- Nets GM Sean Marks has a history of making aggressive moves either leading up to the draft or on draft night, Brian Lewis of the New York Post notes. Brooklyn has back-to-back picks in the first round at No. 21 and 22. If Marks decides to keep them, South Carolina freshman G.G. Jackson, G League Ignite’s Leonard Miller and Frenchman Bilal Coulibaly could be among the players who will get serious consideration.
Timberwolves All-Star guard Anthony Edwards and Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton are among the players who have committed to Team USA this summer, Joe Vardon and Shams Charania of The Athletic report. Team USA will compete for the FIBA World Cup in the Philippines.
Lakers shooting guard and restricted free agent Austin Reaves, Nets forward Mikal Bridges and Bucks forward Bobby Portis have also made commitments.
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson has pledged to play for Team USA as well, according to Marc Stein (Twitter link).
The 12-man roster is still being assembled by USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill and no roster additions have been formally announced yet.
Edwards, who averaged 24.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists this season, was a member of the USA Select Team for the Tokyo Olympics. Team USA has begun to prioritize bigger guards who can hold their own defensively and shoot well from the perimeter in international competitions, according to The Athletic duo. Edwards and Reaves fit that mold.
Team USA begins training camp Aug. 3 in Las Vegas, plays its first exhibition game Aug. 7 against Puerto Rico and will also make stops in Spain and the United Arab Emirates before its World Cup opener Aug. 26 against New Zealand.
The Suns didn’t fill their coaching vacancy until after the Sixers hired Nick Nurse, but sources tell Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic that Frank Vogel was the first choice in Phoenix all along. Nurse had an interview with the Suns and was among five finalists for the job, along with Vogel, Suns associate head coach Kevin Young, Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez and former Philadelphia head coach Doc Rivers.
After dismissing Monty Williams following a second-round playoff ouster, Phoenix was interested in finding someone with championship experience, according to Rankin, which is why Vogel, Nurse and Rivers were all contacted. Vogel benefited from his reputation as a strong defensive coach, as the Suns are determined to improve on that end of the court. The final five candidates met with team owner Mat Ishbia and president of basketball operations and general manager James Jones, Rankin adds.
Vogel became the frontrunner for the job after an impressive interview, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. Reports that Devin Booker pushed for Young to get the head coaching job are “overexaggerated,” Gambadoro adds (Twitter link). Young opted to remain with the team as an assistant coach. Gambadoro also disputes a report that Phoenix offered the job to Nurse (Twitter link).
There’s more coaching news to pass along:
- Three members of Ime Udoka‘s coaching staff with the Celtics will join him in Houston, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. The Rockets are hiring Ben Sullivan, Mike Moser and Garrett Jackson, and Scotto states that they’re considering Boston assistant Aaron Miles, who has also received interest from other teams. Scotto adds that teams have also reached out to Celtics assistant Jarrell Christian, as head coach Joe Mazzulla is expected to rebuild his staff this summer.
- Ronnie Burrell, who was named G League Coach of the Year with the Long Island Nets, will join Jacque Vaughn’s coaching staff in Brooklyn, Scotto tweets. Burrell has been with the G League team since 2019.
- Former Pacers player Shayne Whittington has joined Indiana’s coaching staff, tweets Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files.
With Scoot Henderson ranked second or third in nearly every mock draft, the G League Ignite star only plans two workouts during the pre-draft process, tweets Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report.
Henderson was in Portland on Saturday to show off the skills that have made him one of the most talked-about prospects in this year’s class. The Trail Blazers hold the third pick and appear to be the most likely destination for Henderson if speculation about Brandon Miller going to Charlotte at No. 2 is correct. There’s been plenty of conjecture that Portland may trade the pick for veteran help, but some sources believe the team would be comfortable adding another young player.
Henderson hasn’t scheduled a session with the Hornets yet, but he told Casey Holdahl of NBA.com that he expects to work out for them at some point before the June 22 draft. He also talked about what he’ll bring to the team that selects him.
“You always want a guy like me, that dog mentality,” Henderson said. “Just my personality, the culture I bring to the locker room. I’m a great leader, I’ll tell what’s up and I can do everything on the floor. I can do everything on the floor. I’m going to go out there and give my 110 percent every day. And that’s the thing about me: I’m very consistent in effort. Even if it’s not there, I just try to even it out the next game, try to get right to it. Give it a 120 if I didn’t give it 110 the last game.”
There’s more draft news to pass along:
- Belmont’s Ben Sheppard is quickly moving up draft boards, tweets Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. Wasserman cites a “boom of interest” in the senior guard after his performance at the draft combine. Sheppard has already worked out for the Hawks and Jazz, according to Wasserman, and he has upcoming sessions with the Pelicans and Warriors.
- The Wizards hosted Kansas State guard Markquis Nowell, one of the stars of the NCAA Tournament, at a six-player workout on Saturday, tweets Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Joining him were Providence’s Ed Croswell, Marshall’s Taevion Kinsey, South Alabama’s Isaiah Moore, LSU’s K.J. Williams and George Washington’s Brendan Adams, who was a late replacement for Missouri’s D’Moi Hodge (Twitter link).
- North Carolina’s Leaky Black, Texas’ Marcus Carr, Houston’s Marcus Sasser, Notre Dame’s Nate Laszewski, Iowa State’s Osun Osunniyi and Clemson’s Hunter Tyson worked out for the Hornets on Saturday (Twitter link).
- Recent Magic workouts included Wichita State’s Craig Porter Jr. (Twitter link) and Virginia’s Armaan Franklin (Twitter link).
- The Warriors have scheduled a pre-draft workout for Monday featuring Duke’s Dereck Lively II, Kansas’ Jalen Wilson, Florida’s Colin Castleton, Kansas State’s Keyontae Johnson and Creighton’s Arthur Kaluma, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Former Hornets head coach James Borrego will join the Pelicans as associate head coach under Willie Green, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Borrego and Green have worked together before, notes Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link). Borrego was an assistant in New Orleans when Green played there in 2010/11, and he served as an assistant in Orlando during Green’s final season as an NBA player in 2014/15.
The 45-year-old Borrego was reportedly one of the leading contenders for the Rockets’ head coaching vacancy and was among the candidates the Bucks considered to replace Mike Budenholzer. He drew a lot of interest as an assistant coach as well, with Houston, Milwaukee, Brooklyn and Dallas among the teams that reportedly wanted him to join their staffs.
The Pelicans also considered Kevin Ollie, one of the finalists for the Pistons’ head coaching job, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Ollie is reportedly taking an assistant role on the Nets’ staff.
Jarron Collins, another top candidate for the Detroit vacancy, will also return to Green’s staff for next season, tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.
Borrego spent four years as head coach in Charlotte before being fired in 2022. He compiled a 138-163 record with the Hornets and took the team to two play-in appearances. He also went 10-20 as interim coach of the Magic in 2015.
The Trail Blazers, who control the No. 3 overall pick, are holding a pre-draft workout Saturday with G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson, a projected top-three pick, tweets Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report.
Henderson has said in the past he thinks he’d be a good fit alongside Damian Lillard and he reiterated that again today, according to Aaron J. Fentress of The Oregonian (Twitter link).
Recent mocks have Henderson, who was a candidate for No. 1 overall at one point before Victor Wembanyama went to a different level this season, going No. 3 to Portland, with Alabama’s Brandon Miller going to Charlotte at No. 2.
Highkin recently said he thought the Blazers would trade their pick for an established star player, mentioning Jaylen Brown and Pascal Siakam.
Here are a few more 2023 NBA draft-related notes ahead of June 22:
- Michigan wing Jett Howard will work out for the Magic Saturday, per Cody Taylor of Rookie Wire (Twitter link). The Magic control the Nos. 6, 11 and 36 picks in the draft, while Howard is currently ranked No. 17 on ESPN’s big board. The son of Juwan Howard, Jett is thought to be one of the better shooters in the draft.
- Kansas State guard Markquis Nowell has workouts lined up with the Mavericks, Pacers, Suns and Clippers. He also worked out for the Jazz and Wizards the past couple days, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). The 5’8″ Nowell had a memorable performance in the NCAA tournament for the Wildcats, averaging 23.5 points, 13.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 4.0 steals on .446/.419/.920 shooting in four games (40.0 MPG) en route to the Elite Eight.
- Georgia guard Terry Roberts worked out for the Nets this week and had a previous workout with the Rockets, a league source tells Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link). Roberts had previous experience with Florida SouthWestern State College and Bradley before playing for the Bulldogs as a senior.
The Nets plan to hire Kevin Ollie as an assistant coach, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter).
Ollie was a finalist for the Pistons’ head coaching vacancy, but the team ultimately convinced former Suns coach Monty Williams to take the job. Ollie was said to be a favorite of Detroit’s general manager, Troy Weaver.
A former NBA journeyman guard who played for 11 different teams in his 13 seasons, Ollie began his coaching career after retiring as a player in 2010. He was the head coach at UConn from 2012-18 and won a national title with the Huskies in 2014 but lost his job after the NCAA opened an investigation into UConn and its coaches for recruiting violations.
More recently, Ollie was the head coach of the Overtime Elite program for two years, beginning in 2021. He issued a statement in March announcing that he was leaving that position.
Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn decided to make some changes to his staff last month, letting go of three assistants. Vaughn was named interim head coach when Brooklyn fired Steve Nash after a 2-5 start, later receiving a multiyear deal while having the interim tag removed. Ollie will be one of his new additions.
NBA executives who spoke to Alex Kennedy of Heavy.com are split on how they feel about the 2023 free agent class. While one Eastern Conference exec referred to it as “very weak,” an East general manager suggested there should be a “strong group of rotational pieces” available this offseason. That GM added that we shouldn’t necessarily expect future free agent classes to be stronger than this year’s.
“This free agent class is a reflection of what future classes could look like with the new extension rules,” he said. “There will likely be even more extensions done moving forward with the new rules, which will water down the free agent classes.”
In a separate article for Heavy.com, Kennedy ranks the top free agents of 2023, while over at The Athletic, Danny Leroux considers which free agent will receive the most guaranteed money this summer. As Leroux observes, many of this year’s best potential FAs many not sign lucrative long-term contracts due to concerns about their age and/or injury histories. That group includes James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Draymond Green, Kristaps Porzingis, and Khris Middleton.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Frank Urbina of HoopsHype takes a look at a few free-agents-to-be whose playoff performances negatively affected their stock, including Kings forward Harrison Barnes, Nets guard Seth Curry, and Lakers teammates D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley.
- His comments about Ja Morant made the most headlines, but commissioner Adam Silver also discussed multiple other topics during his press conference prior to Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday. Silver spoke in support of the increased parity the NBA has seen in recent years (link via RealGM) and referred to the ongoing issues with regional sports networks as “a problem we have to fix” (Twitter link via Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files).
- A series between the Nuggets and Heat may not have been the Finals matchup that league advertisers fantasized about, but it’s great for the NBA, contends Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. As Krawczynski writes, Denver and Miami have been the two “best, most determined and precise teams” in the playoffs and will allow the league to “embrace the game over the glitz” in the Finals.
- David Aldridge of The Athletic argues that the Nuggets‘ and Heat‘s success this spring is proof that being patient – rather than reactionary – following postseason heartbreak can pay off in the long run.
The Pacers will host Cam Whitmore for an individual workout on Thursday, according to Wheat Hotchkiss of NBA.com. The Villanova forward is part of a group of prospects that are expected to come off the board shortly after the top three of Victor Wembanyama, Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson. Indiana holds the No. 7 pick in this year’s draft.
The Pacers welcomed Johnell Davis of Florida Atlantic, Adam Flagler of Baylor, Armaan Franklin of Virginia, Nate Laszewski of Notre Dame, Leonard Miller of G League Ignite and Isaiah Wong of Miami to a pre-draft workout on Wednesday, tweets Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. Davis has since decided to pull out of the draft and return to school.
We have a few more updates on draft workouts:
- The Hornets had two six-player sessions already this week. On Tuesday, Charlotte hosted Wake Forest’s Tyree Appleby, Alabama’s Charles Bediako, Furman’s Mike Bothwell, Kentucky’s Chris Livingston, San Diego State’s Nathan Mensah and Arizona’s Courtney Ramey (Twitter link). On Wednesday, the team brought in Arizona State’s Marcus Bagley, Creighton’s Arthur Kaluma, Memphis’ Elijah McCadden, Iowa’s Filip Rebraca, UCLA’s David Singleton and Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe (Twitter link). Kaluma opted on Wednesday to remove his name from the draft pool.
- The Lakers hosted a workout Tuesday with Marcus Carr of Texas, Djordjije Jovanovic of the Ontario Clippers, Justyn Mutts of Virginia Tech, Tyger Campbell of UCLA, Anton Watson of Gonzaga and Kevin Obanor of Texas Tech, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link).
- Michigan’s Jett Howard worked out for the Rockets this week, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Howard could be on the board when Houston picks at No. 20.
- DePaul forward Javan Johnson had a session with the Nets on Wednesday, his agent told Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link).
- The Warriors brought in UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez for a workout on Tuesday, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com takes a look at what the Sixers are getting in new head coach Nick Nurse, who gained a reputation as a creative defensive strategist in Toronto. As Neubeck observes, the presence of Joel Embiid will give Nurse the sort of rim-protecting center he never really had with the Raptors, which should help alleviate the pressure on Philadelphia’s perimeter players.
Nurse also represents the Sixers’ first head coaching hire since Daryl Morey assumed control of the front office, and it’s perhaps no coincidence that Morey has a history with Nurse, having hired him as the head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Houston’s G League affiliate) in 2011. While Morey and former head coach Doc Rivers weren’t necessarily a bad fit, there may be more shared views between Morey and Nurse, Neubeck writes.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Elsewhere on the Nurse front, Rich Hofmann of The Athletic wonders if Nurse will benefit from his familiarity with the Sixers, having faced them more than any other opponent while in Toronto. Meanwhile, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports (via Twitter) that Nurse met with Embiid during the interview process, and says that meeting went well.
- This offseason could present a clear picture of how the Knicks and the rest of the NBA value Immanuel Quickley, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic, who notes that the guard will be extension-eligible and could be discussed in trade talks again after being linked to the Donovan Mitchell rumors a year ago.
- Serbian center Nikola Milutinov has officially parted with CSKA Moscow and become a free agent, according to BasketNews.com. A first-round pick in 2015, Milutinov never signed an NBA contract, but his rights are still held by the Nets, so his free agency could have NBA implications. There has been no real indication that Brooklyn intends to bring him stateside though, so the 28-year-old may simply join another team in Europe.