Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Woelfel On Sloan, Bucks, Weltman, Redick, Noel

May 17th, 2013 at 9:06am CST by Luke Adams

Although he played well in this year's NCAA tournament, Vander Blue was one of the more surprising names on 2013's early entrant list, considering he's widely viewed as a second-round pick at best. But Blue told reporters at this week's draft combine in Chicago that he's confident in his decision, and expects to surprise anyone who doesn't think he'll produce in the NBA.

"Nobody expected [former Marquette teammate] Jimmy [Butler] to be who he is today with the Bulls," said Blue, according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times. "Nobody probably expects me to do any good in the NBA. But I know how to go about my business. I’m more than confident."

After discussing Blue's decision to declare for the draft and passing along a few of his quotes, Woelfel's latest column explores a few other topics of note. Here are the highlights:

Woelfel reiterates that Jerry Sloan still has a desire to return to coaching, but not with the Bucks, as we heard last night.
In addition to the interviews we heard about yesterday, the Bucks also met with Jamaal Franklin and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, says Woelfel.
Woelfel hears from NBA officials that Bucks assistant GM Jeff Weltman may have had a verbal agreement in place with Suns president Lon Babby to become the team's GM, but that owner Robert Sarver nixed the deal. Phoenix ultimately ended up hiring Ryan McDonough.
According to Woelfel, there's a "growing sentiment" that J.J. Redick will sign with a team besides the Bucks this summer.
Nerlens Noel, the favorite to be the No. 1 pick next month, still hasn't decided on an agent, says Woelfel. One report last month suggested Noel may become Jay-Z's first basketball client.

Odds & Ends: Timberwolves, Handy, Agent News

May 8th, 2013 at 9:35pm CST by Michael Pina

A few random notes from around the league.

The Cavaliers have received permission to speak with Lakers development coach Phil Handy, who was previously a member of Mike Brown's coaching staff, tweets Yahoo! Sports reporter Marc J. Spears.
Now that he's President of the Timberwolves Basketball Operations, Flip Saunders is beginning to make some changes, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune's Jerry Zgoda. He started by firing four scouts whose contracts were set to expire this summer.
According to a tweet from Draft Express writer Jonathan Givony, NBA hopefuls Kelly Olynyk, Ray McCallum, Arsalan Kazemi, Alex Oriakhi, Dexter Strickland, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have all signed with the Wasserman Media Group for representation.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope To Enter Draft

April 15th, 2013 at 10:09am CST by Luke Adams

The latest NCAA underclassman heading to the NBA is Georgia's Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, according to Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com. The sophomore shooting guard will forgo his remaining two years of collegiate eligibility and go pro, Goodman reports. The school confirmed the news in a press release.

Caldwell-Pope improved his numbers across the board in his second season with Georgia, averaging 18.5 PPG and 7.1 RPG. He is currently ranked 21st among 2013 prospects by ESPN.com's Chad Ford and 31st by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com.

Caldwell-Pope scored particularly well in a recent look at projected WARP for this year's draft class by ESPN.com's Kevin Pelton (Insider-only link). According to Ford, many general managers who use advanced metrics are high on the 20-year-old, who is viewed as a second-rounder by most scouts.

To keep tabs on all the early entrants for this year's draft, be sure to check out our complete list.

Woelfel On Heisley, Josh Smith, Bucks, Hornets

April 2nd, 2013 at 4:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times touches on several juicy topics from around the league in his latest piece. We'll hit the highlights here:

Former Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has been in a coma for more than a month, and prospects for his recovery from a February stroke are "extremely bleak," Woelfel reports. Heisley was nearing a deal to join the Bucks ownership group with the intention of becoming the primary owner in a few years, but current primary owner Herb Kohl backed out of the deal, according to Woelfel, who adds that Kohl is still open to finding a partner.
We heard before the deadline that the Hawks wanted a "quality young center" in return for Josh Smith, but the Bucks deemed Larry Sanders and power forwards Ersan Ilyasova and John Henson off-limits as the teams engaged in talks.
Woelfel heard from Smith, who adds the Hornets to the lengthy list of teams that were after him at the deadline.
The Bucks would have made additional trades if they had acquired Smith, and they had interest in Eric Maynor, who wound up going from the Thunder to the Blazers.
Woelfel spoke to Kyle Korver, who indicates the Hawks are in the driver's seat when he hits free agency this summer. "I’m definitely hoping to stay here (with Atlanta)," Korver said. "It’s been a great experience. And we have an awesome coach (Larry Drew) to play for."
Some NBA scouts believe Georgia shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope could wind up being drafted at the back end of the lottery this year. He's listed as No. 38 on the DraftExpress top-100 prospects list, and No. 20 in ESPN's rankings.