And-Ones: Draft, LeBron, Roberts

LeBron James continued his march up the NBA’s All-Time scoring list tonight, passing Celtics great Robert Parish who had 23,334 career points, to take over possession of the 24th spot. The next target on the list for James is Charles Barkley, who sits at No. 23 with 23,757 career points. So congratulations to LeBron on his achievement, but he still has quite a ways to go to claim the top slot from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Using James’ career 27.5 point average as a guide, it would take him roughly 6.6 more seasons at that pace to eclipse Abdul-Jabbar, though with LeBron’s propensity for sharing the ball it would likely take a bit longer, as well as requiring continued good health on his part.

Here’s more from around the league:

• Despite all the hype that the draft class of 2014 received, the top three selections are off to slow starts to their careers, Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel writes. There’s no telling if the Sixers‘ Joel Embiid will play this season, Andrew Wiggins is averaging 10 points for the Wolves, and Jabari Parker is logging 10.9 PPG for the Bucks. While all three are likely to develop into excellent players, this should serve as a cautionary tale for franchises looking to improve themselves through “tanking,” Schmitz opines.
• The 2015 NBA Draft class isn’t being as highly-touted as 2014’s group, though there are a number of players with star potential. Sean Deveney of The Sporting News runs down 10 players who NBA scouts are keeping a close eye on, including Jahlil Okafor, Kelly Oubre, and Myles Turner.
• NBPA head Michele Roberts’ recent salvo fired against the concept of the salary cap may needlessly antagonize the owners and make the 2017 CBA negotiations more difficult than they need to be, opines Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. The salary cap isn’t going away anytime soon, something Roberts is aware of, notes Beck, and her statements were more likely intended to gain trust with the players and their agents who have long distrusted the union.