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Spencer Dinwiddie

Eastern Notes: Sixers, Pistons, Nets

June 29th, 2014 at 2:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Sixers fans need to prepare themselves for another tough season of rebuilding, writes Tom Moore of Calkins Media. Moore opines that while GM Sam Hinkie‘s draft strategy could pay off in the long term, the franchise isn’t currently much improved over last season.

More from the east:

  • If not for his season ending injury, Spencer Dinwiddie was a likely lottery selection. Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press looks at what the newest Piston will bring to the court.
  • The Pistons won’t be looking at the top names when the free agency period begins, writes Ellis in a separate article. Team president and coach Stan Van Gundy said, “Guys that aren’t going to be the big names, but we think have a chance to make a big contribution, those are guys that will be our main focus. We have too many needs — even at $13.5 million (cap space) — with what’s on the list, we think spending that kind of money on one guy and leaving all the other things for minimum guys based on who’s on the list, we think that would be a mistake.“
  • According to Mitch Lawrence of The New York Daily News, the Nets will be better off without Jason Kidd as their coach.
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Wizards To Retain Andre Miller

June 27th, 2014 at 4:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Wizards have let Andre Miller know that they’ll keep him past Saturday, when his $2MM partial guarantee for next season jumps to a full guarantee on his $4.625MM salary, agent Andy Miller tells J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. The Wizards had been leaning toward keeping him, as Michael Lee of The Washington Post reported earlier today, advancing an earlier report of the same from Marc Stein of ESPN.com in May.

Miller filled a need at backup point guard this past season when he came over to Washington at the trade deadline. Still, he played even fewer minutes per game for the Wizards than he did in the first half of the season for Denver, where he clashed with coach Brian Shaw, who had already cut his playing time. The Wizards appear to be making a strong push to re-sign both Marcin Gortat and Trevor Ariza, one made even more important with today’s news of Martell Webster‘s back surgery, and the savings that could be reaped from waiving Miller might have come in handy.

The 38-year-old Miller was nonetheless a functional part of the rotation on the most successful Wizards team in more than three decades, and his 14.6 PER is a desirable figure for a bench player. His contract expires after the coming season, so the Wizards aren’t making a lengthy commitment. Michael suggests that the deal Wizards draft-and-stash prospect Tomas Satoransky has with a team in Spain coupled with the team’s failure to land preferred draft target Spencer Dinwiddie helped make the team’s decision regarding Miller easier.

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Draft Notes: Clippers, Vonleh, Hornets, Hairston

June 17th, 2014 at 8:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Clippers are interested in trading up from pick No. 28, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Shelburne’s piece centers on a profile of former University of Colorado guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who can’t work out because he’s still recovering from a torn ACL. Dinwiddie’s nonetheless had meetings with the Bucks, Wizards, Bulls and Celtics, and he’s scheduled interviews and physicals with the Clippers, Heat, Hawks and Thunder, according to Shelburne. The ESPN scribe also says that he’ll interview and take a physical for the Jazz, advancing an earlier report that he was set to interview with the team. Here’s more on the draft:

  • Julius Randle is set to work out for the Jazz tomorrow, tweets Utah’s radio announcer David Locke.
  • Marcus Smart and Elfrid Payton are expected to work out for the Lakers on Friday for the second time, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports Spears advises his readers to “keep an eye” on Payton (via Twitter) in light of the second workout.
  • Nik Stauskas is expected in for his first workout with the Lakers, who have struggled to get Stauskas in, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times.
  • Rodney Hood had to sit out most of his Hornets workout today due to illness, reports Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
  • Gary Harris and Zach LaVine will work out for the Hornets tomorrow, tweets Bonnell, who adds Charlotte’s other new workout appointees in a separate tweet: Rion Brown; Ronald Roberts Jr.; and Markel Brown, who missed an earlier workout due to travel issues.
  • The Rockets worked out Shabazz Napier, Xavier Thames, Patric Young, Nick Russell, and Kadeem Coleby, tweets Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
  • Sim Bhullar, Earnest Ross, Ian Chiles, Cameron Clark, Philipp Neumann, and Jordan Bachynski will work out for the Wizards tomorrow, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.

Earlier updates:

  • Noah Vonleh will work out for the Sixers on Thursday, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
  • Elfrid Payton, Josh Huestis, James Bell and Jordan Clarkson are the previously unreported prospects performing for the Hornets today, as Chris Littmann of The Sporting News tweets.
  • P.J. Hairston will audition for the Hawks, as he tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, who also reports that Hairston will show off for the Grizzlies, Lakers and Bulls (Twitter links).
  • Kyle Anderson will work out for the Suns, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, as well as the Grizzlies, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter links). A previous report indicated that the Suns were set to audition Anderson a week ago, so this appears to be his second workout with Phoenix.
  • Anderson will also perform for the Bulls, as will Clint Capela and DeAndre Daniels, Zagoria tweets.
  • Jordan Adams, Devyn Marble, Sean Kilpatrick, C.J. Wilcox and Jarnell Stokes are working out for the Raptors today, the team announced. A report from last month indicated that Stokes had already worked out for Toronto, but given that the dispatch came in the middle of the draft combine, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was actually an interview between Stokes and the club, rather than a workout.
  • The Wizards are auditioning Semaj Christon, Nick Johnson, Deonte Burton, Alec Brown and Khem Birch today, according to Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (on Twitter).
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Draft Notes: Celtics, Lakers, Kings, Randle

June 11th, 2014 at 2:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

We rounded up the latest on draft workouts around the league this morning, but updates continue to pour in, so we’ll pass along draft-related news from this afternoon here:

  • Chad Ford of ESPN.com, in a chat with readers, identifies the Celtics, Lakers and Kings as the three teams most likely to trade their top-10 picks.
  • Julius Randle will have an individual workout with the Celtics, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.
  • Nik Stauskas is set to work out for the Suns, in addition to previously reported workouts with the Hornets, Celtics, and Lakers, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, who hears that those will be the only auditions Stauskas will do (Twitter links).
  • Gary Harris, T.J. Warren, K.J. McDaniels are among those showing off for the Sixers today, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
  • The Jazz will interview Spencer Dinwiddie next week, a source tells Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. Dinwiddie is recovering from a torn ACL and can’t work out, as Jones points out (Twitter links).
  • James Michael McAdoo, Jake Odum, Ronald Roberts Jr. and Scottie Wilbekin are scheduled to work out Thursday for the Pacers, the team announced (on Twitter).
  • Jordan Clarkson, David Stockton, Cameron Clark, Davante Gardner, Richard Solomon and Tyler Stone are auditioning for the Suns today, tweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
  • Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press adds Jordan Bachynski and Dwight Powell to the list of players working out for the Pistons. Okaro White is also showing off for the Pistons, as well as the Warriors, as Natalie Pierre of the Tallahassee Democrat details (hat tip to Ellis).
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And-Ones: Dinwiddie, Coaches, Heisley

April 26th, 2014 at 10:12pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link) reports that former Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley passed away earlier today at the age of 77. Our condolences go out to his family and friends. Heisley owned the team for 12 years and was responsible for moving the team from Vancouver, British Columbia to Memphis, Tennessee back in 2001. He sold the team in 2012 to an ownership group headed up by Robert Pera, but he had interest in purchasing another franchise soon after. Reports indicated that he was eyeing the Wolves and came close to buying the Bucks last year before his health deteriorated.

More from around the league:

  • Spencer Dinwiddie has signed with agent Sam Goldfeder of Excel Sports, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
  • The team at Basketball Insiders examine which NBA coaches need to be let go by their respective teams.
  • There are quite a few differences between coaching at the collegiate level and the NBA. Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune breaks them down as well as looks at some examples of previous coaches who attempted to make the transition.
  • In a separate article, Zgoda examines which college coaches would consider taking the vacant Timberwolves head coach position.
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Spencer Dinwiddie Declares For Draft

April 24th, 2014 at 3:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

Colorado junior Spencer Dinwiddie announced in a press conference today that he’s entering the NBA draft. The shooting guard had been leaning heavily toward doing so, but the news is still somewhat surprising, since he tore his left ACL in January and missed the rest of the season. Chad Ford of ESPN.com has him as the 40th-best prospect for this year, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress rates him 49th.

Dinwiddie was a potential first-round pick before the injury, and Givony ranked him 22nd going into the season. He scored 14.7 points in 31.1 minutes per contest in 17 games this year and shot 41.3% from behind the arc. It was something of a bounceback from three-point range for the 21-year-old, who made just 33.8% of his treys as a sophomore after nailing 43.8% his freshman year.

He traveled to Houston for a medical evaluation this past weekend before making his decision just three days before the deadline for underclassmen to enter the draft. It’s too late for him to withdraw and keep his NCAA eligibility, but providing he returns to full health, there seems to be a decent chance he’ll become a second-round steal for an NBA team.

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Draft Notes: Dinwiddie, Smart, Kentucky

April 1st, 2014 at 7:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Colorado junior Spencer Dinwiddie is leaning heavily toward leaving for the NBA, writes Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. The 6’6″ guard, who tore the ACL in his left knee on January 12th, will likely will forgo his final college season, unless the NBA evaluation he receives back says he does not have a chance to go in the first round of the draft, reports Goodman. Dinwiddie was averaging 14.7 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 3.8 APG at the time of his injury. He is currently ranked as the 46th best prospect by Chad Ford of ESPN.com.

More news related to draft matters:

  • Marcus Smart is close to signing with Wasserman Media Group, notes Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). Zwerling also notes that Jay-Z and Bill Duffy are candidates to sign Andrew Wiggins.
  • As many as eight Kentucky players might declare for this year’s NBA Draft. Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders breaks down each candidate and what their draft prospects are. Koutroupis has also released his latest mock draft.
  • Chad Ford (Insider subscription required) breaks down which players have moved up and which have moved down his draft rankings based on their NCAA Tournament performances.
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Draft Rumors: Wiggins, Parker, Smart

March 24th, 2014 at 5:18pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, we learned Ohio State small forward LaQuinton Ross is on the fence about entering the draft.  While he’s not one of the top talents available this June, Ross was ranked No. 32 by ESPN’s Chad Ford and that’s no small feat given the depth of this year’s class.  Here’s the latest draft news..

  • Projected lottery picks Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Doug McDermott some of their worst during NCAA tournament action the past few days. Still, their performances haven’t discouraged NBA team executives, who tell Chris Mannix of SI.com that this weekend’s results will do little to alter their draft stocks (Twitter link).
  • In today’s column, David Aldridge of NBA.com looks at the shallow pool of point guards in the 2014 draft.  While there’s a significant drop-off after Australian prospect Dante Exum, Oklahoma State sophomore Marcus Smart, and Syracuse freshman Tyler Ennis, Aldridge rightfully notes that it’s not a huge problem for most NBA teams.  The classic, pass-first floor general is nearly extinct thanks to rule changes over the years.
  • NBA scouts told Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post that they regarded 6’6″ Colorado point guard Spencer Dinwiddie a late first-round pick, at least, before he tore his ACL in January. Concerns about his recovery and the absence of a chance to take part in predraft workouts will make it easy for Dinwiddie to decide against entering this year’s draft, Dempsey believes.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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