Draft Notes: Gordon, Kings, Napier, Stauskas
Aaron Gordon reveals some of the experiences he had while working out for the Kings, Lakers, and Jazz to Tzvi Twersky of SLAM Magazine. Gordon mentions shooting alongside Chris Mullin and playing defense against Doug McDermott among other details. Here’s a rundown of tonight’s other draft notes:
- Cleanthony Earl and Glenn Robinson III will work out for the Kings next week, reports Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (subscription only).
- Xavier Thames will work out for the Kings and Pacers, tweets Sean Cunningham of News10 Sacramento.
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com adds the Thunder, Grizzlies, and Celtics to the list of teams that have auditioned Shabazz Napier (Insider only).
- Nik Stauskas has rescheduled his scrubbed workout with the Lakers, the ESPN scribe adds.
- The Wolves will be working out K.J. McDaniels, Rodney Hood, and P.J. Hairston this weekend, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Wolfson adds that more players could be lined up for workouts in Minnesota in addition to those three.
- Stephen Holt will work out for the Warriors, tweets Diamond Leung of Bay Area News Group.
Ford On Sixers, Nuggets, Bulls, Lakers, Kings
The Sixers inquired with the Cavs about the No. 1 overall pick, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com reveals in his latest Insider-only mock draft. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio wrote last week that a team with a top-three pick had done so, so it was either Philadelphia or Milwaukee. The Sixers aren’t willing to give up picks Nos. 3 and 10 to acquire the top selection, Ford writes. The ESPN.com scribe adds that it’s possible the team would offer Thaddeus Young and the No. 3 pick, though it’s unclear whether that’s just speculation. Andrew Wiggins is Philly’s prime target in the draft, but if they can’t take him at No. 3, they’ll go with either Joel Embiid or Jabari Parker, Ford hears, adding that while Dante Exum “isn’t out of the question” for that pick, he’d need to “wow” the team in his workout to get the nod. Ford has more significant news from the draft and elsewhere, as we detail here:
- The Nuggets and Bulls have had serious talks about a trade that would send the No. 11 pick to Chicago in exchange for the 16th and 19th overall selections, Ford hears. The Bulls want to move up in the draft so they can take a top-flight shooter, Ford says. Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post first reported that Denver was shopping the 11th pick last week.
- The Lakers are shopping the No. 7 pick, according to Ford, but the Kings are merely listening to offers for the eighth selection, Ford writes, clarifying his report from last week. The No. 8 selection has been linked to rumors involving Kevin Love.
- Sacramento is interested in point guards Dennis Schröder of the Hawks and Brandon Knight of the Bucks, Ford reports.
Lowe’s Latest: Stephenson, Horford, Hamilton
Zach Lowe’s weekly column for Grantland, always required reading for NBA fans, focuses this week on Lance Stephenson, and Lowe classifies the Hornets and Pistons as the Pacers‘ stiffest competition for the unrestricted free agent shooting guard this summer. A February report made note of Charlotte’s interest, but it’s unclear if the Pistons are indeed planning a pursuit. Still, Lowe has plenty of intel on Stephenson and others from around the league, and we’ll hit the highlights here:
- The Hawks made Al Horford available to other teams at the trade deadline in a “very targeted fashion,” sources tell Lowe.
- Multiple execs have pegged the Kings as a potential suitor for Stephenson if Rudy Gay opts out, Lowe reports, but Lowe suggests that Gay is planning to opt in. The last dispatch from Gay signaled that he was torn about what to do with his player option, worth more than $19.3MM, so it’s unclear if Lowe is merely making an educated guess or if he’s heard indications that Gay will indeed pick up the option.
- Plenty of rival executives have mentioned the Pelicans as a sign-and-trade possibility for Stephenson, writes Lowe, who nonetheless doesn’t see a fit.
- Jordan Hamilton has piqued the curiosity of teams from around the league, according to Lowe. The Grantland scribe mentions Hamilton among possibilities for teams looking to split the $5.305MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception between two players, and that looks like ominous news for Houston’s hopes of re-signing him. The Rockets are limited to offering a starting salary of no more than $2,109,294, as I explained at the bottom of Houston’s offseason outlook last week.
Offseason Outlook: Sacramento Kings
Guaranteed Contracts
- DeMarcus Cousins ($13,701,250)
- Carl Landry ($6,500,000)
- Derrick Williams ($6,331,404)
- Jason Thompson ($6,037,500)
- Jason Terry ($5,850,313)
- Ben McLemore ($3,026,280)
- Travis Outlaw ($3,000,000)
- Reggie Evans ($1,768,653)
- Ray McCallum ($816,482)
Options
- Rudy Gay ($19,317,326, Player)*
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
- Quincy Acy ($915,243)**
- Willie Reed ($915,243)
Free Agents / Cap Holds
- Aaron Gray ($5,112,663)
- Isaiah Thomas ($2,875,131 – QO)***
- No. 8 pick ($2,288,200)
- Jared Cunningham ($915,243)
Draft Picks
- 1st Round (8th overall)
Cap Outlook
Guaranteed Salary: $47,031,882
Options: $19,317,326
Non-Guaranteed Salary: $1,830,486
Cap Holds: $11,766,262
Total: $79,945,956
You can say a lot of things about the Kings, but you can’t say they’re not aggressive. In December of last year, the Kings shipped Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson, and Chuck Hayes north of the border for Rudy Gay and spare parts. They made that trade even though Gay had become a human punching bag for his U.S. government level of inefficiency and had the ability to flee after the season. Even though they could go bust on their big gamble, they’re contemplating making an even bigger one.
If dealing for Gay while knowing that he could bounce months later was like playing roulette, gearing up to trade for Kevin Love without any assurances that he’ll re-sign would be like playing high-stakes roulette and craps at the same time. While other clubs would probably want a wink and a nod from a member of the All-Star’s entourage before making a deal, the Kings have no such reservations. The Kings have a rabid fan base supporting them and a new arena in the works, but what they don’t have is a proven winner. Banking on wooing Love to re-sign over the course of the season seems, well, crazy. On the other hand, one could argue that a small market team has to either make major gambles or tank in order to compete since they are disadvantaged in free agency. Forking over a package of young talent and draft picks for Love might be ill-advised, but shooting for the moon is a lot more entertaining than a string of sub-30-win seasons.
Even though they’re willing to take that risk, prying Love away from the Wolves won’t be all that simple as there are a number of teams circling like sharks. Still, according to at least one report, the Kings are the favorites in the Love sweepstakes. The Kings can build a package around the No. 8 pick, which the Wolves would reportedly use for either Julius Randle or Noah Vonleh. Beyond that, the Kings are said to be willing to throw in anything not nailed down or named DeMarcus Cousins. There might not be much of a supporting cast behind them, but a frontcourt of Gay, Cousins, and Love would do an awful lot of damage. Of course, with the Celtics, Lakers, Knicks, Warriors, Rockets, Cavs and Bulls working the phones, Love may wind up visiting California’s capital just once or twice next season.
So, back to the notable name that is more likely to be in purple and black next season. Gay seemed poise to take off his coat and stay a while back in January but he now appears to be waffling pretty hard on the matter. Not only is the small forward unsure of what he’s going to do, he’s unsure of the criteria that he’ll use to make his decision. Statistically speaking, Gay played the best basketball of his career during his Sacramento stint and one has to wonder if he could flourish the same way in a different system. He also won’t find teams lining up to throw money at him. As a player who hasn’t cracked the top ten of Hoops Rumors’ Free Agent Power Rankings, he’d be much better off in the short-term financially if he accepted his $19.3MM deal. Still, money alone won’t get it done and the Kings are bringing in the big guns – Chris Mullin and The Scorelord – to convince him to stay.
On top of that, the Kings also have a big decision to make when it comes to diminutive point guard Isaiah Thomas. The 5’9″ guard is a restricted free agent this summer and the Kings, unsurprisingly, will extend the $2.875MM qualifying offer to the fan favorite. Unfortunately for the Kings, their cap situation isn’t an ideal one as they have $47MM on the books without factoring in Gay’s option. Still, as long as things don’t get too out of hand, the Kings will keep their shoot-first point guard, whom they “think the world of.”
Jason Thompson, meanwhile, is under contract for another three seasons, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone if he asks out. The pride of Rider University signed a five-year, $30MM deal two summers ago when he figured to be a cornerstone of the Kings’ lineup. This past season, he saw his role decrease to the point where he lost his starting job in March. The Kings are probably open to moving Thompson for a number of reasons. Thompson is one of the veteran holdovers from the Geoff Petrie era and seeing as how the club’s new regime deported Salmons and Hayes, it stands to reason that they could do the same with Thompson. The big man is also making $6MM a season, money that could be better allocated elsewhere. And, even if Love isn’t Sacramento-bound, they have two other power forward options in the returning Carl Landry and former No. 2 overall pick Derrick Williams (hey, I didn’t say great options, I just said options). It’s not clear exactly what they could get for him in a deal where he’s the featured piece, though it’s a safe bet that any deal for Love or another similarly high-salaried star would include Thompson in the package. Teams won’t be lighting up the phones to get him, but he does represent a very realistic reclamation project.
There are, of course, other trade pieces outside of Thompson. Williams still hasn’t realized his potential (and maybe he never will) , but he’s still only 23 years old and has upside. With a $6.3MM expiring deal, a team could acquire Williams without making a commitment to him beyond next season. The cost, in a simple one-for-one trade, could be as little as a second rounder. The Kings could also free up space by trading Jason Terry, or, more accurately, Terry’s contract. Unfortunately, the soon-to-be 37-year-old has been slowed down by injuries and could choose to retire or try and come back next season and play limited minutes. Terry’s deal, which ends after next season, is probably only intriguing to trade suitors as an expiring contract, so Sacramento would likely have to take back long-term money to ship Terry out.
Kings fans got the owner that they wanted, and a shiny new arena where they can cheer on their team is on its way. Now, they want to see a winner. Sacramento can do a lot of great things with their core, but they’ll have to augment it in the coming months in order to build a .500+ team for 2014/15.
Cap footnotes
* — If Gay opts out, his cap hold would be the greater of $18,783,379 or the maximum salary for a player with between seven and nine years of experience. That maximum was $16,441,500 this past season, so it’s a near-certainty that Gay’s cap hold would be $18,783,379 if he opts out.
** — Acy’s salary becomes fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before July 25th.
*** — GM Pete D’Alessandro has stated his intention to tender a qualifying offer to Thomas, but if he changes his mind, the cap hold for Thomas would be $915,243.
ShamSports and Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ were used in the creation of this post.
And-Ones: Williams, McDermott, Draft
Chaz Williams wants to be part of the new trend of undersized guards becoming successful in the NBA, writes Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. The 5’9″ Williams has been in contact with Kings guard Isaiah Thomas for advice, notes Murphy. Of his conversation with Thomas, Williams said, “It’s great to know another small guy out there is successful, and is a fan of mine as well. He gave me a lot of encouraging words, and told me what to look for in these workouts. He told me to be myself and go out there and play hard. We spoke via text and communicated for a little while on Twitter. We’re with the same agency. I approached him. I’m a fan of his, and I wanted to pick his brain and learn. I’m a student of the game and can learn more every day. If I can learn more in a situation where people say I can’t, then that will help me a lot.”
More from around the association:
- NBA.com published their full prospect profile for Doug McDermott. McDermott is projected as a mid-to-late lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
- Johnny O’Bryant has workouts scheduled next week with the Cavaliers and the Timberwolves, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
- The crew at Basketball Insiders (video link) spoke with a number of the prospects in the 2014 NBA Draft about what facets of their games they are working on to improve.
And-Ones: Gay, Sterling, Shumpert
Keyboard warriors around the world took to Twitter last night to criticize Heat star LeBron James for exiting Game 1 of the Finals with leg cramps. After the game, Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas spoke with Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports and came to LeBron’s defense. “There is no athlete on the planet who could’ve played through those cramps,” Thomas said. “Michael Jordan absolutely couldn’t have played through those cramps. I absolutely couldn’t have played through those cramps. As an athlete, there’s nothing you could do.” More from around the league:
- The Kings are bringing in Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond to help team leadership try and convince Rudy Gay to pick up his $19.3MM option for next season, sources tell Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Sacramento has already made known a desire to keep Gay, and is hoping to leverage the reputation of their former players with excitement about their future arena in persuading Gay to remain with the team that traded for him in-season.
- Donald Sterling is having second thoughts about giving up his battle with the league because he had wrongly assumed a truce with the league would entail his lifetime ban being lifted, people familiar with the situation tell James Rainey and Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times.
- Marc Berman of The New York Post thinks it’s likely the Knicks will want to revisit the talks with the Thunder that centered around Iman Shumpert this past trade deadline. Berman cites the New York’s desire to acquire a first round draft pick, and Oklahoma City’s willingness to trade away either of its two first round selections.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Draft Notes: Hood, Stokes, Jackson, Anderson
This morning, Hoops Rumors learned (Twitter link) that Duke sharpshooter Rodney Hood will audition for the Celtics, Kings, Hawks, and Hornets in the next few weeks. As previously reported, his future workout schedule will also include the Sixers and he has already worked out for the Bulls, Magic, Nuggets, and Suns. Back in May, Hood told Hoops Rumors that he could go as high as No. 6-12 and it sounds increasingly plausible as he has worked out for most of the top half teams. Here’s the latest draft news..
- Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders explains why he thinks Noah Vonleh would have limited upside as a lottery pick. Duncan thinks Vonleh’s leaping ability has become overrated, and cites poor instincts on both ends of the floor as reason to temper expectations.
- Robby Kalland of Hawks.com checked in with Brian Schroeder of Hardwood Paroxysm to get the goods on first round draft prospect Jusuf Nurkic. Schroeder raves about his size, relative mobility, rebounding, and scoring touch. Currently, the big man is slated to go No. 11 to the Nuggets in DraftExpress‘ mock draft.
- Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders runs down some common mistakes teams make in the draft, highlighting players from this year’s pool that could produce similar letdowns.
Earlier updates:
- Jabari Parker would have no issue with being drafted by the Bucks, his father Sonny and Duke teammate Hood tell Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.
- The Suns were expected to work out Adreian Payne, Jordan Adams, Markel Brown, Sean Kilpatrick, Daniel Miller, and C.J. Wilcox today, reports azcentral sports.
- Shawn Glover worked out for the Jazz today, reports Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune, and both Payne and David Stockton will work out for Utah tomorrow, Falk tweets. Payne is projected near Utah’s No. 23 overall pick, but neither Glover or Stockton (son of Jazz legend John Stockton) are projected as either first or second round picks.
- A source tells Hoops Rumors (Twitter link) that Clemson small forward K.J. McDaniels will work out for the Thunder tomorrow. McDaniels is projected as a mid-to-late first-round pick and while he figures to be in range, he could be gone by the time OKC picks at No. 21.
- Hoops Rumors has also learned (via Twitter) that Stanford forward Josh Huestis auditioned for the Knicks this week and will be playing in front of the Magic today. The source adds that there aren’t enough days before the draft for Huestis to work out for every team that wants to see him (link).
- In continuing their trend of working out point guards, the Magic will work out Tyler Ennis and Elfrid Payton over the next few days, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
- Hoops Rumors has also learned (via Twitter) that former Tennessee Volunteers big man Jarnell Stokes is one of the 12 players working out for the Jazz today. Stokes is projected to be a first round pick thanks to his tenacious rebounding and high motor.
- A source tells Hoops Rumors (via Twitter) that Cincinnati forward Justin Jackson has worked out for the Bulls with the Mavs, Pacers, Hawks, Hornets, and Suns still on the docket. To learn more about Jackson, a second-round prospect, check out the interview we conducted with him last month as a part of our Prospect Profile series.
- Former UCLA point guard Kyle Anderson will work out for the Thunder tomorrow and the Sixers on Monday, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.
Draft Notes: Wiggins, Jazz, Randle, Sixers
The debate over how the top three picks of the 2014 NBA Draft will shake out has been covered ad nauseam at this point, and NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper throws his hat in the ring by examining what could dictate where Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins will land. Meanwhile, here are some other draft-related updates:
- Along with Nick Wiggins (brother of Andrew), the Jazz will work out Deonte Burton, Jordan Clarkson, Alex Kirk, Sean Kilpatrick and Artem Kilmenko on Thursday morning, tweets Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune. The Jazz have three picks on June 26, including two in the first round (5 and 23).
- As Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders opines, just because Julius Randle is no longer widely classified within the top tier of this draft class isn’t reason enough to sleep on the talented Kentucky forward, who still has a shot at becoming a top-5 pick.
- In a separate story, Kennedy writes that there is no confusing how much is riding on this talent-rich draft for the Sixers, who are the only team with two top-10 selections (3 and 10). Adding two franchise cornerstones to go with Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel could make Philadelphia an attractive landing spot around the league, according to Kennedy.
- After working out for the Hornets today, Northwestern’s Drew Crawford is scheduled to work out with the Kings, Jazz and his hometown Bulls, according to the Wildcats’ Twitter feed.
- The Nuggets will have Michigan State’s Gary Harris and Mizzou’s Jabari Brown in town for a workout on Thursday, tweets Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post. Denver picks at 11, 41 and 56.
- According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter), the Magic will work out Randle, Aaron Gordon and Noah Vonleh individually before the draft. They will also work out Dante Exum at some point and are expected to bring in Marcus Smart for a second look. Orlando picks at 4 and 12.
Kings Take Lead In Race For Kevin Love?
4:09pm: The Kings have indeed made calls about Love, tweets Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.
3:56pm: The Wolves have yet to speak with the Kings about Love, two sources tell Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
3:41pm: The Kings appear to be the front-runners to acquire Kevin Love, as Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears (Twitter link). That runs counter to Monday’s report from Sean Deveney of The Sporting News indicating that Sacramento wouldn’t be Minnesota’s preference. Still, the Kings are apparently willing to trade for Love even without an assurance that he’d remain in Sacramento beyond next summer, when he can opt out of his contract and hit free agency. The Kings would give up anyone other than DeMarcus Cousins to acquire the All-NBA second-teamer, according to Amico.
Sacramento is reportedly willing to surrender the eighth overall pick in this year’s draft, but the Wolves apparently would be unlikely to have interest unless they’re confident that either Julius Randle or Noah Vonleh will still be on the board at No. 8. Minnesota appears to be holding off on a trade until it names a coach, likely with the hope that a splashy hire will convince Love to change his mind about leaving.
Plenty of other teams are in the mix for Love, including the Warriors, Rockets, Bulls, Celtics, Lakers and Wizards, so the Kings will have plenty of competition. Given that Minnesota seems to be in a holding pattern, I wouldn’t be surprised if other clubs pull ahead of the Kings, nor would it be a shock to see the position of favorite in the Love sweepstakes go back and forth several times. Still, the Kings have proven one of the most aggressive franchises on the trade market over the past year under owner Vivek Ranadive and GM Pete D’Alessandro.
Latest On Kevin Love
2:34pm: The Wolves are discussing deals involving Love with other teams, but they’re making it clear that it’s unlikely they’ll trade him until they hire a coach, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Love maintains that he wants out of Minnesota, but the Wolves will probably try to sell Love on staying once a new coach is in place, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter links).
MONDAY, 3:29pm: Love would prefer the Warriors to the Rockets, Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher says on video. Of course, there are other teams in which he apparently has interest of varying degrees, including the Bulls, Celtics, Lakers, and Wizards, and it’s unclear just how high Golden State ranks on Love’s complete wish list.
3:02pm: The Wolves continue to issue denials about their interest in trading Kevin Love this summer, but Sean Deveney of The Sporting News hears Minnesota has gauged the market to determine what offers on draft night might look like. It appears the Wolves are on their way to moving Love sooner rather than later, a source tells Deveney. Still, a GM cautions Deveney that serious movement toward a deal isn’t likely to happen until the week before the draft.
The Timberwolves are looking for a lottery pick in this year’s draft, additional lottery selections for the future, and a young player with a decent chance of becoming a star, but they haven’t been impressed with the offers they’ve seen so far, Deveney reports. They’d prefer not to trade him to Sacramento, Deveney writes, though it’s unclear if that has to do with the package the Kings might offer, or if there’s another stumbling block. The Kings are reportedly willing to acquire Love without an assurance he’d re-sign.
The Celtics are prioritizing a pursuit of Love, and they’re willing to give up the sixth overall pick to make it happen, according to Deveney. Still, they’re not open to including Rajon Rondo in such a deal, and Boston’s willingness to part with future first-rounders might be the determining factor in whether Love winds up in Boston, Deveney surmises.