Draft Rumors: Zizic, Baldwin, Greene, Wizards
- Forwards Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram are the top two picks in ESPN Insider Chad Ford’s latest mock draft. Ford projects that the Sixers, who have the best odds of gaining the No. 1 selection, will grab Simmons because of the higher upside he has compared to Ingram, with the Lakers then taking the Duke freshman. Point guard Jamal Murray (Celtics) and power forwards Dragan Bender (Suns) and Henry Ellenson (Timberwolves) round out Ford’s top five.
- Vanderbilt point guard Wade Baldwin has signed with Priority Sports, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Goodman. Baldwin was linked earlier this month to Priority Sports as his potential representative, according to a tweet from Pick. The 6’3” Baldwin is currently ranked No. 16 by Givony, while Ford pegs him at No. 23.
- Kansas swingman Brannen Greene has signed with Sam Goldfeder of Excel, Goodman reports in a separate tweet. Greene barely cracks the Top 100 list by Givony at No. 99, while Ford doesn’t list him on his Big Board.
- UNLV’s Derrick Jones is officially staying in the draft and has signed with Aaron Turner, Goodman reported in another tweet. The 6’6” small forward is not ranked in the Top 100 by either Givony or Ford.
- The Wizards do not plan to trade into the draft despite the strong possibility they will lose their first-rounder, writes Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Washington sent a top-nine protected pick to the Suns in the deadline deal for power forward Markieff Morris. Unless the Wizards get a top-three selection via the lottery, they’ll lose the pick. Team president Ernie Grunfeld told Castillo and other media members he’s not keen on making a draft-related deal. “We look at Markieff as being our draft pick, and I don’t think we’ll get a player where we’d be drafting that can do the kind of things that he can do, and be under contract for three years like that, and still be young but proven,” Grunfeld said.
Four Overseas First-Round Prospects Enter Draft
11:51am: Raznatovic client and first-round prospect Ante Zizic has also entered the draft, as the agent says and Eurohoops.net confirms (Twitter link). Zizic, a 6’11” center who plays for Croatia’s KK Cibona, is No. 22 on Ford‘s list and No. 26 on Givony‘s. The 19-year-old’s athleticism and frame offer promise, but his offensive skills need work, as Givony examined in February.
8:58am: Swingman Timothe Luwawu, shooting guard Furkan Korkmaz and center Ivica Zubac are the first-round prospects among a group of nine overseas players who’ve entered the draft, as their agent, Misko Raznatovic, revealed (Twitter links). Small forwards Marko Guduric and Rade Zagorac, point guard Ognjen Jaramaz, forward/center Alpha Kaba and centers Emircan Kosut and Jordan Shako are the others who’ve declared. All of them have until June 13th, 10 days before the draft, to withdraw.
Luwawu, a 6’7″ 20-year-old from France, has a decent shot to become a lottery pick as the No. 12 prospect in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings. Chad Ford of ESPN.com lists him 19th. His strengths include an emerging 3-point game, passing and intriguing defensive skill, while ball-handling and a lack of willingness to finish inside are his weaknesses, as Givony observed in February. Luwawu plays for Serbia’s KK Mega Vizura.
Korkmaz appears poised to be drafted in the same range. Ford ranks him 13th while Givony has him at No. 18. The 6’7″ 18-year-old combines a well-honed 3-point stroke with impressive athleticism, but his defense lags behind, as Givony also examined in February. Korkmaz is with Anadolu Efes of Turkey.
The analysts are split on Zubac, with Givony pegging him 25th while Ford has him all the way down at 71st. The physical tools of the 7’1″ 19-year-old, along with his offensive upside and productivity, are his strengths while his defensive fundamentals, lack of polish and history of injuries are the trouble spots, as Mike Schmitz of DraftExpress examines in a pair of videos. Zubac is a teammate of Luwawu’s on KK Mega Vizura.
The 6’8″, 20-year-old Zagorac, another KK Mega Vizura player, has the highest ranking among the other prospects, coming in 72nd in Givony‘s rankings, though Ford doesn’t list him. The 6’10”, 20-year-old Kaba is Ford‘s 83rd-ranked prospect and 49th in Givony‘s 2017 mock draft, though Givony doesn’t list him among the top 2016 hopefuls. He along with Jaramaz, who’s 6’4″ and 20 years old, also play for KK Mega Vizura. Guduric, a 6’6″ 21-year-old, plays for a rival Serbian team, KK Crvena Zvezda. Shako, a 6’10” 19-year-old, is with Torrelodones of Spain.