Joel Embiid Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Odds & Ends: Embiid, Boozer, Turner

February 4th, 2014 at 11:56pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Jeff Goodman of ESPN released his report about Joel Embiid “strongly considering” a return to Kansas for his sophomore season, noting that while the Cameroon native recently stated he didn’t feel ready for the NBA, those feelings could change depending on his development over the rest of the year. Earlier this evening, we noted that Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog relayed the first scoop from Goodman via Twitter.

After tonight’s game against Baylor, Embiid spoke with reporters: “I’m not even thinking about (going pro) right now…I’ll make a decision after the season, but I’m definitely considering coming back to school.”

Many NBA executives told ESPN.com that Embiid is their frontrunner to be selected first overall in June, according to Goodman. The Kansas center – who admittedly thought of redshirting prior to the start of the season – is averaging 11.2 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 2.7 BPG thus far during his freshman campaign, and is reportedly shocked at the impact he’s been able to make.

Here are the rest of the notable links we’ve gathered up tonight:

Carlos Boozer hasn’t been happy with being benched in favor of Taj Gibson once the fourth quarter rolls around, letting reporters know about his frustration on Monday: ‘‘I think I should be out there, but it’s [Tom Thibodeau’s] choice,…He makes the decisions out there. I play; I don’t coach. He coaches, so he decides that. But, honestly, he’s been doing that a lot since I’ve been here, not putting me [in the game] in the fourth quarter. Sometimes we win. More times than not, we don’t. But that’s his choice’ (Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times).
Boozer continued: ‘‘It’s very frustrating, especially when I’ve got a great game going or what have you. Obviously, as a competitor, you want to be out there to help your team win. Especially when the game is close, you can do things that can help your team win. And not being out there, all you can do is really cheer them on. But that’s [Thibodeau’s] choice.’’
Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweeted that nothing has changed since the beginning of the season regarding the Timberwolves’ interest in 76ers guard Evan Turner. Although Minnesota covets Turner, President of Basketball Operations Flip Saunders is still not willing to include a first rounder that Philadelphia would want in return.
During his chat with readers, Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW downplayed the possibility that the Bucks would deal Larry Sanders. Additionally, Sefko doesn’t believe that the Mavericks would be interested in pursuing the Milwaukee big man, especially with frontcourt positions already occupied by Samuel Dalembert, DeJuan Blair, and Brandan Wright.
Sefko doesn’t foresee the Mavs making a huge splash on the trade market, saying that if any move is to be done, it’ll involve players at the bottom of the roster instead of the top. One deal he thinks would make sense involves trading Wayne Ellington for an expiring contract, thus allowing Dallas to free themselves of $2.5MM next season.
As for the Pau Gasol sweepstakes, Sefko gets the sense that Dallas has at least made cursory inquiries and labels their chances at landing him as a “long-shot.” As for LeBron James potentially becoming available this summer, Sefko says that not being among the top on the list of preferred destinations won’t deter the team from making their free agent pitch.
With the Thunder owning and operating their D-League affiliate Tulsa 66ers, it has allowed Oklahoma City to create an infrastructure which maximizes player development, writes Anthony Slater of NewsOK.

Draft Rumors: Embiid, Exum

February 4th, 2014 at 6:43pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Here’s the latest we’ve come across regarding the 2014 NBA Draft:

Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com (via Jeff Goodman of ESPN) tweets that Kansas center Joel Embiid is leaning toward staying another year in school. If true, this significantly impacts the 2014 draft, as the 7’0 big man has been projected by some to be the number one overall pick in June.
In a piece for Zagsblog, Zagoria mentions that there are some sources close to the Kansas program who believe that Embiid would prefer to stay in school, although they also think the opportunity to play in the NBA next year may eventually be too great to pass up.
In that same article, NBA analyst Greg Anthony tells Zagoria that he thinks Embiid should return to Kansas for another season: “(Joel’s) instincts aren’t where you want them to be. At (the NBA) level, they don’t teach, they coach…Our league drafts potential, it doesn’t draft a polished, finished product. I think a lot of these kids are really, really good and really talented but a lot of them could use another year.”
Anthony applied the same logic to other heralded collegiate freshmen, including Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Julius Randle, and Aaron Gordon: “I would say that Jabari’s probably the most polished of all of them…And listen, it’s gonna be hard for them not to come out, I get that part. But it wouldn’t hurt any of them to come back to school…I’m a proponent of guys being able to come out of high school. I think these kids are more talented than the draft we had a year ago, but you want them to be a little bit more polished when they come here.
Prospective 2014 lottery pick Dante Exum made it recently known that he’d like to be drafted by the Lakers next June, getting the ball rolling on speculation that his representation might try to find a way to dissuade undesired teams from drafting him. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders doesn’t put any faith into the idea that Exum’s agent can force the Australian point guard’s way to Los Angeles, adding that the rookie contract scale removes a lot of power out of the agent’s hands during the draft process. Overall, Kyler believes Exum’s comment has been blown out of proportion and warns not to read into it too much at this point, especially since Exum has yet to meet with a single team (All Twitter links).

Draft Notes: Ennis, Randle, Hairston

January 29th, 2014 at 2:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

Chad Ford of ESPN.com Insider and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com have updated their lists of the top draft prospects, with both in agreement that Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker are first, second and third, respectively. Embiid has begun to pull away from the pack in the eyes of scouts and GMs in recent weeks, according to Ford, who shares plenty of thoughts about his latest rankings, as we highlight below amid today’s draft chatter:

Some scouts who’ve spoken to Ford believe that Tyler Ennis of Syracuse may have eclipsed Australia’s Dante Exum and Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart as the best point guard prospect. Ennis is No. 10 in Ford’s rankings and No. 13 for Givony.
Teams have stopped discussing Julius Randle as a potential No. 1 pick, Ford writes. The Kentucky power forward checks in at No. 5 for Ford and is at No. 4 with Givony.
P.J. Hairston explains to Jim Hlavac of DraftExpress.com what he’ll say in pre-draft interviews with NBA teams about the transgressions that led to the end of his college career. Hairston, playing for the Texas Legends of the D-League, is draft-eligible this year. He’s No. 28 on Givony’s board and No. 33 in Ford’s eyes.

Draft Rumors: Exum, Parker, Embiid, Wiggins

January 28th, 2014 at 4:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

The latest significant rumble regarding this year’s draft happened this morning, when news broke that Australian point guard Dante Exum will enter the draft this June. He can’t officially declare for the draft until April, but even before today’s report, it seemed quite a long shot that he would choose to attend college instead. There’s plenty more on Exum, as we pass along in our latest look at the draft:

Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress believes that Rob Pelinka, whom Exum has chosen as his agent, will shroud the point guard come draft time, limiting his exposure in workouts as he did with Dion Waiters in 2012 (Twitter link).
A number of GMs have told Chad Ford of ESPN.com Insider that they would be comfortable taking Exum No. 1, even though reliable data on his performance is hard to come by. That echoes the comments of an NBA executive who tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that Exum will ultimately be “in the mix” to go first overall.
Still, a Western Conference GM tells Chris Mannix of SI.com that Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins are “a cut above everyone else” likely to be in the draft this summer. Parker, Embiid and Wiggins make up the top three, in that order, in Mannix’s rankings. Exum is fourth.

Joel Embiid Unsure If He’ll Enter Draft

January 20th, 2014 at 7:10pm CST by Cray Allred

Joel Embiid’s entry into the 2014 draft isn’t a certainty, according to a report by ESPN’s Dana O’Neil. The 7-foot center has been a consensus top-five pick all year, and recently rose to the number one overall spot on ESPN Insider Chad Ford’s Big Board [subscription only]. Despite performing at a high level and gaining momentum with scouts, the Cameroonian says he isn’t sure this will be his last season with Kansas.

“I don’t know if I feel like I’m ready for all of this,” Embiid is quoted as saying, acknowledging his inability to drive a car, eat well, and other elements that go along with the pro game. His hesitancy is not just based on life practicalities, either. He has studied other skilled big men that have thrived in the league, concluding: “All of the great big men went to college at least two or three years. I think it’s a big factor. I don’t know if it will always work, but I think it’s the best choice.”

Embiid is averaging 11 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks in his freshman year. The report of his uncertainty comes on the heals of the news that NBA executives are increasingly expecting fellow top-5 projected prospect Jabari Parker to stay at Duke another year as well.

Eastern Notes: Stern, ‘Melo, Rondo, Embiid

January 19th, 2014 at 12:08pm CST by Jonathan Nehring

An end of an era is drawing near when NBA commissioner David Stern will turn the keys over to Adam Silver at the end of this month. Mark Heisler of Sheridan Hoops reminisces on his memories of Stern and the great impact he had on the NBA. Heisler sums up his memories with the following statement. “Whether you loved him, hated him, respected him or lived in fear of angering him, if you played, worked in or followed the NBA, you have him to thank. For people like me, you have him to remember and to miss.”

For those of us who will still be following the NBA beyond Stern’s retirement, here are a few notes around the Eastern Conference.

According to Al Iannazzone of Newsday, the primary job for the Knicks‘ front office until February 20th is to figure out if Carmelo Anthony wants to stay in New York and what it will take to keep him there. Iannazzone thinks the Knicks should use every effort they can over the next month to get whomever Carmelo wants to play with or they won’t likely have Anthony’s services next season. If they can’t get who Carmelo wants for teammates, Iannazzone urges the Knicks to trade Anthony before the deadline. If not, they risk a very likely chance they lose Carmelo this summer while getting nothing in return.
One of Carmelo’s desired teammates is rumored to be Rajon Rondo. Reports of Rondo being traded have resurfaced of late and Matt Moore of CBS Sports breaks down why trading Rondo makes sense for the Celtics. Moore believes if the Celtics can get a first-round pick for him they should trade Rondo right away. With Rondo entering a contract year next year Moore reasons the Celtics (as typical of most teams under the current CBA) are unlikely to extend Rondo during the season and wait until the following summer. Moore believes that will be too late for Boston because Rondo won’t wait around for the Celtics current rebuilding project. In addition, according to Moore “the number one rule for any rebuild is you move your best player on a big contract. It gets you the most assets back.”
While not currently in the NBA, a look at our reverse standings indicates Joel Embiid will very likely join a team from the Eastern Conference next summer. After Embiid’s performance yesterday Jeff Goodman of ESPN (Insider piece), Josh Newman of Zagsblog, and Gary Parrish of CBS Sports all think Embiid has moved into at least the top three of next summer’s draft and potentially the number one pick overall.

Draft & D-League Notes: Kobe, Embiid, Bennett

January 18th, 2014 at 10:27pm CST by Jonathan Nehring

Instead of coming back and playing for the Lakers chances to play in June for a 17th NBA Championship, Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times thinks Kobe Bryant should “play for June” by not coming back from his injury this season and hurting the Lakers June draft position. Plaschke believes the Lakers chances of winning it all this season are impossible so any improvement Kobe would bring hurts their draft chances this summer.

A few other notes about players that will be playing in the NBA for years to come.

Joel Embiid is a player that has rapidly climbed in draft stock this season. One person whose draft board he hasn’t risen on is Bill Self, his coach at Kansas, and that’s because he has always been at the top of Self’s draft board. Self told Eric Prisbell of USA TODAY that he informed Embiid the moment he stepped on campus that he would be the No. 1 pick, whenever Embiid decided to come out (Twitter link).
The Rockets have called up Robert Covington from their D-League affiliate according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The rookie scored 33 points Friday for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and was on Houston’s active roster Saturday night. Coming into tonight, Covington had yet to log any minutes in the NBA.
Someone who may be heading to the D-League is Cavaliers rookie Anthony Bennett. According to Bob Finnan of The News-Herald, Cleveland needs to send Bennett to their D-League affiliate in order to rectify what has gone wrong this season.

Odds & Ends: Embiid, Bynum, Kings, Petro

January 17th, 2014 at 4:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

Many talent evaluators around the NBA wish the talented but raw Joel Embiid would stay in school for another year, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who debates the freshman Kansas center with fellow ESPN.com scribe Kevin Pelton for an Insider-only piece. NBA teams usually want to see intriguing collegians enter the draft, so the stance on Embiid is an unusual one, as Ford explains. The 19-year-old is the No. 1 prospect on Ford’s Big Board. Here’s more from the Association:

Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star doesn’t get the sense that the Pacers will sign Bynum just to keep him away from the Heat, but Kravitz believes Indiana should take a low-risk flier on the big man regardless of where he might otherwise end up.
An Eastern Conference scout didn’t think the trade that brought in Rudy Gay would go as well as it has for the Kings, telling Marc Stein of ESPN.com that the move has made the team “relevant again.”
Johan Petro announced via Twitter that he’s left the Guangsha Lions of China, so it appears he’s free to sign with any team (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The 27-year-old center spent each of the past eight seasons in the NBA.
The Bulls had next season in mind when they signed D.J. Augustin, but it’s unclear whether the team or the point guard will want to continue their relationship beyond 2013/14, as Sam Smith of Bulls.com writes in his latest mailbag column.
Former 11th overall pick Jerome Moiso has retired, reports L’Equipe (translation via Carchia). Moiso spent five seasons in the NBA after the Celtics drafted him in 2000. He finished last season with Piratas de Quebradillas in Puerto Rico.
Louisiana-Lafayette point guard Elfrid Payton is a fast riser in the eyes of many NBA teams, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times. Ford has the 6’4″ junior at No. 54 in his ESPN.com rankings, while Payton is No. 64 for Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.

Ford’s Latest: Embiid, Wiggins, Jazz

January 15th, 2014 at 2:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

Chad Ford has made the season’s first change to the top spot of the Insider-only Big Board for ESPN.com, bumping Andrew Wiggins from the No. 1 one spot in favor of Kansas teammate Joel Embiid. Wiggins doesn’t fall far, landing at No. 2, right in front of Jabari Parker, Julius Randle and Dante Exum. Ford joined readers to chat about the new projected No. 1 overall pick and other draft topics, and we’ll run down the highlights:

Wiggins hasn’t demonstrated that he’s a franchise player capable of immediately turning around a moribund team, and neither has anyone else in this year’s draft class, Ford observes.
Parker is a “lock” to go to the Jazz if they wind up picking first, Ford writes. The Celtics also prefer him to Embiid, but they’re more open to changing their minds. The Magic and Sixers still prefer Wiggins, but they, too, seem flexible enough to switch to Embiid over time.
Most people around the league think the Celtics would like to end up with a top three pick in this year’s draft, but Ford isn’t so sure, noting that GM Danny Ainge isn’t as high on this year’s prospects as other teams are.
The Kings would probably choose between Parker and Embiid with the No. 1 pick, though their urgency to win soon could turn them off from Embiid, according to Ford, who adds that Sacramento also regards Exum highly.
There’s a significant drop-off in talent after the top five prospects, and another after the top 10, according to Ford, who says the middle of the first round isn’t as deep as in years past.

Draft Notes: Exum, Wiggins, Selden

January 13th, 2014 at 6:50pm CST by Zachary Links

The 2014 draft class is expected to be one of the strongest in modern basketball history and Dante Exum is a virtual lock to join in. The Australian guard, who is projected to be a top five pick, has been meeting with agents for the past few weeks. Here’s tonight’s draft news..

Exum finished his meetings with eight marquee agencies, leaving the representatives confident that he’ll enter this year’s draft rather than attending college, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. That echoes what we heard about the Australian point guard last week.
Not everyone is head over heels about Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins, who was thought to be the top talent in this class pretty recently. “There’s zero chance of any team taking anybody before Jabari Parker,” an Eastern Conference official told Mark Heisler of Forbes.com. “And there’s zero chance of any team taking Wiggins before [Kansas center] Joel Embiid.”
Fellow Kansas standout Wayne Selden is doing well, but scouts say he should stay in school, writes Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.