Draft Notes: Clippers, Vonleh, Hornets, Hairston
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).
Heat, Kyle Lowry Share Interest In Deal
There’s mutual interest between the Heat and Kyle Lowry, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, who spoke this morning in an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter (video link; scroll ahead to the 3:45 mark). Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote in late December that the Heat would “love a shot” at the Raptors point guard. Still, Lowry’s comments have indicated a preference to remain with the Raptors, though he hasn’t explicitly said so.
The Heat would target Lowry as an addition should LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all opt out of their contracts and re-sign for lower salaries, as was rumored with regard to Miami’s interest in Carmelo Anthony, Windhorst says. The latest estimates have pegged Lowry’s value at around $11MM per year, which would require the Heat’s trio of stars to accept not much more if Miami is to accommodate an attractive deal for Lowry under the salary cap.
Raptors GM Masai Ujiri and CEO Tim Leiweke have identified Lowry as a priority, and Leiweke answered affirmatively when asked in April if the team would re-sign the Andy Miller client. That’s no guarantee, of course, but given the affection that Lowry and the Raptors seem to share for one another, the Raptors look well-positioned to retain him. Considering the long shot nature of the idea that all three of Miami’s stars will agree to deep discounts, it would be a surprise if the top point guard in this year’s free agent class winds up in South Beach.
Draft Notes: Jazz, Kings, Warren, Nurkic, LaVine
The latest draft news from around the league..
- In addition to Indiana big man Noah Vonleh, today’s Jazz work out included George Mason guard Bryon Allen, Oklahoma State guard Markel Brown, Syracuse forward C.J. Fair, UCLA forward David Wear, and Marquette forward Jamil Wilson, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News.
- Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro, assistant GM Mike Bratz, and advisor Chris Mullin are meeting with prospects Doug McDermott and Nik Stauskas right now in Chicago, tweets Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee.
- N.C. State forward T.J. Warren was slated to work out for the Nuggets today but he’s a late scratch, according to Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post (on Twitter). Taking his place will be Trevor Wages of Colorado School of Mines (link).
- The Nuggets are bringing in Jusuf Nurkic for medical exams and perhaps a workout, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Nurkic is currently slated to go No. 12 to the Magic in DraftExpress’ mock.
- UCLA’s Zach LaVine will work out for the Timberwolves, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. Minnesota likes him at two guard and they’ll think about him at No. 13 along with Stauskas and Adreian Payne.
- The Raptors will audition Payne tomorrow, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.
- Meanwhile, Clemson’s K.J. McDaniels wasn’t able to work out for the Timberwolves, tweets Wolfson. The small forward got stuck in South Carolina due to bad weather.
- The Celtics will have more workouts on Thursday, highlighted by UCLA guard Jordan Adams, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.
Draft Notes: Bucks, Parker, Embiid, Hornets
The Bucks aren’t having any trouble getting a look at the top prospects. Milwaukee is reportedly set for a pair of workouts with Andrew Wiggins, and Chad Ford of ESPN.com hears that Jabari Parker will work out again for the club this week after having done so last week (Twitter link). Joel Embiid was already apparently slated to audition for the club, and GM John Hammond also met with the Kansas big man last week, Ford tweets. The Bucks appear to be the only team with which Wiggins, Parker, Embiid and Dante Exum have all agreed to visit and work out, Ford notes (Twitter link). Here’s more on the draft, now just 10 days away.
- Jerami Grant, De’Mon Brooks, Josh Davis, Jarell Eddie and Mike Moser are among the draft prospects showing off for the Hornets today, the team announced via press release.
- The Heat are auditioning Walter Tavares today, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops.
- Keith Appling, Dave Dudzinski, Markel Starks, Tyler Stone and Jermaine Marshall are showing off for the Celtics today, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com notes via Twitter. Marshall will also audition for the Cavs, Sportando reports (via Twitter).
- Roscoe Smith has the Raptors and Mavs on his agenda, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv hears (Twitter link).
- Richard Harris of NBADraft.net adds the Bulls to the list of teams for which Johnny O’Bryant III has worked out. O’Bryant also has auditions slated with the Rockets, Heat, Hornets, Bucks, Grizzlies, Raptors and Pistons, Harris reports.
- Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic adds the Sixers, Mavs, Rockets and Heat to the list of teams that are getting a look at Jordan Bachynski (Twitter link).
- Jahii Carson, Kendrick Perry, Earnest Ross and Alec Brown are all performing for the Rockets, Scotto tweets.
- The Lakers are one of more than a dozen teams for which Ronald Roberts Jr. is working out, a source tells Zagoria (Twitter link).
- The Warriors are auditioning Eric Moreland, Roberto Nelson and Travis Bader, according to Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter links).
Pacers, Raps, Jazz, Cavs Monitor Damjan Rudez
SUNDAY, 9:30am: The Cavs are working on a deal to sign Rudez, writes David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 3:44pm: The Pacers, Raptors, Jazz and Cavs are among several NBA teams considering Spanish league power forward Damjan Rudez as a free agent addition this summer, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Rudez has been working out with the Cavs this week, and while many teams audition free agents this year with only summer league in mind, it appears there’s a higher level of interest in Rudez.
The 27-year-old Rudez averaged 10.7 points in 24.7 minutes per game for CAI Zaragoza in Spain this year, but what has NBA types intrigued is the 47.3% three-point shooting stroke he displayed this year, as Wojnarowski details. He’s 6’8″, somewhat undersized for a power forward, but his outside shooting stretches the floor.
Wojnarowski identifies him as a low-cost option for NBA clubs, though the widespread interest suggests he’d be in line for more than the minimum salary. He’s under contract in Spain for next season, and while he has an NBA escape clause in his deal, it’s unclear just how much it would take to buy him out.
Eastern Rumors: Monroe, Garnett, Draft Needs
Greg Monroe tells Nakia Hogan of The Times-Picayune that he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Stan Van Gundy getting success out of a Pistons frontcourt featuring Monroe, Josh Smith, and Andre Drummond. Monroe is preparing to field offers as a restricted free agent, and would still be content to remain in Detroit. “Most people would rather, if possible, not to have to go through it and just re-sign with the team they are with so you can have some stability and be secure,” Monroe said. “Right now it’s like the draft process all over again. You don’t know if you will have to change cities or where you will end up. It’s a good thing that there are teams out there that want me. But at the end of the day, if I didn’t have to do it, I wouldn’t have a problem with that either.” Here’s more from out East:
- The Pelicans have inquired with the Pistons about a potential sign-and-trade for Monroe, a source tells Hogan. The Times-Picayune scribe doesn’t reveal whether Detroit was open to the discussion.
- The Nets have been in contact with Kevin Garnett, and are operating under the belief that he will return next season, sources tell Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link).
- Adi Joseph continues his series on team draft needs with a look at the Nets, Hawks, Raptors, Wizards, and Heat.
- In some of the day’s least surprising news, we passed along Amar’e Stoudemire‘s decision to decline his early termination option for the 2014/15 season.
And-Ones: Lakers, Thibodeau, Duncan, Embiid
The Lakers never asked the Bulls for permission to interview Tom Thibodeau, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com, who reported last month that they would. The L.A. brass is “all but sure” the Bulls would have asked for this month’s No. 7 overall pick, which the Lakers would be unwilling to give up, according to McMenamin. The ESPN scribe also believes that L.A.’s concerns about paying Thibodeau a lavish salary to coach a mediocre roster next season played a role, and suggests the Lakers are wary of the way their fans might react if Thibodeau rejected the team’s pursuit. Here’s more from around the league:
- The deadline for Tim Duncan to decide on his $10MM player option for next season is June 24th, but the Spurs are operating under the assumption that Duncan and coach Gregg Popovich will return, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Most option clauses give players until June 30th to decide, though Duncan’s date can be pushed back if he and the team decide to do so, Stein notes, adding that Popovich’s contract runs through next season.
- A source tells Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio that Joel Embiid checked out fine when he took a physical this week for the Cavs, contradicting an earlier report from Tony Rizzo of ESPN Cleveland, who hears that the exam raised serious concerns (Twitter links).
- It appears as though the Bucks will work out Andrew Wiggins twice, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com hears that he’s auditioning for the team today in California and again next week in Milwaukee (Twitter link).
- A handful of top European teams have interest in soon-to-be free agent Nando De Colo, and it seems like they’re willing to give the Raptors guard a raise on the $1.463MM he made in the NBA this season, reports Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net.
- The Timberwolves have hired Sidney Lowe as an assistant coach, the team formally announced (Twitter link), confirming an earlier report. He spent last season as an assistant with the Jazz.
Eastern Notes: Knicks, Randle, Machado, Lue
Derek Fisher believes that Carmelo Anthony can thrive in the triangle offense, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. According to the article, Fisher also believes the team can build a contender around Anthony. Fisher said, “I believe Carmelo can and will thrive in the triangle system. He’s actually the prototypical triangle player because of his versatility we can use him in all five positions on the floor. That’s the beauty of the system — being able to put players around on different spots on the floor. I believe [Anthony] can be great and that’s why I believe we can be great right away. Because we have that guy that we can anchor that system around to make the game easier for him but also allow for all of our team to be impactful and to give us something every single night.”
More from the east:
- Scott Machado will play for the Raptors Summer League team, reports Keith Schlosser of SB Nation. Machado averaged 10.2 PPG, 6.0 APG, and 1.4 steals in fourteen games with the Idaho Stampede of the NBA D-League this past season.
- It was reported earlier that Julius Randle may need surgery to repair his right foot and his recovery time could be as long as two months. Andrew Unterberger of The 700 Level examines how this could result in Randle potentially slipping to the Sixers at pick number ten in the draft.
- The Cavs are giving Tyronn Lue a second interview this weekend, but they’re concerned about the 37-year-old’s inexperience, reports Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Amico also hears that owner Dan Gilbert isn’t mandating that GM David Griffin hire a marquee name.
- John Zitzler of Basketball Insiders looks at what the Bucks can do to with the surplus of big men on their roster.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Draft Rumors: Randle, Magic, Eriksson, Capela
Julius Randle and his family deny that there’s anything wrong with his right foot, in spite of a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that the potential top-five pick will likely require surgery. Randle issued his denial in a pair of tweets, while his mother and godfather spoke with Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal and Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, respectively. The procedure would force Randle to miss six to eight weeks but allow him to start training camp on time, according to Wojnarowski. Wojnarowski’s original report indicated that the surgery wouldn’t affect his draft stock, but later said via Twitter that it was “an issue,” echoing what an NBA executive told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, who suggests the injury could indeed affect his stock. NBA teams are worried that putting off surgery will lead to major problems in the future, Wojnarowski tweets. There’s more on Randle amid our latest on the draft:
- The Celtics, who pick sixth, say Randle has “full clearance” as far as they’re concerned, tweets Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe.
- Tucker’s report adds the Magic to the teams auditioning Randle.
- Spanish league shooting guard Marcus Eriksson is pulling out of this year’s draft, agent Andy Miller tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Eriksson is No. 80 in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress prospect rankings, but Chad Ford of ESPN.com doesn’t have him ranked. There have been no reports of Eriksson setting up interviews or workouts with teams.
- Clint Capela is the leading name in a Raptors workout today that also includes LaQuinton Ross, Jamil Wilson and Markel Brown, the team announced (on Twitter).
- Brown has worked out for the Thunder, a source tells Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Slater also passes along an earlier report from Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that Kyle Anderson worked out for the team, and another report from Jeremy Rauch of Fox 19 in Cincinnati that adds the Thunder, Heat and Bulls to the list of teams auditioning Semaj Christon (Twitter links).
- Zach LaVine is among the prospects who’ll show off for the Celtics on Friday, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. The Celtics are auditioning Luke Hancock and Geron Johnson on top of previously reported names today, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com reveals via Twitter.
Draft Notes: Behanan, Celtics, Mavs, Fair
Today’s the day that the Cavs put Joel Embiid through a workout and physical, so the top pick in the draft could be hanging in the balance. There are plenty of scenarios involving the top pick and even more for the remaining 59, and we detail the latest on prospects working out for teams:
- Dower will work out for the Celtics today after all, having taken Oliver’s place, tweets Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe.
Earlier updates:
- Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv adds the Rockets and Bulls to the list of teams auditioning Chane Behanan (Twitter link).
- Javon McCrea, Artem Klimenko, Daniel Miller and Devin Oliver are the previously unreported players working out for the Celtics today, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston notes via Twitter. Sam Dower, who was reportedly set to take part, is not on the list. Doug McDermott, Jerami Grant and C.J. Fair are among those scheduled to audition on Thursday for Boston, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. This will presumably be McDermott’s second workout for the team, since he apparently already had one.
- McCrea is also showing off for the Mavs on Thursday, Zagoria tweets.
- Fair has the Sixers and Kings on his schedule this week, too, Zagoria also reports via Twitter.
- Grant, Cleanthony Early, Glenn Robinson III, Josh Huestis, De’Mon Brooks, Will Sheehey, Murphy Burnatowski and Shaun Glover are all showing off for the Raptors today, the team announced (Twitter links).
- Sean Armand will work out for the Magic, Zagoria reports (on Twitter).
- University of Michigan center Jordan Morgan worked out for the Cavs on Monday, as he told Rod Beard of The Detroit News.