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Armel Traore

Lakers Sign Blake Hinson, Armel Traore To Two-Way Deals

July 4th, 2024 at 1:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

July 4: The two-way contracts for Hinson and Traore are official, per NBA.com’s transactions log. Hinson received a two-year deal, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

June 27: The Lakers have reached two-way contract agreements with Pittsburgh’s Blake Hinson and French forward Armel Traore, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reports (Twitter links). Both players went undrafted.

Hinson, a 6’8” wing, played two seasons with the Panthers after a two-season stay at Ole Miss. He also spent some time at Iowa State but didn’t play there.

Hinson, 24, put up impressive stats in his senior year, averaging 18.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. He shot 45.4% from the field and 42.1% on three-point attempts. The three-point shooting came at a high volume — he averaged 7.9 attempts per game.

Traore, 21, played for Ada Blois in the LNB Pro A league last season. He averaged 10.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He posted 16 points, six rebounds, two steals and a block in a game against the G League Ignite last summer. Traore profiles as a potential three-and-D wing.

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NBA’s 2024 Draft Withdrawal Deadline Has Passed

June 17th, 2024 at 7:40am CST by Luke Adams

The deadline for early entrants to withdraw from the 2024 NBA draft passed on Sunday at 5:00 pm Eastern time, meaning that any players who haven’t removed their names from consideration at that point will remain in this year’s draft pool.

Because the NCAA has its own draft withdrawal deadline earlier in the spring, the NBA’s deadline typically represents decision day for non-college players, including international prospects. As we relayed on Sunday, several of those international early entrants who initially tested the draft waters decided to pull out before the deadline.

The following players also withdrew from the draft ahead of Sunday’s deadline:

Additionally, there were several reports on Sunday about international prospects who decided to keep their names in the draft pool. Here are those players:

There was no word on Sunday about several of the big-name international prospects, such as Alexandre Sarr, Zaccharie Risacher, and Tidjane Salaun, but there’s no doubt they kept their names in the draft, since they’re projected lottery picks. Nikola Topic is in that group as well, despite the fact that he recently suffered a partially torn ACL.

As our early entrant tracker shows, there are still a handful of prospects whose intentions haven’t been announced or reported, but it shouldn’t be long before we get clarity on them — the NBA will likely announce its official early entrant list for the 2024 draft at some point within the next 24 to 48 hours or so.

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Northwest Notes: Williams, Blazers, Wolves, Hayward

June 4th, 2024 at 7:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

As Bulls forward Patrick Williams heads into restricted free agency, look for the Thunder to make a run at him, The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry reports. A league source tells Mayberry that Oklahoma City has “great interest” in the 22-year-old.

Williams, who has failed to live up to his draft billing as the No. 4 pick in 2020, would give the Thunder more size at power forward. Oklahoma City’s stash of draft picks could entice Chicago to negotiate a sign-and-trade with the Thunder. Williams was limited to 43 games this season due to a foot injury.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

  • The Trail Blazers hosted six draft prospects on Tuesday — Daniss Jenkins (St. John’s), Dillon Jones (Weber State), Spencer Jones (Stanford), Jared McCain (Duke), Noah Penda (JA Vichy-Clermont) and Armel Traore (Ada Blois), Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report tweets. Out of that group, McCain is the most highly regarded by draft pundits. The point guard is currently rated No. 15 overall on ESPN’s Best Available list. Portland controls the seventh and 14th overall picks, along with No. 34 and No. 40.
  • The Timberwolves were also busy evaluating draft prospects on Tuesday, according to the team’s PR department (Twitter link). Sy Chatman (Buffalo), Enrique Freeman (Akron), Pelle Larsson (Arizona), KJ Simpson (Colorado), Justin Webster (UNLV) and Moses Wood (Washington) visited Minnesota’s practice facility. Larsson (No. 44), a shooting guard, is the highest-ranked prospect among that group on ESPN’s list.
  • In his latest player report card, The Oklahoman’s Joe Mussatto evaluates the forgettable half-season that Gordon Hayward spent with the Thunder. Hayward is headed to unrestricted free agency and Mussatto opines that the forward might be looking at veteran’s minimum offers the remainder of his career.
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Draft Notes: Brazile, Bradshaw, Traore, More Early Entrants

April 9th, 2024 at 3:50pm CST by Luke Adams

Arkansas junior forward Trevon Brazile won’t be playing for new Razorbacks head coach John Calipari next season. Brazile tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN that he has decided to forgo his remaining college eligibility and enter the 2024 NBA draft.

“I’m 100 percent into the draft,” Brazile said. “Arkansas made a big hire with John Calipari. I’m happy for the program, but the main thing for me is keeping a one-track mind. I am going out for my dreams in the NBA.”

The No. 42 overall prospect on ESPN’s big board, Brazile had an up-and-down season in his return from ACL surgery, averaging 8.6 points and 5.9 rebounds in 25.7 minutes per game while shooting .488/.353/.695.

According to Givony, Brazile is a candidate to improve his stock during the pre-draft process, since NBA evaluators are intrigued by his combination of length and mobility, as well as his ability to space the floor on offense and protect the rim on defense.

Here are several more draft-related notes and updates:

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Draft Notes: Ivisic, Djurisic, Traore, Klintman, Burton

June 12th, 2023 at 5:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Zvonimir Ivisic is withdrawing from the draft, Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets. The 7’2” big man from Croatia was a potential second-round selection. He’s ranked No. 59 on ESPN’s Best Available list. The 19-year-old will look to improve his draft stock for 2024.

We have draft-related news:

  • Another potential second-rounder, Serbian wing Nikola Djurisic, is also pulling out of the draft, Givony reports in another tweet. The 6’8” Djurisic was ranked No. 53 on ESPN’s board.
  • Ousmane N’Diaye (No. 60 on ESPN’s list), Michael Caicedo (No. 75), Musa Sagnia (No. 85) and Quinn Ellis (NR) are among the other international players who pulled out of the draft prior to Monday’s deadline, Givony tweets.
  • Forward Armel Traore, who plays for French club Metropolitans, is withdrawing from the draft, Global Scouting tweets.
  • Wake Forest’s Bobi Klintman is withdrawing his name, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Ranked No. 48 on ESPN’s board, Klintman has forfeited his remaining college eligibility by missing the NCAA’s withdrawal deadline and has signed with the Cairns Taipans as part of Australia’s NBL Next Stars program as he looks to improve his draft stock for next season, Givony reports (Twitter link).
  • Pittsburgh guard Jamarius Burton will work out for the Lakers this week, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin tweets. An All-ACC First Team selection, Burton has already worked out for the Bucks and Grizzlies. The five-year college player averaged 15.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 rebounds last season.
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NBA Announces Initial Early Entrant List For 2023 Draft

April 26th, 2023 at 10:55am CST by Rory Maher

The NBA has officially released the initial list of early entrants for the 2023 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 242 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 192 are from colleges, two played in the NBA G League, and 48 are international early entrants.

Those are big numbers, but they fall well short of the 353 early entrants who initially declared for the draft in 2021 and the 283 who entered last year. Beginning in 2021, the NCAA granted players an extra year of eligibility due to the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in seniors having to decide between staying at college for one more season or declaring for the draft as an “early” entrant.

This year’s total of 242 early entrants figures to shrink significantly by May 31 and again by June 12, the two deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. But it still looks like the pool will remain extremely crowded, with the eventual number of early entrants certain to exceed 58, the number of picks in the draft.

Our tracker of early entrants for the 2023 draft is fully up to date and can be found right here.

Here are the changes we made to our tracker today:

Newly added players:

College players:

These players either didn’t publicly announce that they were entering the draft or we simply missed it when they did.

International players:

These players weren’t previously mentioned on our list of international early entrants. The country listed here indicates where they last played, not necessarily where they were born.

  • Miguel Allen, F, Spain (born 2003)
  • Idrissa Ba, C, France (born 2002)
  • Elian Benitez, G, France (born 2003)
  • William Beugre-Kassi, G/F, France (born 2004)
  • Sasa Ciani, F, Croatia (born 2003)
  • Ege Demir, F/C, Turkey (born 2004)
  • Thijs De Ridder, F, Belgium (born 2003)
  • Nikola Djurisic, G/F, Serbia (born 2004)
  • Ruben Dominguez, G, Spain (born 2003)
  • Quinn Ellis, G, Italy (born 2003)
  • Juan Fernandez, F/C, Spain (born 2002)
  • Clement Frisch, F, France (born 2002)
  • Sananda Fru, F, Germany (born 2003)
  • Gloire Goma, G, Spain (born 2003)
  • Hassane Gueye, F, France (born 2003)
  • Ondrej Hanzlik, F, Spain (born 2002)
  • Ilias Kamardine, G, France (born 2003)
  • Konstantin Kostadinov, F, Spain (born 2003)
  • Oleksandr Kovliar, G, Estonia (born 2002)
  • Liutauras Lelevicius, G, Lithuania (born 2003)
  • Gilad Levy, C, Israel (born 2002)
  • Ruben Lopez, F, Spain (born 2002)
  • Assemian Moulare, G, France (born 2003)
  • Daniel Onwenu, G, Brazil (born 2002)
  • Ivan Perasovic, F, Croatia (born 2002)
  • Mantas Rubstavicius, G, Lithuania (born 2002)
  • Musa Sagnia, F/C, Spain (born 2003)
  • Marcio Santos, F/C, Brazil (born 2002)
  • Enzo Shahrvin, F, France (born 2003)
  • Birahima Sylla, G, France (born 2003)
  • Dez Andras Tanoh, G, Hungary (born 2002)
  • Hugo Toom, F, Estonia (born 2002)
  • Armel Traore, F, France (born 2003)
  • Ricards Vanags, G/F, Latvia (born 2002)

Other notable draft-eligible early entrants:

The NBA typically sends its teams a list of “also-eligible” names. That list isn’t public. However, we’re assuming that at least one projected top-three pick is on it: Scoot Henderson of the G League Ignite. Overtime Elite standouts Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson would also be on this list, as would Henderson’s Ignite teammate Leonard Miller.

Players removed:

Despite reports or announcements that the players below would declare for the draft, they didn’t show up on the NBA’s official list.

That could mean a number of things — they may have decided against entering the draft; they may have entered the draft, then withdrawn; they may have had no NCAA eligibility remaining, making them automatically draft-eligible; they may have incorrectly filed their paperwork; or the NBA may have accidentally omitted some names.

In any case, we’ve removed the following names from our early entrant list, at least for the time being.

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