Here’s the skinny on all 12 guys the Nets are scheduled to work out June 10th and 11th, cobbled together from various sources, stats, & videos.
Day One
- Shannon Scott is a 6’1″ (or 6’2″, depending on the day) point guard that just finished up his senior season at Ohio State. He played 35 games for the Buckeyes, averaging 8.5 points, 5.9 assists, and 3.6 rebounds in 30.5 minutes per game. Scott lacks an outside shot (just 28.6 percent from the college 3 in his senior year) and projects more as a defensive player (1.7 steals per game, over three steals per 40 minutes in his sophomore and junior seasons). He is currently viewed as a fringe draftee.
- Darian Hooker, no relation to TBG’s Chris Hooker (that we know of), is a 24-year-old point guard who most recently played for New York Institute of Technology, a Division II school in Old Westbury on Long Island. After sitting out the 2013-14 year with an injury, Hooker dominated Division II, leading the nation by scoring 28.3 points per game for the Bears, who went 14-15 on the season. He’s not expected to be drafted, but a scorer like that could impress enough to get on a summer league roster. (One note: the Nets listed Hooker at 6’5″, but most measurements have him closer to 6’1″.)
- Tyler Harvey is a 6’4″ junior guard out of Eastern Washington University. He’s led the Eagles in scoring in each of the past two seasons, averaging 22.4 and 22.9 points per game. He’s a long-range bomber: Harvey led the entire NCAA, averaging four three-pointers per game and hitting 128 on the season. He’s projected as a late second-round pick, but if he can extend that range to the NBA 3, could be a nice late pickup as a shooting specialist.
- Josh Richardson is a 21-year-old 6’6″ senior guard from Tennessee. Richardson was selected to the SEC All-Conference First Team and All-Defensive Team after his senior season, averaging 16 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.1 steals in 36.3 minutes per game. He’s expected to be a fringe draftee.
Christmas (AP) - Rakeem Christmas is the cream of Monday’s crop. The 6’10” big man out of Syracuse was one of the NCAA’s top seniors, averaging close to 18 points and nine rebounds per game, adding 2.5 blocks. He’s a physical player who didn’t shoot much[note]Christmas said at the combine he’s trying to improve his shot[/note], and measured a wingspan over 7’5″ at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. He’s expected to go in the late first to the middle of the second round — right around where the Nets, who have made a habit of selecting seniors, make their pick. For more, check out DraftExpress’s workout video.
- Yossou Ndoye is a seven-foot Senegalese senior from St. Bonaventure. Ndoye greatly improved his rebounding in his senior season, jumping from 8.7 rebounds per 40 minutes in his junior year to 12.6. He measured a 7’5″ wingspan at the Portsmouth Invitational, a post-NCAA season workout strictly for seniors, and his 2.6 blocks per game ranked 22nd among NCAA players.
Day Two
- George Lucas De Paula is the draft’s great mystery: the 6’6″, 19-year-old Brazilian point guard has some jaw-dropping physical tools but very little clarity about how good he can be. De Paula is the first point guard in the history of the combine to measure a seven-foot wingspan, and his speed & strength at the point guard position make him an intriguing prospect. Plus, his name is George Lucas, which gives Brook Lopez a new best friend. For more on De Paula, check out DraftExpress’s comprehensive video breakdown — as of now, DraftExpress has De Paula going 41st — to the Nets — in their mock draft.
- Josh Gasser, a 6’4″ senior guard for the NCAA runner-up Wisconsin Badgers and almost exclusively a three-point shooter; more than half of his college shots came from behind the arc. Gasser is not on the draft radar, but fits in the mold the Nets seem to be looking at: guards who can shoot from outside. The Nets might be looking to see if there’s some hidden talent in Gasser, who played fourth fiddle on a Badgers team packed with three first-round talents.[note]Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker are both projected as first-round picks this year, while Nigel Hayes returned to school for his junior year.[/note]
- Anthony Brown is a 22-year-old 6’7″ senior forward from Stanford. After missing all but four games in 2012-13 with a congenital hip injury, Brown returned with an improved shooting touch, hitting 44.1 percent from the college three-point line in his senior year, averaging 14.8 points and 6.9 rebounds in 35.7 minutes per game. He projects as a second-round pick, but could become a valuable player in a “three-and-D” swingman role.
- Luis Montero, a 22[note]This is a disputed number.[/note]-year-old forward from the Dominican Republic, has played out the last two seasons as a JuCo player with an oral commitment to the University of South Florida. Montero averaged 15.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game as a JuCo player at Westchester Community College, but the team was removed the following season for academic issues, and he transferred to South Plains College. Here’s some highlights from Montero playing JuCo ball:
- Lucas Dias Silva joins Lucas De Paula as the second 19-year-old Brazilian prospect the Nets work out. Silva, who played on Brazilian’s Pinheiros team with De Paula[note]Neither was a rotation player[/note], won the Jordan Brand Classic International MVP in 2012, putting up 18 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks for the White Team. There’s a lot of projecting when it comes to players like Silva, but watch this to get an idea of what he can do — and how fragile Brazil’s basketball rims are.
- Dakari Johnson was the odd man out in Kentucky’s deep big man rotation that boasted three future first-round picks: likely #1 pick Karl Anthony-Towns, lottery pick Willie Cauley-Stein, and Trey Lyles. But the seven-foot sophomore played well in his limited role, averaging 15.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per 40 minutes of playing time. He’s projected as a second-rounder, but some good workouts could push his stock up, since Kentucky’s rotation kept him hidden. One red flag: Johnson’s physical fitness declined from UK’s Pro Day in 2014 to the Draft Combine, with his body fat percentage rising from 10.5 percent to 14.9, and his max vertical falling a full nine inches from 34″ to 25″, which is tied for the lowest measured max vert in DraftExpress’s combine database.
