Tag: zeke nnaji

Report: Nuggets could move Hampton, Nnaji or Bol in Aaron Gordon deal

The Nuggets have reportedly emerged as the leading candidate to acquire Gordon from the Magic ahead of the trade deadline.

After requesting a trade from the Orlando Magic, Aaron Gordon is considered to be a prime candidate to be moved ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline with several teams expected to be in the running to land the seventh-year forward.

Of course, news broke on Monday that Gordon formally requested a trade from the Magic after growing frustration with losses and injuries in recent years. He reportedly wants to join a contender, with the Boston Celtics among those showing interest.

However, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the Denver Nuggets have reportedly emerged as the frontrunner to land Gordon as of late Wednesday night. The report, which cited league sources, indicated Denver’s deal is gaining momentum with the Magic.

The Nuggets are reportedly willing to offer guard Gary Harris, a first-round pick and a young player on the roster, either rookie R.J. Hampton, Zeke Nnaji or Bol Bol, for Gordon. Hampton and Nnaji were both first-round picks last year while Bol was a second-round pick in 2019.

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Gordon, who has one more year left on his contract, is averaging 14.6 points and 6.6 rebounds on a career-high 37.5% shooting from 3-point range in 25 games this season. He is viewed as a hot commodity on the trade market and could help a prospective team make a playoff run.

In addition to the Nuggets, the Celtics are also discussing a deal that would send the Magic a future first-round pick and a young player, either Aaron Nesmith or Romeo Langford for Gordon. Boston could also have Evan Fournier on its radar in that trade, as well.

With Gordon wanting out of Orlando, the organization appears to be on the verge of trading the 25-year-old as teams around the league look to acquire additional help for the second half of the season.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Zeke Nnaji wooed Nuggets by playing piano during pre-draft interview

Nnaji interviewed twice and worked out once with the Nuggets during the pre-draft process and even played the piano for them in one meeting.

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On Wednesday, the Denver Nuggets selected Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Zeke Nnaji from the University of Arizona with the 22nd overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft.

Nnaji interviewed twice and worked out once with the Nuggets during the pre-draft process and made quite an impression on the organization during those meetings. During one, in particular, Nnaji even showed off one of his other impressive qualities off the court: Playing the piano.

According to Mike Singer of the Denver Post, the 19-year-old was jokingly asked by Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly if he could play a little bit of the piano for them during their virtual meeting. Of course, Nnaji obliged and played for a few minutes.

Nnaji began playing the piano when he was in first grade and said that his grandmother used to be a music teacher. He even showed off his skills on the keys last season when he played the national anthem prior to a Wildcats scrimmage game.

As for getting drafted by the Nuggets, Nnaji was excited to hear his name called.

“It was an incredible moment,” Nnaji said. “I’m so thankful first and foremost for the most high, for all that he’s done for me putting me in this position. I’m extremely blessed, and I know there are so many people that want to be in this position, but for me to be here, me and my family, we’re incredibly thankful.”

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2020 NBA Draft Big Board 5.0: Final update ranking Top 100 prospects

After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.

After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.

Originally scheduled for June, the ongoing pandemic pushed the big night back by five months. While this may cause some teams to overthink their decisions, it gave analysts plenty of time to study all of the top prospects eligible in this class.

This year, players had to participate in a mostly virtual pre-draft process. On the bright side, this meant that teams had the opportunity to interview more candidates than ever before.

However, the number of in-person visits were incredibly limited due to the restrictive parameters set by the league. Similarly, the NBA draft combine was conducted without the typical scrimmages where players can separate themselves from the others with impressive on-court performances.

Overall, the players that stood out in this pre-draft process had a different path to recognition than any other year. College basketball players did not have the opportunity to showcase themselves during March Madness. The nation’s top seniors did not get to participate in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.

As such, executives will rely mostly on the existing game footage as well as the intel they gathered during their conversations with the prospects. We also depended on similar strategies, getting access to one-on-one interviews with more than three dozen prospects and exchanging our thoughts with various scouts across the league.

This helped us put together our final big board, looking at the Top 100 players ranked on their potential to make a difference for teams in the NBA.

Relevant statistics were pulled from Synergy Sports Tech, Bart-Torvik, KenPom, Open Look Analytics and RealGM. Note that the age listed for each player references how old they will be on the night of the draft.

NBA draft: Player comparisons for projected first-rounders

One of the most compelling ways to quickly study any draft class is to look at the NBA comparisons for all of the prospects available.

One of the most compelling ways to quickly study any draft class is to look at the NBA comparisons for all of the prospects available.

Now that the 2020 NBA draft is less than two weeks ago, all of the folks looking for a crash course in learning more about the players that will be available for selection can use this as a guide for the potential outlook of each projected first-round draft pick.

This exercise is far from foolproof, of course, considering that outcomes for each prospect will depend heavily on the teams that draft them as well as the roles they are given and the development process that surrounds them.

But this does give a sense of the archetype that each top prospect fits in so casual fans can get a more succinct view of the next generation entering the league.

While our own opinion was also included, we also studied comparison models and surveyed other experts, including conversations with NBA scouts around the league, to give the best context available. The results included were the most common responses.

NOTE: All comparisons pulled from NBADraftcomp.herokuapp.com are based on statistics per 40 minutes. 

Celtics have reportedly met virtually with Arizona big man Zeke Nnaji

The Boston Celtics have reportedly spoken remotely with Arizona center Zeke Nnaji ahead of the 2020 NBA draft.

The Boston Celtics have reportedly met virtually with University of Arizona big man Zeke Nnaji, according to Forbes Sports’ Chris Grenham.

The freshman center stands a healthy 6-foot-10 and weighs 240 lbs. despite having a very bouncy, athletic game.

He has good finishing skills with a solid jumper in need of improved range, and the right tools if not skill to be an NBA defender.

Nnaji’s lateral movement isn’t stellar and he’ll struggle to defend the perimeter — which could limit his ceiling in the modern NBA — but he has the motor and physical gifts to become a better defender with time.

He has previously been mocked to the Celtics, and the fit as a situational big with a small shot at a starting role would be a worthy use of one of Boston’s latter picks in the first round.

And with the chaos that could unfold in such a flat draft, it is not out of the question that Nnaji might even drift into the middle of the second round where the Celtics control No. 47.

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2020 NBA aggregate mock draft 8.0: Draft day ranges for top prospects

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done. 

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done.

We looked at mock drafts from NBADraft.net, ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, The Ringer, Stadium, SI.com, USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire, USA Today and Yahoo to give us a more clear understanding of consensus rankings and projections.

This also provided context for realistic high-end and low-end predictions for the players most often included in mock drafts.

Please note that the range included for each player is not based on our own reporting or intel and it only reflects the data pulled from the various mock drafts.

The full list of our latest aggregate mock draft rankings can be found here. HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.

2020 NBA aggregate mock draft 8.0: Draft day ranges for top prospects

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done. 

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done.

We looked at mock drafts from NBADraft.net, ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, The Ringer, Stadium, SI.com, USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire, USA Today and Yahoo to give us a more clear understanding of consensus rankings and projections.

This also provided context for realistic high-end and low-end predictions for the players most often included in mock drafts.

Please note that the range included for each player is not based on our own reporting or intel and it only reflects the data pulled from the various mock drafts.

The full list of our latest aggregate mock draft rankings can be found here. HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.

Projected second-round pick Zeke Nnaji worked out with the Heat

Nnaji was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year after averaging 16.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in 32 games last season with the Wildcats.

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Projected second-round pick, and former Arizona forward, Zeke Nnaji reportedly worked out with the Heat on Sunday, according to Marc Spears of The Undefeated.

Nnaji was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year after averaging 16.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in 32 games played last season with the Wildcats. He projects to be a pick-and-roll option at the next level, either as a rim roller or pick-and-pop threat given his size and athleticism. 

The 6-foot-11 forward has been training at Impact Basketball in Las Vegas. In addition to working out with the Heat, Nnaji has met virtually with several teams ahead of the NBA draft, including the New Orleans Pelicans, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards.

Teams around the NBA can now meet in-person with prospects but are required to meet them in their home markets. Each organization is limited to 10 pre-draft visits so the Heat certainly appear to be interested in Nnaji and could look to target him with the 50th overall pick.

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Even without a draft pick, Houston interviews ‘stretch big’ prospects

Could Houston potentially trade into the first or second round? The Rockets now have at least two draftable bigs on their interview list.

The Houston Rockets have already traded away their picks in both the first round and second round of the 2020 NBA Draft. However, that doesn’t mean they can’t eventually trade their way back in.

Per veteran Minneapolis journalist Darren Wolfson, the Rockets are currently on the interview list for former University of Minnesota center Daniel Oturu — who is projected at roughly No. 30 overall, according to the latest aggregate NBA mock draft from HoopsHype.

That’s interesting for multiple reasons. First, with Oturu potentially a first-round selection, it would seem rather unlikely that he’d slide out of the draft altogether and be available as an undrafted free agent. So if the Rockets are interviewing him, it would appear to suggest that GM Daryl Morey is considering scenarios of acquiring a 2020 draft pick.

Second, it’s noteworthy that the 6-foot-10, 240-pound Oturu is a center. Oturu averaged 20.1 points (56.3% FG), 11.3 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game last season, and it would seem to signal that the notoriously undersized Rockets might be open to larger lineups in the future.

Oturu does have some range and potential as a “stretch big,” having shot 36.5% on 3-pointers last season. However, it remains to be seen how that might translate from the shorter college line to the NBA.

Here’s how Rookie Wire describes Oturu in their latest Big Board:

Daniel Oturu was ridiculously productive during his sophomore campaign for Minnesota. It is “extremely tough” to predict Oturu’s draft range because executives are “all over the map” about him, per The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie. Scouts may not love what they see from Oturu’s mechanics but it is certainly impossible to deny how much he was able to accomplish on the court.

Per Wolfson, the Rockets have also interviewed many other draftable prospects, such as 6-foot-11 Arizona forward Zeke Nnaji. Like Oturu, Nnaji could also fill the “stretch big” role. Per Rookie Wire:

One of the players who improved his draft stock the most during his freshman season was Arizona big man Zeke Nnaji. The Pac-12 Rookie of the Year averaged 16.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game and could provide positional depth for the Philadelphia 76ers in the frontcourt. His shooting is projected to be better in the NBA than it was in the NCAA.

Nnaji was at No. 34 on the most recent aggregate mock draft, in the same range as Oturu. As Wolfson noted, the Wolves have the No. 17 and No. 33 overall picks. They could be a logical trade partner for the Rockets, given the long history and working relationship between Morey and Minnesota’s president of basketball operations, Gersson Rosas.

Rosas was Houston’s No. 2 executive (after Morey) for years. Since taking Minnesota’s lead job last year, Morey and Rosas worked together on the blockbuster four-team trade in February involving Robert Covington.

The 2020 NBA Draft will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 18. The Rockets do have most of their cash allotment for the 2019-20 league year still available, which could help facilitate a deal. That might especially be the case in 2020 given the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hurt many owners financially and reportedly could lead to more picks being up for sale.

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Darren Wolfson: Former Hopkins HS star …