New York Knicks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Winslow, Knicks

June 6th, 2015 at 3:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics are looking at small forwards as the team prepares for the upcoming NBA Draft, Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald writes. One skill any draftee of Boston’s will require is the ability to score, preferably from the outside, Murphy notes. “Some things guys get better at easier than others,” director of player personnel Austin Ainge said about the franchise’s search for shooters. “There’s things we as a basketball profession do a better job of teaching. Are skills more acquirable? That’s something we evaluate. Their shooting fundamentals may be fixable, and other guys . . . wow, that may be hard to fix, that may take some time. We look at all of those things.”

Here’s more from the NBA’s Atlantic Division:

Duke forward Justise Winslow is slated to work out for the Knicks on Monday, and the franchise is seriously considering the freshman with the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets.
The Knicks have scheduled a physical for Emmanuel Mudiay on Monday, and the guard is set to work out for the team on Tuesday, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com reports (Twitter link). You can view our full prospect profile for Mudiay here.
Another player under consideration for the Knicks at No. 4 overall is forward Kristaps Porzingis, but the Latvian may not be the best for for the triangle offense, Begley writes. “He prefers to attack from outside. Make three-point shots,” says Christopher Ney, the founder of EuropeanProspects, a European scouting service. “He is quite similar in playing style to Andrea Bargnani so this might be a problem.”

Atlantic Notes: Clark, Cauley-Stein, Erman

June 5th, 2015 at 8:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Earl Clark‘s future with the Nets still remains unclear even after the forward spoke with GM Billy King, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (Twitter links). The 27-year-old wishes to remain with Brooklyn, but realizes his non-guaranteed salary for next season could make him expendable, Kennedy notes. Clark, who is scheduled to earn $1,185,784 during the 2015/16 campaign, indicated he would likely play in an NBA summer league if he is let go by the Nets, the Basketball Insiders scribe adds.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

NBA commissioner Adam Silver told reporters, including Rod Boone of Newsday (on Twitter), that he has talked to Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov about how to drum up more interest in the NBA over in Russia.
Kentucky big man Willie Cauley-Stein has a workout scheduled with the Knicks on June 16th, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets.
Celtics assistant coach Darren Erman departed for a post on Alvin Gentry‘s coaching staff in New Orleans because the Pelicans offered him a spot as a member of the bench staff, something Boston could not, Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald writes. “We heard rumors about the connections Erman had made in Golden State, where Alvin is now, though Alvin wasn’t in Golden State with Erman,” Celtics executive Danny Ainge said. “The people at Golden State, including a few of the players, were encouraging Alvin that if he got the job, Erman was the guy he needed to hire. . . . We didn’t want to lose him. We just didn’t have a spot on the bench for him here.”

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Draft Notes: Mudiay, T’Wolves, Rozier

June 5th, 2015 at 3:00pm CST by Zachary Links

The T’Wolves have convinced Emmanuel Mudiay that he is in consideration for the No. 1 overall pick, according to Shams Charania of RealGM. Mudiay has workouts scheduled with the Lakers (Saturday), the Timberwolves (June 20th or possibly sooner), and Marc Berman of the New York Post adds the Knicks (Monday) to the list. Recently, SMU coach Larry Brown said that Mudiay will audition for the Sixers as well, rounding out the top four. Here’s a look at the latest draft news..

Louisville guard Terry Rozier has an upcoming workout scheduled with the Hornets, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). Rozier, 21, is currently ranked No. 50 by DraftExpress and No. 27 by Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
UNLV’s Rashad Vaughn will work out for the Suns today and has auditions scheduled with the Bulls and Wizards, according to Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops (on Twitter).
The Suns will bring in UNLV’s Christian Wood as a part of a group workout today, league sources tell Scotto (on Twitter).
Want to familiarize yourself with some of the most interesting prospects in this year’s class? Check out the entries in the Hoops Rumors NBA Draft Prospect Q&A Series! Over the last month, Hoops Rumors has spoken with Jerian Grant, Cameron Payne, Richaun Holmes, and many more notable names.

Q&A With Duke Guard Quinn Cook

June 5th, 2015 at 1:58pm CST by Zachary Links

Leading up to the draft, Hoops Rumors will be talking with some of the most intriguing prospects in this year’s class. Today, the Hoops Rumors Draft Prospect Q&A series continues with Duke guard Quinn Cook, who is ranked No. 62 in this year’s class by both Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and Chad Ford of ESPN.com.

After helping Duke win the National Championship, Quinn Cook couldn’t have asked for a better way to end his collegiate career. Now, he’s busting his tail on the draft circuit in order to solidify his place on draft boards around the league. Cook told Hoops Rumors (Twitter link) that he has the Nets, Knicks, Jazz, Lakers, Clippers, and Thunder all on his workout schedule and there could be even more to come. The speedy point guard spoke with Hoops Rumors recently about Coach K, making funny faces during games, and his draft stock heading into June 25th.

Zach Links: How much did it mean to you to end your college career in the best way possible, with a National Championship?

Quinn Cook: It meant a lot to me to end my college career as a champion. I had some tough losses in my four-year career at Duke. To leave winning the tournament, that’s the best thing you can do as a college player. I’m just really proud of my team.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

ZL: Do you think you might be better prepared for the NBA than other guys in this year’s class thanks to your time spent playing for Mike Krzyzewski?

QC: Definitely. He’s the best coach of all-time and for him to have the respect of guys like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, KD [Kevin Durant], it just shows how great he is. He has coached everybody, but he has also learned from these guys. He learns from other coaches too like Tom Thibodeau and Monty Williams. He prepares us very well. Guys who leave our program have a leg up going into the pros because we’ve been around Coach K. He’s a pro’s pro.

ZL: At 6’2″, you’ve shown that you can give taller opponents trouble. Is that something you pride yourself on?

QC: That’s going to be my niche in the league. I think I’m going to be a guy who comes off the bench and causes havoc for the guys on the other side of the ball.

ZL: At your banquet ceremony this year, you spoke a bit about becoming the leader of your Duke team. When did you really start embracing that leadership role and what do you think makes for a great leader in a locker room?

QC: I started embracing that after we were eliminated from the tournament in my junior year. From March 2014 onward, I was determined to be a leader.

To be a leader I think you first have to lead by example. Some guys are more vocal than others, but I think the leader has to be there every day and lead by example more than anything. You can be a “rah rah guy,” as we say at Duke, but the leader has to be the first one in and the last one to leave, setting the tone for everybody.

ZL: What’s the main thing you want to work on?

QC: Everything. I want to just get better in every aspect of the game. I want to be a more consistent shooter off the dribble, finish around rim better, and defend the ball better.

ZL: Do you have an idea of where you might be drafted?

QC: I’m a second round guy. It could be anywhere in the second round. I was a champion and an All-American at Duke, I think I have a solid resume and I think I performed really well at the combine. Hopefully, I’ll get my name called.

ZL: You spent your first three years of high school at DeMatha before transferring to another high school powerhouse in Oak Hill Academy. What was the reason for that change?

QC: I just wanted a new challenge. My best friends, Jerian Grant and Victor Oladipo, they were at DeMatha with me and that was a lot of fun, but I needed a new challenge. My mom had a great relationship with [Oak Hill head coach] Steve Smith so I decided to go there and team up with Ben McLemore.

ZL: You enjoyed some internet attention during the tournament for your unique facial expressions. What was your reaction to inadvertently walking into a new kind of fame?

QC: It was fun! You kind of forget how big the NCAA tournament is and how many people pay attention to it. It was cool to see a few pics go viral and for me to become Instagram and Twitter famous. My teammates kept sending me new pictures that popped up and my friends were too, so that was funny.

ZL: Why Tandem and Jim Tanner?

QC: They’re first class. Jim is first class and everybody in the office is first class. I was comfortable with them…It was a tough decision but I made the right one.

Atlantic Notes: Nets, Blatt, Lalanne, Celtics

June 4th, 2015 at 10:27pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Nets will swap picks with the Hawks in the upcoming draft as a result of the Joe Johnson trade, meaning they’ll be selecting at 29th. Still, Brooklyn director of player personnel Gregg Polinsky doesn’t sound like he’s too worried about picking so low, as Roderick Boone of Newsday passes along, since Polinsky believes GM Billy King’s creativity will help the Nets land a difference maker late in the first.

Draft Notes: Bucks, Mudiay, Jones, Powell

June 4th, 2015 at 9:16pm CST by Charlie Adams

There’s talk among NBA front offices that the Bucks have their sights set on a pair of shooting guards as potential targets for the 17th pick in the upcoming draft, according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times, who identifies Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (Arizona) and Rashad Vaughn (UNLV) as the two players Milwaukee will be targeting. As Woelfel points out, both members of the pair are represented by Jeff Schwartz, who works at the same agency that serves Michael Carter-Williams, Tyler Ennis, Khris Middleton and Jason Kidd. We’ve got more on the Bucks and the upcoming draft below:

Bobby Portis (Arkansas), Cameron Payne (Murray State), Justin Anderson (Virginia), Kevon Looney (UCLA), Jerian Grant (Notre Dame) and R.J. Hunter (Georgia State) will work out for the Bucks, Woelfel notes in the piece linked above. He also mentions that Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky have declined to work out for Milwaukee. Prevailing word around the league is that neither player will drop out of the lottery, according to Woelfel.
Emmanuel Mudiay is scheduled to work out for the Timberwolves in addition to the Lakers, Sixers, and Knicks, as SMU coach Larry Brown tells Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Brown had already told Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that the highly touted point guard would be putting his skills on display for the latter three of the group mentioned before. Of course, those four teams hold the top four picks in the draft.
Duke freshman Tyus Jones won’t be showing off for any more teams in the near future, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN hears that the national-champion point guard’s back acted up during a workout with the Rockets (Twitter link). Still, Wolfson and Woelfel both note the Mavs have interest Jones with the 21st pick.
The Knicks have almost “no idea” what to do with the fourth selection in the upcoming draft, a person close to the organization tells Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders for a mock draft piece. New York is willing to trade back, according to Hamilton, since there are teams who would potentially be interested in getting the fourth pick to nab Willie Cauley-Stein.
UCLA senior shooting guard Norman Powell is touting his ability to play the point and his four years of college experience as he makes the pre-draft workout rounds, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News details. He’s already auditioned for the Bulls, Rockets, Spurs and Sixers, Medina notes.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Q&A With Harvard Guard Wesley Saunders

June 4th, 2015 at 7:07pm CST by Zachary Links

Throughout the spring and summer, Hoops Rumors will be talking with some of the most intriguing prospects in the 2015 NBA Draft. Today, the Hoops Rumors Draft Prospect Q&A series continues with Harvard point guard Wesley Saunders.

Many notable figures in U.S. history have cut their teeth at Harvard, but there haven’t been a ton of high-level professional athletes to come out of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Point guard Wesley Saunders, however, could be an exception. After leading the Crimson to three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and two memorable upsets, Saunders is now looking to continue his career at the highest level. Saunders, who is racking up serious frequent flyer miles as he auditions for teams all across the country, spoke with Hoops Rumors at the airport before heading to Atlanta to work out for the Hawks.

Zach Links: What workouts do you have scheduled?

Wesley Saunders: When all is said and done I’ll have worked out for the 76ers, Hawks, Mavericks, Clippers, Bulls, Magic, Bucks, and Knicks.

ZL: Do you think it’ll be tough bouncing around from city to city so quickly and giving 100% for each of these?

WS: I don’t necessarily think it’s too much pressure, really. In the Ivy League we used to play games back-to-back on the weekends, so I have a bit of an advantage over some of the other guys from different conferences because I’m used to it. I’m used to going out there one night and giving my all on the court and doing it all over again the next night.

ZL: How did the 76ers workout go?

WS: It went well. It was my first one so I was a little bit nervous. I didn’t know what to expect going in but I think that those guys have a really great workout plan laid out. It was fast-paced, quick, and efficient. I did a lot of shooting drills, some 1-on-1, some 3-on-3. This is fun for me, we’ve been working out and getting ready for these workouts so I’m well prepared.

ZL: Where are you working out of? Are you working out with other players?

WS: I’ve been in the Los Angeles area, mostly at USC and Westchester High School. I’ve mostly been doing it solo but I’ve also worked out a bit with Dwayne Polee since we’re in the same agency.

ZL: If you had to compare yourself to an NBA player, who would it be?

WS: I’d say Wesley Matthews. I think that coming out of college we have some similar skill sets. We’re around 6’5″ and 220 pounds. A lot of people say we’re not super athletic, but we’re certainly athletic enough. [Matthews] was by no means a lights-out shooter like he is now. He developed that later on and I think I can develop in the same way that he did. He created a great career for himself and he’s one of the best shooting guards in the league right now.

ZL: What do you think makes you stand out over other point guards in this class?

WS: I think it’s my versatility. I have the ability to make plays for myself or for others and I have a high basketball IQ. I’m good at playing out of the pick-and-roll and that’s like 80 or 90% of the game in the NBA right now. I can defend against 1s, 2s, or 3s on defense and I just think that I have that jack-of-all-trades quality. I can fit into a lot of different roles.

ZL: What do you want to work on?

WS: I definitely want to work on my shooting consistency from three-point range. I shot about 42% from outside this year, but that’s the college three. The NBA three is a whole different animal. I also want to improve my lateral quickness and my explosiveness so that I can really stay in front of those quick 1s.

ZL: In the last three years your Harvard teams have wound up on the national stage in the NCAA tournament. What was your anxiety level like going into each tourney?

WS: I was the most nervous for the first one against New Mexico. I think that was because we had never been there before, so everything was kind of brand new. We were playing against a really good team and people said they were a possible FInal Four team. They were a really popular tournament pick. We were an underdog. Nobody really knew about us. We just got into a rhythm and we were able to pull out the win.

The next year against Cincinnati was a little bit different. Going into it we were really confident. We felt like with the type of team they were, we could definitely have some success against them. We went in, we executed our game plan and came out with a victory.

This year against North Carolina, that was another one where we had a lot of nerves. That’s obviously a program with a storied history and so many great players have come through there. Obviously we were all familiar with Roy Williams and all the great players they had; at the same time, we’ve been there before. We’ve been the underdogs, so we knew we could get it done. Unfortunately, we couldn’t pull it out, but we gave them a good battle.

ZL: I imagine that the academic pressures of playing at Harvard can be pretty overwhelming for some guys.

WS: Honestly, it really wasn’t for me because I went to a great high school and that prepared me for the academic load at Harvard. It all just came down to time management.

ZL: Was that a concern for you before you committed to Harvard?

WS: I don’t think I had any hesitations about Harvard from that standpoint. The real hesitation for me was from a basketball standpoint: Was Harvard good enough athletically for me to really achieve my dream in the NBA? But, after talking to Coach [Tommy] Amaker and getting a feel for his vision of the program and where I would fit in, I felt comfortable that if I worked hard and believed in his system that I would be able to achieve my dream.

ZL: What led you to choose Tandem Sports and Entertainment to represent you?

WS: I just felt like I really fell in line with the players that they have already in their agency. They have some really high character guys and I really felt like they do things the right way.

Everybody in the agency is honest and trustworthy and they’re people that really want to help me with my career going forward. I think they’re very professional and, at the same time, they really have a vested interest in my success. They’re helping me to have not only a great basketball career, but a great life just moving forward, so I definitely felt comfortable with them.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Smith, Draft

June 3rd, 2015 at 9:11pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Raptors have a busy summer ahead of them with six players set to hit free agency, and with the team also badly needing to upgrade its defense and rebounding, Holly MacKenzie of NBA.com writes in her offseason preview of the franchise. Toronto could also stand to add a veteran two-way forward like Paul Pierce, whose impact on the Wizards’ locker room didn’t go unnoticed by Raptors GM Masai Ujiri, MacKenzie adds. You can view Hoops Rumors’ offseason outlook for the Raptors here.

Here’s more from the NBA’s Atlantic Division:

Celtics coach Brad Stevens wants to see the team add versatility and shooting this offseason, in addition to rim protection, as he told reporters, including Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
J.R. Smith believes that the Knicks gave up on him this season, and said that he felt like a “throw in” who was included in the deal that brought him to the Cavs only for salary matching purposes, Rod Boone of Newsday relays (via Twitter). Smith certainly appeared revitalized as a player after the trade, playing in 46 games and averaging 12.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 31.8 minutes per contest for Cleveland.
The Raptors have workouts scheduled with Jerian Grant (Notre Dame), Chavaughn Lewis (Marist), Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (Arizona), and Justin Anderson (Virginia), the team announced. Also displaying their wares in a workout for the Raptors today were Maurice Walker (Minnesota) and Dallin Bachynski (Utah), the team relayed (on Twitter).

And-Ones: Okafor, Towns, Carmelo, Coaches

June 2nd, 2015 at 4:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Timberwolves coach/executive Flip Saunders likes Jahlil Okafor better than Karl-Anthony Towns, but most of the rest of the team’s staff prefers Towns, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com hears for his latest Insider-only mock draft. Ford believes those those pro-Towns staffers will ultimately win Saunders over and lists Towns atop his mock, also passing along word from sources that the Magic are zeroing in on Kristaps Porzingis at No. 5. There’s plenty more on the draft and other NBA issues amid the latest from around the league:

Zach Links of Hoops Rumors adds the Hawks, Clippers, Bulls, Magic, Bucks and Knicks to the list of teams working out Harvard point guard Wesley Saunders (Twitter link).
The Mavericks were willing to bring Chris Smith, the brother of J.R. Smith, onto their summer league team as part of their effort to woo Carmelo Anthony, a former teammate of the brothers, this past summer, a source told Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling. Anthony instead re-signed with the Knicks and Chris didn’t end up with the summer Mavs, but Chris is aiming for a return to the league after a period in which he was hospitalized with anxiety attacks. Those episodes stemmed in part from his exasperation with the notion that the Knicks signed him only because his brother was on the team, and the criticism he endured because of it, as Zwerling explains.
College coaches who jumped directly into NBA head coaching jobs haven’t had much success in the NBA of late, aside from Brad Stevens, but NBA GMs are open to them, and with Billy Donovan and Fred Hoiberg on winning teams, there’s ground for a new trend, as Dana O’Neil of ESPN.com examines. Still, that depends on how well Donovan’s Thunder and Hoiberg’s Bulls fare, O’Neil cautions.
Longtime NBA front office executive Joel Litvin is stepping down from his post as the NBA’s president of league operations and will assume a role as a consultant, effective September 1st, as the league announced and as a source originally told Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). Litvin, whose wide-ranging duties included work on the collective bargaining agreement, was an innovative force in his 27 years with the NBA, Lowe tweets.

Draft Notes: Towns, Russell, Ashley, Haws

June 2nd, 2015 at 11:33am CST by Chuck Myron

Karl-Anthony Towns answered affirmatively to DraftExpress in a video interview when asked if he thinks he should work out for the teams with the top four picks in the draft, adding that he has no preference that he be drafted by any team in particular. That lends further credence to what sources close to Towns told Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders when they denied a report that he wouldn’t work out for any teams. D’Angelo Russell also said to DraftExpress (video link) that he expects to work out for the top four teams, though he’s not 100% sure that he will. While we wait to see what the teams in possession of those picks — the Timberwolves, Lakers, Sixers and Knicks — do, here’s more on the approaching draft:

Arizona power forward Brandon Ashley told reporters that the Spurs, Bulls, Suns and Warriors are among the teams on his workout schedule, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (on Twitter).
The Lakers, Warriors and Grizzlies will audition BYU shooting guard Tyler Haws, as Haws told reporters, including Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).
Pincus adds the Mavs, Trail Blazers, Warriors, Suns, Grizzlies, Jazz, Wizards, Celtics and Cavs to the list of teams known to be among those working out UC Davis shooting guard Corey Hawkins (Twitter link).
Louisiana Tech point guard Kenneth “Speedy” Smith has auditioned for the Mavs and Suns, in addition to his Monday workout for the Lakers, and he’ll next show off for the Blazers, Pincus tweets.
The Spurs and Pistons are among the teams working out Nebraska swingman and Lakers fan Terran Petteway, as he said to reporters, including Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
Bosnian swingman Nedim Buza, an early entrant from overseas, is in talks about a potential deal with Telenet BC Oostende of Belgium, according to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Buza can withdraw from the draft anytime between now and June 15th, or he can remain in the field and perhaps become a draft-and-stash pick if he indeed signs to continue his European career.