James Webb III Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Celtics Notes: Ainge, Olynyk, Draft Workouts

May 18th, 2016 at 10:45am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics were unable to jump ahead of the Sixers and Lakers to snag the No. 1 overall pick in Tuesday night’s NBA draft lottery and the team will draft third as a result. With Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram likely to be off the board when Boston picks, team executive Danny Ainge indicated that he doesn’t know who the team will look to select, Mike Petraglia of WEEI 93.7 FM relays. “We don’t know that yet. We’ll obviously explore that,” Ainge said. “We’re in the middle of that process right now of figuring out who’s in the draft and who’s the best fit for us. We’ll also probably get some calls for that pick I’m guessing, so there’ll be discussion of that too. But right now we’re really in the mode of preparing for the draft.”

Regarding the talent level of the second-tier of players in this year’s draft, Ainge told reporters, “Last year at this time I think everybody saw that [talent drop-off] and it sort of changed between what everybody thought at this time and what happened in the draft. So it’s still too early. There’s still a lot of evaluation. When you’re looking and evaluating in some cases 18 and 19-year-old kids there’s a lot that changes between the end of their college careers and the draft, so I wouldn’t say anything is in stone in how the draft order is gonna go. We’ll just evaluate them all and see how it falls.”

Here’s more out of Boston:

Center Kelly Olynyk underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair damage to his right shoulder, and though the Celtics didn’t announce a timetable for the big man to return to action, Ainge estimates Olynyk will be out for approximately five months, Petraglia relays in a separate article. A recovery time of that duration would mean Olynyk could return during the preseason and potentially be available to start the 2016/17 campaign.
The Celtics are hosting two group workouts today that will include 12 players, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link). Displaying their wares for Boston will be Abdul-Malik Abu (NC State), Trevon Bluiett (Xavier), Nigel Hayes (Wisconsin), Malik Pope (San Diego State), Zhou Qi (China), James Webb III (Boise State), DeAndre Bembry (St. Joseph’s), Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia), Josh Hart (Villanova), Jake Layman (Maryland), Abdel Nader (Iowas State) and Taurean Prince (Baylor), Forsberg notes.
Former Louisiana-Lafayette center Shawn Long has a workout scheduled with the Celtics on June 9th, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe tweets.

And-Ones: Peters, Frazier, Hamilton

April 7th, 2016 at 10:23pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Valparaiso junior power forward Alec Peters intends to enter the 2016 NBA draft, the university announced. He doesn’t intend to hire an agent, according to the press release, so that will allow him to return to college ball if he withdraws prior to the May 25th deadline. Peters is the No. 34 ranked junior by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and he averaged 18.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 35 contests on the season.

Here’s more from around the league:

The Pelicans consider it a priority to hang on to Tim Frazier and James Ennis this summer, as Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate hears (Twitter links). New Orleans can make both restricted free agents this offseason with qualifying offers. New Orleans is poised to ink Ennis for the remainder of the season once his 10-day contract expires on Friday.
Vanderbilt first-round prospect Wade Baldwin is giving consideration to hiring Priority Sports to represent him, international journalist David Pick tweets. Baldwin is the 16th-best prospect according to Givony, and he’s No. 22 with Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
Connecticut sophomore small forward Daniel Hamilton intends to hire an agent, which would eliminate the opportunity for him to withdraw from the draft and return to NCAA play for another season, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays (via Twitter). That’s a change from earlier, when UConn’s official announcement said Hamilton didn’t intend to secure representation.
Hawaii junior combo guard Aaron Valdes intends to declare for the 2016 NBA draft, Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com tweets. The junior isn’t a projected 2016 selection according to Givony.
Projected lottery pick Jamal Murray is leaning toward hiring Excel Sports Management to represent him, Pick relays (on Twitter). The Kentucky freshman point guard is currently ranked No. 6 overall by Givony and is slotted No. 4 by Ford.
Boise State junior combo forward James Webb III has hired agent Charles Briscoe of Briscoe Sports Management to represent him, eliminating the possibility of him returning to school for his senior campaign, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports. Webb is a contender to become a second-round pick, ranking 69th in Ford’s listings and 81st on Givony’s board.

Boise State’s James Webb III To Declare For Draft

March 28th, 2016 at 8:53am CST by Chuck Myron

Boise State junior combo forward James Webb III will enter this year’s draft, league sources told Shams Charania of The Vertical. Webb won’t immediately hire an agent, retaining his ability to pull out by the May 25th deadline to keep his college eligibility, though he has plans to bring on an agent at some point before the draft, Charania hears. Webb is a fringe contender to become a second-round pick, ranking 69th in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider listings and 81st on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress board.

Webb averaged 15.8 points and an impressive 9.1 rebounds in 30.5 minutes per game, but his 3-point shooting declined markedly from the 40.9% rate of accuracy he displayed as a sophomore. He shot just 24.8% from behind the arc this season, attempting 3.5 per contest. The 6’9″ Webb is 22 and will turn 23 in August, so he’s old for an underclassman. NBA teams typically prefer younger prospects.

Boise State won 20 games but lost in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament and didn’t take part in further postseason play. Webb, the conference’s leading per-game rebounder, delivered perhaps his best performance with a 24-point, 18-rebound effort January 20th against San Jose State. His stock surged during his college career, as he wasn’t among the top 100 Recruiting Services Index prospects coming out of high school in 2012. He spent his freshman year at a community college and redshirted as a sophomore after transferring.