Teams can host player workouts Thursday (AP)
NBA arenas are about to be unlocked. For the first time since the lockout began on July 1, NBA players are going to be welcomed back to their team facilities, said league spokesman Tim Frank. The league sent a memo to clubs Tuesday announcing the move, plus giving teams permission to begin speaking with agents at 9 a.m.
View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NBA News
8 Philadelphia 76ers Players Gathered In LA For Team Workouts Organized By Elton Brand
Ordinarily, this is the part of the summer where NBA players would be gearing up for the upcoming season. Teams usually organize some sort of voluntary workouts.
Obviously the lockout prevents the teams from doing so but some players are doing it anyway. Elton Brand and Lou Williams of the Philadelphia 76ers organized team workouts in Los Angeles recently. Eight players in total participated.
Along with Brand and Williams, in attendance were Andre Iguodala, Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Jodie Meeks, Spencer Hawes and Craig Brackins. That list includes last year’s starting five, their sixth man and a rookie who will likely earn a starting spot whenever the upcoming season does get underway.
The Sixers finished seventh place in the Eastern Conference last season. Just a little push could mean a major difference whenever the NBA season starts.
“I think that creates a winning environment, having each others back out there,” Brand continued. “So you have to care, you have to grow, you hav…
View full post on Yardbarker: NBA
Jimmer Fredette: Interviews and Workouts for General Managers Going Very Well
Jimmer Fredette may be the most intriguing option in the first round of this year’s NBA Draft.
However, many have questioned whether or not his skills translate well to the pro game.
He may have silenced those critics for now.
Kurt Helin of NBCsports.com gave some insight to Jimmer Fredette’s draft status.
“General managers came out of the NBA Draft Combine saying Jimmer Fredette was brilliant in the interviews. Then he has gone into a series of workouts for teams and impressed by holding his own against other top point guards in the draft.”
With NBA GM’s being impressed by Jimmer Fredette’s game, much of the skepticism surrounding his abilities has gone out the window.
He was the NCAA’s leading scorer last season at BYU and never failed to live up to his expectations.
Night in and night out he put on a show for the fans in any arena he and his teammates found themselves in.
That pressure of knowing he had to wow fans every game shows that he has the mettle it takes to make it in the NBA.
View full post on Bleacher Report – NBA
2011 NBA Draft: Will Kanter and Williams Workouts Determine Minnesota’s Pick?
2011 NBA Draft Focuses On Minnesota and the Second-Overall Selection
When people look at the NBA Draft, everyone knows what Cleveland is going to do.
The Cavaliers, a franchise still tortured by the memories of LeBron James’ callous exodus from Cleveland last summer, will take Duke guard Kyrie Irving with the first-overall selection.
After that, all bets are off.
Minnesota holds the second pick in the draft, yet no one knows what the Timberwolves are going to do with it. There have been mixed signals coming out of the organization, but with Enes Kanter and Derrick Williams coming to town, we may get a better picture.
Per USA Today:
Arizona forward Derrick Williams and Turkish big man Enes (EE’-ness) Kanter are scheduled to workout individually for the Wolves on Thursday.
Minnesota holds the No. 2 pick in the draft, with lots of speculation that Williams will be the pick. But Kanter’s size at 6-foot-11 could make him an attractive option as well.
The Wolves will also workout Washington guard Isaiah Thomas, Colorado guard Alex Burks, Virginia Tech guard Malcolm Delaney and Oakland center Keith Benson in the morning session.
If David Kahn takes Derrick Williams, then he deserves to be fired.
Minnesota is in a position where it can really flesh out its roster, and it cannot afford to be taking a swingman that doesn’t fit into any real spot on the roster. Grabbing a guy like Kanter, who can bring intensity and toughness to the frontcourt, makes the most sense for the Timberwolves.
MUST READ: 2011 NBA Mock Draft: Playing GM For All 30 Picks in the First Round
Ricky Rubio is coming to down, and Michael Beasley and Kevin Love have created a decent frontcourt, but Kanter is the type of guy who can bring everything together in Minnesota.
Kanter is the no-brainer selection, but it doesn’t shock me that Kahn would flirt with a swingman like Williams.
View full post on Bleacher Report – NBA
2011 NBA Mock Draft: Despite Draft Workouts, Enes Canter Remains a Mystery
2011 NBA Mock Draft Looks To Uncertain Future of Enes Kanter
I wish I could tell the future. I could make quite the living telling general managers just what they could expect from these prospects.
The fact that I would use my powers for NBA good shows you what kind of basketball dork I am. Trust me when I say that the powers that be are looking for anything that will show them what kind of player that Enes Kanter really is.
The Turkish giant has been labeled as big, imposing and great in the post on both sides of the ball. That is hardly the lucrative breakdown general managers are looking for.
MUST READ: 2011 NBA Mock Draft: Where Does Kemba Walker End Up?
Kanter was not allowed to compete last year at Kentucky. His time as a pro in Turkey precluded him from such a thing.
There is limited tape on him, and very little time to properly work him out. He did so with Toronto at the start of the week, and he just concluded a workout with Cleveland.
The sentiment that has come out has been very much as vague as when the process started. Raptors director of scouting, Jim Kelly told Foxsports, “We really haven’t seen him in enough games where you can actually really be 100 percent sure.”
So once again we enter the NBA draft with a big man that has some questions surrounding hi. It wouldn’t be an NBA draft without one.
| No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers: Derrick Williams, F, Arizona No. 2 Minnesota Timberwolves: Kyrie Irving, G, Duke No. 3 Utah Jazz: Brandon Knight, G, Kentucky No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers: Enes Kanter, C, Kentucky No. 5 Toronto Raptors: Kemba Walker, G, UConn |
No. 16 Philadelphia 76ers: Donatas Motiejunas, F, Lithuania No. 17 New York Knicks: Chris Singleton, F, Florida State No. 18 Washington Wizards: Josh Selby, G, Kansas No. 19 Charlotte Bobcats: Markieff Morris, F, Kansas No. 20 Minnesota Timberwolves: Kenneth Faried, F, Morehead State |
| No. 6 Washington Wizards: Jan Vesely, F, Czech Republic No. 7 Sacramento Kings: Bismack Biyombo, F, Congo No. 8 Detroit Pistons: Jonas Valanciunas, C, Lithuania No. 9 Charlotte Bobcats: Kawhi Leonard, F, San Diego State No. 10 Milwaukee Bucks: Alec Burks, G, Colorado |
No. 21 Portland Trail Blazers: Tobias Harris, F, Tennessee No. 22 Denver Nuggets: Nikola Mirotic, F, Yugoslavia No. 23 Houston Rockets: Nikola Vucevic, F, USC No. 24 Oklahoma City Thunder: Kyle Singler, F, Duke No. 25 Boston Celtics: Marshon Brooks, G, Providence |
| No. 11 Golden State Warriors: Tristan Thompson, F, Texas No. 12 Utah Jazz: Marcus Morris, F, Kansas No. 13 Phoenix Suns: Jordan Hamilton, F, Texas No. 14 Houston Rockets: Klay Thompson, G, Washington State No. 15 Indiana Pacers: Jimmer Fredette, G, BYU |
No. 26 Dallas Mavericks: Davis Bertans, F, Latvia No. 27 New Jersey Nets: Tyler Honeycutt, F, UCLA No. 28 Chicago Bulls: Reggie Jackson, G, Boston College No. 29 San Antonio Spurs: Trey Thompkins, F, Georgia No. 30 Chicago Bulls: Darius Morris, G, Michigan |
View full post on Bleacher Report – NBA
2011 NBA Draft: Is Josh Selby’s Stock on the Rise After Pre-Draft Workouts?
2011 NBA Draft: Is Josh Selby’s Stock on the Rise After Pre-Draft Workouts?
Prior to the start of the 2010-11 NCAA Basketball season, there was a lot of hype surrounding Kansas freshman Josh Selby.
After sitting his first nine games as a Jayhawk due to NCAA violations, Selby kicked off his season with a bang by scoring 21 points against USC. He scored 18 in Kansas’s next game against California.
Things went downhill from there and Selby ended up averaging just 7.9 points per game for the season.
Check this out too: Latest 2011 NBA Mock Draft
Before the season started, Selby was projected as a lottery pick in this year’s draft. Right now, he’s barely projected as a first-round bubble pick and many have him going in the second round.
But ESPN Draft expert Chad Ford has recently tweeted that young guard’s stock may be rising again. Apparently, he’s looking very good in some pre-draft workouts.
If he keeps working hard through the combine, he may find himself back in the lottery.
View full post on Bleacher Report – NBA
New York Knicks Fined $200,000 For Illegal Workouts
Isiah Thomas seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. After guiding the New York Knicks deeper into futility during his time as Team President, he’s helped cost the team $200,000 years after his departure. The team was fined that amount for holding illegal workouts prior to the NBA Draft(in 2007 & 2010), led [...]
View full post on Yardbarker: NBA
Knicks fined $200,000 for illegal draft workouts
The NBA fined the New York Knicks $200,000 and team scout Rodney Heard $20,000 on Thursday for conducting illegal draft workouts.
View full post on USATODAY.com NBA News
Knicks fined $200,000 for draft workouts (AP)
The NBA has fined the New York Knicks $200,000 for conducting illegal draft workouts. Knicks scout Rodney Heard, who led the workouts, also was fined $20,000, the league announced Thursday. The league says Heard violated rules restricting contact between teams and players eligible for the draft in May 2007 and May 2010.
View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NBA News
Report: Knicks’ workouts violated rules? (AP)
Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the New York Knicks have conducted secret workouts of college players that may have circumvented NBA draft rules. Three players who were involved in workouts told Yahoo! that Knicks director of East Coast scouting Rodney Heard coordinated and conducted them in suburban Atlanta.
View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NBA News
