A panel of 15 NBA evaluators, including four general managers, unanimously agreed that Mavericks star Luka Doncic is the player under 25 whom they would most want to build a franchise around, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Suns guard Devin Booker, and Grizzlies guard Ja Morant received the next-highest scores in the poll.
As Scotto notes, last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Pelicans big man Zion Williamson, placed just seventh on the evaluators’ list, tied with Nuggets guard Jamal Murray. Among the respondents who spoke to Scotto, the enthusiasm for Williamson’s obvious upside was dampened by long-term weight and injury concerns.
“He’s just a special player inside the arc who’s an elite finisher,” one executive said of the Pelicans’ rising star. “… He’s one of the best finishers behind Giannis (Antetokounmpo) and LeBron (James). He can hit the open man. He’s so physically dominant. His shooting shouldn’t be a problem, but we’ll see. I think he’s always going to be hurt, though.”
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- NBA commissioner Adam Silver is expected to be at the league’s Walt Disney World campus this week, sources tell Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). It’s unclear whether Silver’s visit will be brief or if he plans to stick around through the NBA Finals.
- Greek club Aris Thessaloniki has announced the signing of former NBA guard Mario Chalmers (hat tip to Sportando). A former two-time champion with Miami, Chalmers spent last season in Athens, but continues to hold out hope of making an NBA comeback.
- Adem Bona, a 17-year-old Nigerian/Turkish big man, will spend the next two seasons stateside at Prolific Prep in California, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN, who refers to Bona as one of Europe’s “most promising” prospects (Twitter links). He’ll become draft-eligible in 2023, Givony adds.
- Agent Chris Patrick and The Sports Law Group have ended their representation of former NBA guard Ty Lawson following his ban from the Chinese Basketball Association, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Lawson last played in the NBA during the 2018 postseason with Washington.
Ty Lawson did nothing wrong!
True. They do got cakes on the low.
I totally disagree. Not about Lawson doing anything wrong, but with the whole cakes on the low thing. They just don’t. If you want we can argue about this all day.
Trust me… he WILL argue with you about it… ALL DAY.
Curtis you need to get out a little more often. Explore a little.
I am messing around. As always,. You guys are so easy.
You guys don’t want to talk to Treveon about cakes? Pssh.
I googled “cakes on the low” and found differences of opinion about what it means. This site was wrong a couple of ways:
link to celebritiesbuzz.com.gh
It’s not a great site so it can be skipped except it’s accidently funny. But “cakes” probably doesn’t mean butt; means worse; or at least their gov’t thinks so.
“Takes the cake”. “Low repute”. A stripper is shown, but not her butt. She is proud of her avarice.
Nah man. link to urbandictionary.com
That was the easy part, cakes=butts probably big. Now say how they’re on the low. That means keeping it quiet or discreet, last I heard. Did he just now discover prostitution exists?— he’s been there awhile. Chinese legs short? Whatever. Lockerroom talk.
Yeah that’s what I know. Cakes = butt and on the low = secret. Didn’t have to look that up. I guess what you missed is the word on the street is Asians got no booty so when Ty Lawson found some booty in China he’s like, wow they got cakes on the low. LOL.
I’m surprised the gov’t there is mad about that getting out. One could be skeptical of the ‘cakes’, too, if it’s just in the club, as it’s an easy surgery lol!
You had to Google it? Lol.
Gary is very worldly.
The older that you get the more worldly you get LOL.
We are both Sox fans, sorry I came at ya.
I didn’t take it in a bad way… this is all in good fun. But just like texting sometimes my stuff doesn’t translate well without the face to face. Go Sox 2021 !!
Really . A good imagination should work.
Why a men’s club needs pictures today. Is beyond my understanding. Why this juvenile thinking. Is more important than being a professional athlete. Is just embarrassing. I’ve seen better stuff on SI swimsuit issues. And that’s soft stuff.
I do believe and I have said since the 2019 draft. Zion’s weight will be an issue. He needs to stay under 265lbs. His style of play. He will not last. The man was up close to 300 lbs during bubble. It’s a bad sign that NO is not on this. I would have this in his contract. And he’d have a different diet and personal chef. If he worked for me. Mark my words.
He can always go to the G-League, where he belongs.
In a socialist country the govt decides what’s right and what’s wrong, not the people.
As far as the argument, it’s just like anything in life, especially when it comes to different races of people. Some do, and some don’t. End of story. The problem is when we group everybody together in one box. Huge mistake. Ty Lawson found that out LOL.
Haha. Yes, I need to get out more. Thank you for explaining socialism and how it relates to cakes.
Two different posts. You probably do this on your phone so you can’t tell what reply is to what post..
You Curtis need to get out more if you don’t realize plenty of cakes out there amongst ALL girls. Just a joke and comment going with the flow.
Socialism post was to rxbrgr who said Lawson did nothing wrong. The government decides that.
Cool ?
Cool man.
Easy choice to pick Luka as the top young stud to build your franchise around, right?
He was angry vs Clippers… not sure that’s his norm… but I liked it… very different from the Euro expectation.