D.J. Stephens Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Rumors: Noel, Snell, Olynyk, Blazers, Adams

June 11th, 2013 at 5:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

Chad Ford of ESPN.com delivered enough draft rumors for their own post this afternoon, and we rounded up more draft-related news in another post this morning. It's not hard to tell that the big event takes place just two weeks and two days from now. Here are tonight's updates, via Twitter unless otherwise noted:

In spite of rumors that the Cavaliers probably won't draft him first overall, Nerlens Noel will visit with Cleveland on June 20th, following Saturday's meeting with the Wizards, The Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer reports.
Tony Snell's stock is on the rise, and two executives have told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that the New Mexico swingman has solidified a spot in the first round.
Kelly Olynyk is the most prominent name among a group of six prospects working out for the Blazers today, as Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com passes along. John Allen, Chris Babb, Erik Murphy, D.J. Stephens and Khalif Wyatt were the others in attendance.
The Timberwolves will turn their focus to big men Thursday, when Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert and Mike Muscala will participate in a group workout for the team, observes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Cody Zeller will be in Minnesota the same day, but he'll work out separately.
C.J. McCollum will participate in a workout Wednesday for the Jazz that will also include Scott Bamforth from nearby Weber State, notes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News.
Jared Berggren has shown off his skills in front of the Blazers and Suns, and the Wisconsin power forward will get to do so for the Bucks, likely on Thursday, according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times.
Mason Plumlee is the headliner in a Wizards audition set for Wednesday, the team announced via press release. Karron Johnson, Bruce Massey, Brock Motum, Dexter Strickland and Kellen Thornton will join him.

Draft Notes: McLemore, Magic, Saric, Bennett

June 5th, 2013 at 7:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

Chris Mannix of SI.com hands out his draft superlatives, with an assist from scouts and executives. Anthony Bennett has the greatest superstar potential, Mannix writes, while Victor Oladipo could be the most resounding bust. It'll be a while before we can definitively say whether Mannix was correct on either account, but much more becomes clear with each passing day until June 27th. After passing along the latest this morning, we'll follow with with an evening draft roundup:

Ben McLemore has reportedly slipped behind Victor Oladipo in the eyes of the Magic, but Orlando will have McLemore in for a workout June 11th, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. (Twitter links). Keith Clanton, Erik Murphy, Michael Snaer and Kenny Boynton, all products of Florida colleges, are auditioning for the Magic either today or tomorrow, Robbins adds.
Chad Ford of ESPN.com chatted with readers, revealing that top-level scouts believe Dario Saric to be on par with Otto Porter and that the Wizards and Bobcats are especially high on Anthony Bennett.
Korie Lucious worked out for the Bucks today and did so for the Pistons earlier this week, according to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. D.J. Stephens, another participant in today's Bucks workout, has also drawn interest from the Pistons and Grizzlies.
Jody Genessy of the Deseret News had the news on six players working out for the Jazz today, and he tweets word of six more set to hit Utah on Thursday: Glen Rice Jr.,Vander Blue, Jack Cooley, Solomon Hill, Pierre Jackson and Trevor Mbakwe.
Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic adds second-round hopefuls E.J. Singler and Jared Berggren to the list of players who worked out for the Suns today (Twitter link).
B.J. Young, Brandon Paul, Reggie Bullock, Romero Osby, Kenny Kadji and James Ennis are among the prospects working out Thursday for the Knicks, the team announced via Twitter.
Ennis, Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert, Mike Muscala, Cody Zeller, Jeff Withey, Shabazz Muhammad, Rodney Williams, Reggie Bullock, Kelly Olynyk and Tony Snell will all audition for Minnesota in the coming weeks, Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders tweets. He also lists "Thomas," likely in reference to Deshaun Thomas or Adonis Thomas.
The Wizards announced they'll put Deshaun Thomas, Keion Bell, Laurence Bowers, D.J. Seeley, James Southerland and Khalif Wyatt through a workout tomorrow.

Draft Updates: Karasev, Saric, Workouts

June 5th, 2013 at 10:30am CST by Luke Adams

With two teams still standing in the 2013 NBA playoffs, most of the Association's franchises have turned their attention to this month's draft. We're probably still a week or two away from seeing any draft picks change hands via trades, but prospects continue to jockey for draft position, working out for teams, or perhaps pulling out of workouts in the case of at least one international prospect. Here are Wednesday's latest draft-related items:

Sergey Karasev has returned to Moscow and plans to remain in Russia until the draft, fueling speculation that he has been given a first-round promise, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. With agents Andy Miller and Justin Zanik telling teams their client won't be available for predraft workouts, Wojnarowski think Karasev probably received a guarantee from a team between Nos. 14 and 24.
Appearing on the Taking the Charge podcast, Croatian forward Dario Saric said he still may withdraw his name from this year's draft, though he expects to be selected in the first round. If he stays in the draft and is selected, he still plans to play in Europe for at least one more year, according to HeinNews.com.
The Suns have yet to confirm the participants of today's workouts, but it appears they've brought in a star-studded group that includes Ben McLemore, Victor Oladipo, Cody Zeller, Rudy Gobert, and Shabazz Muhammad, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic outlines.
It's unclear where Muhammad will land in the draft, since his stock seems to be on the decline, says Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
Peyton Silva, Archie Goodwin, and Scootie Randall worked out for the Sixers on Tuesday, according to John N. Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. None of those prospects are likely to land in the lottery, so Philadelphia appears to be weighing its second-round options.
Working out for the Jazz today, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News: Shane Larkin, Tony Mitchell, Reggie Bullock, Lorenzo Brown, Amath M'Baye, and Malik Story.
The Bucks officially announced (via Twitter) that they'll be working out the following prospects today: Trent Lockett, D.J. Stephens, Dewayne Dedmon, Jack Cooley, Korie Lucious, and D.J. Seeley.
Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com and Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe have the details on yesterday's Celtics workout, which included Mason Plumlee, Reggie Johnson, Ian Clark, and Jonathan Lee. It was the second workout with the C's for Lee.

Draft Links: Schroeder, Larkin, Cavs, Mavs

June 1st, 2013 at 6:55pm CST by Spencer Lund

The Bucks, who pick 15th and 43rd later this month, are looking seriously at guards and small forwards, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. The Bucks worked out six players, all of them guards, on Friday and with Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis' uncertain futures, they're looking closely at German import Dennis Schroeder and Shane Larkin from Miami.

Ellis has a player option for $11MM next season with the Bucks, but if he opts out before June 20th, he'll become an unrestricted free agent. Jennings is a restricted free agent looking for a max contract this offseason, but recent reports point towards the Bucks looking to re-sign Ellis instead of Jennings. Another point in Ellis' favor: the Bucks hired former Hawks coach, Larry Drew, when Jennings would have preferred Kelvin Sampson.

Regardless of the Bucks' attempts to bring back J.J. Redick, Ellis and/or Jennings, they're still looking to shore up their backcourt. Here are some more links as we're now inside of four weeks until the big night.

The ostensible top pick on that big night, Nerlens Noel, is part of the pre-draft positional preview focusing on centers by Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The Cavs, of course, own that first pick, and Boyer keys in on Noel's rehab in Birmingham from that torn knee ligament.
The Mavericks continue to shop the 13th overall pick in an effort to clear cap space this offseason, and they're not asking for much, several executives tell Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link).
Mannix also got input from executives from around the league on this year's top foreign prospects, with Dario Saric and aforementioned Schroeder topping the list.
Local product, Doug Anderson, highlighted a group of second-round prospects who worked out with the Pistons, observes Perry A. Farrell of the Free Press. Solomon Hill, Brandon Paul, D.J. Stephens, Will Clyburn, and Carrick Felix were the others in attendance.
Kansas center Jeff Withey will work out for the Knicks and Nets before the June 27th draft, says his agent, Darren Matsubara, to ESPNNewYork.com's Jared Zwerling.
The Timberwolves are looking to bring Lehigh senior C.J. McCollum in for a workout, but they still haven't scheduled a time yet, says ESPN1500's Darren Wolfson (Twitter link).
HoopsHype.com just updated their list of players past workouts and future workouts by team.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post