New York Notes: Rose, Workouts, Porzingis
Although Derrick Rose‘s first season with the Knicks can’t be viewed as a true success, given the team’s record, the veteran point guard doesn’t necessarily want it to be his only season in New York. Agent B.J. Armstrong tells Yaron Weitzman of Bleacher Report that his client is interested in re-signing with the Knicks in free agency this summer.
“Derrick loves New York and wants to be there,” Armstrong said. “We’ve expressed that to them and been very consistent about it. Whether it happens is on them; all we can do is be clear.”
As we wait to see if Rose’s interest in the Knicks is reciprocated, let’s round up a few more notes on the two New York teams…
- In addition to featuring Armstrong’s comments on Rose, Weitzman’s Bleacher Report piece on the Knicks (linked above) explores possible directions the club could go with its roster this offseason, and is worth checking out in full.
- Nevada’s Cameron Oliver worked out for the Nets (Wednesday) and Knicks (Thursday) this week, league sources tell Ian Begley of ESPN.com. The 6’8″ power forward comes off the board at No. 50 in DraftExpress’ latest mock draft.
- Dallas Moore, J.J. Frazier, Malcolm Hill, Isaiah Hicks, and Moses Kingsley are among the other prospects to work out for the Nets this week, per NetsDaily (Twitter link).
- As Marc Berman of The New York Post details, Kristaps Porzingis will be the subject of an E-60 documentary that will air on ESPN later this month. Berman adds that the documentary will address Porzingis’ “cold war” with the Knicks, with the last scene having been filmed in April after the big man skipped his exit meeting with the club.
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).
Central Notes: Pistons, Pacers, Bucks, Workouts
After a disappointing 2016/17 season, the Pistons will be looking this offseason for ways to improve the team’s outlook for next year. However, as Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press details, Andre Drummond doesn’t believe a roster overhaul is necessary.
“I don’t think we need to do any changes,” the Pistons center told reporters earlier this week. “We had a lot of bumps in the road last season with different things going on, and it took everybody out of sync. … With this summer coming up, we have to do a better job staying connected — the more stuff we do together, the better our camaraderie will be.”
Even if the Pistons were interested in making major changes to their roster, they would be tricky to pull off. Detroit has nearly $95MM in guaranteed salary on its books for 2017/18 without counting Aron Baynes‘ $6.5MM player option or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s $9.2MM cap hold, so the team won’t have cap room to work with.
Here’s more from around the Central division:
- This week’s draft lottery didn’t include the Pacers, but it might have interesting ramifications for the team, writes Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star. Taylor notes that the top three teams in the 2017 NBA draft – the Celtics, Lakers, and Sixers – all made inquiries on Paul George prior to February’s trade deadline and could check in again on the star forward this summer.
- In the wake of his workout this week with the Pacers, Sindarius Thornwell spoke to Nate Taylor, who suggests in a separate piece for The Star that the South Carolina combo guard could be a second-round target for Indiana.
- The Bucks have been busy this week, working out a series of prospects on Thursday and then bringing in several more on Friday. The 12 participants are as follows: Moritz Wagner (Michigan), Moses Kingsley (Arkansas), Andrew White (Syracuse), London Perrantes (Virginia), Bronson Koenig (Wisconsin), J.J. Frazier (Georgia), Tyler Lydon (Syracuse), Ivan Rabb (Cal), Jaylen Adams (St. Bonaventure), V.J. Beachem (Notre Dame), Dillon Brooks (Oregon), and Matt Jones (Duke). Milwaukee has the 17th and 48th overall picks in this year’s draft.
- With Rabb in Milwaukee today for a workout, Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times takes a closer look at the Bucks‘ interest in the Cal big man, which dates back earlier than this year.
Arkansas F/C Moses Kingsley Withdraws From Draft
Arkansas junior big man Moses Kingsley has pulled out of this year’s draft, the school announced. That’s in spite of a surge from 123rd to 76th in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider prospect rankings between the time he declared a month ago and today. Still, the news isn’t entirely surprising, since his name wasn’t on the list of invitees to this week’s NBA combine that the league released last week. The 6’9″ 21-year-old remains outside the top 100 in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress ratings.
It’s unclear whether Kingsley worked out for any NBA teams, as he was allowed to do while in the draft pool. He had until May 25th to pull out and retain his college eligibility, but it appears he’s decided to put an early end to his predraft process.
A highly touted prospect coming out of high school, Kingsley will look to build on this season’s breakout performance. He put up 15.9 points and 9.3 rebounds in 29.5 minutes per game after playing just 11.1 minutes per contest his freshman and sophomore years, in spite of having been 47th in the 2013 Recruiting Services Consensus Index, two spots ahead of Zach LaVine.
Arkansas F/C Moses Kingsley To Test Draft Waters
Arkansas junior forward/center Moses Kingsley will enter the draft but won’t hire an agent, the school announced. The 6’9″ 21-year-old will likely have to impress in predraft workouts and, if invited, the NBA combine, if he’s to end up getting drafted in June, since he’s just 123rd in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress doesn’t give players an overall ranking beyond the top 100, but he does list Kingsley as the 27th-best junior. Kingsley can retain his college eligibility if he withdraws by May 25th and doesn’t hire an agent.
He entered college in 2013 at No. 47 in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index, two spots below Christian Wood, who re-signed with the Sixers last week, and two spots above Zach LaVine, whose stock surged before he became the 13th pick in the 2014 draft. Kingsley didn’t have any such fast rise, averaging just 11.1 minutes per game his first two years in college before becoming a starter this season.
His performance proved worth the wait, as he finished second in the SEC with 2.4 blocks per game and third with 9.3 rebounds per outing. Ford calls him an excellent defender, and Kingsley also averaged 15.9 points, eclipsing 20 points eight times. His offensive skill has been a question mark, according to Ford, so the big man will seemingly have to prove to NBA types that his production can translate to the next level.