top 100 but checks in as his sixth-best prospect among overseas players born in 1993. Neither Eriksson nor Van Oostrum is in Ford’s rankings.

Porzingis, who turned 19 earlier this month, has averaged 6.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game this season for Cajasol Banca Civica. The 20-year-old Eriksson has put up 11.4 PPG in 23.5 MPG, with 37.7% three-point shooting for La Bruixa d’Or Manresa. Van Oostrum sees just 7.6 MPG for Laboral Kuxta, and he manages 1.2 PPG and 0.9 APG. All three from Spain’s top-flight league can withdraw from the draft anytime between now and June 16th. For now, they appear on the list of early entrants for this year.