Marial Shayok

Draft Notes: Vick, Caroline, Kings

The NBA Draft is less than one month away. As we await the big night, let’s take a look at some workout notes:

Draft Workouts: Pistons, Sixers, Wolves, Kings

Centers Bruno Fernando (Maryland) and Daniel Gafford (Arkansas) were among the prospects the Pistons brought in on Tuesday, Rod Beard of the Detroit News tweets. Fernando is ranked the fifth-best center prospect by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and No. 34 overall. Gafford is right behind him among centers and No. 38 overall. Detroit currently holds the No. 15 and No. 45 picks. Shooting guards Fletcher Magee (Wofford), SG Jaylin Walker (Kent State) and Ky Bowman (Boston College) and wing Cody Martin (Nevada) also visited the Pistons’ practice facility on Tuesday.

We have more draft workout info:

And-Ones: Pelicans, Draft, Hornets

New Pelicans GM Trajan Langdon said leaving Brooklyn was a “very difficult decision” for him and his family, as he told Hoops Rumors and other outlets during his introductory press conference call earlier today. However, the chance to team up with head of basketball operations David Griffin again was too great to pass up.

“The opportunity to join up with Griff again and do something special in a place that nobody believes it can be done — aside from the people in this organization and the city — is something that is very intriguing,” Langdon said.

[RELATED: David Griffin Plans To Meet With Anthony Davis In Los Angeles]

Langdon will serve under Griffin, but his roles and responsibilities are not yet fully defined. The two men previously worked together in Cleveland and are familiar with one another, with Langdon emphasizing during today’s conference call that Griffin is not a micromanager. Griffin said that their relationship allows them “to challenge each other in ways strangers may not be able to.”

Langdon aided the Nets‘ turnaround, helping the franchise rebuild, and was key in helping to build talent in Brooklyn’s G League team. The Pelicans will put out a G League squad for the first time in franchise history next season.

Here’s more from around the league:

And-Ones: Combine, Coach Challenges, World Cup

Eleven prospects who participated in this week’s G League Elite Camp in Chicago have been invited to stick around to attend the actual draft combine, which will begin today and run through this Sunday.

According to a tweet from the NBA G League, those 11 players are as follows: Oshae Brissett (Syracuse), Tyler Cook (Iowa), Terence Davis (Ole Miss), Tacko Fall (UCF), Jared Harper (Auburn), Dewan Hernandez (Miami), DaQuan Jeffries (Tulsa), Terance Mann (Florida State), Cody Martin (Nevada), Reggie Perry (Mississippi State), and Marial Shayok (Iowa State).

A total of 40 draft-eligible prospects who weren’t initially invited to the draft combine worked out in front of NBA teams at the G League Elite Camp. Teams were then polled on which prospects they’d most like to get a longer look at for this week’s combine. The group of 11 prospects who were chosen will join the 65 players who were initially announced as combine participants last week.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Multiple sources tell ESPN’s Zach Lowe that the “liveliest” topic of discussion at Tuesday’s GM meetings involved the possibility of instituting a system for coaches’ replay challenges, which exist in many other major sports. According to Lowe, not everyone agreed on what should be reviewable, with some GMs arguing that coaches should be able to challenge foul calls, while others disagreed. There was also discussion about whether a challenge should cost a team a timeout, regardless of whether a call is reversed or upheld.
  • Sixers All-Star Ben Simmons announced this week that he intends to play for Australia in the 2019 FIBA World Cup (link via ESPN.com). He’ll be joined on the Australian squad by Jazz sharpshooter Joe Ingles, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. However, Roy Ward of The Age Sport (Twitter link) hears that Ingles’ teammate Dante Exum is unlikely to participate in the event due to his knee injury.
  • The NBA and the National Basketball Coaches Association are creating a program intended to better identify and illuminate potential coaches among groups that are underrepresented, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. “We are not talking about a quota system,” Mavericks coach and NBCA president Rick Carlisle told ESPN. “Rival leagues have proven that mandates and demands for diverse hiring practices do not work. Our goal is an absolute equal opportunity for all our members to develop their skills on a level playing field.”

Draft Workouts: Raptors, Lamb, Sixers, Hawks

The Raptors will bring in six players in their first pre-draft workout on Tuesday, Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets. They’ll take a look at center/power forward Josh Sharma (Stanford) and Tanor Ngom (Ryerson in Canada), forward Tres Tinkle (Oregon State), swingmen Jordan Davis (Northern Colorado) and DaQuan Jeffries (Tulsa) and point guard Daishon Smith (Louisiana-Monroe).

We have more draft info: