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Cavs’ ‘Draft And Stash’ Candidates, Len Rumors

June 22nd, 2013 at 6:28pm CST by Spencer Lund

There are 36 picks, of the available 60, for this Thursday’s draft headed to only a third of the league’s 30 teams, so expect to see a lot of teams looking to “draft and stash” European players, writes Steve Kyler in his NBA AM HoopsWorld post.

Kyler believes that with so many teams holding multiple picks, European prospects with friendly NBA games, who have soft exit language in their contracts, or few contract obligations this summer, could come and play in the NBA’s summer league before returning overseas for a year or two. In the post CBA world, teams enjoy those non-guaranteed contracts for second round picks.

The Cavs are holding more than just a standard first and second round selection and may draft and stash a couple of those foreigners Currently, they hold the top spot, but also select 19th, 31st and 33rd on Thursday night. Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer echoes Kyler's sentiments, and tracks the top foreign prospects for the Cavs. With those four picks, it's possible they draft a couple foreigners to stash for a later date.

Let's look at Boyer's top foreign prospects and the Cavs' top pick, their second in the last three years:

Boyer says there's been a lot chatter about Russian 6'7" swingman Sergey Karasev, who played well with BC Triumph over 12 games in the Russian PBL; raw French center Rudy Gobert, who has a standing vertical reach of 9'7" (he's 7'2"), and who blocked a ton of shots at the combine. Plus, Germany's point guard Dennis Schroeder, who wasn't able to compete in the NBA combine because of a toothache, but who played well at the Nike Hoop Summit in April. She also mentioned Brazilian 7-footer, Lucas Nogueira, and Greece's 6'10" forward, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Kyler also wrote about the possibility the Cavs draft Maryland big man Alex Len with the first pick. Len has history with the Cavs' player-development coach Vitaly Potapenko, and both he and Cavs assistant general manager Zydrunas Ilgauskas have been pushing for Len over several others in the field. The Cavs met with Nerlens Noel a couple days ago, but supposedly the rumors about Len hinge on his more developed offensive game and his ability to contribute sooner than Noel, who will be out until at least December recovering from his torn ACL.
According to Jason Lloyd of the Akron-Beacon-Journal, second round hopeful Zeke Marshall will work out for the Cavs on Monday. After the Akron center's agent, Dino Pergola, said early in June his client would be working out with a lot of teams, Marshall has shown his stuff during workouts with the Trail Blazers, Pistons, Rockets, Suns, Lakers, Bulls and Pacers.

Rockets Weighing Offer For Thomas Robinson

June 21st, 2013 at 7:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets have been offered a first-round pick in next week's draft in exchange for Thomas Robinson, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Houston is evaluating a "fistful" of international players the team could take with that pick and stash overseas to avoid the cap hit that would come with signing a first-rounder, Stein also reports, naming Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert, Sergey Karasev, Lucas Nogueira and Dennis Schroeder as the targets (Twitter links).

Robinson is a key figure in Houston's pursuit of the cap space necessary to sign marquee free agents, like Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. Robinson is due $3,526,440 next season, but as the No. 5 pick in last year's draft, he holds value as a trade asset in spite of his limited playing time this past year, which he split between the Rockets and Kings. The Rockets are attempting to clear enough room under next year's projected $58.5MM salary cap for a max offer to either Howard or Paul, which would require around $20MM worth of space, depending on which one they sign. If they're able to sign either Howard or Paul, Houston would reportedly have interest in using a sign-and-trade to acquire the other.

Stein doesn't identify which team is offering the pick, though the Mavs, Timberwolves and Blazers are said to be shopping their first-round selections. The Mavericks probably wouldn't be the team willing to take on Robinson, since they, too, want to clear cap space for a big-ticket free agent. Dallas is apparently deep in talks with the Cavs about taking Shawn Marion in return for the 13th pick, so perhaps Cleveland is the team involved with the Rockets as well, though that's just my speculation.

Draft Notes: Jazz, Noel, Cavs, Suns, Blazers

June 20th, 2013 at 10:22pm CST by Luke Adams

We unveiled the first edition of Hoops Rumors' 2013 mock draft earlier today, as our own Alex Lee ran through picks one through 30. We'll have our second and final mock up next week, just in time for Thursday night's draft, and given the lack of consensus on this year's class, it wouldn't be a surprise to see major changes to our board over the next several days. Here are the latest draft-related notes and rumors:

The Clippers worked out E.J. Singler, Carrick Felix, Alex Oriakhi, and Jackie Carmichael at their Playa Vista training center this morning (Clippers.com).
Among those who will participate in a pre-draft workout with the Wizards tomorrow include Keith Clanton, D.J. Cooper, Joffrey Lauvergne, Korie Lucious, Nicolo Melli, and Maurice Sutton, according to the team's official website.
The Timberwolves will host Mason Plumlee, Kelly Olynyk, Christian Watford, and Colton Iverson tomorrow, as per the team's official PR Twitter account.

Earlier updates:

Today's NBA AM piece from Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld is heavy on draft content, including an interview with Nerlens Noel and updates on Alex Len, the Jazz, and possible draft-and-stash candidates.
Sources within the Cavaliers organization seem somewhat "cool" on Noel, according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. Still, Lloyd says the Cavs continue to prioritize long-term results rather than a short-term desire to make the playoffs, so Noel's inability to make an immediate impact likely wouldn't be a significant factor in the club's decision at No. 1.
ESPN.com's Chad Ford (Insider-only link) has unveiled his annual tiered rankings of the draft class, and none of this year's prospects qualified for either the first or second tier.
While most of the focus among Suns fans figures to be on the team's fifth overall pick, Phoenix also has the 30th and 57th selections. Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic has the names of the candidates for those picks who worked out for the team today, including Jeff Withey and Deshaun Thomas (Twitter link).
Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert, and Ricky Ledo are among the prospects working out for the Trail Blazers today, and Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com believes one of them could end up being the No. 10 pick (Twitter links).

Draft Notes: Trades, Plumlee, Blazers, Warriors

June 19th, 2013 at 9:03pm CST by Alex Lee

Here is the latest circulating about next Thursday's NBA Draft:

We know that the Cavs are shopping the top pick, and while Sam Amico of Fox Sports tweets that interest in No. 1 is building, teams are more interested in the Magic's second pick and the Wizards' third pick.
Sean Meagher of Oregon Live posts a video of Mason Plumlee, in town for a workout with the Blazers, where the former Duke star says he can help a team right away. Chris Haynes of CSN Northwest writes that Plumlee, who expects to get better despite his advanced game, is on a mission to prove he is the best big man in the draft.
Meanwhile, the Blazers will host bigs Steven Adams and Rudy Gobert for a workout on Thursday, tweets Haynes.
The Warriors, well aware of the value of young players, are looking to acquire a draft pick, writes Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. Golden State, who had four draft picks a year ago, has none at the moment for next Thursday's draft.

International Prospects’ Draft Decisions

June 17th, 2013 at 7:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The deadline for international early entrants to withdraw from the 2013 draft arrives today at 4:00pm central time, so plenty of updates are trickling in on players deciding whether they're in or out. We'll track all of those decisions in this post throughout the day, with new updates being added to the top of each list:

In:

Lucas Nogueira and Raul Neto are staying in the draft, agent Aylton Tesch tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (on Twitter).
Giannis Antetokounmpo will remain eligible to be drafted, his agent announced today on Twitter.
German power forward Daniel Theis will be keeping his name in the draft, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com.
Sergey Karasev will remain in the draft, agent Justin Zanik tells Givony (Twitter link).
Givony reports (via Twitter) that Alex Abrines and Marko Todorovic are staying in the draft, with agent Igor Crespo saying, "That was the plan all along."
French forward Livio Jean-Charles will remain in the draft, tweets Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
Rudy Gobert will also remain in the draft, according to Ford (Twitter link), which is no surprise, considering he projects as a potential lottery pick.

Out:

Mouhammadou Jaiteh has decided to withdraw his name from the 2013 NBA Draft, his agent tells Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (Twitter link). He'll return to France for the season.
French prospects Louis Labeyrie and Axel Toupane have withdrawn their names from the draft, their agent told Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (on Twitter).
Greek small forward Linos Chrysikopoulos has removed his name from the draft pool, agent Mike Main tells Givony (Twitter link).
Big man Walter Tavares has withdrawn his name, agent Guillermo Bermejo tells Givony (Twitter link).
Adin Vrabac, Artem Pustovyi and Bogdan Bogdanovic have also pulled out of the draft, reports Givony (via Twitter).
Philipp Neumann has withdrawn his name from consideration, tweets Givony.
Francois Affia Ambadiang has pulled out of the draft, agent Alex Saratsis tells Givony (Twitter link).
Givony adds four more names to the list of players exiting the draft: Nemanja Besovic, Matias Bortolin, Djordje Drenovac, and Marko Ramljak (Twitter link).

Draft Rumors: Noel, Snell, Olynyk, Blazers, Adams

June 11th, 2013 at 5:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

Chad Ford of ESPN.com delivered enough draft rumors for their own post this afternoon, and we rounded up more draft-related news in another post this morning. It's not hard to tell that the big event takes place just two weeks and two days from now. Here are tonight's updates, via Twitter unless otherwise noted:

In spite of rumors that the Cavaliers probably won't draft him first overall, Nerlens Noel will visit with Cleveland on June 20th, following Saturday's meeting with the Wizards, The Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer reports.
Tony Snell's stock is on the rise, and two executives have told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that the New Mexico swingman has solidified a spot in the first round.
Kelly Olynyk is the most prominent name among a group of six prospects working out for the Blazers today, as Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com passes along. John Allen, Chris Babb, Erik Murphy, D.J. Stephens and Khalif Wyatt were the others in attendance.
The Timberwolves will turn their focus to big men Thursday, when Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert and Mike Muscala will participate in a group workout for the team, observes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Cody Zeller will be in Minnesota the same day, but he'll work out separately.
C.J. McCollum will participate in a workout Wednesday for the Jazz that will also include Scott Bamforth from nearby Weber State, notes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News.
Jared Berggren has shown off his skills in front of the Blazers and Suns, and the Wisconsin power forward will get to do so for the Bucks, likely on Thursday, according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times.
Mason Plumlee is the headliner in a Wizards audition set for Wednesday, the team announced via press release. Karron Johnson, Bruce Massey, Brock Motum, Dexter Strickland and Kellen Thornton will join him.

Draft Notes: Cavs, Gobert, Nedovic

June 8th, 2013 at 10:39am CST by Zachary Links

We could see an awful lot of movement in this year’s NBA draft based on this morning’s news alone. First, we learned that the Bucks and Wizards have explored a deal involving Ersan Ilyasova and the No. 3 pick. Then, it was reported that the Magic are open to trading the No. 2 pick and moving down in the draft in order to get some NBA-ready talent in return. Here’s the latest on the 2013 draft..

Sam Amico of FOX Sports (via Twitter) is pretty sure that the Cavs will draft a backup point guard if they keep their second round picks.
Center Rudy Gobert withdrew from the Adidas Eurocamp, citing illness, according to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com (via Twitter). The French center, who is a likely first round pick, has been working out in the U.S. in advance of the draft.
Two NBA execs compared Nemanja Nedovic to a poor man’s Russell Westbrook, tweets Howard-Cooper. The Serbian point guard obviously isn’t of the same talent level but has a similar kind of game in that he gets to the rim and plays aggressive defense. Nedovic, who is pegged for the second round, needs to improve his shooting.

Draft Workout Updates: Thursday

June 6th, 2013 at 9:37pm CST by Luke Adams

We're now just three weeks away from the 2013 draft, so teams are busy bringing in prospects to meet with them and work them out, while we do our best to keep tabs on as many of those workouts as we can. Here's the latest:

Tom Housenick of The Morning Call reported that C.J. McCollum will visit Portland at some point for a workout before June 20th.
Chris Haynes of CSNNW tweets that Trevor Mbakwe will visit the Trail Blazers tomorrow.
The Kings released a list of players who have worked out for them via their team website, noting that guards Will Cherry, Travis Releford, Brandon Triche, forward Chris Evans, and centers Rudy Gobert and Aziz N'Diaye took part in workouts this past Monday. Former Michigan star Trey Burke is scheduled to come in tomorrow.
The Wizards plan to bring in C.J. Aiken, Junior Cadougan, Ella Ellis, Lamont Jones, A.J. Matthews, and Mike Muscala in for Friday workouts, as per the team's official website.
Jody Genessy of the Deseret News tweets that Steven Adams, Jack Cooley, Richard Howell, Kenny Kadji, Dennis Schroeder, and Peyton Siva are all scheduled for a pre-draft workout with the Jazz on Friday.

Earlier updates:

Mason Plumlee, Shabazz Muhammad, Kelly Olynyk, Norvel Pelle, and Scott Wood worked out for the Sixers today, tweets Tyler R. Tynes of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Plumlee will also work out for the Trail Blazers on June 19th and for the Pistons on June 21st, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com and Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link).
Michael Lee of the Washington Post reports that Otto Porter will work out for the Wizards on June 14th.
The Timberwolves expect to bring in C.J. McCollum for a workout, says Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (via Twitter).
Working out for the Suns today, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (via Twitter): McCollum, Trey Burke, Michael Carter-Williams, Mouhammadou Jaiteh, Shane Larkin, Zeke Marshall, and Korie Lucious.
Gorgui Dieng's agent confirms that his client will work out for both the Nets and Knicks, as Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com details.
The Grizzlies announced in a press release that James Southerland, Will Clyburn, B.J. Young, Dewayne Dedmon, Colton Iverson, and Sherwood Brown will work out for the club tomorrow.
The Knicks will work out the following prospects tomorrow, per the team's Twitter feed: Ricky Ledo, Tahj Tate, Adonis Thomas, Christian Watford, Tony Mitchell, and Grant Jerrett.
Jeff Withey worked out for the Bulls yesterday, according to Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com (via Twitter).

Draft Notes: McLemore, Magic, Saric, Bennett

June 5th, 2013 at 7:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

Chris Mannix of SI.com hands out his draft superlatives, with an assist from scouts and executives. Anthony Bennett has the greatest superstar potential, Mannix writes, while Victor Oladipo could be the most resounding bust. It'll be a while before we can definitively say whether Mannix was correct on either account, but much more becomes clear with each passing day until June 27th. After passing along the latest this morning, we'll follow with with an evening draft roundup:

Ben McLemore has reportedly slipped behind Victor Oladipo in the eyes of the Magic, but Orlando will have McLemore in for a workout June 11th, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. (Twitter links). Keith Clanton, Erik Murphy, Michael Snaer and Kenny Boynton, all products of Florida colleges, are auditioning for the Magic either today or tomorrow, Robbins adds.
Chad Ford of ESPN.com chatted with readers, revealing that top-level scouts believe Dario Saric to be on par with Otto Porter and that the Wizards and Bobcats are especially high on Anthony Bennett.
Korie Lucious worked out for the Bucks today and did so for the Pistons earlier this week, according to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. D.J. Stephens, another participant in today's Bucks workout, has also drawn interest from the Pistons and Grizzlies.
Jody Genessy of the Deseret News had the news on six players working out for the Jazz today, and he tweets word of six more set to hit Utah on Thursday: Glen Rice Jr.,Vander Blue, Jack Cooley, Solomon Hill, Pierre Jackson and Trevor Mbakwe.
Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic adds second-round hopefuls E.J. Singler and Jared Berggren to the list of players who worked out for the Suns today (Twitter link).
B.J. Young, Brandon Paul, Reggie Bullock, Romero Osby, Kenny Kadji and James Ennis are among the prospects working out Thursday for the Knicks, the team announced via Twitter.
Ennis, Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert, Mike Muscala, Cody Zeller, Jeff Withey, Shabazz Muhammad, Rodney Williams, Reggie Bullock, Kelly Olynyk and Tony Snell will all audition for Minnesota in the coming weeks, Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders tweets. He also lists "Thomas," likely in reference to Deshaun Thomas or Adonis Thomas.
The Wizards announced they'll put Deshaun Thomas, Keion Bell, Laurence Bowers, D.J. Seeley, James Southerland and Khalif Wyatt through a workout tomorrow.

Draft Updates: Karasev, Saric, Workouts

June 5th, 2013 at 10:30am CST by Luke Adams

With two teams still standing in the 2013 NBA playoffs, most of the Association's franchises have turned their attention to this month's draft. We're probably still a week or two away from seeing any draft picks change hands via trades, but prospects continue to jockey for draft position, working out for teams, or perhaps pulling out of workouts in the case of at least one international prospect. Here are Wednesday's latest draft-related items:

Sergey Karasev has returned to Moscow and plans to remain in Russia until the draft, fueling speculation that he has been given a first-round promise, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. With agents Andy Miller and Justin Zanik telling teams their client won't be available for predraft workouts, Wojnarowski think Karasev probably received a guarantee from a team between Nos. 14 and 24.
Appearing on the Taking the Charge podcast, Croatian forward Dario Saric said he still may withdraw his name from this year's draft, though he expects to be selected in the first round. If he stays in the draft and is selected, he still plans to play in Europe for at least one more year, according to HeinNews.com.
The Suns have yet to confirm the participants of today's workouts, but it appears they've brought in a star-studded group that includes Ben McLemore, Victor Oladipo, Cody Zeller, Rudy Gobert, and Shabazz Muhammad, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic outlines.
It's unclear where Muhammad will land in the draft, since his stock seems to be on the decline, says Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
Peyton Silva, Archie Goodwin, and Scootie Randall worked out for the Sixers on Tuesday, according to John N. Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. None of those prospects are likely to land in the lottery, so Philadelphia appears to be weighing its second-round options.
Working out for the Jazz today, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News: Shane Larkin, Tony Mitchell, Reggie Bullock, Lorenzo Brown, Amath M'Baye, and Malik Story.
The Bucks officially announced (via Twitter) that they'll be working out the following prospects today: Trent Lockett, D.J. Stephens, Dewayne Dedmon, Jack Cooley, Korie Lucious, and D.J. Seeley.
Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com and Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe have the details on yesterday's Celtics workout, which included Mason Plumlee, Reggie Johnson, Ian Clark, and Jonathan Lee. It was the second workout with the C's for Lee.