Karter Knox Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Karter Knox Withdraws From Draft, Returns To Arkansas

May 26th, 2025 at 9:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Potential second-round pick Karter Knox is withdrawing from the draft and returning to Arkansas, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony tweets.

The 6’6” wing could move into first-round consideration next June with a strong sophomore season. Knox started 24 of 36 games for the Razorbacks as a freshman but posted fairly modest stats — he averaged 8.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists per contest while shooting 46.2% from the field and 35.0% from beyond the arc.

Knox was ranked No. 56 on ESPN’s list of this year’s top 100 prospects.

Knox, 20, was considered a top-30 player in the 2024 recruiting class and originally committed to Kentucky. He followed coach John Calipari to Arkansas after Calipari left the Wildcats’ program.

Knox is the younger brother of 2018 lottery pick Kevin Knox, who finished this season with Golden State.

Fischer’s Latest: Cavs, Rockets, Hawks, Blazers, Draft

May 16th, 2025 at 2:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers avoided the luxury tax this season when they sent Caris LeVert and Georges Niang to Atlanta at the trade deadline in a deal for De’Andre Hunter, which allowed them to duck below the tax threshold by less than $1MM. According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), that move was widely viewed as one intended to create financial flexibility for the Cavs going forward, rather than as part of a directive to cut costs.

The Cavaliers’ salary projects to soar well into apron territory beginning in 2025/26, and while the team presumably has some sort of upper limit for how much it’s willing to spend in a given season, Dan Gilbert has been portrayed as an owner who is comfortable paying tax penalties as long as the club is a legitimate contender, according to Fischer.

Despite Cleveland’s second-round playoff exit, the club presumably still views itself as a contender on the heels of a 64-win season, Fischer notes. That means it appears safe to assume the Cavs will operate above the luxury tax line for the foreseeable future, with future repeater penalties pushed down the road by an extra year as a result of avoiding the tax this season.

Here’s more from Fischer:

Rival teams expect the Rockets to explore trading the No. 10 overall pick in this year’s draft for win-now talent, according to Fischer, who notes that last year’s No. 3 pick Reed Sheppard couldn’t break into Houston’s regular rotation during his first season. People around the league are skeptical the Rockets will be looking to add another lottery-pick rookie to the mix as the club looks to take the next step toward title contention.
Although the Hawks continue to seek a new head of basketball operations and have arranged interviews with some candidates, there’s still a chance that Atlanta opts not to make an additional hire after dismissing Landry Fields and promoting Onsi Saleh to general manager, sources tell Fischer. There is already reportedly no shortage of executives who have a voice in Atlanta’s personnel decisions, as we detailed last month.
In addition to reiterating that the Pelicans would be a potential facilitator to watch in the event of a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade request, Fischer points to the Trail Blazers as another team to monitor in that scenario. While New Orleans controls Milwaukee’s 2026 and 2027 first-round picks via swap rights, Portland will be in that position from 2028-30, so if the Bucks want to regain control of their own drafts, they’d have to deal with one or both of those clubs.
Yaxel Lendeborg, Miles Byrd, Cedric Coward, and Karter Knox are among the prospects testing the draft waters whose decisions are being “eagerly awaited” by NBA teams, Fischer writes. According to Fischer, all four players have multi-million-dollar NIL offers on the table if they return to college, including a $3MM+ offer from Michigan for Lendeborg. They have until May 28 to decide whether to keep their names in the draft pool or withdraw.
In case you missed it, Fischer reported that there’s a “rising expectation” Myles Turner will re-sign with the Pacers, as we covered in a separate story.

NBA Announces 75 Invitees For 2025 Draft Combine

May 2nd, 2025 at 3:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA announced today (via Twitter) that 75 prospects have been invited to attend this year’s draft combine, which will take place in Chicago from May 11-18.

In addition to those 75 players, a handful of standout players from the G League Elite Camp, which is also held in Chicago just before the combine begins, are expected to receive invites to stick around for the main event.

Not all of the prospects invited to the combine will end up remaining in the 2025 draft pool, since many are early entrants who are testing the waters while retaining their NCAA eligibility.

College players must withdraw from the draft by the end of the day on May 28 if they wish to preserve that eligibility, while non-college players face a decision deadline of June 15. The feedback they receive from NBA teams at the combine may be a deciding factor for players who are on the fence.

Here’s the list of players who have been invited to the 2025 draft combine:

(Note: For players in international leagues, the country listed is where they had been playing, not necessarily where they’re from.)

Izan Almansa, F/C, Australia (born 2005)
Neoklis Avdalas, G/F, Greece (born 2006)
Ace Bailey, G/F, Rutgers (freshman)
Joan Beringer, C, Slovenia (born 2006)
Koby Brea, G, Kentucky (senior)
Johni Broome, F/C, Auburn (senior)
Carter Bryant, F, Arizona (freshman)
Miles Byrd, G, San Diego State (sophomore)
Walter Clayton Jr., G, Florida (senior)
Nique Clifford, G, Colorado State (senior)
Alex Condon, F/C, Florida (sophomore)
Cedric Coward, F, Washington State (senior)
Egor Demin, G, BYU (freshman)
Eric Dixon, F, Villanova (senior)
V.J. Edgecombe, G, Baylor (freshman)
Noa Essengue, F, Germany (born 2006)
Isaiah Evans, G/F, Duke (freshman)
Jeremiah Fears, G, Oklahoma (freshman)
Cooper Flagg, F, Duke (freshman)
Boogie Fland, G, Arkansas (freshman)
Rasheer Fleming, F/C, St. Joseph’s (junior)
Vladislav Goldin, C, Michigan (senior)
Hugo Gonzalez, F, Spain (born 2006)
PJ Haggerty, G, Memphis (sophomore)
Dylan Harper, G, Rutgers (freshman)
Ben Henshall, G/F, Australia (born 2004)
Kasparas Jakucionis, G, Illinois (freshman)
Sion James, G, Duke (senior)
Tre Johnson, G, Texas (freshman)
Kameron Jones, G, Marquette (senior)
Ryan Kalkbrenner, C, Creighton (senior)
Karter Knox, F, Arkansas (freshman)
Kon Knueppel, G/F, Duke (freshman)
Chaz Lanier, G, Tennessee (senior)
Yaxel Lendeborg, F, UAB (senior)
RJ Luis, F, St. John’s (junior)
Khaman Maluach, C, Duke (freshman)
Bogoljub Markovic, F/C, Serbia (born 2005)
Alijah Martin, G, Florida (senior)
Liam McNeeley, F, UConn (freshman)
Jalon Moore, F, Oklahoma (senior)
Collin Murray-Boyles, F, South Carolina (sophomore)
Grant Nelson, F, Alabama (senior)
Asa Newell, F, Georgia (freshman)
Otega Oweh, G, Kentucky (junior)
Dink Pate, G/F, Mexico City Capitanes (born 2006)
Micah Peavy, G/F, Georgetown (senior)
Noah Penda, F, France (born 2005)
Tahaad Pettiford, G, Auburn (freshman)
Labaron Philon, G, Alabama (freshman)
Drake Powell, G/F, UNC (freshman)
Tyrese Proctor, G, Duke (junior)
Derik Queen, C, Maryland (freshman)
Maxime Raynaud, F/C, Stanford (senior)
Jase Richardson, G, Michigan State (freshman)
Will Riley, F, Illinois (freshman)
Michael Ruzic, F, Spain (born 2006)
Hunter Sallis, G, Wake Forest (senior)
Kobe Sanders, G, Nevada (senior)
Ben Saraf, G, Germany (born 2006)
Mark Sears, G, Albama (senior)
Max Shulga, G, VCU (senior)
Javon Small, G, West Virginia (senior)
Thomas Sorber, F/C, Georgetown (freshman)
Adou Thiero, F, Arkansas (junior)
John Tonje, G, Wisconsin (senior)
Alex Toohey, F, Australia (born 2004)
Nolan Traore, G, France (born 2006)
Milos Uzan, G, Houston (junior)
Jamir Watkins, G/F, Florida State (senior)
Brice Williams, G/F, Nebraska (senior)
Darrion Williams, F, Texas Tech (junior)
Danny Wolf, F/C, Michigan (junior)
Hansen Yang, C, China (born 2005)
Rocco Zikarsky, C, Australia (born 2006)

It’s worth noting that the NBA and the NBPA agreed to several combine-related changes in their latest Collective Bargaining Agreement. Here are a few of those changes:

A player who is invited to the draft combine and declines to attend without an excused absence will be ineligible to be drafted. He would become eligible the following year by attending the combine. There will be exceptions made for a player whose FIBA season is ongoing, who is injured, or who is dealing with a family matter (such as a tragedy or the birth of a child).
Players who attend the draft combine will be required to undergo physical exams, share medical history, participate in strength, agility, and performance testing, take part in shooting drills, receive anthropometric measurements, and conduct interviews with teams and the media. Scrimmages won’t be mandatory.
Medical results from the combine will be distributed to select teams based on where the player is projected to be drafted. Only teams drafting in the top 10 would get access to medical info for the projected No. 1 pick; teams in the top 15 would receive medical info for players in the 2-6 range, while teams in the top 25 would get access to info for the players in the 7-10 range.

Draft Notes: Portsmouth, Ament, Avdalas, Early Entrants

April 22nd, 2025 at 9:29am CST by Luke Adams

Describing the event as a “springboard for under-the-radar grinders,” Cyro Asseo de Choch of HoopsHype shares some takeaways and identifies several standout prospects from this year’s Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, which took place from April 16-19 in Portsmouth, VA.

East Carolina guard RJ Felton – the cousin of former NBA guard Raymond Felton – was among those standouts, showing off deep shooting range, play-making, and a high-energy style at the PIT, according to Asseo de Choch. Texas center Kadin Shedrick, Arkansas big man Jonas Aidoo, Belmont forward Jonathan Pierre, and Butler wing Jahmyl Telfort are among the other prospects who had strong showings in Portsmouth.

Here are a few more draft-related notes:

Nate Ament, an 18-year-old forward who projects to be one of the top prospects in the NBA’s 2026 draft class, has committed to Tennessee for the 2025/26 season, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link). “Coach (Rick) Barnes sees me as a one-and-done type player,” Ament said. “He has done it before with Kevin Durant. He sees me as that kind of guy.” Ament came in at No. 4 when ESPN published its first 2026 mock draft earlier this year.
Greek wing Neoklis Avdalas will test the 2025 NBA draft waters while maintaining his NCAA eligibility, agent Alex Saratsis tells Givony (Twitter link). Avdalas isn’t on ESPN’s list of top 100 prospects for 2025, but he’s been having a strong season for Peristeri in Greece’s domestic league, Givony notes, adding that the 19-year-old projects as an impact freshman if he decides to withdraw from the draft and play college ball next season.
Arkansas freshman Karter Knox and Florida sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu are among the other early entrants who have recently declared for the draft without giving up their remaining college eligibility, having made their announcements on Instagram. They’re on our running list of 2025 early entrants, which we published on Monday and will continue to update.

And-Ones: Knox, Hoard, Antetokounmpo, Rivers

July 31st, 2023 at 10:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Overtime Elite has signed five-star recruit Karter Knox, the team tweets. Karter Knox is the younger brother of NBA forward Kevin Knox. He’s entering his senior year of high school after leading Tampa Catholic to state semifinal appearances the last two seasons.

“Karter didn’t really want to leave,” his father Kevin Sr. told PrimeTimePreps.com. “He wanted to try to become the school’s all-time leading scorer and win a state title. If the state offered those (NIL) opportunities, it would have been a much tougher decision. This also gives Karter the ability to have constant training on a daily basis in an IMG type of setup. It is an extremely lucrative opportunity, not just in the money available, but in the value of getting Karter prepared for the next level. It’s just another layer to add to the foundation.”

We have more from around the basketball world:

Jaylen Hoard has signed a two-year extension with Hapoel Tel Aviv, Sportando relays. Hoard averaged 8.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game between the Winner League and Eurocup last season. After going undrafted out of Wake Forest in 2019, the 6’8″, French-born swingman joined the Trail Blazers on a two-way deal for the 2019/20 season. He then spent the subsequent two NBA seasons bouncing between the Thunder and their NBAGL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue.
It’s still up in the air whether Giannis Antetokounmpo will play in the FIBA World Cup for the Greek National Team, according to Eurohoops.net. Coach Dimitris Itoudis said Antetokounmpo’s cleanup procedure on his knee in June has led to the uncertainty regarding his availability. “That should be addressed to our doctor and the doctors of the Bucks. The information is that he is making an effort, and he will be reevaluated shortly, and we will have a final decision on whether he will make it or not,” Itoudis said.
Austin Rivers said on his recent podcast that he’s not a fan of players like Damian Lillard and James Harden demanding to be traded to a certain team (hat tip to NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin). “If you’re a free agent you can choose where you were gonna go, that’s the business. But when you’re not and you sign a deal, that’s part of the business,” Rivers said. “If you get traded somewhere, you got to go play.”