Here are video highlights from the 2014 NBA Draft Lottery in New York City:
Category: NBA Draft Blog
NBA Draft blog
Canadian point guard Tyler Ennis will enter 2014 NBA Draft
Here’s the Toronto Sun with an update on a talented young basketball player:
Canadian point guard Tyler Ennis is leaving Syracuse to enter the NBA draft.
“I’d like to thank Coach (Jim) Boeheim, the coaching staff, my teammates and the amazing fans of Syracuse for the opportunity to play at a great university like Syracuse,” said Ennis, a Brampton native, in a statement Thursday afternoon.
“I feel this experience has helped prepare me to fulfill my lifelong dream — to play in the NBA.”
Ennis, expected to be taken somewhere in the mid-late lottery, averaged 12.9 points, 5.5 assists and 3.4 rebounds in his freshman season, which ended abruptly with a loss to Dayton early in the NCAA tournament in Buffalo.
Kansas center Joel Embiid reportedly will enter 2014 NBA draft
Here’s Yahoo Sports reporting that a top 2014 NBA Draft prospect is likely going pro:
Kansas star Joel Embiid – a possible No. 1 overall choice – has decided to enter the June NBA draft, sources told Yahoo Sports.
Embiid, a 20-year-old, 7-foot freshman, rapidly emerged as one of college basketball’s major talents and moved into competition with Jayhawks teammate Andrew Wiggins and Duke’s Jabari Parker to be the No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft.
Wiggins has been consistent in saying he’ll only play one year of college basketball, and Parker says he still is deciding whether he’ll enter the draft.
A formal announcement on Embiid’s decision is expected soon.
Sixers are looking for draft picks
The Philadelphia 76ers are rebuilding. And want draft picks. Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting:
The 76ers’ focus in the days leading up to Thursday’s NBA trade deadline is acquiring draft picks, according to an Eastern Conference executive.
The franchise wants to gain future compensation in exchange for Evan Turner, Spencer Hawes, and Thaddeus Young, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. With the most cap space in the league and an open roster spot, the Sixers will consider acquiring an expiring contract from a team looking to dump a salary. But that most likely will also involve receiving a draft pick.
As a result, the 76ers are believed to be the most active team in trade talks leading up to the deadline. The Sixers have had discussions with all 29 other NBA franchises.
Rockets GM admits that drafting Royce White was a horrible mistake
Here is ESPN.com News Services reporting on the Houston Rockets and failed draft pick Royce White:
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Royce White is the NBA draft’s “worst first-round pick ever,” according to the man who picked him.
Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey selected White with the 16th overall pick in the 2012 draft, but White has yet to appear in an NBA game.
“I take some sort of pride in that you could argue that Royce White is the worst first-round pick ever,” Morey said in a Q&A discussion with Houston season ticketholders, according to the ClutchFans.net blog.
White, who is 6-foot-8, has struggled with an acknowledged anxiety disorder that would make it a challenge for him to play a full NBA season.
Cleveland Cavaliers sign all their 2013 NBA Draft picks
The Cleveland Cavaliers announced today that the team has signed all of their 2013 NBA Draft picks, Anthony Bennett, Sergey Karasev and Carrick Felix, to contracts.
Bennett (6-8, 240, forward) was the first overall pick in the June draft and first-ever Canadian selected #1 in the history of the NBA. An early entry candidate from the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), Bennett starred for Canada’s junior national teams and was the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year.
Karasev (6-7, 203, guard/forward) was selected 19th overall and led Russia to the Gold Medal in the World University Games in Kazan, Russia.
Felix (6-6, 210, guard/forward) was the third pick of the second round (33rd overall) following a senior season at Arizona State that earned him second-team All-Pac 12 honors and a spot on the Pac 12 All-Defensive team.
Sixers poised to do big things in 2014 NBA Draft
By setting themselves up to struggle (understatement) in the upcoming season, the Sixers are clearly looking ahead to the 2014 NBA draft, which by all accounts, is going to be one of the strongest in recent memory.
Finishing next season outside of playoff positioning, which is likely the case, will land the Sixers a lottery pick. The draft day deal that sent Jrue Holiday to New Orleans landed them another one – as long as the Pelicans don’t make the playoffs and the pick falls out of the top five.
These picks, along with future free agent acquisitions and a couple of carry-overs from the current roster, most likely rookies Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel, are supposedly going to form the foundation of the franchise going forward.
It sure seems that the 2014 draft, which has become known as the “Andrew Wiggins Sweepstakes” to many, will be very important to the future of the franchise.
Unlike last June’s draft, where the top pick remained unknown until seconds before the selection, Wiggins is already the consensus first-overall selection. His size, athleticism and offensive ability have franchises foaming, as the kid has surefire superstar written all over him.
Reported by Michael Kaskey-Blomain of Philly.com
Mavs get their man in Shane Larkin
To hear the Dallas Mavericks say it, Shane Larkin is real close to being the second coming of JJ Barea.
Following a whirlwind day Thursday during the NBA Draft, the Mavs pat themselves on the back after they wound up with Miami Hurricanes point guard Shane Larkin. The same Larkin whose father, Barry, is in the Pro Baseball Hall of Fame.
The same Larkin who averaged 14.5 points and 4.6 assists while collecting ACC Player of the Year honors this past season. Larkin also was the ACC Tournament Most Valuable Player and a second-team All-American while leading the Hurricanes to the NCAA Sweet 16 and staking his claim as being one of the country’s best point guards.
“One of the things that’s really unique about him is from an analytic standpoint he’s one of the best guys we’ve seen coming out of college shooting off the dribble,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “And he can also get to places and get other guys involved, so I just think he’s good and he’s going to get better.”
Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Blog)
Cavaliers welcome top pick Anthony Bennett
Anthony Bennett wasn’t really all that interested in playing basketball. Yeah, it was cool dunking on guys, and a great way to make new friends after moving from Toronto to the city’s suburbs.
Then, he decided to get serious about six or seven years ago.
His future was calling.
”I just started growing,” Bennett said, flashing a smile while talking about his unique path to the NBA. ”And everyone said, ‘You should probably play basketball.’ So I said, ‘All right. I’ll give it a shot.’ Look where it got me now.”
Look indeed.
Bennett was formally introduced Friday by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who shocked the draft by selecting the UNLV power forward with the No. 1 overall pick on Thursday night.
Although he wasn’t regarded by many draft experts as the best player available, Bennett was always at the top of Cleveland’s board. They scouted the 6-foot-7, 240-pounder extensively all season, fell in love with his game and after getting rave reviews about his character, chose him over Kentucky center Nerlens Noel, Kansas guard Ben McLemore, Georgetown forward Otto Porter Jr. in a flawed draft.
Reported by Tom Withers of the Associated Press
Sixers acquire draft rights to Arsalan Kazemi
The Philadelphia 76ers announced today that they acquired the draft rights to forward Arsalan Kazemi (pronounced “are-suh-lahn kah-ZEE-me”) as part of a series of trades made during the second round of the 2013 NBA Draft, which took place last night. Kazemi was selected 54th in the NBA Draft, becoming the first Iranian player drafted into the NBA.
(Hamed Haddadi, the first Iranian to play in the NBA, was not drafted, and entered the league as a free agent.)
The Sixers started by trading the 35th overall pick to Washington in exchange for the 38th overall pick and the 54th overall pick, where Kazemi was eventually selected.
The Sixers then traded the 38th overall pick to Milwaukee for the 43rd overall pick and Houston’s 2014 second round pick.
The Sixers then traded the 43rd overall pick to Dallas in exchange for Brooklyn’s 2014 second round pick.
Kazemi (6-8, 226) was the first Iranian-born player to compete in NCAA Division I men’s basketball. Phoenix’s Hamed Haddadi became the first Iranian to play in the NBA as a member of the Memphis Grizzlies in 2008.
As a senior at Oregon last season, Kazemi averaged 9.4 points, a team-high 10.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 2.0 steals while shooting 59.5% from the floor in 35 games played. He earned Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 and became the first Duck ever to be named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive team.
Kazemi spent his first three seasons at Rice, averaging a double-double as both a sophomore and a junior. For his entire collegiate career, Kazemi had nearly as many steals (225) as turnovers (232).