- In the wake of Jeff Hornacek‘s offer from the Knicks, who are expected to formally hire him as their head coach soon, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com revisits Hornacek’s time in Phoenix and provides an interesting tidbit related to a former Suns player. According to Berger, Hornacek spoke to Goran Dragic and secured a commitment from the point guard, who said he’d re-sign with the Suns when his contract expired — days later, Phoenix traded him to the Heat.
One league executive told Chad Ford of ESPN.com that Brandon Ingram’s future in the NBA will be at the shooting guard position. “Back when the Pacers used to play Paul George at the 2, I felt like that was his best position,” the executive told Ford. “I feel the same way about Ingram. That’s where he can be devastating and his lack of strength won’t come back to haunt him. If he becomes a superstar, I think it will be because he developed the ability to play that spot.” Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors profiled Ingram earlier today.
- Thon Maker will play the five spot as he develops in the league, one anonymous GM tells Ford, as he writes in the same piece. Ford speculates that the Celtics, Nuggets, Sixers and Suns may look to draft the Australian. All four of those teams have multiple first round picks.
- Most scouts aren’t optimistic about Perry Ellis’ chances of hearing his name called on draft night, though some have him going in the second round, Ford adds in the same piece.
- Isaiah Briscoe has worked out for the Wolves today, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets. Briscoe will also work out for the Hawks on Tuesday, Zagoria adds.
Henry Ellenson is an option for the Suns at No.4 or No. 13 should he fall that far and Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic details how the 6’11” power forward turned himself into a perimeter threat. “I wasn’t always taller than [opponents]…I played point guard all the way up to eighth grade,” Ellenson said. Arthur Hill of Hoops Rumors profiled the big man prior to the draft lottery.
Here’s more out of Phoenix:
- Phoenix continues to monitor Bogdan Bogdanovic with the hopes of him joining the team next season, Coro writes in a separate piece. “Physically, he keeps getting stronger,” Suns Assistant GM Pat Connelly said of the 2014 first round pick. “His feel for the game keeps improving.”
- The Suns worked out power forward Zhou Qi from China and former Arizona State center Eric Jacobsen over the weekend, Coro writes in a separate piece. Qi might be an ideal draft-and-stash candidate, Coro adds, but it’s undetermined whether Qi would be interested in such an arrangement.
- The Suns will work out six more players today. Michael Bryson, Stacy Davis, Demetrius Jackson, Damion Lee, Abdel Nader and Retin Obasohan will all be in Phoenix, per the team’s Twitter feed.
- The Suns held a workout on Wednesday for Nikola Jovanovic (USC), Codi Miller-McIntyre (Wake Forest), Adam Smith (Georgia Tech) and Caleb Swanigan (Purdue), the team announced.
- Mirza Teletovic is expected to be in high demand this summer as an unrestricted free agent, but the power forward said that the hiring of Earl Watson as head coach significantly increases the chances that he will re-sign with the Suns, Matt Petersen of NBA.com relays.
Trail Blazers assistant Jay Triano will become associate head coach with the Suns, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Triano, who has three seasons of head coaching experience and 10 years as an assistant, will join the staff of Earl Watson, who was formally hired last month after serving as an interim coach for 33 games.
Triano, who doubles as head coach of the Canadian national team, went 87-142 in nearly three full seasons as coach of the Raptors before being dismissed in 2011. He was the first Canadian-born coach in league history.
The 57-year-old Triano has been an assistant in Portland since 2012. He will be expected to help turn around a Suns team that hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2009/10.
Representatives for Providence’s Kris Dunn don’t want him to go to a team with a young point guard already in place and may refuse to release his medical records to the Celtics and Suns, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Speaking on a draft lottery special, Wojnarowski said Dunn’s agents did not submit him for a physical at last week’s draft combine, which would have made his records accessible to everyone. Dunn has undergone two surgical procedures on his right shoulder, and teams may be reluctant to draft him if they are unsure of his current physical status. Dunn has been projected as a possible No. 3 pick, but his camp apparently doesn’t want him to compete for playing time with Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart in Boston or Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight in Phoenix. The Celtics own the third selection in next month’s draft, while the Suns pick fourth.
There’s more news from around the basketball world:
- Rutgers freshman point guard Corey Sanders will withdraw from the draft and return to school, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. There’s little chance that Sanders would have been drafted, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him ranked 73rd among NCAA freshmen and ESPN’s Chad Ford doesn’t have him listed among his top 100 prospects.
- Kentucky coach John Calipari, whose name has been floated for several NBA openings, plans to stay with the Wildcats for the rest of his career, he said in a message on his website. Calipari was considered a candidate for the Nets job after they fired Lionel Hollins in January, and the Kings reportedly spoke to him about taking over for George Karl last summer.
- Spanish power FC Barcelona is interested in former Cavaliers coach David Blatt, according to El Mundo Deportivo (hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Blatt recently talked with the Rockets, Kings, Knicks and Lakers about their coaching jobs.
- Twenty-four teams will compete in the Las Vegas Summer League July 8th-18th, the NBA announced today in a press release. The Spurs, coached by Becky Hammon, are the defending champions.
- The Suns won’t necessarily approach next month’s draft looking to address a specific position, but the team could use some help at the four, and as Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic details, it might make sense for Phoenix to use one of its two potential lottery picks on a power forward.
- In a separate Arizona Republic piece, Coro breaks down the prospects who interviewed with the Suns at last week’s combine in Chicago. Teams are permitted to talk to up to 20 players for 30 minutes apiece, and Coro has the full list of the 20 prospects who met with Phoenix.
- The Suns are most likely to pick Bender provided they don’t end up with a top-2 pick, Ford argues in the same piece. Phoenix has a 24.5% chance at landing a top-2 pick and a 82.8% chance at landing a top-5 selection.
- Oklahoma guard Isaiah Cousins has his first workout tomorrow with Indiana, but he has several more on tap after that, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, who tweets that Cousins will work out for the Nuggets, Spurs, Rockets, and Suns.
The Celtics have a tentative workout scheduled with Duke small forward Brandon Ingram, a prime contender to become the No. 1 pick, reports Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald (Twitter link). The outcome of the lottery will determine whether it takes place, according to Murphy, and presumably, the Celtics will have to land one of the top two selections. Ingram is the top prospect in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and second in the listings Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles.
See more draft news on day three of the combine:
- Syracuse shooting guard Malachi Richardson and Kansas forward/center Cheick Diallo have told teams they’ve decided to stay in the draft rather than pull out by May 25th to retain their college eligibility, reports Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
- The Pacers, Warriors, Spurs, Wizards, Rockets and Mavericks are among the teams that have spoken with Syracuse swingman Michael Gbinije, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
- Notre Dame point guard Demetrius Jackson has interviewed with the Suns, Spurs, Kings, Trail Blazers and Bucks, observes Rod Beard of The Detroit News, who also cites Jackson’s previously reported interview with the Pistons.
- Villanova shooting guard Josh Hart has worked out for the Clippers and has another workout scheduled with the Hawks on May 24th, as Zagoria relays. He’ll also work out for the Celtics and Spurs, and his previously reported workout with the Sixers takes place Monday, Zagoria reveals. The Knicks, Wizards, Thunder, Trail Blazers, Pacers, Grizzlies and Jazz interviewed Hart at the combine, according to Zagoria.
- Purdue big man Caleb Swanigan has the Pistons, Hawks, Wizards and Suns among the teams on his interview list, Zagoria tweets.