In preparation for the NBA Draft, we examine several advanced statistical categories to determine which players stand out both good or bad to help solidify our opinions on their strengths and weaknesses. Read More. Written by Dan Hanner on Jun 17, 2013
Jerry Sloan maintains a close relationships with Jazz management, making his return to the franchise this summer an easy transition even without an official position as consultant to this point. Read More.
Ben McLemore think he'd fit in nicely with the Orlando Magic.
"The Orlando Magic, I think that's a great program," McLemore said. "I think I could fit perfectly in that system and that organization and help that team in different kinds of ways."
McLemore already feels a kinship with Jacque Vaughn, who attended Kansas and played four seasons for the Jayhawks during the mid-1990s.
McLemore met with Vaughn during the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago.
"It was great just walking in and just seeing that face and seeing that connection as soon as we saw each other," McLemore recalled. "Big smiles came on our faces. He was great."
The Orlando Magic are considering Trey Burke with the No. 2 overall pick, but sources say they are not sold on him with that high of a pick and could instead target Eric Bledsoe via tarde.
The Magic would be willing to trade Arron Afflalo for Bledsoe and the expiring contract of Caron Butler.
Afflalo would give the Los Angeles Clippers a more traditional shooting guard to pair with Paul in the backcourt.
With the No. 2 pick, the Magic could then target Victor Oladipo or Ben McLemore.
Stan Van Gundy knows his family has become comfortable living together in Orlando and has made it clear that he will not coach in the NBA next season.
Furthermore, Van Gundy is leaving open the possibility of never coaching in the league ever again.
"It is possible and that scares me," Van Gundy said. "Coaching is all I've ever done and all I know.
"Every year, you're out of it, it gets harder and harder to get back in."
For now, Van Gundy has decided not to pursue head coach openings and has turned down offers.
"We love where we're living and quite honestly it would be hard for us to leave Central Florida," Van Gundy said. "... As much as I would like to be back in coaching, we're all real happy here. I don't know what will happen in the future, but for right now we've decided not to pursue anything."
The 2013 NBA Draft Lottery was held on Tuesday in Times Square with the Cleveland Cavaliers winning for the second time in three years and third time in ten years. The Washington Wizards moved up from the eighth slot to draft third.
1. Cleveland Cavaliers 2. Orlando Magic 3. Washington Wizards 4. Charlotte Bobcats 5. Phoenix Suns 6. New Orleans Pelicans 7. Sacramento Kings 8. Detroit Pistons 9. Minnesota Timberwolves 10. Portland Trail Blazers 11. Philadelphia 76ers 12. Toronto Raptors 13. Dallas Mavericks 14. Utah Jazz
After a breakout season in Europe, Gani Lawal has intrigued NBA teams and could receive consideration for a contract, league sources told RealGM.
Lawal has already scheduled workouts – private and as part of mini-camps – with the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic, sources said. Four to five other teams have discussed bringing him in to work out, too.
Lawal, the 6-foot-9 athletic, scrappy forward, had his best professional season with Italy’s Virtus Roma, averaging 13.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks. Virtus Roma has gone 20-10 this season and ranks third in the league standings.
Since leaving the Phoenix Suns organization that drafted him in the second round in 2010, Lawal, 24, has lost weight and added strength. Lawal played one game with the Suns two seasons ago and was in the San Antonio Spurs’ training camp in 2011, but he was derailed by injuries and didn’t figure into a long-term plan. He was drafted after three years at Georgia Tech.
Arron Afflalo is looking forward to playing to his strengths next season.
"I'm kind of getting to the age now where I'm kind of settling into being great at something," Afflalo said. "Whether it's being a high-level defensive player, a high-level shooter, an efficient scorer, doing the things where I'm really playing to my strengths. That's something I'm looking forward to."
With Afflalo often acting as the team’s go-to scorer, the Magic lost 62 games this season.
"It is what it is," Afflalo said. "We had a lot of firsts in terms of role definition, in terms of learning, in terms of the coaching staff. And when you're fully committed to doing better and trying to win it all at some point in time, you have to go through experiences like this. All we can do is try to learn from what happened this year and move forward into next year."
Nerlens Noel was widely considered the consensus best player available in the 2013 NBA Draft, but his status in that position became questionable after tearing his ACL.
Noel is targeting a return of December, but could be out longer depending on how the rehab progresses.
With the 2014 NBA Draft expected to be incredibly strong with Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Julius Randle and Marcus Smart, amongst others, teams could be more comfortable being patient with Noel.
"I actually think that's helping Noel's case with teams like Orlando and Charlotte," wrote Chad Ford of the scenario of letting Noel rehab slowly to improve their lottery position for 2014. "Going for the double-play."
Dwight Howard has received backlash from former Orlando Magic teammates because of his comments saying they were "a team full of people nobody wanted."
Doc Rivers compared what Doug Collins is going through with Andrew Bynum's injury uncertainty to his tenure with the Orlando Magic when Grant Hill struggled with persistent injuries.