Tanor Ngom Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Cousins, Cook, Valanciunas, OKC

June 5th, 2019 at 10:09am CST by Luke Adams

While Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson have been the most-discussed free-agents-to-be on the Warriors‘ roster all season long, a handful of the club’s other players who are headed for the open market are seeing their stocks impacted by what they’re showing in the postseason.

As Marc Berman of The New York Post writes, DeMarcus Cousins is one of those players. When he tore his quad in the first round of the playoffs, he seemed unlikely to return into the fall, raising uncertainty about what sort of offers he could expect in free agency. However, Cousins helped key the Warriors’ Game 2 win on Sunday, and is now in position to take on an even more crucial role with Kevon Looney sidelined for the rest of the NBA Finals. Cousins could be earning himself some extra money with each game he plays this series.

Meanwhile, one of the Warriors’ most reliable contributors off the bench in Game 2 was Quinn Cook, who played 21 minutes and knocked down three big 3-pointers to help hold off the Raptors. After the game, Draymond Green referred to Cook as “our Patty Mills,” adding that the young guard “should be here for a long time” (Twitter link via Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated).

The Warriors will have to decide in a few weeks how strongly they agree with Green, as Cook will be up for restricted free agency. Even if Golden State issues a qualifying offer to gain the right of first refusal on Cook, a rival suitor could swoop in with an offer sheet that the Warriors may be reluctant to match, given the luxury-tax implications.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Jonas Valanciunas once again stated this week that the Grizzlies‘ head coaching decision will play a part in his decision on his $17.6MM player option for 2019/20, as Lithuanian reporter Donatas Urbonas relays (via Twitter). “Deeper into the summer, we’ll have a better picture [of] who’s staying and what are the team’s plans,” Valanciunas said. “First, I want to see who’s the head coach. It’s gonna be a huge factor.”
With Darko Rajakovic prepared to head to Phoenix, the Thunder will have three openings to fill on Billy Donovan‘s staff, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. Mark Bryant and Bob Beyer also accepted jobs with new teams.
Brett Dawson of The Athletic explores Patrick Patterson‘s outlook as the Thunder forward prepares to enter a contract year. Despite two up-and-down years in Oklahoma City and the possibility that he’ll be on the trade block, Patterson could be a rotation player if he returns, Dawson writes.
The Nuggets worked out six prospects at the Pepsi Center on Tuesday, bringing in Javon Bess (Saint Louis), Kavell Bigby-Williams (LSU), Jordan Davis (Northern Colorado), Justin James (Wyoming), Tanor Ngom (Ryerson), and Josh Reaves (Penn State), per a team release.

Southeast Notes: Wizards, Hawks, Hornets

May 9th, 2019 at 4:58pm CST by Luke Adams

There have been no recent updates on the Wizards‘ search for a new head of basketball operations, leading to speculation that Washington is waiting to make a run at current Nuggets president of basketball ops Tim Connelly.

While Connelly’s Nuggets are still alive in the playoffs, David Aldridge of The Athletic argues that if Connelly is the Wizards’ man, they should go after him now. As Aldridge points out, active postseason runs didn’t stop the Timberwolves from hiring Gersson Rosas, or the Suns from naming Monty Williams their new head coach.

It’s not entirely clear if the Wizards are still targeting Connelly, but Aldridge hears from several sources that Denver’s head of basketball ops would be “delighted” to run the Wizards. A previous report referred to the Wizards’ open position as Connelly’s “dream job.” Connelly is still under contract with the Nuggets, but if the Wizards make an offer that significantly exceeds his current salary – which Aldridge says is “just north” of $2MM per year – then he could go to Denver’s ownership in good faith and ask for the opportunity to run his hometown team.

So far, the Wizards have interviewed Danny Ferry, Tommy Sheppard, Troy Weaver, and Rosas for the front office vacancy, Aldridge confirms.

As we wait to see what the Wizards do to replace Ernie Grunfeld, here’s more from around the Southeast…

The first priority for the Wizards‘ next head of basketball operations will be establishing a culture of accountability, according to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post, who provides a detailed account on how such a culture has been lacking in D.C. for years.
It has been a busy week of pre-draft workouts for the Hawks, who have brought in prospects like Duke forward Javin DeLaurier, Kansas guard Quentin Grimes, and Gonzaga guard Zach Norvell Jr. on Wednesday and Thursday, and plan to bring in several more on Friday. According to the team, the full list of prospects to work out during that three-day stretch for Atlanta also includes Phil Booth, Reggie Perry, Justin Simon, Max Strus, Lagerald Vick, Ahmed Hill, Skylar Mays, Markis McDuffie, Dylan Osetkowski, Tyler Cook, CJ Elleby, Terance Mann, Matt Mooney, Tanor Ngom, and Myles Powell.
The Hornets‘ pre-draft workout schedule has also been full this week. Donta Hall (Alabama), Nick Perkins (Buffalo), Kerwin Roach Jr. (Texas), Kenny Williams (UNC), Ahmed Hill, and Markis McDuffie auditioned for the team on Wednesday, while Shaqquan Aaron (USC), Kyle Alexander (Tennessee), Kavell Bigby-Williams (LSU), and Caleb Martin (Nevada) were among those who did so on Thursday.
In his latest mailbag, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer discusses Jeremy Lamb‘s free agent value, potential backup plans for the Hornets if Kemba Walker leaves, and much more.

Draft Workouts: Raptors, Lamb, Sixers, Hawks

May 6th, 2019 at 10:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

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:

Vermont junior forward Anthony Lamb (Vermont) will work out for the Cavaliers and Celtics this week, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets. Lamb previously worked out for the Hawks. Lamb averaged 21.2 PPG and 7.8 RPG in his junior season.
The Sixers held their first pre-draft workout on Monday, Lauren Rosen of the team’s website reports. Forwards Oshae Brissett (Syracuse), CJ Elleby (Washington State) and Tinkle, and guards Justin Wright-Foreman (Hofstra), Ronshad Shabazz (Appalachian State) and Andrew Nembhard (Florida) were the participants.
The Hawks will bring in four guards among six players they’ll workout on Tuesday, the team’s PR department tweets. The backcourt group includes Allen-Shabazz, Aubrey Dawkins (Central Florida), Marial Shayok (Iowa State) and Quinndary Weatherspoon (Mississippi State). Forward Mamadi Diakite (Virginia) and center Trey Porter (Nevada) will also pay the Hawks a visit.

Draft Notes: Thompson, Zagars, Ngom, Lecque

April 20th, 2019 at 3:01pm CST by JD Shaw

North Carolina State commit Jalen Lecque has announced his decision to declare for the 2019 NBA Draft, posting a video to his social media page today.

“I would like to thank god, my mom, my dad, my brothers and sisters and my extended family and friends,” Lecque said. “I would like to thank Christ School and Brewster Academy for providing me with the education and giving me the opportunity and making me the man I am today.”

Lecque also hasn’t ruled out the possibility of returning to NC State if he isn’t selected in the draft, Evan Daniels of 247Sports tweets.

Here are some other draft notes today:

Oregon State guard Ethan Thompson has declared for the draft and will hire an agent, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports. Thompson started in 63 games during his two seasons at Oregon State, holding per-game averages of 11.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists.
Latvian guard Arturs Zagars has entered his name to the draft, his agency You First Sports told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter link). Zagars was the MVP of the FIBA U18 European Championship and has a strong chance of getting drafted, Givony adds.
Ryerson University center Tanor Ngom has declared for the draft, head coach Roy Rana confirmed to Givony. Ngom, a 7’2″ native of Senegal, averaged 11.3 points and 5.6 rebounds on 64% shooting this season. He had notable performances against Duke during a preseason game last year and at the Nike Academy in August.