Karron Johnson

And-Ones: LeBron, Embiid, Diawara, Johnson

There has been some chatter that former GM Chris Grant could have been the key to bringing LeBron James back to the Cavs but that is nothing more than a tall tale, writes
Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. If Grant had a grand plan to bring LeBron back to Cleveland, Amico surmises, then he probably would have made that known to owner Dan Gilbert . Here’s tonight’s look around the Association..

  • Top draft prospect Joel Embiid will miss the Big 12 Tournament thanks to a back injury and at least one GM believes that it’s now a three-horse race for the No. 1 pick, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com.
  • Yakhouba Diawara officially parted ways with French team Gravelines-Dunkerque, writes Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.  The French forward was averaging 11.9 PPG and 3.5 RPG in Pro A and 12.9 PPG in Eurocup.  The four-year NBA veteran last appeared in the league with the Heat in 2010.
  • Undrafted forward Karron Johnson has signed a contract in the NBA D-League, a source tells Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter).  Johnson, a product of Shaw University (Division II), left his Polish team last week.
  • Thanks to the tremendous play of Al Jefferson, the extraordinary coaching of Steve Clifford, and the impressive development of Kemba Walker, the Bobcats have positioned themselves in the playoff hunt, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.

Draft Workout Updates: Friday

With just six days left until the 2013 draft, NBA teams continue to bring in prospects to work them out and gather as much information as they can. Here are the latest updates on workouts taking place today, over the weekend, and early next week:

  • Allen Crabbe will work out Tuesday with the Bucks and Wednesday for the Nets, reports Scott Howard Cooper of NBA.com. Crabbe, widely projected as a late first-rounder at best, made it a priority to visit the Bucks, who have the No. 15 pick (Twitter links).
  • Mason Plumlee wasn't on the list the Pistons released of players with whom the team has met, but he was scheduled to work out for Detroit on Friday, according to MLive's David Mayo.
  • We heard about Vander Blue's workout with the Bucks today (below), and Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel notes that Blue has also auditioned for the Mavs, Spurs, Hawks, Sixers, Pistons and Magic, with another workout on tap for Monday with the Grizzlies.

Earlier updates:

  • Anthony Bennett will visit the Bobcats on Saturday, though his injured rotator cuff will prevent him from working out, tweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
  • Pelicans GM Dell Demps traveled Friday to get a close look at Victor Oladipo, sources confirmed to John Reid of The Times Picayune.
  • Keith Langlois of Pistons.com passed along a list of players who met with the Pistons this past week: Trey Burke, Michael Carter-Williams, C.J. McCollum, Cody Zeller, Derrick Nix, Dexter Strickland, Augusto Cesar Lima, Jared Berggren, Kenny Boynton and Karron Johnson (All Twitter links).
  • The Kings updated the workout schedule on their website, which shows Shabazz MuhammadDoug Anderson, A.J. Davis, John Dickson, Mfon Udofia and Kwame Vaughn coming in Saturday. McCollum will be in for a workout on Monday, Cowbell Kingdom's James Ham tweets.
  • Today's workout for the Timberwolves is expected to be the last one for the team, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, adding that Mason Plumlee, Kelly Olynyk, Colton Iverson, and Christian Watford were in attendance.
  • Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution passes along a couple tweets from Gorgui Dieng, surmising that the big man appears to be in Atlanta for a workout with the Hawks.
  • The Suns' workout today is headlined by Glen Rice Jr., according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, who has the full list of participants in a pair of tweets.
  • Vander Blue, Grant Jerrett, Brock Motum, Dejan Musli, Nemanja Nedovic, and Andrew Smith are working out for the Bucks today, according to the team's PR Twitter feed.
  • Tim Hardaway Jr. and Erick Green will be among the prospects working out for the Nets on Monday, the team announced in a press release.
  • Hardaway Jr. was also among the prospects who worked out for the Clippers today, along with Tony Snell, Ricky Ledo, and Reggie Bullock (link via Eric Patten of Clippers.com).
  • The Pacers announced today that they'll work out a a handful of prospects tomorrow: Matt Dellavedova, Angel Sharpless, Jamaal Franklin, Zeke Marshall, and Jeff Withey.

Draft Rumors: Noel, Snell, Olynyk, Blazers, Adams

Chad Ford of ESPN.com delivered enough draft rumors for their own post this afternoon, and we rounded up more draft-related news in another post this morning. It's not hard to tell that the big event takes place just two weeks and two days from now. Here are tonight's updates, via Twitter unless otherwise noted:

  • In spite of rumors that the Cavaliers probably won't draft him first overall, Nerlens Noel will visit with Cleveland on June 20th, following Saturday's meeting with the Wizards, The Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer reports.
  • Tony Snell's stock is on the rise, and two executives have told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that the New Mexico swingman has solidified a spot in the first round.
  • Kelly Olynyk is the most prominent name among a group of six prospects working out for the Blazers today, as Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com passes along. John Allen, Chris Babb, Erik Murphy, D.J. Stephens and Khalif Wyatt were the others in attendance.
  • The Timberwolves will turn their focus to big men Thursday, when Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert and Mike Muscala will participate in a group workout for the team, observes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Cody Zeller will be in Minnesota the same day, but he'll work out separately. 
  • C.J. McCollum will participate in a workout Wednesday for the Jazz that will also include Scott Bamforth from nearby Weber State, notes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News
  • Jared Berggren has shown off his skills in front of the Blazers and Suns, and the Wisconsin power forward will get to do so for the Bucks, likely on Thursday, according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times
  • Mason Plumlee is the headliner in a Wizards audition set for Wednesday, the team announced via press release. Karron Johnson, Bruce Massey, Brock Motum, Dexter Strickland and Kellen Thornton will join him.

Draft Notes: Oladipo, Ledo, Johnson

Earlier today, Chad Ford of ESPN.com released his latest mock draft and he somewhat surprisingly had Indiana's Victor Oladipo going No. 2 to the Magic.  The forward has long been thought to be a top ten talent, but this is the highest that we've seen him projected on any of the major mock drafts.  The reason?  Oladipo is said to be wowing NBA execs in interviews and his maturity and attitude could be enough to vault him past the likes of Trey BurkeBen McLemore, and Otto Porter.  Here's the latest draft news..

  • Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld profiles the draft's mystery man, Ricky Ledo.  The Providence product's draft stock has been on the rise recently, and he’s one of the most intriguing, and mysterious, players in this year's class.  What makes his story so unusual is that Ledo has never played a second of college basketball after being ruled ineligible by the NCAA.  However, the freshman stayed sharp by practicing with Providence last year.  Ledo feels that he would have been a top pick this year if he had the opportunity to showcase himself, but even without having played competitively last year, he could still go in the first round.
  • Meanwhile, Karron Johnson out of Division II Shaw University is another player that teams may be willing to take a gamble on, writes Shams Charania of RealGM.  The 6-foot-8 forward, who was originally slated to attend Oklahoma, has scheduled workouts with seven teams that have let him know they will consider him as a potential second round pick.