2019 NBA Draft

Draft Decisions: Noi, Mack, German, Carvacho, Bolden

TCU forward Kouat Noi will remain in the draft, Jeff Goodman of WatchStadium.com tweets. The 6’7” Noi averaged 13.9 PPG and 4.9 RPG during his sophomore season. He has workouts upcoming with the Bucks, Kings and Clippers, Goodman adds. Teammate Desmond Bane will return to school, Goodman adds (Twitter link).

We have more draft news.

  • Alabama swingman Tevin Mack has decided to withdraw from the draft, Goodman reports in another tweet. Mack averaged 9.0 PPG in his junior season.
  • Northern Illinois guard Eugene German will return to school, Goodman adds in another tweet. The point guard averaged 20.4 PPG and 2.9 APG in his junior year.
  • Indiana University guards Devonte Green and Aljami Durham and forward Justin Smith are all expected to return to school, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
  • Colorado State’s Nico Carvacho will return to school, Rothstein reports in another tweet. The 6’11” center averaged 16.1 PPG and 12.9 RPG as a junior last season.
  • Duke center Marques Bolden will remain in the draft, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. He averaged 5.3 PPG and 4.5 RPG as a junior.

Romeo Langford To Stay In Draft

Potential lottery pick Romeo Langford has officially decided to stay in the draft, he posted on his Twitter page.

The 6’6” swingman from Indiana University is currently ranked No. 14 overall and the No. 3 small forward by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

“I believe now is the time for me to begin the next chapter of my life and keep my name in the 2019 NBA Draft,” he wrote in part.

Langford averaged 16.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 2.3 APG in his one-and-done season with the Hoosiers. According to Givony, Langford possesses he prototypical physical tools for an NBA wing with a strong frame and a 6’11” wingspan. He’s also a smooth and fluid athlete who is at his best with the ball in his hands.

He has to improve his perimeter shooting, as he made just 27.% of his long-range shots.

Langford dealt with some back issues but says he’s fully recovered. He met with 13 teams at the combine, including the Pacers, Celtics and Pistons.

Draft Decisions: Wigginton, Cumberland, Lamb, More

The NCAA’s withdrawal deadline for early entrants is this Wednesday, May 29. That means that a number of college underclassmen who tested the draft waters this spring are now faced with a decision on whether to keep their names in the draft pool or pull out and head back to school for at least one more year.

Here’s a round-up of some of the latest reported early entrant decisions:

  • Iowa State sophomore guard Lindell Wigginton has decided to keep his name in the 2019 draft, he announced on Sunday (via Twitter). Wigginton doesn’t show up in ESPN’s top-100 list, so he’s far from a lock to be drafted.
  • The Bearcats got some good news today, as guard Jarron Cumberland will return to Cincinnati for his senior season, per Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link).
  • A spokesman tells Goodman (Twitter link) that Vermont forward Anthony Lamb will also head back to school for his senior year.
  • Two Davidson early entrants, sophomore guard Kellan Grady and junior guard Jon Axel Gudmundsson, are pulling out of draft and going back to school, as Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports relays (via Twitter).
  • Notre Dame guard TJ Gibbs will be heading back to school for his senior year, tweets Rothstein.
  • Missouri State junior forward Tulio Da Silva is withdrawing from the 2019 draft and retaining his college eligibility, a source tells Rothstein (Twitter link).
  • Portland State’s Holland Woods, a sophomore guard, is withdrawing from the 2019 NBA draft, according to Rothstein (via Twitter).

Draft Notes: Hornets, Sibande, Cook, Harris

Maryland sophomore forward Bruno Fernando headed a group of six players the Hornets worked out on Sunday. He’s currently listed No. 33 overall on ESPN’s Jonathan Givony list of Top 100 prospects. The other five players who came in, according to a team press release, included guards Shizz Alston Jr. (Temple), Justin Simon (St. John’s) and Keyshawn Woods (Ohio State), forward Lamar Stevens (Penn State) and center Raasean Davis (North Carolina Central).

We have more on the draft:

  • Davis and Nevada forward Trey Porter will work out for the Wizards, Nicola Lupo of Sportando tweets.
  • Miami (Ohio)’s Nike Sibande will return to school, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. Sibande averaged 16.1 PPG and 5.1 RPG for the RedHawks last season.
  • Iowa big man Tyler Cook will remain in the draft, Jeff Goodman at WatchStadium.com tweets. Cook averaged 14.5 PPG and 7.6 RPG in his junior year.
  • North Carolina A&T shooting guard Terry Harris worked out for the Clippers last week, Chris Broussard of Fox Sports tweets. He’s the younger brother of Tobias Harris.

Draft Notes: Reddish, Pro Days, Early Entrants, Thybulle

Duke’s Cam Reddish made a strong impression at Wednesday’s pro day in Phoenix, writes Mike Schmitz of ESPN. With more than 35 prospects on hand, Reddish put on a shooting display that caught the attention of an estimated 100 scouts and several general managers.

Reddish was projected as a high lottery pick last fall, but his stock slipped during a disappointing freshman season. However, he was in top form at the workout, sinking shot after shot in a variety of situations before stopping his session because of a minor groin injury.

Jarrett CulverKeldon JohnsonMfiondu Kabengele and Luguentz Dort were other top prospects at the event, along with a large collection of potential second-rounders.

There’s more draft news to pass along:

  • In the same article, Jonathan Givony looks at how pro days sponsored by agencies are gradually replacing individual workouts. These events enable players to show off their strengths and hide their weaknesses, allowing someone like Georgios Papagiannis or Rashad Vaughn to rise dramatically. “We’ve completely lost control of the pre-draft process, and we have no one to blame but ourselves,” an unidentified GM said. “Instead of spending time getting to know the guys we are about to invest millions of dollars in, as well as our job security and having our coaching staffs put players through meaningful workouts, we are sitting in traffic on the 405, shuffling between airports and watching celebrity trainers put players through dog and pony shows, with highly scripted routines against cones that tell us absolutely nothing about how they might perform in an actual game.”
  • Givony also takes a look at players who might be on the fence about staying in the draft ahead of Wednesday’s deadline and unveils an updated top-100 list that hasn’t changed much at the top.
  • A few more players reached draft decisions this morning. Caleb Daniels, who is transferring from Tulane to Villanova (Twitter link), Al-Wajid Aminu of North Florida (Twitter link) and Troy Baxter Jr. of Florida Gulf Coast (Twitter link) will all pull out of the draft, while Charlie Brown of St. Joseph’s (Twitter link from Goodman) will keep his name in.
  • Matisse Thybulle of Washington may have a draft promise from the Celtics, tweets Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The small forward is slotted at No. 28 on the new ESPN list, and Boston holds picks No. 14, 20 and 22.

Draft Notes: Shittu, Powell, Cole, Tinkle, Sharkey

Vanderbilt power forward Simisola Shittu has a workout scheduled with the Hornets on June 1, Jordan Schultz of ESPN tweets. Shittu announced this week he was staying in the draft. He averaged 10.9 PPG and 6.7 RPG as a freshman and is ranked No. 89 by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony on his Top 100 prospects list.

We have more on this year’s draft prospects:

  • Seton Hall guard Myles Powell worked out for the Nets this week as he ponders whether to stay in the draft, Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com reports. He’s already worked out for the Hornets, Kings, Thunder and Hawks. The junior averaged 23.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 2.9 APG last season.
  • Point guard RJ Cole will withdraw from the draft and transfer to the University of Connecticut, Jeff Goodman of WatchStadium.com tweets. Cole averaged 21.4 PPG and 6.4 APG for Howard as a sophomore.
  • Oregon State forward Tres Tinkle is heading back to school, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. The redshirt junior averaged 20.8 PPG and 8.1 RPG last season.
  • Josh Sharkey of Samford is withdrawing from the draft, Goodman tweets. The point guard averaged 16.3 PPG and 7.2 APG in his junior year.

Southeast Notes: Allen, Hornets Workouts, Beal, Young

Malik Allen was the only member of Tom Thibodeau’s former staff who was retained by the Timberwolves after Ryan Saunders had the interim tag removed earlier this week. However, Allen may be on the move as well. He has emerged as a prime candidate to replace Juwan Howard on Erik Spoelstra’s staff, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. Howard left the Heat to take the University of  Michigan head coaching job.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • The Hornets are bringing in six prospects for a workout on Saturday, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets. That group includes Ar’Mond Davis (UC Santa Barbara), Jon Axel Gudmundsson (Davidson), Nathan Knight (William & Mary), Reggie Perry (Mississippi State), Josh Reaves (Penn State) and Quinndary Weatherspoon (Mississippi State). Weatherspoon, a shooting guard, heads that group as ESPN Jonathan Givony’s No. 57 overall prospect.
  • Bradley Beal didn’t become eligible for a supermax extension as he was left off the All-NBA teams. The Wizards shooting guard could still be on the move this summer, Ben Standig of NBC Sports Washington writes. If Washington decides to rebuild, it could trade Beal for assets and salary cap space. In Standig’s view, the Lakers, Celtics and Knicks could be among the most likely destinations, particularly if they strike out in pursuit of high-level free agents.
  • Hawks point guard Trae Young believes his style of play will help bring in quality free agents, as he declared in an interview with 92.9 The Game (hat tip to E. Jay Zarett of the Sporting News). “If you’re looking to have the ball in your hands, if you’re looking to score a lot of points – I mean, a lot of players in the league know if you come play with me, I’m going to make sure I get you the ball,” Young said. “I think that’s something that attracts a lot of big players.”

Draft Updates: Early Entrants, Zion, Culver, Little

The NCAA’s deadline for early entrants to withdraw from the 2019 draft and retain their college eligibility is May 29, so more updates on final draft decisions are beginning to trickle in.

A pair of prospects with alliterative names have opted to remain in the 2019 draft class, with Vanderbilt freshman forward Simisola Shittu announcing (via Twitter) that he’ll forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility, while Jon Rothstein of SI.com reports (via Twitter) that Tulane junior forward Samir Sehic will also keep his name in the draft.

Markell Johnson, a junior guard out of North Carolina State, will go in the other direction. Johnson announced today (via Twitter) that after gathering feedback on his stock, he has elected to withdraw his name from the 2019 draft pool and return to N.C. State for his senior season.

Here are a few more draft-related updates:

  • A source tells Sean Deveney of Sporting News that Zion Williamson and his family are nearing a decision on his agent, and could decide on representation as early as next week. According to Deveney, the future No. 1 pick had originally intended to be repped by his advisor – and former NBA agent – Chubby Wells, but a plan to have Wells recertify as an NBA agent fell through.
  • Within that same article, Deveney examines Jarrett Culver‘s draft stock, citing sources around the league who say that the Texas Tech swingman won’t drop further than No. 7. UNC’s Nassir Little has also moved up several teams’ draft boards, per Deveney.
  • UCF center Tacko Fall was among the players to work out for the Kings on Thursday, per a team release. Sacramento also took a closer look at Myles Powell (Seton Hall), Amir Hinton (Shaw), Jalen Hudson (Florida), Nick Weiler-Babb (Iowa State), and Marques Bolden (Duke).
  • Purdue Fort Wayne guard John Konchar has worked out for the Celtics, Hawks, Clippers, and Nets so far during the pre-draft process, tweets Jordan Schultz of ESPN. A workout with Toronto for Konchar was also previously reported.

Draft Notes: Aiken, Wieskamp, Bowen, Jazz

All-Ivy League guard Bryce Aiken will take advantage of his final remaining year of NCAA eligibility and will return to Harvard for his senior season, the program announced today in a press release. Aiken had elected to test the draft waters this spring, but ultimately decided to pull out of the 2019 pool before next Wednesday’s withdrawal deadline.

“After having the opportunity to experience the NBA underclassmen process, I’m looking forward to graduating with my class next year, and, hopefully, leading Harvard basketball to unprecedented heights,” Aiken said in a statement.

Here are a few more draft-related notes and updates:

NBA Cancels 2019 Global Camp For International Prospects

The NBA has elected to cancel its Global Camp for 2019, reports ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. The event, a showcase for draft-eligible prospects outside of America, had been set to take place in Monaco from May 30 to June 2.

“We have cancelled the NBA Global Camp 2019 due to logistical issues and other contributing factors that jeopardized our ability to successfully conduct the camp,” NBA executive VP of basketball operations Kiki VanDeWeghe told ESPN in a statement. “The camp will return in the future.”

For many years, NBA teams scouted international prospects at the Adidas EuroCamp each spring, but than event was abandoned by Adidas in the wake of the FBI’s investigation into college basketball corruption. The NBA assumed control of the spring showcase in 2018, spinning it off into the newly-created Global Camp. However, the camp – which is essentially a draft combine for international prospects, as Givony explains – ran for just one year before running into problems in 2019.

Sources tell Givony that confusion over which venues organizers of the event had actually booked was one key reason for the event’s cancellation. The Global Camp was supposed to take place at the home arena of international club AS Monaco Basket, but the team said it had not been consulted about the availability of its arena, Givony writes.

As our list shows, this year’s group of early entrants features 59 international prospects, and Givony has heard from agents that many of those players only entered the draft pool in the hopes of being selected to participate in the Global Camp. With the event no longer taking place and the withdrawal deadline for early entrants set for June 10, that list of international prospects on the early entry list figures to dwindle significantly in the coming weeks.