Draft Notes: Kentucky, Wiggins, Magic, Kings
There are no NBA games scheduled this evening as the spotlight falls on the NCAA title game between Kentucky and Connecticut. Eight players on the rosters of the two teams are among the top 61 prospects in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings, though potential lottery pick Willie Cauley-Stein is injured and won’t play for the Wildcats. It’s nonetheless a bevy of talent on display, and with multiple sources telling Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times that just about every one of Kentucky’s decorated freshmen will declare for this year’s draft, it looks like it won’t be long before that talent is in the NBA (Twitter link). Here’s the latest on the next wave headed for the Association:
- The Magic have Andrew Wiggins, Dante Exum, Jabari Parker and Marcus Smart, in that order, atop their draft board, Chad Ford of ESPN.com reports in his latest Insider-only “Tank Rank” piece. Exum also has “some traction” with the Sixers, and the Lakers are high on him, too.
- The Kings don’t have Wiggins within their top three prospects, Ford hears. The ESPN.com scribe makes note of the draft plans for several other teams, too, though some of it appears to be educated guesswork.
- Wiggins has chosen BDA Management’s Bill Duffy for his agent, sources tell Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling (Twitter link). Duffy beat out Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports, and Wiggins was also linked to Rich Paul of Klutch Sports.
- Parker, Randle and Joel Embiid are all expected to sign with Arn Tellem of Wasserman Media Group, Woelfel tweets. Woelfel includes Smart’s name on that list, too, reiterating what Zwerling reported last week.
- TNT’s David Aldridge ranks the shooting guards expected to be available for the draft in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com, giving Michigan’s Nik Stauskas the slight edge for the No. 1 spot over Gary Harris of Michigan State.
Kennedy Notes: Draft, Gasol, Sixers
Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders held his weekly chat. He touched on a number of topics, and some of the highlights are listed below:
- Kennedy believes the biggest sleeper pick in the upcoming NBA Draft is Wichita State’s Cleanthony Early. He also believes the player most likely to be taken too high is Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein.
- Pau Gasol is most likely done with the Lakers after this season, opines Kennedy. He cites the Lakers’ desire to have cap flexibility heading into the summer of 2015, as well as Gasol’s reluctance to be part of a rebuild.
- On who the Sixers will take in the draft, Kennedy believes the team will simply select the best two players available. His draft scenario has the team selecting Andrew Wiggins and Dario Saric.
- He doesn’t believe that Victor Oladipo is the long term answer for the Magic at point guard. Kennedy believes the team should look at drafting Dante Exum and keeping Oladipo at shooting guard.
- Kennedy also believes the rumors that Kyrie Irving wants out of Cleveland. He opines that Irving might sign an extension and then demand a trade from the Cavs.
Draft Rumors: Wiggins, Parker, Smart
Earlier today, we learned Ohio State small forward LaQuinton Ross is on the fence about entering the draft. While he’s not one of the top talents available this June, Ross was ranked No. 32 by ESPN’s Chad Ford and that’s no small feat given the depth of this year’s class. Here’s the latest draft news..
- Projected lottery picks Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Doug McDermott some of their worst during NCAA tournament action the past few days. Still, their performances haven’t discouraged NBA team executives, who tell Chris Mannix of SI.com that this weekend’s results will do little to alter their draft stocks (Twitter link).
- In today’s column, David Aldridge of NBA.com looks at the shallow pool of point guards in the 2014 draft. While there’s a significant drop-off after Australian prospect Dante Exum, Oklahoma State sophomore Marcus Smart, and Syracuse freshman Tyler Ennis, Aldridge rightfully notes that it’s not a huge problem for most NBA teams. The classic, pass-first floor general is nearly extinct thanks to rule changes over the years.
- NBA scouts told Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post that they regarded 6’6″ Colorado point guard Spencer Dinwiddie a late first-round pick, at least, before he tore his ACL in January. Concerns about his recovery and the absence of a chance to take part in predraft workouts will make it easy for Dinwiddie to decide against entering this year’s draft, Dempsey believes.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Southeast Rumors: Oden, Exum, Hawks, Neal
Heat center Greg Oden will play against the Blazers tonight for the first time in his career, which began when Portland made him the No. 1 overall pick in 2007. Still, there are few emotions involved, as Oden tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.
“I think it’s been two years since I was there. Guys move on,” Oden said. “It’s a business like that. I’m happy those guys are still there and doing their thing. [I’m] especially happy for LaMarcus [Aldridge] who is an All-Star and you know, you got to move on.”
Here’s more from the Southeast Division, which is in line to send four teams to the playoffs:
- The Magic are probably locked into the third-worst record in the league, as our Reverse Standings show. Even if they don’t have any lottery luck and fail to move up, they’re in fine shape, since they’re most interested in Dante Exum, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who writes in his latest Insider-only “Tank Rank” column.
- The Hawks have received NBA approval for their sale of minority shares of the team to five investors, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The additions bring the number of stakeholders to 12, including primary owner Bruce Levenson.
- Since being traded to the Bobcats, guard Gary Neal has had a significant impact over the course of the last 12 games, writes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Charlotte was in desperate need of scoring and Neal has brought it. The former Buck is averaging 12.5 points per contest, which would be a career high for a full season.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Draft Notes: Wiggins, Parker, Embiid, UCLA
In his latest chat with readers, Chad Ford of ESPN.com insists that Andrew Wiggins has solidified his position as the No. 1 draft prospect. Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com disagrees, debuting his own Top 30 list based off discussions he’s had with league executives. It has Jabari Parker at the top. Howard-Cooper also touched on a multitude of other draft topics in another post. Let’s sort through his latest and more draft-related stuff here:
- Front offices are wavering between Parker and Kansas’ Joel Embiid for the top spot, according to Howard-Cooper. He adds that no one has more at stake in the NCAA Tournament than Embiid, who only has a shot to return from back issues if the Jayhawks advance without him.
- Austalian guard Dante Exum is right behind the troika of Parker-Embiid-Wiggins. That foursome is followed by Julius Randle and Marcus Smart, before a big drop off at No. 7.
- Jusuf Nurkic is flying up draft boards, according to Howard-Cooper. The 19-year-old Bosnian center, currently playing in Croatia, is in one team’s top ten and may ultimately challenge Dario Saric as the first European off the board.
- UCLA’s Zach LaVine has yet to convince scouts that he projects as a point guard in the NBA, Howard-Cooper writes. It doesn’t help than teammate Kyle Anderson has been handling the ball more as point forward lately, presumably boosting his draft stock. LaVine is still an attractive prospect, but his value will take a hit if his future looks to be on the wing. Both Bruins project as mid first rounders should they choose to come out.
- USA Today’s Adi Joseph includes Embiid and Anderson on his list of eight NBA hopefuls with the most to gain in the NCAA Tournament, along with Keith Appling, Jahii Carson, Cleanthony Early, Tyler Ennis, Montrezl Harrell and Shabazz Napier.
Draft Rumors: Gordon, Parker, Wiggins
Chad Ford of ESPN.com has used his insider-only “Tank Rank” column to pass along rumors connected the plans that teams have for this season, but this week’s edition is all about how clubs view the top prospects for the draft. We’ll pass along the highlights from Ford here:
- The Celtics and Jazz are high on Arizona power forward Aaron Gordon, according to Ford.
- Ford consistently hears that the Pistons would draft Jabari Parker No. 1 overall if they scored the No. 1 overall pick. That seems to assume that Joe Dumars would still be in charge of the team’s basketball operations, which isn’t a given.
- The Pelicans believe Parker would be the “perfect fit” for them, Ford writes.
- The Cavs envision using Andrew Wiggins, a small forward, as a shooting guard next to Kyrie Irving if they’re able to land the Kansas star, Ford suggests.
- If the Magic wind up with the No. 1 overall pick, they’d probably use it on Wiggins, Ford writes, identifying Dante Exum and Marcus Smart as others the team will likely target.
- The Lakers appear to have Joel Embiid, Wiggins, and Exum as their top three prospects, according to Ford, who pegs Parker fourth and Julius Randle fifth on L.A.’s board.
Draft Rumors: Minimum Age, Exum, Saric
The NBA’s minimum age won’t change in time for this year’s draft, but if it did, Chad Ford of ESPN.com, writing in an Insider-only piece, thinks Marcus Smart would be the No. 1 overall pick, followed by Doug McDermott, Rodney Hood, Nik Stauskas and Gary Harris. It illustrates how reliant the league has become on freshman talent, and how profoundly a rule change could devastate the draft the year it takes effect. There’s more on the minimum-age front and other news from Ford amid the latest on the draft:
- Commissioner Adam Silver says he’s sought the input of NCAA president Mark Emmert on the effort to raise the NBA’s minimum age, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. Silver also wants to discuss the way the draft affects players’ NCAA eligibility, as Michael McCann of SI.com notes via Twitter.
- Ford doesn’t believe teams are too concerned about the notion that Dante Exum would try to force his way to the Lakers, as Ford writes in his latest chat with readers.
- Dario Saric has hurt his draft stock with hints that he might stay in Europe, according to Ford, who suggests in his chat that teams might worry that Saric will become the next Nikola Mirotic. The Bulls have waited while Mirotic has remained overseas for the past three years, meaning he’s no longer subject to the rookie scale and can demand higher salaries to join the team this summer.
- Most of the NBA prospects on Kentucky’s roster, including brothers Aaron and Andrew Harrison, want to enter the draft this year, Ford writes, adding that Julius Randle is nonetheless the only lock to declare.
Draft Notes: Wiggins, Embiid, Cuban
One NBA GM tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that uncertainty about entering the draft recently expressed by Jabari Parker, along with similar sentiments from Joel Embiid earlier this year, are par for the course. He says the high profile players will all say they are considering staying in college until after the NCAA season, when they will all declare for the draft (Twitter links). Here are more rumors surrounding the draft:
- Mark Heisler of The Orange County Register says that not one NBA source he’s talked to likes Andrew Wiggins as a sure-fire blue chip player. Heisler says NBA personnel people are now only in agreement on Embiid as a top-level prospect.
- Still, an anonymous Eastern Conference scout tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that the 2014 draft class is much better than last year’s, and should be important for the league. The scout also gives his take on Wiggins, Parker, Embiid, Dante Exum, Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, and Noah Vonleh.
- Adi Joseph of USA Today looks at the draft stocks of Andrew Harrison, Rodney Hood, and Bryce Cotton.
- Mavs owner Mark Cuban told reporters, including Dwain Price of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, that he wishes there were additional rounds in the NBA draft. “I’d like to see four rounds so you can draft guys overseas, get more guys drafted that are your property so you can try to develop them,” Cuban said. “You’ve got to realize that toward the bottom of the second round there are teams that pick for financial reasons, and that takes advantage of guys that might have otherwise been picked.”
Draft Notes: Embiid, Wiggins, Parker
Commissioner Adam Silver’s desire to raise the minimum draft age by another year has fueled plenty of talk about the most effective way to develop NBA prospects. Tom Ziller of SB Nation takes a look at Mavs owner Mark Cuban’s recent assertion that the D-League should supplant the NCAA. College basketball isn’t going away, as Cuban suggests it should, but Ziller thinks a higher minimum age could result in greater use of the D-League as a conduit to the draft. In the meantime, here’s the latest from a landscape still dominated by one-and-done collegians:
- Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker are Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in Jonathan Givony’s updated mock draft and top-100 prospects list at DraftExpress. Givony has Jahlil Okafor atop his new 2015 mock draft.
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com agrees with Givony through the first two picks for this year, but Ford has Dante Exum going No. 3 to the Magic in his Insider-only mock draft.
- Ford and Givony place Arizona shooting guard Nick Johnson 54th and 60th, respectively, in their prospect rankings for this year, but sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com that the junior is leaning toward entering the draft (Insider link).
Draft Notes: Pittman, Melvin, Exum
Here are a few draft-related links worth passing along tonight:
- Recent Marshall basketball standout Elijah Pittman has entered the NBDL player pool, according to Gino Pilato of DLeagueDigest.com. Pilato adds that the 6’9 forward is eligible for the 2014 NBA Draft and will look for an opportunity to impress NBA executives via a stint in the D-League.
- Former DePaul star Cleveland Melvin has been claimed from the NBDL player pool by the BayHawks, which serves as the Knicks’ D-League affiliate (Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside reports). Like Pittman, Melvin will also be eligible for the 2014 NBA Draft.
- ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla offered his thoughts on Dante Exum during a recent interview with John Ireland of ESPN 710 and surely turned a few heads (hat tip to Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders): “He reminds me of a young, 1982 circa North Carolina Michael Jordan…He’s not going to be as great, obviously, unless I’m wrong… but he kind of reminds you of a young colt that’s just about to run his first claimer race, and you’re looking at him (thinking), ‘This guy could win the Kentucky Derby someday.”
- More from Fraschilla on Exum: “He’s got great basketball instincts…He’ll drive in, and when you think he’s going to use his right hand, he’ll switch to the left hand at the last minute. He’ll take off about a half step earlier than you think he should, but then he’ll hang in the air and bank it off the glass…Getting your own shot in the league is a skill…If I had to pick today, it would be in some order of Joel Embiid, Jabari Parker and (Exum).”
- On ESPN’s Mike and Mike Show, the unquestionably outspoken Charles Barkley offered his solution to the issue of tanking: give every lottery team one ping pong ball instead of rewarding teams with the worst record (hat tip to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv).