Southeast Notes: Hornets, Hawks, Magic, Wizards
The Hornets hosted a pre-draft workout with six prospects on Monday, the team tweets. That group included Keon Ellis (Alabama), Michael Foster Jr. (G League Ignite), Kellan Grady (Kentucky), Ron Harper Jr. (Rutgers), Brandon Horvath (Utah State) and Žiga Samar (Fuenlabrada/Spain).
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- The Hawks are bringing in six prospects on Tuesday, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic tweets. That group includes Dominick Barlow (Overtime Elite), Jules Bernard (UCLA), Buddy Boeheim (Syracuse), Savion Flagg (Sam Houston State), Foster Jr., and Alondes Williams (Wake Forest).
- If the Hawks waive Danilo Gallinari, they would have the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to use in free agency, as well as $4.1MM biannual exception. In a story for The Athetic, Kirschner takes a look at potential free agent targets for Atlanta, including Kyle Anderson, Bruce Brown and Gary Harris.
- Draft prospects Jared Rhoden (Seton Hall) and Collin Gillespie (Villanova) visited the Magic on Monday, Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel tweets.
- The Wizards will host six prospects on Tuesday, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. That group includes Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (Florida), Jaden Hardy (Ignite), Anthony Polite (Florida State), Taz Sherman (West Virginia), Collin Welp (UC Irvine) and Isaiah Whaley (UConn).
Draft Decisions: Konate, King, Enoch, Queta, More
We rounded up a series of draft decisions by early entrants this morning, but with the NCAA’s withdrawal deadline (May 29) looming, we’ve already got many more decisions to pass along.
Here’s the latest:
- West Virginia forward Sagaba Konate plans to remain in the 2019 NBA draft and will forgo his final year of college eligibility, he tells Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
- Louisville junior forward V.J. King is also keeping his name in the draft, he announced today (via Twitter). However, the Cardinals will get another key player back, as Steven Enoch‘s father told 93.9 The Ville that his son is “looking forward to next season” in Louisville (Twitter link).
- Utah State center Neemias Queta announced today (via a Twitter video) that he’ll return to school for his sophomore season.
- Three Xavier prospects who tested the draft waters as early entrants – Paul Scruggs, Tyrique Jones, and Naji Marshall – are headed back to the Musketeers, according to Rothstein (Twitter link).
- Texas A&M guard Savion Flagg tells Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link) that he’ll remove his name from the draft and rejoin the Aggies for his junior season.
- Providence junior guard Alpha Diallo is also expected to withdraw from the draft and go back to school, agent Javon Phillips tells Goodman (Twitter link).
- Dayton forward Obi Toppin announced in an Instagram post that he’ll pull out of the draft and head back to school for his sophomore year.
- Keith Braxton, a junior guard out of St. Francis (PA), has elected to withdraw from the draft after testing the waters, tweets Rothstein.
Draft Notes: Brazdeikis, Pistons, Pacers, Dort, Wooten
University of Michigan freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis is strongly leaning toward staying the draft, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com tweets. “Definitely leaning toward staying in,” he said while working out for the Pistons on Monday. Brazdeikis’ representatives have told him he’ll go anywhere from No. 20-40 in the draft, Rod Beard of the Detroit News tweets. ESPN draft expert Jonathan Givony currently pegs the power forward at No. 46 overall.
We have more developments regarding draft prospects:
- The Pistons brought in two groups of prospects, including Brazdeikis, on Monday, Langlois notes in a separate tweet. The first group included centers Naz Reid (LSU) and Marques Bolden (Duke), point guards Justin Robinson (Virginia Tech) and Andrew Nembhard (Florida) and forward Louis King (Oregon) came in during the morning session; Shooting guards Quinndary Weatherspoon (Mississippi State), Ethan Thompson (Oregon State) and Ahmed Hill (Virginia Tech), forwards Martin Krampelj (Creighton) and Savion Flagg (Texas A&M) and point guard Phil Booth (Villanova) visited during the afternoon session.
- The Pacers will conduct a pair of draft workouts on Tuesday, the team announced in a press release. The first group includes Brian Bowen II (Australia), Ty Jerome (Virginia), Jaylen Nowell (Washington), Josh Perkins (Gonzaga), Dylan Windler (Belmont) and Justin Wright-Foreman (Hofstra). The second group includes Nicolas Claxton (Georgia), Carsen Edwards (Purdue), CJ Elleby (Washington State), Krampelj, Derrik Smits (Butler), and Lamar Stevens (Penn State). Edwards (No. 25) and Jerome (No. 29) are the highest-rated prospects among those groups, according to Givony.
- Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Luguentz Dort will work out for the Suns, Warriors, Trail Blazers and Jazz next week, Jordan Schultz of ESPN tweets. The 6’5” Dort (Arizona State) is rated No. 27 overall by Givony and No. 7 among shooting guard prospects.
- Oregon forward Kenny Wooten wrote on his Instagram account that he will remain in the draft, Steve Mims of DuckSports.com reports. Wooten averaged 6.3 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 2.2 BPG in his sophomore year. He is not listed among Givony’s Top 100 prospects.
Draft Updates: Diakite, N’doye, Flagg, Gudmundsson
With just a few more days left for early entrants to declare for the 2019 NBA draft, we continue to add new names to our running list of early entrants. Here are a few of the latest:
- Yet another member of Virginia’s title-winning team has decided to test the draft waters, with junior forward Mamadi Diakite set to enter the draft and hire an agent, per a press release. De’Andre Hunter, Ty Jerome, and Kyle Guy are the other Cavaliers who have declared for the draft.
- French guard Abdoulaye N’doye, a starter for Cholet and a member of France’s national team, has declared for the draft, his agent tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com (Twitter link). As Givony notes, N’doye is shooting an impressive 41% on three-point attempts this season.
- Texas A&M sophomore guard Savion Flagg announced on Twitter that he’ll declare for the draft, leaving himself the option of withdrawing later in the process. Flagg averaged 13.9 PPG and 7.7 RPG for the Aggies during the season and had an impressive SEC tournament, scoring 50 of his club’s 123 points over the course of two games.
- Davidson junior guard Jon Axel Gudmundsson is joining teammate Kellan Grady in testing the 2019 NBA draft waters, writes David Scott of The Charlotte Observer. Gudmundsson is coming off a 2018/19 season in which he filled the stat sheet with 16.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 4.8 APG.
- For more details on dates and deadlines to watch during the pre-draft process, be sure to check out our list.