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The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has traded the draft rights to Branden Dawson to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for cash considerations.
Dawson, 6-6, 225, was the 56th overall selection by New Orleans in the 2015 NBA Draft. The Michigan State product was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team and Second-Team All-Big Ten as a Senior, averaging 11.9 points and 9.1 rebounds during the campaign.
The Brooklyn Nets acquired the draft rights to forward Juan Pablo Vaulet from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for a 2018 second round pick, the Nets’ 2019 second round pick and cash considerations, Nets GM Billy King announced Thursday night.
Vaulet (6’6”, 200) is a native of Cordoba, Argentina who has been playing for Weber Bahia Estudiantes of the Liga Nacional de Basquet in Argentina. The 19-year-old averaged 7.2 points and 4.1 rebounds in 16.9 minutes per game in 34 games this past season.
Nuggets draft Emmanuel Mudiay 7th overall
The Denver Nuggets selected guard Emmanuel Mudiay with the seventh overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft.
Mudiay, 6-5, 200, was an early entry candidate and spent the 2014-15 season in China playing for the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association. In 12 games, he posted averages of 18.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.60 steals in 31.5 minutes per game.
“We couldn’t be happier that Emmanuel was there for us at number seven and we are thrilled to welcome him to Denver as the newest member of the Denver Nuggets” General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly said.
Originally from Kinshasa, the capital and largest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo and also the city that produced former Nuggets great Dikembe Mutombo.
Mudiay attended Prime Prep Academy in Dallas, Texas where he led the team to a 30-6 record as a high school senior in 2014. After his senior season, Mudiay was ranked the number two overall player by Rivals and Scout and number five by ESPN. He was selected to the Parade and USA Today All-American First teams. He was also selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American game, the Jordan Brand Classic All-Star game and played alongside Nuggets 2014 second round draft pick (41st overall) Nikola Jokic at the Nike Hoop Summit.
The Memphis Grizzlies acquired the draft rights to Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison, who was selected with the No. 44 overall pick in the second round of the 2015 NBA Draft, from the Phoenix Suns for forward Jon Leuer, General Manager Chris Wallace announced tonight.
Harrison (6-6, 210) played two seasons (2013-15) at the University of Kentucky, averaging 10.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 28.6 minutes in 79 games and starting in all but one game in his tenure. His 298 assists rank 16th in the Wildcats’ record books and are the most for a two-year player in program history.
Playing alongside his twin brother Aaron Harrison, the 20-year-old averaged 9.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 25.5 minutes in 39 games (all starts) while shooting .383 from three-point range as a sophomore last season, helping Kentucky become the first team ever to post a 38-0 record before falling to Wisconsin in the 2015 NCAA Final Four. The Wildcats’ win total tied the most in NCAA history.
As a freshman, the San Antonio native recorded 10.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 31.7 minutes in 40 games (39 starts), ranking third in UK freshman single-season history with 159 assists. He averaged 15.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists as a senior at Travis High School where he directed the squad to a state title in 2013.
Harrison is one of six Wildcats to be drafted in the 2015 NBA Draft, joining Karl-Anthony Towns (No. 1 overall), Willie Cauley-Stein (No. 6), Trey Lyles (No. 12), Devin Booker (No. 13) and Dakari Johnson (No. 48).
Leuer (6-10, 228) holds career averages of 4.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11.9 minutes in 186 games (18 starts) over four seasons (2011-15) with the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies. The 26-year-old registered 4.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 11.9 minutes in 131 games (six starts) during his tenure in Memphis.
The Long Lake, Minn. native was selected by Milwaukee in the second round (40th overall) of the 2011 NBA Draft after a four-year career at the University of Wisconsin.
Knicks trade Tim Hardaway Jr to Hawks
The shakeup of the New York Knicks continues. Here’s the New York Daily News reporting a trade agreed to during the 2015 NBA Draft:
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Phil Jackson’s second move Thursday night probably was more popular than his first.
After drafting Latvian project forward Kristaps Porzingis with the fourth pick overall, the Knicks’ president picked up another first-round talent by agreeing to trade Tim Hardaway Jr. to Atlanta for No. 19 selection Jerian Grant, the point guard out of Notre Dame.
Grant, 22, was a four-year starter for the Irish, averaging 14.6 points and 5.8 assists over 119 collegiate games.
Several NBA Draft-night Hawks trades
Here’s the Atlanta Journal Constitution reporting on some Atlanta Hawks trades agreed to during the 2015 NBA Draft:
The Hawks made two draft-night trades – and ended up with NBA player Tim Hardaway Jr. Thursday night.
The Hawks made their No. 15 overall pick in the first round of Kelly Oubre. The freshman small forward from Kansas won’t play in Atlanta. The Hawks sent Oubre to the Wizards for the No. 19 pick and two future second-round picks.
Twenty minutes later the Wizards picked Jerian Grant for the Hawks, who sent the point guard from Notre Dame to the Knicks for Hardaway.
Sixers draft Jahlil Okafor No. 2 overall
Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting on the 2015 NBA Draft:
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The 76ers took the best available player, who just happens to be another towering post player.
The team selected Duke center Jahlil Okafor with the third pick in the NBA draft Thursday night at the Barclays Center at Brooklyn.
The Sixers were expected to take Ohio State guard D’Angelo Russell in that spot. But they settled on Okafor after Russell went second overall to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Okafor is a 7-foot, 275-pound man-child with an imposing presence on the blocks.
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Golden State Warriors guard Brandon Rush has exercised his player option for the 2015-16 season, the team announced today.
Rush, 29, appeared in 33 regular-season games for the Warriors in 2014-15, averaging 0.9 points and 1.2 rebounds in 8.2 minutes per contest. The 6-6 guard saw action in three playoff games during Golden State’s championship run, which saw the Warriors capture their first NBA title in 40 years.
Rush, who enters his fourth season with the Warriors, holds career averages of 7.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 23.4 minutes in 362 games (105 starts) over seven seasons with Indiana, Golden State and Utah. His career three-point percentage (.401) ranks 11th best among all active players.
A member of the NCAA Champion Kansas Jayhawks in 2007-08, Rush is one of seven active players with both an NCAA title and NBA championship (Corey Brewer, Mario Chalmers, Danny Green, Nazr Mohammed, Marreese Speights, Jason Terry).
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The Minnesota Timberwolves tonight selected forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns from Kentucky with the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.
Towns, a 6-11 forward/center, averaged 10.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.26 blocks and 21.1 minutes in 39 games (all starts) for the Wildcats this past season and was named SEC Freshman of the Year and First Team All-SEC. He shot 56.6 percent from the field, 81.3 percent from the free-throw line and recorded a team-best eight double-doubles. Towns was a Consensus Second Team All-American and was named NCAA Midwest Region Most Valuable Player after leading Kentucky to the Final Four. He scored a career-high 25 points, on 10-of-13 shooting, to lead the Wildcats past Notre Dame in the Elite Eight.
A native of Piscataway, New Jersey, Towns was a three time first-team All-State selection while playing for St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey. He was named Gatorade Male High School Athlete of the Year in 2014 after averaging 20.9 points, 13.4 rebounds and 6.2 blocks and leading St. Joseph to a 30-2 record and a state title. Towns shot 66.1 percent from the field and 82.2 percent from the free-throw line as a senior. He made 127 three pointers over his three-year high school career.
The 19-year-old Towns has been a member of the Dominican Republic National Team since 2012 and averaged 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in FIBA play.
The Chicago Bulls announced today that Pete Myers has been hired an as assistant coach on Fred Hoiberg’s coaching staff. In accordance with club policy, terms of the contract were not announced.
Myers, 51, returns to Chicago for his second stint with the Bulls after spending three seasons (2011-2014) with the Golden State Warriors, where he served as an assistant coach on Mark Jackson’s staff. Prior to his stint with the Warriors, Myers spent 12 seasons with the Bulls as an assistant coach (2001-2010) and scout (2000-01, 2011). He also served as Bulls interim head coach for two games (at Dallas on Nov. 25, 2003 and at San Antonio on Nov. 26, 2003) during the 2003-04 season and one game (at San Antonio on Dec. 26, 2007) during the 2007-08 season. During his eight-year NBA career, he played for five teams, including three seasons with the Bulls (1986-87, 1993-95).