East Draft Notes: Hawks, Wizards, Raptors, Nets
UCLA point guard Aaron Holiday and Villanova floor leader Jalen Brunson headline the list of six players the Hawks will work out on Friday, according to a team press release. Holiday is ranked No. 17 by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, while Brunson is rated No. 26 overall.
Gary Clark (Cincinnati), Rawle Alkins (Arizona), Juwan Morgan (Indiana) and Tony Carr (Penn State) are the other players trying to make a favorable impression. The Hawks hosted Donte DiVincenzo (Villanova), Ben Lammers (Georgia Tech), Jalen McDaniels (San Diego State), Markis McDuffie (Wichita State), Doral Moore (Wake Forest) and Brandon Sampson (LSU) on Thursday.
In other draft workouts by Eastern Conference clubs:
- The Wizards hosted six players on Thursday, according to the team’s website. Yuta Watanabe (George Washington), Junior Robinson (Mount St. Mary’s), Junior Etou (Tulsa), Marcus Derrickson (Georgetown), James Daniel III (Tennessee) and Phillip Carr (Morgan State) were the players Washington’s staff evaluated.
- Jon Elmore (Marshall), Marcus Foster (Creighton), Jairus Lyles (Maryland Baltimore-County), Dakota Mathias (Purdue), Marcus Lee (California) and Nana Foulland (Bucknell) worked out for the Raptors on Thursday, the team’s media relations department tweets.
- Among the players the Nets have worked out are Shamorie Ponds (St. John’s), Barry Brown Jr (Kansas State), Chris Silva (South Carolina), Mustapha Heron (Auburn), PJ Washington (Kentucky), Reid Travis (Stanford), Jordan Caroline (Nevada), Matt Mobley (St. Bonaventure), Abudushalamu Abudurexiti (Xingyang Long Lions), Cody Martin (Nevada) and Admiral Schofield (Tennessee), according to NetsDaily.com.
Draft Notes: Battle, Porter, Silva, Taylor, Munnings
Syracuse swingman Tyus Battle is likely to remain in the draft, a source informed Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com. The 6’6” Battle averaged 19.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 2.1 APG while rarely coming off the court for the Orangemen as a sophomore. Battle is rated No. 32 by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony in his latest Top 100 list. Battle has already worked out for the Clippers and has four more scheduled workouts this month, Zagoria adds.
In other draft-related comings and goings:
- Missouri big man Jontay Porter is leaning toward returning to school, T.J. Moe of St. Louis’ 590 The Fan tweets. The 6’10” Porter is ranked No. 36 by Givony. The brother of likely lottery pick Michael Porter Jr. averaged 9.9 PPG and 6.8 RPG in 24.5 MPG as a freshman last season.
- South Carolina forward Chris Silva has decided to return to school for his senior season, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. The 6’9” Silva averaged 14.3 PPG and 8.0 RPG as a junior.
- Fresno State Deshon Taylor is returning to school for his senior year, Jeff Goodman of ESPN tweets. The 6’2” Taylor averaged 17.8 PPG and 2.6 APG as a junior.
- Louisiana-Monroe forward Travis Munnings has withdrawn from the draft, Goodman tweets. Munnings averaged 15.9 PPG and 7.3 RPG as a junior.
- Marshall guard C.J. Burks will head back to school for his senior season, Rothstein tweets. The 6’3” Burks averaged 20.1 PPG, 4.1 RPG and 3.1 APG as a junior.
- Bethune-Cookman forward Shawntrez Davis has opted to return to school for his senior campaign, Rothstein adds in another tweet. The 6’9” Davis averaged 14.7 PPG and 8.7 RPG last season.
Draft Notes: Noua, Moore, Spellman, Silva
French forward Amine Noua is declaring for the 2018 NBA Draft, reports Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Noua, 21, stands 6’8” tall and has been a staple of the French national teams since he was 16 years old, averaging 19 PPG during the 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Cup. He currently plays for ASVEL Basket of LNB Pro A, which is owned by French basketball legend and current Spurs point guard Tony Parker.
Noua is currently ranked as the No. 78 prospect by Givony, but has been heavily scouted all season by NBA teams with draft picks in the second round, with many international talent evaluators considering Noua to be one of the better draft-and-stash options in this year’s draft. Noua was born in 1997, meaning he will have one more opportunity to go through the NBA draft process in 2019 should he elect to withdraw his name at the early-entry deadline on June 11.
In other draft-related news:
- Wake Forest junior big man Doral Moore has declared for the draft and will hire an agent, thereby forgoing his senior year, he tweeted this afternoon. The 7’1” Moore averaged 11.1 PPG and 9.4 RPG this past season, while also setting a single-season school record by shooting 68.9 percent from the field.
- Villanova freshman forward Omari Spellman will enter the 2018 NBA Draft, but will not hire an agent, per an official release from the university. Spellman was named the Big East Freshman of the Year this season after averaging 10.9 points and 8.0 rebounds per game for the national champion Wildcats.
- South Carolina junior forward Chris Silva announced today that he plans to submit his name for the 2018 NBA Draft, but will not hire an agent, per an official release from USC. Silva led the Gamecocks in points (14.3 per game) and rebounds (8.0 per game) this season, and was named First Team All-SEC.