Draft Workouts: T. Young, Cavs, Blazers, Warriors
Potential top-10 pick Trae Young conducted a “secret” workout for the Cavaliers on Saturday, reports Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Givony, echoing what Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com wrote earlier today, suggests that Michael Porter Jr. may be Cleveland’s top target at No. 8.
However, if Porter is no longer available, the Cavaliers’ decision could come down to Young vs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, according to Givony, who notes that he has the team taking Gilgeous-Alexander in his latest mock draft.
Here are a few more updates on pre-draft workouts from around the NBA:
- Anfernee Simons (IMG Academy), Dzanan Musa (Cedevita), Thomas Welsh (UCLA), Brandon McCoy (UNLV), Jaylen Barford (Arkansas), and Jacobi Boykins (Louisiana Tech) auditioned for the Trail Blazers on Tuesday (Twitter link via Casey Holdahl). It was Simons’ second workout for the Blazers, who passed on a workout with the Grizzlies to visit Portland again (Twitter link via Chris Herrington). Simons also worked out twice for the Lakers and Magic, tweets Jason Quick of NBC Sports Northwest.
- Jerome Robinson will have an individual workout with the Wizards on Wednesday, the team announced today in a press release.
- The Warriors‘ group workout on Tuesday featured Trevon Bluiett (Xavier), Gary Clark (Cincinnati), Bonzie Colson (Notre Dame), MiKyle McIntosh (Oregon), Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (Kansas), and Desi Rodriguez (Seton Hall), per Mark Medina of The San Jose Mercury News (Twitter link). Golden State has the No. 28 pick and will reportedly push to buy a pick early in the second round — at least a couple of today’s visitors could be candidates in that range.
- Keita Bates-Diop, a potential target for the Timberwolves at No. 20, worked out for Minnesota on Monday, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News.
- The Pistons brought in six more prospects for a pre-draft workout on Tuesday, according to the team (Twitter link). Elijah Bryant (BYU), Obi Enechionyia (Temple), Zach Lofton (New Mexico State), Yante Maten (Georgia), E.C. Matthews (Rhode Island), and Nuni Omot (Baylor) earned a look from Detroit.
Draft Notes: Bagley, DiVincenzo, Sexton, Brunson, Gabriel, Bates-Diop
Duke University product Marvin Bagley III is expected to sign an endorsement deal with Puma, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. The deal is over five years and is expected to be the largest shoe deal signed by a rookie since Kevin Durant inked a seven-year, $60MM deal with Nike, Krawczynski adds.
The deal is historic as Puma has not represented an NBA player in nearly two decades. The last time Puma signed an NBA player was Vince Carter in 1998, per Yahoo! Sports. Bagley is widely expected to one of the top five picks in the draft.
Puma has also expressed interest in Oklahoma point guard Trae Young, another likely top-10 pick, per ESPN’s Nick DePaula.
Check out more draft notes below:
- Villanova guard Donte DiVincenzo is in Phoenix to interview with the Suns, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7. DiVincenzo has already worked out for the Timberwolves, Bulls, Pacers, and several other clubs.
- Fellow Villanova guard Jalen Brunson completed a previously-reported workout with the Pacers on Thursday, tweets Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports. Brunson now has scheduled visits with the Spurs and Celtics.
- Alabama point guard Collin Sexton, who has been selective with the teams he works out for, is scheduled to meet with the Magic on Saturday, tweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
- Possible first-round pick Keita Bates-Diop will work out for the Hawks soon, tweets Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. The Ohio State forward worked out for the Wizards on Thursday.
- After working out for the Raptors on Thursday, Wenyen Gabriel has scheduled visits with the Sixers, Pistons, and Hornets on tap, tweets Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com.
- The Hornets will work out six players on Friday, the team announced in a press release. The scheduled participants include Xavier’s Trevon Bluiett, Mississipi’s Markel Crawford, Oregon State’s Drew Eubanks, Nebraska’s Anton Gill, Virginia’s Nigel Johnson, and Wichita State’s Shaquille Morris.
Draft Notes: R. Williams, Nuggets, Clips, Wizards
Texas A&M center Robert Williams, who previously worked out for the Bulls, Hornets, and Knicks, continues to earn looks from teams picking in the top half of the first round. According to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News (Twitter link), Williams still has workouts on tap with the Clippers, Nuggets, Wizards, who hold the picks from 12 through 15.
Williams’ session with the Nuggets will take place today, according to a press release from the club. In addition to scheduling an individual session with Williams, Denver has also lined up a group workout which will feature Hayden Dalton (Wyoming), Jacob Evans (Cincinnati), Arnoldas Kulboka (Capo d’Orlando), Dzanan Musa (Cedevita), Ajdin Penava (Marshall), and Johnathan Williams (Gonzaga).
Meanwhile, the Bucks – who hold the No. 17 selection – also wanted to bring in Williams for a workout, but he expects to be off the board before Milwaukee picks and has passed on the team’s invitation, per Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times. According to Woelfel, Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith, another good bet to be drafted in the top 16, also won’t work out for the Bucks.
Here’s more on the 2018 NBA draft:
- Gyorgy Goloman (UCLA), Doral Moore (Wake Forest), and Matt Farrell (Notre Dame) will participate in today’s Clippers workout headlined by previously-reported participants Miles Bridges, Kevin Knox, and Aaron Holiday. The team’s official list of Wednesday’s workout participants doesn’t include Mitchell Robinson, who was expected to be part of the group.
- Wichita State guard Landry Shamet worked out for the Nets this week and will audition for the Trail Blazers on Thursday, league sources tell Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link). Shamet currently ranks 49th on Jonathan Givony’s ESPN big board.
- Trevon Bluiett (Xavier), Elijah Brown (Oregon), Nana Foulland (Bucknell), Tyler Nelson (Fairfield), Billy Preston (BC Igokea), and Corey Sanders (Rutgers) are working out for the Wizards today, according to the club.
- In an interesting piece for ESPN.com, Paul Sabin and Seth Walder apply the site’s analytical model to 2018’s draft class and find that Duke’s Marvin Bagley III ranks as the No. 1 prospect. Mikal Bridges (fifth), Zhaire Smith (ninth), and De’Anthony Melton (13th) are among the other players favored by the analytics.
Draft Workouts: Brown, Lakers, Grizzlies, Alkins
Oregon shooting guard Troy Brown worked out for the Spurs on Sunday, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets. The Spurs hold the No. 18 pick and Brown is ranked No. 19 by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. Brown then worked out for the Wizards Monday and is headed to Milwaukee for an evaluation by the Bucks, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets. Washington owns the No. 15 selection with the Bucks at No. 17.
We have plenty of other workouts to pass along:
- The Lakers will work out Abdul-Malik Abu (North Carolina State), Trevon Bluiett (Xavier), Kameron Chatman (Detroit), Manu Lecomte (Baylor), Marcus Lee (Cal) and Matt Mobley (St. Bonaventure) on Tuesday, the team’s PR department tweets. Seton Hall big man Angel Delgado will get a second look from the Lakers on Tuesday, Adam Zagoria of the New York Times tweets.
- The Grizzlies will bring in six second-round prospects on Tuesday, according to a team press release. That group includes A.J. Davis (UCF), Wenyen Gabriel (Kentucky), Brandon Goodwin (Florida Gulf Coast), Devonte’ Graham (Kansas), Terry Larrier (Connecticut) and Ray Spalding (Louisville). Memphis held a workout with projected lottery pick Wendell Carter Jr. on Monday, Chris Herrington tweets. Carter is ranked No. 6 by Givony; the Grizzlies have the No. 4 pick.
- Arizona guard Rawle Alkins will be evaluated by the Warriors on Tuesday, according to another Zagoria tweet.
- Swingman Todd Withers (Queens) has worked out for the Thunder, Nets and Hornets, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
- Zhaire Smith will work out for the Sixers and Suns after visiting the Wizards on Monday, Chase Hughes of NBCSWashington tweets. The Texas Tech forward is ranked No. 16 overall by Givony.
Southeast Notes: Chalmers, Magic, Foster, Hawks
Free agents and former Heat teammates Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers have been working out together in Miami, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel reports. They were Miami’s starting backcourt during its championship runs in 2012 and 2013. Wade finished last season with the Heat, while Chalmers played for the Grizzlies. They have been working out at DBC Fitness, a Miami gym run by David Alexander, one of LeBron James‘ trainers, Winderman notes.
In other news around the Southeast Division:
- New Magic coach Steve Clifford is bringing in two of his former Hornets assistants in Pat Delany and Steve Hetzel, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. Both worked under Clifford the past four seasons. New Knicks coach David Fizdale was interested in bringing on Delany to his staff, Stein adds.
- Greg Foster will join the staff of new Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce, Marc Spears of ESPN tweets. Foster had been an assistant with the Bucks since 2014.
- Georgia forward Yante Maten is among the draft prospects the Hawks will work out on Tuesday, according to a team release. Elijah Stewart (USC), Isaiah Wilkins (Virginia), Melvin Frazier (Tulane), Elijah Brown (Oregon) and Trevon Bluiett (Xavier) are also scheduled to visit.
Draft Notes: Huell, Rose, Pipkins, Caroline
With the deadline to withdraw from the draft coming on Wednesday, several players have reached their final decisions. Among them is Miami forward Dewan Huell, who will return to school for his junior season, writes Jordan McPherson of The Miami Herald.
Huell, who made a formal announcement on Twitter earlier today, averaged 11.4 points and 6.7 rebounds in 32 games this season. “I’m really excited to get back to work with my brothers so we can accomplish more than ever during the 2018-19 season,” he wrote.
Huell doesn’t appear in the list of top 100 prospects compiled by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and would have been a long shot to be drafted.
There’s more draft-related news to pass along:
- Shooting guard Quinton Rose will withdraw from the draft and return to Temple, writes Jon Rothstein of FRS Sports. Rose averaged 14.9 points per game as a sophomore.
- Jalon Pipkins will take his name out of the draft, but won’t return to Cal State Northridge, Rothstein tweets. The freshman guard will explore transfer opportunities after averaging just 3.1 points per game in a reserve role.
- Nevada’s Jordan Caroline will return to the team for his senior season, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN. The 6’7″ swingman averaged 17.7 points and 8.6 rebounds for the Wolfpack.
- Ferris State’s Zach Hankins will exit the draft and will transfer to Xavier, Goodman adds (Twitter link).
- Arizona’s Allonzo Trier was among a group of players who worked out Friday for the Timberwolves, according to Darren Wolfson of Eyewitness 5 News (Twitter link). Also at the session were Stanford’s Reid Travis, Baylor’s Nuni Omot, Colorado’s George King, Kentucky’s PJ Washington and Nevada’s Cody Martin (Twitter link).
- The Suns held a workout Friday featuring Xavier’s Trevon Bluiett, Kansas’ Devonte’ Graham, Arizona State’s Tra Holder, SMU’s Shake Milton, Oakland’s Kendrick Nunn and Iowa State’s Lindell Wigginton (Twitter link).
- Six players participated in a workout today with the Bulls, according to the team’s website. Nunn and Bluiett were on hand, along with USC’s Elijah Stewart, Western Michigan’s Thomas Wilder, Michigan’s Duncan Robinson and San Diego State’s Jalen McDaniels.
Draft Workouts: Jazz, Ball, Ona Embo, Pinson
Armed with the 21st and 52nd overall picks in next month’s draft, the Jazz are taking a look at a wide range of prospects this week, according to the team.
On Tuesday, the Jazz brought in Jaylen Barford (Arkansas), Trevon Bluiett (Xavier), Dwight Coleby (Western Kentucky), Jock Landale (St. Mary’s), Caleb Martin (Nevada), and Kenneth Ogbe (Utah Valley) for auditions (Twitter links).
The team’s series of workouts continued today with Keita Bates-Diop (Ohio State), Chimezie Metu (USC), Shamorie Ponds (St. John’s), PJ Washington (Kentucky), Mustapha Heron (Auburn), and Matt Mobley (St. Bonaventure) earning a look from the Jazz (Twitter link).
Here’s more pre-draft workout news from around the league:
- After a stint in Lithuania, LiAngelo Ball has returned stateside to audition for NBA teams ahead of the 2018 draft. According to Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype (Twitter link), Lonzo Ball‘s younger brother interviewed with the Thunder and Suns at the Pro Basketball Combine, and has private workouts on tap with the Lakers, Clippers, and Warriors.
- A report earlier this week indicated that Tulane’s Ray Ona Embo is expected to withdraw from the draft, but it appears he’s going through with his scheduled workouts before making a final decision. Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link) hears from Ona Embo’s brother that the sophomore guard has a workout with the Hornets lined up for Friday.
- Former UNC wing Theo Pinson has worked out for the Celtics and Timberwolves so far, and will audition for the Rockets on Thursday, tweets Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com. Pinson also has a Knicks workout on his calendar for June 12, Zagoria adds.
- According to Zagoria (via Twitter), Syracuse early entrant Tyus Battle is working out for the Magic on Wednesday.
Draft Notes: Robinson, Kings, Bluiett, Rorie, Caldwell
Despite reports suggesting otherwise, the Lakers aren’t believed to have made a promise to Mitchell Robinson to take him in the first round, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. Robinson skipped last week’s combine and a report surfaced that the Lakers made a pledge to him with the No. 25 overall pick. The seven-footer did not play college basketball, as he withdrew from Western Kentucky as a freshman last September to focus on the draft. He’s ranked as the No. 22 prospect on ESPN Jonathan Givony’s Top 100 list.
In other draft-related developments:
- The Kings will work out Jaylen Hands (UCLA), Thomas Wilder (Western Michigan), Devon Hall (Virginia), Rawle Alkins (Arizona), B.J. Johnson (La Salle) and George King (Colorado) on Wednesday, according to the team’s website. They brought in Trevon Bluiett (Xavier), Jevon Carter (West Virginia), Wenyen Gabriel (Kentucky), Caleb Martin (Nevada), Cameron Reynolds (Tulane) and Gabe Vincent (UC Santa Barbara) on Monday.
- Bluiett also has workouts scheduled with the Jazz, Bulls and Suns, according to Xavier’s Twitter feed (Twitter link).
- Montana guard Ahmaad Rorie will return to school for his senior year, ESPN’s Jeff Goodman tweets. He averaged 17.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG and 3.7 APG as a junior.
- J.J. Caldwell will be going pro, as Goodman relays (via Twitter). The Texas A&M guard had a rocky college career, as he was ineligible as a true freshman, then got kicked off the team this past season in February for off-the-court issues.
Draft Workouts: Hawks, Bucks, Spurs, Wolves
The Hawks, who hold four of the top 33 picks in this year’s draft, are bringing in six more prospects for pre-draft workouts on Friday. Jaylen Adams (St. Bonaventure), Tyler Hall (Montana State), Kevin Huerter (Maryland), Jo Lual-Acuil (Baylor), Doral Moore (Wake Forest), and Lindell Wigginton (Iowa State) will get a look from Atlanta, according to a team release.
Here are a few more updates on pre-draft workouts:
- The Bucks are working out local standout Ethan Happ on Thursday, per Jeff Potrykus of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Happ, who averaged 17.9 PPG and 8.0 RPG for Wisconsin this past season, is testing the draft waters as a junior.
- Chinese forward Abudushalamu Abudurexiti has already worked out for eight NBA teams this spring, according to Michael Scotto of The Athletic, who identifies the Nets, Mavericks, Lakers, Bucks, Suns, and Jazz as clubs that have taken a look at the youngster. Scotto’s piece is worth checking out in full for a closer look at the under-the-radar prospect.
- The Spurs worked out Seton Hall big man Angel Delgado on Wednesday, tweets Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com. San Antonio also worked out Missouri’s Jontay Porter today, according to Aaron Reiss of The Kansas City Star (Twitter link).
- Cincinnati forward Gary Clark will be among the prospects working out for the Timberwolves this week, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. So will Jontay Porter, per Aaron Reiss (Twitter link).
- Xavier senior Trevon Bluiett auditioned for the Timberwolves this week and has a workout lined up with the Warriors on Sunday, per Shannon Russell of The Athletic (Twitter link).
List Of Early Extrants Exceeds Draft Spots
The deadline for NCAA players to withdraw their names after declaring for the draft passed on Wednesday evening. The number of American early-entry candidates that opted to officially leave school and stay in the draft exceeded the 60-player draft that the NBA will conduct next month.
While no official list has been released, we count 63 NCAA early-entry prospects who will be waiting for their name to be called. Our updated list can be found here. The final draft list will be set after the early entrant withdrawal deadline for international and other non-NCAA players passes on June 12.
One of the recent surprises among players remaining in the draft was North Carolina State freshman big man Ted Kapita. He is not listed among the Top 100 draft prospects by DraftExpress.
Among the late withdrawals who were in DraftExpress’ Top 60 included Maryland small forward Justin Jackson (No. 31), Kentucky shooting guard Hamidou Diallo (No. 42) and Texas point guard Andrew Jones (No. 54). (Twitter link).
Other players who made late decisions to remove their names from the draft include USC’s Shaqquan Aaron, Xavier’s Trevon Bluiett, Florida’s John Egbunu, Arkansas’ Daryl Macon, Kansas’ Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, and Stetson’s Divine Myles and Derick Newton.