- Asked who he expects the Suns will draft with the fourth overall pick, Ford suggested that Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender are the top two candidates (Twitter link).
Chinese big man Zhou Qi has agreed to a deal with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers that will allow him to buy out his contract with his Chinese team and make the jump to the NBA in 2017, agent Alex Saratsis tells Jonathan Givony of The Vertical. Zhou’s buyout will be worth $650K, the maximum amount allowed by the Chinese Basketball Association.
Zhou is currently eligible to be drafted in 2016, but there has been some uncertainty surrounding his stock, since it wasn’t clear how much longer he would remain in China — his contract with the Flying Tigers was for another five years, per Givony. Zhou traveled to the U.S. to work out for NBA teams in recent weeks, including the Celtics, Suns, Grizzlies, and Clippers. Now, those teams and other NBA clubs have a better idea of when they’ll be able to bring the Chinese big man stateside should they draft him this year.
Zhou, who played alongside Andray Blatche, Andrew Goudelock and Bryce Cotton in Xinjiang, averaged 15.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and a CBA-leading 3.2 blocks in 34.2 minutes per game for the Flying Tigers this season. He had two points, three rebounds and two blocks in just over 12 minutes of play at last year’s Nike Hoop Summit, a premiere showcase that pits international talent against top U.S. high schoolers, and is expected to compete in this summer’s Olympics for the Chinese national team.
At DraftExpress.com, Givony ranks Zhou 28th in his list of top 100 prospects for 2016, which suggests that the seven-footer would make a good draft-and-stash candidate in the second round or late in the first round in this year’s draft. For the time being, he also has the option of withdrawing from the draft and aiming to improve his stock for 2017, when he’d be able to come to the NBA immediately. The deadline for international prospects to withdraw from this year’s draft is Monday, June 13th.
- The Suns held a group workout today for Johnson, Richardson, Alpha Kaba (France) and Maodo Lo (Columbia), the team announced in a series of tweets. Working out individually for Phoenix today was Skal Labissiere (Kentucky) and Jakob Poeltl (Utah).
- Kentucky combo guard Jamal Murray said he intends to work out for just four teams: the Celtics, Suns, Timberwolves and Pelicans, Jay King of MassLive tweets. The teams on Murray’s list hold picks No. 3 to No. 6 in June’s draft, King notes.
- The Knicks, Wizards and Suns have worked out former UConn guard Sterling Gibbs, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (on Twitter).
The Suns are taking a closer look at candidates for that fourth overall pick, having hosted former California forward Jaylen Brown for a workout on Monday. We also heard yesterday that Phoenix has a workout lined up with Dragan Bender, who will be traveling stateside to meet with a handful of teams with top picks.
Here’s more on the Suns:
- Veteran center Tyson Chandler isn’t getting any younger, and may not want to remain in Phoenix if the team plans to undergo a major rebuilding effort. For now though, Chandler is content to take a wait-and-see approach and won’t seek out a trade, as he tells ESPN’s The Jump with Rachel Nichols. “If there is a decision and they want to go young and stay young, then we’ll have that conversation. But we’re not there,” Chandler said. “I’m happy where I am. I feel like the Suns have a bright future if we continue to build and build the right way. It’s all about building the right way.”
- The Suns have a six-man pre-draft workout group lined up for today, according to the team (Twitter link). The prospects participating in that session are Josh Adams (Wyoming), Gerry Blakes (Arizona State), Petr Cornelie (France), Juan Hernangomez (Spain), Mamadou Ndiaye (UC Irvine), and Georgios Papagiannis (Greece).
- Former Syracuse guard Malachi Richardson is also scheduled to work out for the Suns this week, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).
- Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic takes a look at whether Jaylen Brown would be a fit in Phoenix, talking to Suns assistant GM Pat Connelly and Brown himself.
Dragan Bender has workouts scheduled with the Celtics, Suns and Wolves, international journalist David Pick passes along via Twitter. Pick notes that these workouts will take place in the United States. Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors named the Suns as the team most likely to select Bender in his Prospect Profile.
Here’s more from the upcoming draft:
- Skal Labissiere met with the Magic and the Rockets after his pro day workout and nearly every top-10 team has scheduled a workout with him, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- Labissiere says being physical will be a major part of his game in the league, Kennedy relays via Twitter. “I’m back to 220 lbs. I take it very seriously. Getting stronger will help me,” the former Wildcat said. Will Joseph of Hoops Rumors listed strength and toughness as an area where Labissiere needs to improve in his Prospect Profile of the center.
- In addition to the No.6 overall pick, the Pelicans have the 39th and 40th pick in the draft and John Reid of The Times Picayune examines several prospects whom could be a nice fit for New Orleans in the second round. Anthony Barber of North Carolina State and DeAndre Bembry of St. Joe’s are among the players he mentions.
- Former California forward Jaylen Brown, projected as a potential top-10 pick, has a solo workout today with the Suns, who hold the No. 4 and No. 13 picks in this year’s draft (Twitter link).
Ante Zizic will go straight to the NBA upon being drafted as opposed to becoming a draft-and-stash prospect and playing overseas, international journalist David Pick reports (Twitter link). The 6’11” center is the 21st best prospect according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com and Jonathan Givony of Draft Express.
Here’s more on the upcoming draft:
- Perry Ellis (Kansas) has worked out for the Bucks, Suns and Spurs in addition to participating in a Chicago pro day, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders passes along (Twitter links). Ellis will also work out for the Hawks, Kennedy adds.
- A.J. English (Iona) will work out for the Bulls, Magic and Raptors this week, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv reports (Twitter link).
- DeAndre’ Bembry (St. Joe’s) worked out for the Warriors and the Clippers today, Zagoria tweets.
Potential plans for a new arena in Phoenix for the Suns could take a hit as a result of a legal protest against a rental-car tax the city has used to fund various construction projects, Dustin Gardiner of The Arizona Republic writes. Three companies have filed a notice of claim demanding the city stop collecting the sales tax and refund approximately $34MM that they estimate has been collected from car-rental businesses citywide since 2012, Gardiner notes. “Our clients view it as an unconstitutional tax, and the government has no authority to keep an unconstitutional tax,” said Shawn Aiken, a Phoenix attorney representing the companies.
If the tax is ruled unconstitutional, the city could then be forced to find a new income source to help fund major downtown facilities. Losing the rental-car tax would also complicate efforts to potentially construct a new sports and entertainment arena for the Phoenix Suns — a prospect city officials and the NBA team are negotiating, the scribe adds.
- The Suns held a workout today for A.J. Hammons (Purdue), Shaquille Harrison (Tulsa), Eric McClellan (Gonzaga), Georges Niang (Iowa State), Diamond Stone (Maryland) and Guerschon Yabusele (France), the team announced.
Last month, we heard that former Providence point guard Kris Dunn may refuse to release his medical records to the Celtics and Suns, since he prefers not to land with a team with a young point guard or two already in place. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM is hearing similar rumblings, tweeting that Dunn isn’t interested in working out for Phoenix or sharing his medical records with the Suns — Gambardo hears that the point guard would like to land with the Timberwolves.
Let’s check out a few more draft-related updates…
- While the Celtics may not be Dunn’s preferred destination, ESPN’s Chad Ford (Insider link) has the Providence product going to Boston at No. 3 in his latest mock draft, writing that he thinks the C’s will choose one of Dunn, Jamal Murray, or Marquese Chriss. Dragan Bender, who has also been viewed as a candidate for that No. 3 pick, goes sixth overall in Ford’s latest mock, with the ESPN.com scribe writing that the Pelicans are believed to be “pretty big fans” of the 18-year-old big man.
- Also within his mock draft, Ford writes that Kings GM Vlade Divac and owner Vivek Ranadive love Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield, and suggests that the Raptors have been “secretly hoping” Chriss falls to them at No. 9, which appears increasingly unlikely.
- Former Seton Hall point guard Isaiah Whitehead has workouts with the Nuggets and Pistons lined up for June 10th and 15th, respectively, and will work out for the Bulls and Nets after that, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- After working out for Philadelphia on Thursday, Daniel Hamilton (UConn) will work out for the Rockets, Warriors, and Bucks, while Alex Caruso (Texas A&M) will work out for the Knicks, Wizards, and Celtics, per Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter links).