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Justin Jackson (Maryland)

And-Ones: J. Jackson, Kuzminskas, Douglas, Shved

December 29th, 2017 at 1:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

A torn right labrum is a huge setback for Maryland’s Justin Jackson, writes Roman Stubbs of The Washington Post. The sophomore forward had considered entering the NBA draft last summer after averaging 10.5 points per game and shooting 44% from 3-point range during his first year in college. Jackson has been declared out for the remainder of this season and will face a difficult decision about returning to school for another year.

Jackson’s numbers declined somewhat this season as he tried to play through the shoulder pain. He missed the past three games and a decision to have surgery was reached this week after a second medical opinion. Jackson is ranked 22nd in Jonathan Givony’s latest mock draft for ESPN.

“It’s an old injury,” said Terrapins coach Mark Turgeon. “It happened before he came to Maryland, is what the doctors told me. He reaggravated it a lot this year. So he’s a tough sucker. A torn labrum is a pretty significant injury; it’s pretty painful, and he tried to play through it for his team.”

There’s more NBA-related news from around the world:

  • Former Knicks forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas has received five offers to play in the EuroLeague, relays Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). He only wants to sign for the rest of this season to give himself a shot at returning to the NBA. Kuzminskas was waived in mid-November when New York had to open a roster spot to accommodate Joakim Noah‘s return from his suspension. Kuzminskas had a promising rookie season with the Knicks, but only got into one game this year.
  • Toney Douglas, who spent part of last season with the Grizzlies, has signed with Anadolu Efes in Turkey, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando. Douglas played 24 games for Memphis a year ago, but was waived twice during the season. The 31-year-old spent time with seven teams during his eight-year career. The Turkish team opened a roster spot by waiving former NBA guard Ricky Ledo, tweets international writer David Pick.
  • Two players with previous NBA experience top Givony’s list of international targets for next season. Alexey Shved, now 29, is in the final year of his contract with Khimki Moscow and is leading both the Euroleague and the VTB League in scoring. He played 182 games for four NBA teams and last appeared in the league with the Knicks in 2015. Jan Vesely, the sixth player taken in the 2011 draft, has transformed into an athletic center for Fenerbahce in Turkey. His style of play fits the modern NBA, and the 27-year-old recently said he hasn’t given up on returning to the league.
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And-Ones: Jackson, Bennett, Williams, Clippers

December 28th, 2017 at 10:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Maryland sophomore forward Justin Jackson, a projected first-round pick, will miss the reminder of the season with a torn labrum, according to a school press release relayed by Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com. Jackson first suffered the injury before he joined the Terrapins and aggravated it numerous times this season. He’ll soon undergo surgery. The 6’7” Jackson was ranked as the No. 18 overall prospect by Jonathan Givony of ESPN earlier this month. He was averaging 9.8 PPG and 8.1 RPG.

In other news from around the league:

  • Anthony Bennett, the No. 1 pick in the 2013 draft, was acquired by the Celtics’ G-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, according to the G-League team’s website. He was dealt by the Northern Arizona Suns. Bennett appeared in 14 games with Northern Arizona, averaging 11.7 PPG and 5.6 RPG.
  • Former NBA forward Derrick Williams has signed with the Tianjin Gold Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to an ESPN report. Williams, 26, played a combined 50 games for the Cavaliers and Heat last season. The second overall pick in the 2011 draft also played for the Timberwolves, Kings and Knicks. He averaged 8.9 PPG and 4.0 RPG in his NBA career.
  • The Clippers have gotten lost in the shuffle in Los Angeles and it’s not going to get better considering the current state of the team, as Mark Heisler of the Orange County Register examines in a column. Owner Steve Ballmer has threatened to move the team to Inglewood but the Clippers’ lease at the Staples Center runs through 2024, Heisler continues. Seattle would be a natural landing place considering Ballmer’s roots there but he has brushed aside that speculation in the past, Heisler adds.
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List Of Early Extrants Exceeds Draft Spots

May 25th, 2017 at 2:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The deadline for NCAA players to withdraw their names after declaring for the draft passed on Wednesday evening. The number of American early-entry candidates that opted to officially leave school and stay in the draft exceeded the 60-player draft that the NBA will conduct next month.

While no official list has been released, we count 63 NCAA early-entry prospects who will be waiting for their name to be called. Our updated list can be found here. The final draft list will be set after the early entrant withdrawal deadline for international and other non-NCAA players passes on June 12.

One of the recent surprises among players remaining in the draft was North Carolina State freshman big man Ted Kapita. He is not listed among the Top 100 draft prospects by DraftExpress.

Among the late withdrawals who were in DraftExpress’ Top 60 included Maryland small forward Justin Jackson (No. 31), Kentucky shooting guard Hamidou Diallo (No. 42) and Texas point guard Andrew Jones (No. 54). (Twitter link).

Other players who made late decisions to remove their names from the draft include USC’s Shaqquan Aaron, Xavier’s Trevon Bluiett, Florida’s John Egbunu, Arkansas’ Daryl Macon, Kansas’ Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, and Stetson’s Divine Myles and Derick Newton.

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Draft Update: Wilson, Wagner, Williams, Yurtseven

May 24th, 2017 at 1:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

Michigan’s D.J. Wilson has decided to remain in the draft, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. The 6’10 sophomore is projected as a possible late first-rounder, with Givony putting him 29th in his top 100 list. Sources told Rod Beard of The Detroit News that Wilson has received a guarantee from the Jazz, who own the 24th and 30th picks (Twitter link). Wilson averaged 11.0 points and 5.3 rebounds for the Wolverines this season.

There are more draft decisions to report as tonight’s deadline for collegians to withdraws gets closer:

  • Wilson’s teammate, Moritz Wagner, will spend another season at Michigan, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). The 6’11” sophomore out of Germany was reluctant to make the move to the NBA until he was sure he is ready, relays Brendan F. Quinn of MLive (Twitter link). “I would’ve hated myself if I’d found myself in the D-League next year,” Wagner said. “I would rather play in college.”
  • Johnathan Williams is headed back to national runner-up Gonzaga (via Rothstein). The 6’9″ forward averaged 10.2 points per game as a junior and was a long shot to be drafted.
  • Omer Yurtseven will withdraw from the draft and spend another season at North Carolina State, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. The 7-footer out of Uzbekistan was a part-time player with the Wolfpack as a freshman, averaging 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per night.
  • Justin Jackson has decided to spend another year at Maryland (via Goodman). DraftExpress projects the 6’8″ freshman to be a first-round pick in 2018.
  • Tacko Fall will be back at Central Florida next season (via Rothstein). The 7’6″ native of Senegal averaged 10.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game as a freshman with the Golden Knights.
  • MiKyle McIntosh has pulled out of the draft and plans to transfer from Illinois State, tweets Evan Daniels of Fox Sports 1. The Canadian forward averaged 12.7 points per game this season and will be eligible immediately at his next school.
  • Chris Clemons will return to Campbell next season (via Rothstein). The sophomore point guard would have been an extreme long shot to be drafted.
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Draft Notes: Bradley, Swanigan, Deadline Decisions

May 24th, 2017 at 9:10am CST by Arthur Hill

North Carolina center Tony Bradley will hire an agent and remain in the NBA draft, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. After helping the Tar Heels capture the national championship, Bradley faces conflicting opinions about his draft status, with DraftExpress placing him 41st on its list of top 100 prospects but ESPN’s Chad Ford projecting him as a first-rounder at No. 22. The 6’10” freshman averaged 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds during his lone season at North Carolina.

Bradley is among several dominoes that will fall as the deadline for withdrawing from the draft looms tonight. Here’s a roundup of some other prospects:

Here are several players have made a final decision to forgo the draft and head back to school:

Chris Crouse contributed to this post.

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NBA Confirms 182 Early Entrants For 2017 Draft

April 25th, 2017 at 5:40pm CST by Luke Adams

With the deadline for early entrants to enter the 2017 NBA draft now behind us, the league has officially released the list of this year’s early entry candidates, and it’s a long one. According to the NBA’s announcement, 182 players have declared early for the draft — 137 college players and 45 international prospects. That’s a new record.

As was the case a year ago, NCAA rules changes allow underclassmen to “test the waters” before officially committing to the 2017 NBA draft. NCAA early entrants can withdraw their names any time up until May 24 while maintaining their NCAA eligibility, as long as they haven’t hired agents. That means that prospects testing the waters can take part in the NBA draft combine from May 9-14 – if invited – and they can work out for individual teams in the coming weeks.

International early entrants can also withdraw their names from the draft pool within the next several weeks. The final draft list will be set after the early entrant withdrawal deadline for international and other non-NCAA players passes on June 12.

A year ago, a whopping 162 NCAA and international players declared their intent to enter the draft early, but 91 of those players eventually withdrew. This year should follow a similar pattern, so the group of eligible draftees for 2017 figures to be reduced significantly by June 12.

Listed below are the current early entrants, according to the NBA. Players whose intent to declare wasn’t previously reported on Hoops Rumors are listed in italics.

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