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2020 NBA Draft

NBA Postpones Draft Lottery, Combine Indefinitely

May 1st, 2020 at 3:41pm CST by Luke Adams

3:41pm: As expected, the NBA has indefinitely postponed the lottery and combine, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

11:21am: Now that the calendar has turned to May, the NBA will have to start making some decisions about its own calendar, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times, who points to the May 19 draft lottery and subsequent draft combine as upcoming events that will need to be addressed. Both the lottery and combine are expected to be officially postponed soon, tweets Stein.

[RELATED: Tentative 2020 NBA Draft Dates, Deadlines]

As Stein explains (via Twitter), as long as there’s still hope that the resumption of the 2019/20 season is possible, it doesn’t make sense for the NBA to move forward with its full pre-draft process. The lottery, in particular, is tied to the final regular-season standings, so if there’s still a chance that those standings could change, the lottery will have to wait.

Anthony Slater of The Athletic, who wrote earlier this week about the possibility of the lottery being delayed, heard from one executive that front offices would likely want at least three weeks or so between the lottery and the draft to give teams time to adjust to their exact placement.

[RELATED: What 2020 Lottery Odds Would Look Like If Season Doesn’t Resume]

Currently, the draft is scheduled for June 25, but it will certainly be postponed too if the season can be resumed, since the NBA will want the draft to take place in the offseason. Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer wrote this week that league sources expect it to be pushed back to August or September — the exact date will hinge in large part on if and when the season can be completed.

As for the combine, even with a two- or three-month delay, it’s hard to imagine it taking place as it normally would. While the NBA could formally postpone it for now, the event may have to eventually be canceled. Still, I’d imagine the league office is exploring virtual alternatives to the usual format, with teams likely pushing the NBA for a way to access prospects’ medical information that would typically be collected at the combine.

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Draft Notes: Perry, Hagans, Ball, Wiseman

April 30th, 2020 at 8:03pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Mississippi State’s Reggie Perry has signed with CAA Sports and will remain in the draft, Evan Daniels of 247 Sports reports (Twitter link). Perry is No. 46 on ESPN’s Big Board and ranks No. 7 among centers.

Here’s more from the upcoming draft:

  • Ashton Hagans will also sign with CAA Sports and will remain in the draft, Daniels tweets. The Kentucky guard is No. 48 on ESPN’s Big Board.
  • LaMelo Ball would be a nice selection for Detroit if the Pistons climb into the top three in the NBA draft, James L. Edwards of The Athletic writes. The Pistons have not drafted a point guard in the first round since they selected Brandon Knight, who was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2011 draft.
  • One rival scout believes James Wiseman would be in consideration for the Pistons with their No. 1 pick, as Edwards adds in the same piece. “I think they need a little bit of everything, right? He’s an athletic center with the ability to step out a little bit,” the scout said.
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Draft Notes: 2020 Class, Haliburton, Vassell, More

April 30th, 2020 at 10:49am CST by Luke Adams

The 2020 NBA draft class has repeatedly been referred to by analysts and league observers in recent months as subpar. However, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer doesn’t think that’s quite right.

As O’Connor explains, the 2020 NBA draft may not have the star power that some past drafts have — there’s no consensus future superstar like LeBron James, Anthony Davis, or Zion Williamson among this year’s top prospects. However, O’Connor believes it’s a deep class that features “a plethora of potential high-end role players who could develop into the missing ingredient of a championship team’s recipe.”

In O’Connor’s view, teams picking in the lottery this year will have to weigh certain players’ possible star upside with other prospects’ solid, high-floor skill sets. For instance, big man James Wiseman is at or near the top of most draft boards, but O’Connor has players like Tyrese Haliburton and Devin Vassell ranked higher than Wiseman on his own board, viewing them as safe picks capable of improving a team as complementary pieces. Positional value could also be weighed more heavily in 2020 than it typically is, O’Connor adds.

Here’s more on the 2020 draft:

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205 Early Entrants Declare For 2020 NBA Draft

April 28th, 2020 at 10:20pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has released the official list of early entrants for the 2020 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 205 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 163 are from colleges, while 42 are international early entrants.

That number falls just short of the previous record for early entrants, established in 2018. Two years ago, 236 early entrants declared for the draft, though ultimately only 91 of those prospects remained in the draft by the final deadline. A year ago, 233 early entrants declared, with 98 remaining in the draft.

This year’s total of 205 early entrants also figures to shrink significantly by June 3 and again by June 15, the two tentative deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool — assuming those dates aren’t pushed back. But it still looks like the pool will remain crowded, with the eventual number of early entrants likely to exceed 60, the number of picks in the draft.

Our list of early entrants is now up to date and can be found right here. Here are today’s updates:

College underclassmen:

The following players were listed on the NBA’s official breakdown today, but weren’t yet noted on our own list.

The following players reportedly declared for the draft or planned to, but weren’t named in the NBA’s official announcement today. As such, we’ve removed them from our list.

International players:

The following players were listed on the NBA’s official breakdown today, but weren’t yet noted on our list.

  • Philippe Bayehe, F, Italy (born 1999)
  • Vinicius Da Silva, C, Spain (born 2001)
  • Imru Duke, F, Spain (born 1999)
  • Michele Ebeling, F, Italy (born 1999)
  • Dut Mabor, C, Italy (born 2001)
  • Sergi Martinez, F, Spain (born 1999)
  • Joel Parra, F, Spain (born 2000)
  • Mouhamed Thiam, C, France (born 2001)
  • Andrii Voinalovych, F, Ukraine (born 1999)
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LaMelo Ball Declares For NBA Draft

April 28th, 2020 at 9:32pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Potential No. 1 overall pick LaMelo Ball has declared for the NBA draft, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. The declaration is simply a formality as Ball was expected to enter the 2020 draft for quite some time.

The 6’7″ point guard opted not to go the traditional route on his journey to the league, playing in Australia rather than suiting up for a team in the NCAA. Ball only appeared in 12 games while playing for the Illawarra Hawks because of a foot injury, though he did well enough to earn the league’s Rookie of the Year award.

Ball, who averaged 17.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 7.0 APG in the NBL, with multiple triple-doubles, is viewed as a near-lock to be a top-five pick in the 2020 NBA draft, as our own Luke Adams recently explained. He’s currently the No. 2 overall prospect on ESPN’s big board and has reportedly tabbed Roc Nation for his representation.

In total, 205 early entrants declared for the 2020 draft, according to the NBA, though more than half will likely withdraw before draft day. Ball and fellow NBL prospects RJ Hampton and Kouat Noi aren’t counted among those 205 early entrants, having been listed in an “also eligible” section in the memo sent to teams by the league, tweets ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

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And-Ones: Lottery, Draft, Wroten, NBA 2K League

April 28th, 2020 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA draft lottery is still scheduled to take place on May 19, but Anthony Slater of The Athletic is hearing the event is unlikely to happen that night. As Slater explains, the NBA will likely end up using the month of May as an “information-gathering” period before finalizing decisions in June, so the lottery figures to be postponed, with the June 25 draft date still up in the air too.

On executive who spoke to Slater estimated that front offices would want at least a three-week period or so between the lottery and draft to give teams time to adjust to their exact placement and to do last-minute research on players presumed to be in their range.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Updates on early entrants for the 2020 NBA draft continue to trickle in even after Sunday night’s deadline passed. Valparaiso sophomore guard Javon Freeman-Liberty tells Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link) that he has decided to transfer rather than keep his name in the draft. Meanwhile, Senegalese guard Brancou Badio, who played this season for Barcelona’s second team, has entered his name in the draft pool, according to Eurohopes (Twitter link).
  • Former NBA guard Tony Wroten, who appeared in 145 games for Memphis and Philadelphia from 2012-15, continues to pursue an NBA comeback, as he tells Chema De Lucas (Spanish link). Our Chris Crouse took an in-depth look last summer at how injuries have derailed Wroten’s career and how he has continued playing professionally in international leagues.
  • The NBA 2K League, which was originally scheduled to start its season on March 24, announced in a press release that its new “opening night” will be Tuesday, May 5. The eSports contests will be played remotely for at least six weeks, according to the announcement.
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Draft Notes: Smart, Mack, Yurtseven, 2021 Draft

April 27th, 2020 at 7:59pm CST by Luke Adams

As we outlined on Monday morning, this year’s deadline for early entrants to declare for the 2020 NBA draft fell on Sunday night, meaning the league will soon be officially releasing its initial list of early entrants.

As we await that list, we’re still seeing a few more updates trickling in, so we’ll pass along a couple of those in the space below — and take an early look at how this year’s early entry list will impact the 2021 draft class…

  • LSU sophomore guard Javonte Smart has declared for the draft while maintaining his college eligibility, he announced on Instagram. Smart, who presumably submitted his paperwork by Sunday night, averaged 12.5 PPG, 4.2 APG, and 3.5 RPG on .415/.326/.814 shooting in 31 games (34.2 MPG) for the Tigers.
  • Sophomore guard Cam Mack, who previously said he was entering the draft, announced on Twitter that he has changed course and has instead decided to transfer. Mack averaged 12.0 PPG and 6.4 APG in 28 games for Nebraska in 2019/20, but won’t be returning to the Cornhuskers, who suspended him indefinitely near the end of the season.
  • Georgetown big man Omer Yurtseven will enter the draft and won’t return to college, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. Born in Turkey, Yurtseven averaged 15.5 PPG and 9.8 RPG in 26 games with the Hoyas. The 7-footer also played two seasons with North Carolina State.
  • ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link) has updated his 2021 mock draft, removing players who have declared for the 2020 draft and listing Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green as the current favorites to go first and second overall. Both Cunningham and Green would likely be No. 1 on big boards in 2020 if they were eligible to be drafted this year, Givony adds.
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Early Entry Deadline For 2020 NBA Draft Has Passed

April 27th, 2020 at 9:43am CST by Luke Adams

The deadline for potential early entrants to declare for the 2020 NBA draft fell on April 26 at 11:59pm ET, which means prospects who aren’t automatically draft-eligible can no longer enter this year’s pool.

Players who have entered the draft don’t necessarily have to stay in, as long as they haven’t hired an agent — or as long as they’re working with one of 23 agents certified by the NCAA. Currently, the deadline for NCAA players to withdraw from the draft and maintain their college eligibility is June 3, though it’s possible that date will be adjusted if the NBA draft is postponed.

The NBA has a separate withdrawal deadline from the NCAA’s, allowing prospects to pull out as late as 10 days before the draft. With the draft scheduled for June 25, the NBA’s withdrawal deadline is June 15 — that date is generally the one to watch for international prospects, who don’t have to worry about maintaining NCAA eligibility.

Our full list of early entrants can be found right here. While we did our best to make our list as accurate as possible, some players who declared in recent weeks may have slipped through the cracks, while others reported to have entered the draft may have had a change of heart.

The NBA should formally release its initial early entrant list for 2020 within the next two or three days, so we’ll update our list at that point to reflect the league’s official data.

Here are the latest additions we’ve made to our list:

And here are a couple players who had previously planned to enter the draft who ended up opting to return to school instead. They’ve been removed from our list:

It appears there are approximately 190-ish early entrants in this year’s draft pool, which would be a significant step down from the last couple years, when that total has been in the neighborhood of 235.

Of course, as ESPN’s Jonathan Givony notes (via Twitter), the real question will be how many of these initial early entrants end up staying in the draft. That number landed at 98 last year, and 91 in 2018. It will likely end up lower this year, not just because the early total is lower, but due to the coronavirus pandemic. As Givony observes, many prospects who entered the draft may not have much more info about where they stand by the June 3 withdrawal deadline than they have now.

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Draft Notes: Nembhard, Mann, Lawson, More

April 26th, 2020 at 8:58pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Sophomore guard Andrew Nembhard will test the draft waters, college basketball analyst Jeff Goodman reports (Twitter link). Nembhard has signed with Jaafar Choufani, who is one of just 23 NCAA-certified agents. The point guard will retain his ability to return to Florida if he decides to go that route.

Here’s more on the upcoming draft:

  • Florida freshman guard Tre Mann has declared for the draft, Goodman passes along on Twitter. Mann averaged 5.3 points per game this past year.
  • South Carolina sophomore guard A.J. Lawson will test the draft water, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. Lawson will have the ability to return to school as he has not hired an agent.
  • Jonathan Givony of Draft Express passes along several international prospects who will declare for the 2020 draft. Miguel Gonzalez (Baskonia), Sander Raieste (BC Kalev), Osas Ehigiator (Fuenlabrada), Njegos Sikiras (Fuenlabrada) have all entered their names.
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Draft Prospect Teshaun Hightower Charged With Murder

April 26th, 2020 at 6:47pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Tulane guard and once-NBA draft hopeful Teshaun Hightower has been arrested and charged with murder, as Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com reports.

The charge is related to a homicide that occurred on April 8 in Stockbridge, Georgia. Hightower was taken into custody on Saturday night, and Tulane announced earlier today that it has dismissed him from its program.

Hightower was charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and battery, per Schlabach. The Georgia native is just one of six men being investigated in the homicide of 24-year-old Devante Anthony Long — five of the six are in custody.

The 6’5″ guard had declared his intentions to test the draft waters earlier this offseason. Before coming to Tulane, Hightower played two seasons at the University of Georgia.

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