Southeast Draft Notes: Miller, Hornets, Council, Smith
The Hornets hold the No. 2 pick and Alabama forward Brandon Miller will work out for them on Tuesday, Ashley Stroehlein of WCNC tweets. Miller and G League guard Scoot Henderson are the top contenders to be chosen at the No. 2 spot. It was previously reported that Miller was scheduled to work out for Charlotte on Tuesday and the plans obviously didn’t change. In fact, he has already arrived in Charlotte.
We have more draft-related news from the Southeast Division:
- Prior to Miller’s visit, the Hornets were busy looking at other prospects on Monday. According to a team press release, Gonzaga guard Rasir Bolton, Arizona State guard Desmond Cambridge Jr., San Jose State guard Omari Moore, South Alabama center Kevin Samuel, Illinois guard Matthew Mayer and Baylor forward Flo Thamba worked out for Charlotte. A majority of those players will be looking to get picked up as free agents after the draft.
- Arkansas guard Ricky Council IV, a potential second-round pick, was among the players who visited the Hawks on Monday, Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Council is ranked No. 52 on ESPN’s Best Available list. Four other guards — Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis, Notre Dame’s Dane Goodwin, Iowa State’s Gabe Kalscheur and Kansas State’s Markquis Nowell — joined him along with Ohio State wing Justice Sueing.
- North Carolina State guard Terquavion Smith (No. 41 on ESPN’s list) headlined the group of six prospects that visited the Wizards on Monday. Utah State forward Daniel Akin, Oklahoma big man Tanner Groves, Southern Utah wing Tevian Jones, Rutgers guard Caleb McConnell and Wichita State guard Craig Porter Jr. joined Smith in the pre-draft workout, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets.
Draft Notes: Black, Whitehead, Henderson, Hornets, Porter
In an interview with Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), Arkansas guard Anthony Black describes himself as an unselfish player who’s willing to do whatever it takes to help his team win. Black displayed impressive passing skills during his freshman year with the Razorbacks, but he said he can defend, rebound and score as well.
Black, who grew up admiring Gilbert Arenas and Kobe Bryant, compares himself to Oklahoma City’s Josh Giddey among current players. Like Giddey, Black is exceptionally tall for a point guard and he uses his 6’7″ height to his advantage.
“I think it helps in my reads,” Black said. “I watch a lot of film, so I’m watching some of the film from the season and some of my reads I’m making just looking straight. There’s a defender, but he’s not tall enough to block it. I can read the back line of the defense a lot easier, I feel like, than a smaller guard who could be guarded by someone with some length and disrupt the passing lane.”
There’s more on the draft:
- The second surgery needed by Duke forward Dariq Whitehead wasn’t caused by a re-fracture of his right foot, tweets Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. A source tells Wasserman that Whitehead has met with several teams picking late in the lottery as well as teams with multiple first-round selections. He hasn’t been able to work out, but he’s gone through film sessions and met with head coaches, executives and medical personnel.
- The Hornets haven’t set a date for their workout with Scoot Henderson, according to Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. The G League Ignite guard visited the Trail Blazers over the weekend and indicated that he will only work out for Portland and Charlotte. Boone notes that workout days usually aren’t publicized far in advance, and Henderson lives in Georgia so it wouldn’t take him long to get to the Hornets’ facility.
- The Hornets are hosting a workout today with Texas’ Timmy Allen, Baylor’s Adam Flagler, Florida’s Alex Fudge, Michigan State’s Joey Hauser, Southern Utah’s Tevian Jones and North Carolina State’s Terquavion Smith (Twitter link).
- Craig Porter Jr. has already conducted workouts with the Mavericks, Warriors, Celtics, Pistons, Magic and Cavaliers, and he has upcoming sessions with the Clippers, Wizards, Nuggets and Knicks, according to a tweet from Global Scouting. The Wichita State guard is a potential late second-round pick.
Draft Notes: Henderson, Sheppard, Wizards, Hornets, Magic, Warriors
With Scoot Henderson ranked second or third in nearly every mock draft, the G League Ignite star only plans two workouts during the pre-draft process, tweets Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report.
Henderson was in Portland on Saturday to show off the skills that have made him one of the most talked-about prospects in this year’s class. The Trail Blazers hold the third pick and appear to be the most likely destination for Henderson if speculation about Brandon Miller going to Charlotte at No. 2 is correct. There’s been plenty of conjecture that Portland may trade the pick for veteran help, but some sources believe the team would be comfortable adding another young player.
Henderson hasn’t scheduled a session with the Hornets yet, but he told Casey Holdahl of NBA.com that he expects to work out for them at some point before the June 22 draft. He also talked about what he’ll bring to the team that selects him.
“You always want a guy like me, that dog mentality,” Henderson said. “Just my personality, the culture I bring to the locker room. I’m a great leader, I’ll tell what’s up and I can do everything on the floor. I can do everything on the floor. I’m going to go out there and give my 110 percent every day. And that’s the thing about me: I’m very consistent in effort. Even if it’s not there, I just try to even it out the next game, try to get right to it. Give it a 120 if I didn’t give it 110 the last game.”
There’s more draft news to pass along:
- Belmont’s Ben Sheppard is quickly moving up draft boards, tweets Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. Wasserman cites a “boom of interest” in the senior guard after his performance at the draft combine. Sheppard has already worked out for the Hawks and Jazz, according to Wasserman, and he has upcoming sessions with the Pelicans and Warriors.
- The Wizards hosted Kansas State guard Markquis Nowell, one of the stars of the NCAA Tournament, at a six-player workout on Saturday, tweets Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Joining him were Providence’s Ed Croswell, Marshall’s Taevion Kinsey, South Alabama’s Isaiah Moore, LSU’s K.J. Williams and George Washington’s Brendan Adams, who was a late replacement for Missouri’s D’Moi Hodge (Twitter link).
- North Carolina’s Leaky Black, Texas’ Marcus Carr, Houston’s Marcus Sasser, Notre Dame’s Nate Laszewski, Iowa State’s Osun Osunniyi and Clemson’s Hunter Tyson worked out for the Hornets on Saturday (Twitter link).
- Recent Magic workouts included Wichita State’s Craig Porter Jr. (Twitter link) and Virginia’s Armaan Franklin (Twitter link).
- The Warriors have scheduled a pre-draft workout for Monday featuring Duke’s Dereck Lively II, Kansas’ Jalen Wilson, Florida’s Colin Castleton, Kansas State’s Keyontae Johnson and Creighton’s Arthur Kaluma, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Western Notes: Jazz Picks, Warriors, Bridges, Suns
The Jazz currently control the Nos. 9, 16 and 28 picks in the upcoming draft, though it isn’t certain they’ll actually retain all three first-rounders. A lead ball-handler is reportedly high on their list of targets.
With that in mind, Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune (subscriber link) lists six prospects the Jazz may be interested in with their lottery pick, including Arkansas guard Anthony Black, Kansas wing Gradey Dick, and UCF forward Taylor Hendricks. Walden concedes some of the players on his list may not be available at No. 9.
Here’s more from the West:
- In another subscriber-only story for The Salt Lake Tribune, Walden examines eight prospects who might be a fit for the Jazz at No. 16. Some players mentioned: Keyonte George (Baylor), Kris Murray (Iowa) and Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana).
- The Warriors are holding a draft workout on Friday featuring six prospects, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. The six are Julian Strawther (Gonzaga), Coleman Hawkins (Illinois), Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana), Kendric Davis (Memphis), Craig Porter Jr. (Wichita State) and Caleb Daniels (Villanova). According to ESPN’s list of the top 100 prospects, Jackson-Davis (No. 33) is the highest rated of the group, followed by Hawkins (No. 53) and Strawther (No. 55). Golden State currently controls one pick in the 2023 draft: No. 19.
- Nets wing Mikal Bridges, who was traded to Brooklyn by the Suns as part of the Kevin Durant deal, recently said on The Pivot Podcast that his former head coach, Monty Williams, isn’t to blame for Phoenix’s playoff struggles the past two seasons. “He’s going to get through it,” Bridges said, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “He knows he’s a hell of a coach. He probably knows about the situation. Me personally, I say Monty is not the problem, but who am I?” As Rankin notes, Williams was fired after the season ended. “Monty’s not the problem, but he’s going to be great somewhere else,” Bridges continued. “He’s going to get another chance and he’s going to be alright.”