The NBA’s deadline for early entrants to withdraw from this year’s draft has now passed, which means it should just be a matter of time before we get an updated official list from the league of the early entrants who have kept their names in this year’s pool.
In the meantime, updates on a handful of international prospects continue to trickle in. According to Nicola Lupo of Sportando, Estonian forward Henri Drell – who is currently playing for Pesaro in Italy – has withdrawn his name from the 2020 draft.
On the other hand, Isralie point guard Yam Madar, a member of Hapoel Tel Aviv, has elected to keep his name in the draft, per Barak Haklai of ynetsport (Twitter link). And after initially announcing that his client Marko Simonovic would be pulling out of the draft, agent Misko Raznatovic has clarified (via Twitter) that Simonovic will remain in the draft after all.
Here’s more on the 2020 NBA draft:
- An NBA general manager who spoke to Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link) this morning said he doesn’t envy the Timberwolves and their efforts to maximize the value of the No. 1 pick. “The teams at the top are desperate to try and trade down, but there just isn’t much value with the top few picks this year,” the GM said.
- Within a piece on Kira Lewis Jr., Mike Mazzeo of Forbes says the Timberwolves and Suns are among the teams that have watched the Alabama guard work out in person. Lewis also worked out in person for Detroit, Chicago, New York, and Orlando, as previously reported.
- Few prospects have increased their stock in recent months as substantially as Stanford’s Tyrell Terry, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, who notes within a profile of Terry that the 20-year-old has interviewed virtually with all 30 NBA teams.
- In an Insider-only article, Kevin Pelton of ESPN uses advanced stats to break down this year’s prospects into tiers. Pelton has LaMelo Ball on his own in tier one, followed by Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton in tier two, with Deni Avdija, Onyeka Okongwu, and James Wiseman in tier three.
Kevin Pelton has obviously been purchased by Big Baller Brand smh
That can’t possibly be the right link for Simonovic haha it links to a guy born in 1986 which I’m pretty sure would not be a draft eligible player!
Hah, good catch. There are two Serbian players with that name — one born in 1986 and one in 1999 (the latter doesn’t have a Bask-Ref profile as far as I can tell).
I know it’s a longshot… but if the value of those top picks is so low and teams are having such a hard time getting value trading them… could there possibly be a scenario where the Celtics could add enough value to their current 3 1st round picks to get James Wiseman? I think he would be an absolute perfect fit for the club unfortunately the way things played out their highest pick is #14 – – could have been much higher had the trading team not all of a sudden had a breakout year — all prior seasons to this the pick didn’t even convey because it was top 8 (or so) protected. Then the year it finally does convey they breakout and knock the pick all the way back to 14. Unfortunately I just don’t think they have anyone valuable enough to add to those 3 picks to get high enough in the draft to take Wiseman (not to mention there is a legitimate chance he goes in the top 3, in which case they obviously don’t stand a chance) — but if by some “miracle” he falls — I think the Celtics should do all they can to attempt to trade up for him.
You can do 3 way trade by offering Hayward and 3 picks for Wiggins and 2nd pick
3rd team absolutely need to involve
If heyward opts in I actually don’t think you would need a third team, if it’s a straight Wiggins for heyward swap the money works, and who knows Wiggins may break out behind brown and Tatum as the 3 between the two…. if the warriors like heywards fit then who knows this could actually happen…. Celtics take wiseman with 2(granted he doesn’t go one for some reason such as ANOTHER trade lol) and get Wiggins who could thrive as the 2nd or 3rd option every night with Tatum being your 1 and then whoever’s on be it Brown, Wiggins, or kemba…. the warriors get there 3 who would fit nicely with the splash bro’s, and get to fill out there bench with the 3 firsts for the next few years on the cheap
If Twolves take Ball at #1 I will be surprised. Would love to see the article, but 5.99 a month for that is not for me.
EXCITING! :))))
Lord can the draft happen already? It should have occurred last week at the latest.
Madar would be a really good fit for the Spurs at 41, although they do have multiple young guards. He would fit other teams as well, but I think its time for them to move on from Patty Mills
Move on from a third-stringer?— with good numbers?
It should be painless to trade up because everyone wants to trade down. Not every draft is the same. The Cavs GM wanted to trade down from #1 pick in 2013 but said he got no offers due to no #1-worthy talent available, and the cost of the slot’s salary. So he just went with Anthony Bennett. Got fired shortly after.
Storytime over!