Southeast Notes: Wizards, Magic, Williams, Heat, Hawks
The Wizards are scheduled to work out six draft-eligible players on Monday, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link). Oklahoma’s Jordan Goldwire, Arkansas’ Chris Lykes, Kansas’ Remy Martin, Kansas State’s Mike McGuirl, Alabama’s Jaden Shackelford and Notre Dame’s Blake Wesley will attend the session.
As noted by Robbins, all six players are guards. The Wizards, who own the 10th and 54th overall picks in the draft, are coming off a season in which they finished with a 35-47 record, missing the playoffs.
Here are some other notes from the Southeast Division:
- Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel examines how UNLV’s Donovan Williams could fit with the Magic. Aside from having the No. 1 pick, Orlando also owns the No. 32 and No. 35 selections in the event. Williams, a 6’6″ guard, averaged 12.7 points per game this past season.
- Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel explores whether the Heat‘s individual defensive weaknesses are overstated. Winderman ponders whether Miami could compensate for some defensive issues by putting more points on the board. While players such as Tyler Herro improved defensively this season, others (such as Duncan Robinson) did not. Robinson fell out of Miami’s rotation during the postseason as a result.
- The Hawks will work out five players on Monday ahead of the June 23 draft, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic tweets. Atlanta will bring in Ochai Agbaji (Kansas), Olek Balcerowski (Spain), Shareef O’Neal (LSU), Scotty Pippen Jr. (Vanderbilt) and Jalen Williams (Santa Clara). The team will pick 16th and 44th this year.
Southeast Notes: Hornets, Workouts, Wizards, Russell, Magic
The Hornets hold three picks in the 2022 NBA draft (Nos. 13, 15, and 45) and are keeping busy in the weeks leading up to June 23, bringing in a handful of prospects on a daily basis for a closer look.
On Tuesday, the Hornets worked out Tyson Etienne (Wichita State), Jordan Goldwire (Oklahoma), John Meeks (College of Charleston), Orlando Robinson (Fresno State), D’Shawn Schwartz (George Mason), and Bryson Williams (Texas Tech), according to the team (Twitter link). All six of those players rank outside of the top 75 on ESPN’s big board, so they figure to receive consideration as possible second-round or UDFA targets.
On Wednesday, Hugo Besson (New Zealand Breakers), Khalifa Diop (Gran Canaria), Hyunjung Lee (Davidson), Javante McCoy (Boston University), Andrew Nembhard (Gonzaga), and Yannick Nzosa (Unicaja) make up the Hornets’ workout group (Twitter link). Several of those prospects are more highly regarded by draft experts — ESPN ranks Nembhard, Besson, and Diop 35th, 38th, and 39th respectively.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- The Wizards will be in the market for a starting point guard this offseason, but don’t expect them to pursue D’Angelo Russell. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News said on his podcast (The Scoop w/ Doogie) that he has heard Washington has no interest in the Timberwolves guard (hat tip to HoopsHype).
- The Wizards‘ pre-draft workout on Wednesday will feature Kenny Baptiste (France), Garrison Brooks (Mississippi State), Kyle Foster (Howard), Justin Kier (Arizona), Aminu Mohammed (Georgetown), and Gabe Osabuohien (West Virginia), as Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington relays (via Twitter).
- Murray State guard Tevin Brown was in Orlando on Tuesday, presumably to work out for the Magic, tweets Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. The Murray State guard is the No. 74 on ESPN’s big board, so the Magic could consider him in the second round or as an undrafted free agent.