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Mike Vorkunov: Gregory is a former head coach at Georgia Tech, Dayton, and USF. He was also an assistant coach at Michigan State when Mat Ishbia was a walk-on player there. He was named VP of player programming last June and has had a prominent voice in the Suns front office even before this.
The injury comes with implications in the Western Conference race, as Denver has been willing to lean on rookies for major minutes on their contending roster in recent seasons. Holmes, who averaged 20.4 points and 8.5 rebounds at Dayton and made 38.5% of his 3s last season, was viewed by the Nuggets as a potential immediate contributor, according to sources.
The Nuggets are also engaged in trade scenarios for backup big man Zeke Nnaji, sources said. Denver had given the 23-year-old out of Arizona an opportunity to claim a clear-cut reserve role behind Nikola Jokić, but traded up in Wednesday’s NBA Draft to select a foreseeable replacement in Dayton center DaRon Holmes II. Nnaji’s $8 million salary could be an outgoing package, for example, to bring back Serbian point guard Vasilije Micić from Charlotte, who’s been a target for Denver, sources said.
Milwaukee attempted to bring Dayton big man DaRon Holmes II in for a workout, sources said. Holmes declined the invite, but not because of a widely whispered promise with Denver at No. 28, according to league sources. While Holmes indeed shut down his workout schedule —prompting teams to suspect a promise somewhere in the late first round — and Holmes could certainly be an option for the Nuggets at that spot, there has been no guarantee Denver would select him, sources said. Holmes has garnered interest from enough teams to earn a green-room invite. He’s been connected by league personnel to Sacramento as well.
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Sources told ESPN Holmes recently canceled several workouts, raising strong suspicions that he has secured a guarantee in the back part of the first round. Coming off a productive career at Dayton in which he made strides as a shooter (38% from 3 last season), Holmes appears to have helped himself in the pre-draft process, moving himself into the first-round picture.
In the end, the Blazers got their man, getting Phoenix to include the 6-foot-8 rookie from Dayton, along with Deandre Ayton, in exchange for Jusuf Nurkić, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson in the blockbuster deal that also included Grayson Allen going from Milwaukee to Phoenix and Lillard to Milwaukee. “That was one of the hardest parts of the trade,” Vogel said. “Obviously, losing Deandre was big as well, but Toumani … we were high on him as a prospect. And once we got him in our building and saw him play in summer league, we got even more excited about him. But in this league, to get something good, you have to give up something good.”
Jeff Borzello: Dayton transfer Mike Sharavjamts has committed to San Francisco, he told ESPN. Chose them over Nebraska & Memphis. Former ESPN 100 recruit averaged 5.6 PPG. Will be the starting PG, also feels at home with the diversity of the city, specifically the Mongolian & Asian communities.
Dayton guard Mike Sharavjamts is entering the 2023 NBA Draft and will not return to the university, he told ESPN on Tuesday. Per the network, Sharavjamts signed with Rize Management and is focused on professional opportunities.
Dayton center DaRon Holmes should be on the shortlist of any breakout player projection in college basketball. A 6-foot-10 big man, Holmes had a monster freshman season that saw him make the All-Defense team in the Atlantic 10, win Atlantic 10 Freshman of the Year and earn second-team All-Atlantic 10 honors. Dayton coach Anthony Grant couldn’t have expected all of that so quickly, but it’s not a surprise that the twitchy big man out of Goodyear, Ariz., made an early impact. He was the highest-rated recruit to ever commit to Dayton back in 2020, a direct result of the Flyers’ success the previous year.
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JD Shaw: Former Dayton standout guard Ibi Watson has agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal with the Atlanta Hawks, league source tells @HoopsRumors. Watson will also play summer league with the team next month.
Harrison Wind: Nuggets are holding another pre-draft workout Monday. Projected second round picks and potential two-way or Summer League fliers. - JT Thor (Auburn) - Scottie Lewis (Florida) - Juhann Begarin (France) - Feron Hunt (SMU) - Jalen Tate (Arkansas) - Ibi Watson (Dayton)
Harrison Wind: Nuggets are hosting another pre-draft workout Tuesday: - Aaron Henry (Michigan State) - David Duke (Providence) - Jalen Crutcher (Dayton) - Terry Taylor (Austin Peay) - Ethan Thompson (Oregon State) - Colbey Ross (Pepperdine via Aurora, CO)
Wes Goldberg: The Warriors tomorrow will work out Mitch Ballock (Creighton), AJ Lawson (South Carolina), RJ Nembhard (TCU), D.J. Stewart Jr. (Mississippi State), MJ Walker (Florida State) and Ibi Watson (Dayton).
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