Draft Notes: Josh Jackson, Fultz, Smith Jr., Heat
Kansas forward Josh Jackson paid a visit to Kings today, but didn’t go through a workout, tweets Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Jackson is expected to be one of the first players selected next week and probably won’t be around for Sacramento’s pick at No. 5. There have been rumors that the Kings would like to move up, but a report today said they aren’t willing to give the Sixers the fifth and 10th picks to get No. 3.
There’s more from a full day of draft workouts:
- Washington’s Markelle Fultz, projected as the top pick, has decided not to visit the Kings, according to Voisin (Twitter link).
- Paolo Uggetti of The Ringer examines which top three team might have given Jackson a guarantee. A report Monday by John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 suggested that either the Celtics, Lakers or Sixers has promised to take Jackson if he’s still on the board when their pick comes up. Jackson canceled a workout this week with Boston and agreed to a second session in L.A.
- Along with a second workout for Lonzo Ball, the Lakers will audition six other players on Friday, tweets Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. Their names have not been released.
- North Carolina State’s Dennis Smith Jr. may be in danger of slipping on draft night, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. However, some members of Philadelphia’s front office are intrigued by Smith and the team may trade down to get him, posts Ian Begley on ESPN Now.
- UCLA’s T.J. Leaf will visit Miami on Thursday to work out for the Heat, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The Heat see him as a stretch four who can hit 3-pointers and rebound and will give him serious consideration with their No. 14 pick, Jackson adds.
- Duke’s Harry Giles canceled a workout with the Heat that was scheduled for Thursday, Jackson relays in the same story.
- Kentucky’s Bam Adebayo will be part of a group workout for the Nuggets on Friday, tweets Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders.
- The Nuggets will host six players Thursday, the team announced in an email. Participating will be Florida’s Canyon Barry, Air Force’s Hayden Graham, Miami’s Kamari Murphy, Baylor’s Johnathan Motley, Arizona’s Kobi Simmons and Gonzaga’s Nigel Williams-Goss.
- Wisconsin’s Bronson Koenig, who has upcoming sessions with the Lakers and Warriors, is impressing teams with his shooting, Scotto relays (Twitter link).
- Creighton’s Cole Huff has workouts set for the Celtics on Thursday and the Lakers on Monday, tweets Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.
- North Carolina’s Justin Jackson has workouts lined up with the Knicks, Hornets, Bucks and Trail Blazers, according to Begley.
- Jackson will be part of a Pacers workout Thursday, along with Clemson’s Jaron Blossomgame, Houston’s Damyean Dotson, Marquette’s Luke Fischer, Vanderbilt’s Luke Kornet and Louisville’s Donovan Mitchell, the team announced on its website.
- Northeastern’s T.J. Williams has an upcoming workout with the Knicks and has already auditioned for the Jazz, Lakers, Clippers, Timberwolves and Raptors, Begley writes in a separate piece.
- Iowa’s Peter Jok, IUPUI’s Darell Combs, Syracuse’s Andrew White III, Connecticut’s Amida Brimah, Siena’s Marquis Wright and Lehigh’s Tim Kempton Jr. will work out Thursday for the Wizards, the team announced on its official blog.
- The Hawks hosted six players for a workout earlier today, according to the team. Participants were Kempton, California’s Jabari Bird, Loyola-Chicago’s Milton Doyle, Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowski, Middle Tennessee State’s Reggie Upshaw and Colorado’s Derrick White.
- Six players worked out today for the Jazz, the team tweeted. On hand were Indiana’s James Blackmon, Dayton’s Charles Cooke, Weber State’s Jeremy Senglin, Eastern Washington’s Jake Wiley, Alabama’s Jimmie Taylor and Texas A&M CC’s Rashawn Thomas.
Eastern Draft Notes: Knicks, Smith, Hornets, Bulls
Former North Carolina State point guard Dennis Smith Jr. is in town to work out for the Knicks, according to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link). Marc Berman of The New York Post tweets that the workout will take place tomorrow.
Smith, who was previously said to have a tentative session lined up with New York, has frequently been mentioned as a potential target for the club at No. 8. By that point, top point guards like Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, and De’Aaron Fox will almost certainly be off the board, but Smith may still be available, and the Knicks are in the market for a point guard of the future.
Here are a few more draft-related notes from around the Eastern Conference:
- The Hornets, who have the No. 11 overall pick, are another team that may be seeking a point guard in this year’s lottery, prompting Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer to examine the potential fit for French prospect Frank Ntilikina. New York (No. 8) and Dallas (No. 9) are viewed as possible landing spots for Ntilikina, but if he’s there when Charlotte picks, the Hornets – who have had trouble securing a reliable backup for Kemba Walker – may have to seriously consider him.
- Donovan Mitchell (Louisville), Kobi Simmons (Arizona), and Milton Doyle (Loyola) were among the prospects the Bulls brought in to participate in a group workout on Monday, per Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Mitchell could be a target for Chicago at No. 16 if he’s still on the board.
- The Wizards conducted a pre-draft workout on Monday and will hold another one today, according to a pair of announcements from the club. The team worked out Frank Mason III (Kansas), Michael Young (Pittsburgh), Tyler Dorsey (Oregon), Isaac Humphries (Kentucky), Ben Moore (SMU), and Moses Kingsley (Arkansas) on Monday. Tuesday’s participants will be Marcus Keene (Central Michigan), Justin Robinson (Monmouth), Przemek Karnowski (Gonzaga), Kris Jenkins (Villanova), Landen Lucas (Kansas), and Xavier Rathan-Mayes (Florida State).
Draft Notes: Knicks, J. Jackson, Suns, Lakers
There are a number of potential player/team matches in the top 10 of this year’s draft that might make sense on paper, but should be avoided in reality, according to the staff at The Ringer. Danny Chau identifies De’Aaron Fox as a less than ideal fit for the Sixers, while Jonathan Tjarks makes the case for why the Knicks should steer clear of Dennis Smith Jr.
Other picks to be avoided, in the views of The Ringer’s NBA writers? The Mavericks and Lauri Markkanen; the Kings and Jayson Tatum; and the Magic and Jonathan Isaac.
Here are a few more draft-related items from around the basketball world:
- Former North Carolina swingman Justin Jackson is scheduled to work out for the Knicks on June 13, a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post. New York has the No. 8 pick, and most experts don’t expect Jackson to come off the board quite that early, but the ACC Player of the Year is viewed as a potential lottery pick.
- The Suns are kicking off their pre-draft workouts today by taking a look at a handful of intriguing prospects, including Kyle Kuzma (Utah), Johnathan Motley (Baylor), Kobi Simmons (Arizona), and Josh Hart (Villanova). Troy Caupain (Cincinnati) and Tidjan Keita (France) round out the team’s Monday workout group (Twitter link).
- Another Pacific team, the Lakers, is working out a handful of draft prospects on Memorial Day. According to a press release from the club, the Lakers are taking a closer look at Dwayne Bacon (Florida State), Jordan Bell (Oregon), Amida Brimah (Connecticut), Kennedy Meeks (UNC), Derrick Walton Jr. (Michigan), and local prospect Bryce Alford (UCLA).
Atlantic Draft Notes: Johnson, Monk, Workouts
The Sixers don’t have a definite long-term answer at point guard, but that doesn’t mean they will necessarily address the position in the first round of this year’s draft, Jonathan Givony writes in a mock draft for The Vertical.
The team is expected to field offers for the No. 3 overall pick and if it decides to keep the selection, it’ll be hard to predict who the selection will be. Givony adds that the team is high on Kentucky guard Malik Monk, but also suggests that Kansas’ Josh Johnson could be the pick due to his upside.
Here’s more on the upcoming draft out of the Atlantic Division:
- Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer wonders if Monk is a fit for the Sixers. Philadelphia owns the No. 3 pick in the draft thanks to Sam Hinkie’s 2015 deal with the Kings.
- The Knicks have worked out Caleb Swanigan (Purdue) and Deonte Burton (Iowa State), Marc Berman of the New York Post relays. The pair of frontcourt players could be potential second round picks for the club. The franchise owns the No. 44 and No. 58 overall picks in the upcoming draft.
- The Raptors worked out Tyler Dorsey (Oregon), Dillon Brooks (Oregon), Kobi Simmons (Arizona), Semi Ojeleye (SMU), Markis McDuffie (Wichita State), and Jonathan Williams (Gonzaga) earlier this week, according to NBA.com.
Draft Workouts: Bucks, Knicks, Raptors, Kings, Lakers
With the lottery out of the way, pre-draft workouts are starting to intensify around the league. We bring you a roundup of several that we heard about today:
- Power forward Ivan Rabb of California will participate in a workout for the Bucks on Thursday, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. Projected as a mid-first-rounder, the sophomore is ranked 25th on the top 100 prospects list at DraftExpress. Milwaukee owns picks No. 17 and 48.
- Earlier today, we told you that North Carolina center Tony Bradley was working out for the Knicks. Other players involved in today’s session were Kobi Simmons, Kasey Hill, Tyler Dorsey and Omer Yurtseven, posts Ian Begley on ESPN Now. It was New York’s first day of workouts. The Knicks enter the draft with pick No. 8 and two second-round selections.
- Six players worked out for the Raptors today, relays Blake Murphy of Raptors Republic. Participating were Dylan Ennis, T.J. Williams, Rawle Alkins, Jeremy Hollowell, Rashawn Thomas and Tyler Lydon. Toronto has just one pick next month, at No. 23.
- The Kings will hold their first pre-draft workout on Thursday, the team announced on its website. Sacramento, which came out of Tuesday’s lottery with picks No. 5, 10 and 34, will welcome Landen Lucas, Naz Mitrou-Long, Brynton Lamar, Wesley Iwundu, Eric Mika and Tai Webster.
- The Lakers will host a Thursday workout for Isaac Hamilton, Zak Irvin, Davon Reed, Trevon Bluiett, Chance Comanche and Jaylen Johnson, tweets Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype. In addition to the No. 2 pick, L.A. holds the 28th selection.
Draft Workouts: Nets, Smith Jr., Magic, Bucks, Celtics
The Nets will be the only non-playoff team without a close eye on Tuesday night’s lottery results, since the Celtics have swap rights to their first-round pick. But after that swap is made, the Nets will hold the rights to the first-round picks for the two teams in action on Monday night, the Celtics and the Wizards. And Brooklyn is busy exploring its options for those two late first-round selections, along with its second-round pick.
According to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com, the Nets will bring in Rawle Alkins, Melo Trimble, Kobi Simmons, Davon Reed, Amida Brimah, and Omer Yurtseven for a group workout on Tuesday. On Thursday, Brooklyn will take a closer look at Josh Hart and Tyler Dorsey. Meanwhile, Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan is also expected to be a part of that Thursday workout, per Nathan Baird of The Journal & Courier (Twitter link).
As Brooklyn does its homework on the non-lottery prospects in this year’s draft class, let’s check out a few more workout-related updates, including an additional note on Swanigan:
- As Baird notes in his previously-linked tweet, Swanigan also has a workout lined up for May 22 with the Magic. That session will take place just two days before the deadline to withdraw from the draft and retain his eligibility — Swanigan appears likely to take that decision down to the wire.
- One of this year’s top point guard prospects, Dennis Smith Jr., worked out today for the Magic, as Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel details.
- The Bucks brought in six prospects – JaJuan Johnson, Dwayne Bacon, Trevon Bluiett, Tyler Dorsey, Damyean Dotson, and Davon Reed – for a group workout on Monday, according to the team.
- Georgia guard J.J. Frazier has workouts lined up with the Bucks, Kings, and Lakers after getting a look from the Timberwolves today, tweets Adam Zagoria. L.J. Peak and Antonio Blakeney are among the prospects joining Frazier at Minnesota’s group workout today, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News.
- Marcus Keene, Tacko Fall, Michael Ojo, and others are participating in a group workout on Monday with the Celtics, sources tell Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).