NBA Rumors Round-Up
NBA Rumors: Top Prospects Pull Out of Combine
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
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The top three prospects in the 2014 NBA draft – Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins of Kansas, and Duke’s Jabari Parker – will not attend next week’s predraft combine in Chicago, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Some players, including last season’s No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett, have bypassed the annual draft combine with injuries, but the bailing of the top three prospects is unprecedented.
Teams were furnished with a list of players planning to participate in the combine in recent days, and the reported absence of Embiid and Parker pushed Wiggins’ representatives with BDA Sports to pull him out on Sunday night.
This is a big surprise, as this means that Wiggins, Parker and Embiid won’t be doing the medical testing, team interviews or media sessions.
In the past, top prospects have opted not to work out, but have still done medical and interviews.
By doing this, Wiggins, Parker and Embiid can decide which teams they want to meet with and give this information. This gives them some control over the pre-draft process. Initially, Parker and Embiid decided not to attend, and it’s believed that their decision pushed Wiggins to pull out as well.
Last year, Anthony Bennett missed the combine due to injury, but still went on to be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
Mike Scott: “I’m just going to leave that to the GM and the coaching staff but of course I want to come back. … Everybody is so down to earth. We felt like the team was full of brothers – lost together, won together. Hilarious group. I loved everyone.”
Scott emerged as a significant contributor for Atlanta this season, averaging 9.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in just 18.5 minutes.
The 25-year-old doubled his production from his rookie season, and it was clear that new head coach Mike Budenholzer trusted him.
The Hawks can make Scott a restricted free agent by extending a $1,115,243 qualifying offer, which they will almost certainly do. The smart money says that Scott will be back in Atlanta next season.
Sources say that the Warriors, meanwhile, are still establishing a list of candidates to consider, with Van Gundy — after successful stints coaching the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic — still at the front of that line.
This would make a lot of sense for the Warriors, as Van Gundy is widely regarded as one of the best head coaches on the market.
In a recent interview on 740 AM’s “Open Mike” show, Van Gundy admitted that part of him misses coaching, but said that “it would really have to be a great situation for me to get back in.”
Is Golden State a great situation? The roster is loaded, with a core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, David Lee and Andrew Bogut among others. Not to mention, Van Gundy grew up in the Bay Area and was a huge Warriors fan. Sounds pretty great, SVG.
In the “Open Mike” interview, Van Gundy said he hadn’t interviewed with the Warriors, but said he understands why his name is being mentioned.
“Names come up on every job, and my name’s been mentioned in a few,” Van Gundy said. “But I think the Warrior one comes up because I’m from out there. I went to high school in the Bay Area. I grew up out there. I said several times during my coaching career when we would go play out there that it was always important to me playing out there because I grew up [there].
“That arena is old, so it was the same arena, and when I was a sophomore in high school, the Warriors won the NBA championship in 1975 led by Rick Barry. Al Attles was their coach. I was a huge fan, and everybody knows that, and so I think that’s why my name comes up when it’s associated with that job in particular.”
