Jazz Notes: Workouts, Reed, G League, Free Agency
The Jazz will hold two workout sessions for draft prospects on Saturday, Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. The first group will include guards Frankie Ferrari (San Francisco), Makai Mason (Baylor), wings Rayjon Tucker (Arkansas Little-Rock) and Vic Law (Northwestern) and big men Darel Poirier (France) and Kenny Wooten (Oregon).
The afternoon session will include guards Jeremiah Martin (Memphis) and Jordan Bone (Tennessee), wings Charlie Brown (St. Joseph) and Paul Eboua (Cameroon) and big men Luka Samanic (Croatia) and Daniel Gafford (Arkansas).
Utah possesses the No. 23 and 53 picks in this year’s draft.
We have more on the Jazz:
- Center Willie Reed, who played for the team’s G League franchise in Salt Lake City last season, was among 30 free agent invitees to participate in the team’s annual mini-camp this week, Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News reports. Reed averaged 20.1 PPG and 11.2 RPG before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in January. Reed, 29, has played for four other franchises and appeared in 152 NBA games.
- Farmington City is lobbying the Jazz to relocate its G League team to Station Park once the Stars’ lease with Salt Lake Community College expires, Patrick Carr of the Standard-Examiner reports. The construction of a 5,000-seat, multi-use arena is part of the pitch, Carr adds.
- Darren Collison, Patrick Beverley, Danny Green, Jeremy Lamb and Reggie Bullock are some of the middle-tier free agents the Jazz might pursue, Walden writes.
- The Jazz brought in six guard/wing prospects on Tuesday, the team’s PR department tweets. That group included Terence Davis (Ole Miss), Aubrey Dawkins (UCF), Robert Franks (Washington State), Ahmed Hill (Virginia Tech), Eric Paschall (Villanova) and Jordan Varnado (Troy).
Pacific Notes: Durant, Suns, Kings, Clippers
As relayed by The Associated Press, this Tuesday is the next time we may know more about a possible return of Warriors superstar Kevin Durant. Having already been ruled out for tonight’s Game 2, Wednesday night’s Game 3 marks the next opportunity for Durant’s return, but Tuesday is Golden State’s next practice.
Head coach Steve Kerr, having already said that Durant will need to practice before playing in a game, expounded upon his stance today, saying that Durant could potentially only need one day of practice to be cleared for game action.
“It’s really a day-to-day thing,” Kerr said “If we had a crystal ball, we would have known a long time ago what we were dealing with. But it’s just an injury (where) there’s been a lot of gray area. So, literally, it’s just day-to-day and how the progress is coming. And at this point he’s still not ready.”
But, when further pressed on the issue, and asked whether Durant will only need one practice, said “it’s feasible.” Accordingly, we should know a lot more on Tuesday as to whether Durant can return for Game 3.
There’s more from the Pacific Division this afternoon:
- The Suns have worked out Tennessee’s Grant Williams, Boston College’s Ky Bowman, Florida State’s Terance Mann, and Michigan’s Charles Matthews, among many others (click here for links).
- In their eighth pre-draft workout of the year, the Kings will work out guards Frankie Ferrari, Josh Perkins, Zach Norvell Jr., and Charlie Brown, and big men Dewan Hernandez and Sacha Killeya-Jones, the team announced.
- According to Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype, the Clippers will work out Dontay Carruthers, Sedrick Barefield, Ahmed Hill, Cody Martin, Daulton Hommes and Dean Wade.
And-Ones: Pelicans, Draft, Hornets
New Pelicans GM Trajan Langdon said leaving Brooklyn was a “very difficult decision” for him and his family, as he told Hoops Rumors and other outlets during his introductory press conference call earlier today. However, the chance to team up with head of basketball operations David Griffin again was too great to pass up.
“The opportunity to join up with Griff again and do something special in a place that nobody believes it can be done — aside from the people in this organization and the city — is something that is very intriguing,” Langdon said.
[RELATED: David Griffin Plans To Meet With Anthony Davis In Los Angeles]
Langdon will serve under Griffin, but his roles and responsibilities are not yet fully defined. The two men previously worked together in Cleveland and are familiar with one another, with Langdon emphasizing during today’s conference call that Griffin is not a micromanager. Griffin said that their relationship allows them “to challenge each other in ways strangers may not be able to.”
Langdon aided the Nets‘ turnaround, helping the franchise rebuild, and was key in helping to build talent in Brooklyn’s G League team. The Pelicans will put out a G League squad for the first time in franchise history next season.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Pelicans and David Booth have mutually parted ways, Will Guillory of The Athletic relays (Twitter link). Booth was previously the team’s Director of Player Personnel.
- Charles Williams is withdrawing from the draft, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. Williams will enter his senior season at Howard University.
- Francis Alonso (UNC-Greensboro) and Jessie Govan (Georgetown) worked out for the Hornets today, the team relays on its website. Dedric Lawson (Kansas), Myles Powell (Seton Hall), Marial Shayok (Iowa State) and Jalek Felton (Finland) also showcased their ability for the team.
- The Hornets had several prospects in for a workout this week, according to Charlotte’s Twitter feed Brandon Clarke (Gonzaga), Charlie Brown Jr. (St. Joes), Jon Davis (Charlotte), Milik Yarbrough (Illinois State), and Markell Johnson (NC State) all worked out for the club.
- Elijah Thomas (Clemson) worked out for the Hornets this week as well, per the team’s Twitter feed. Frankie Ferrari (San Francisco) and Garrison Mathews (Lipscomb) also worked out for Charlotte.