- Kansas prospect Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is also auditioning for a Pacific team today, with the Lakers announcing in a press release that he’s one of six players working out for the club. The other five are Khadeen Carrington (Seton Hall), Gyorgy Goloman (UCLA), William Lee (UAB), William McDowell-White (Australia), and Anfernee Simons (IMG Academy).
The Warriors have already been set as the favorites to win the 2018/19 title, relays Ben Fawkes of ESPN, but there’s a huge variable that hangs over the equation. The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook gives Golden State 5-4 odds to capture the championship, followed at 7-2 by the Rockets and Sixers, two teams believed to be in the running to sign LeBron James.
“When you have LeBron in free agency, you have to be careful,” oddsmaker John Murray said. “You’ve got Philadelphia, Miami, the Lakers and even Houston as potential destinations [outside of Cleveland]. We cut all of those teams’ odds down, and we’ll raise back up the teams he doesn’t sign with.”
Murray adds that the Rockets would take over as favorites if they are able to add James and keep Chris Paul and Clint Capela. The Celtics, who come in at 8-1, will be favored to win the East if James leaves Cleveland and goes anywhere but Philadelphia. The Lakers and Heat are tied for fifth place at 20-1, followed by the Spurs at 25-1 and the Cavaliers at 30-1.
There’s more basketball-related news to pass along:
- Former lottery pick Jimmer Fredette hopes to use The Basketball Tournament this summer to get another shot at the NBA, writes Myron Medcalf of ESPN. The 10th selection in the 2011 draft, Fredette played for four teams in five years before heading overseas. “I would always love to get another chance in the NBA,” Fredette said. “I’ve gotten better in China and improved every year. … You hope somebody takes notice.” He has another year remaining on his Chinese Basketball Association contract.
- J.R. Hensley, a prominent NBA agent, has been placed on 18 months’ probation, tweets Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal. The action came because Hensley refused to fully cooperate in an investigation of potential violations, according to a press release from the NBPA.
- The USA Men’s Under 18 National Team made its first round of cuts this morning, trimming the squad from 33 players to 18. Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog has the complete list of players who advanced.
Villanova’s Mikal Bridges had his conditioning tested during his first pre-draft workout today in Charlotte, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Bridges and St. Joseph’s James Demery were the only players at the hour-long session, which featured full-court sprints mixed with long-range shooting toward the end of the process.
“They pushed us,” Bridges said. “I’m really well conditioned and they [wanted to see me] shoot the ball while I’m tired. [It was about] showing them everything, like some ballhandling that they didn’t see” when he was in college.
Projected as a lottery pick, Bridges may still be available when the Hornets select at No. 11. However, Bonnell notes that the Cavaliers, Knicks and Sixers — the three teams directly in front of Charlotte — could all have interest.
There’s more draft-related news to pass along:
- The Hornets have six more players coming in tomorrow, highlighted by potential lottery pick Lonnie Walker of Miami, Bonnell tweets. Dayton’s Kostas Antetokounmpo, whose brother is a star with the Bucks, will also be on hand.
- Antetokounmpo will be in Memphis on Monday for a six-player workout, the Grizzlies announced in an e-mail. Joining him will be Missouri’s Jordan Barnett, Temple’s Obi Enechionyia, Virginia’s Devon Hall, Kansas’ Malik Newman and North Carolina’s Theo Pinson.
- The Trail Blazers focused on 3-and-D players in today’s workout, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Villanova’s Donte DiVincenzo, Miami’s Bruce Brown and Cincinnati’s Jacob Evans all fit that description, which appears to be what the Blazers want with the 24th pick. “I can guard multiple positions and it’s kind of a role where the responsibility isn’t so great,” DiVincenzo said. “The responsibility is you have two things to really do, really focus on, and be great at. And when you can do that, it just opens up time on the floor.”
- The Trail Blazers also held a workout on Friday, relays Casey Holdahl of NBA.com, with UCLA’s Aaron Holiday, Villanova’s Jalen Brunson, Duke’s Gary Trent Jr., Tulane’s Melvin Frazier, Ohio State’s Keita Bates-Diop and Louisville’s Raymond Spalding attending.
- The Lakers will bring in six players for a Sunday workout, the team announced on Twitter. Scheduled to attend are Michigan’s Moritz Wagner, Missouri State’s Alize Johnson, Connecticut’s Terry Larrier, Rhode Island’s Jared Terrell, Western Michigan’s Thomas Wilder and TCU’s Kenrich Williams.
- The Nuggets have a pair of sessions set for early next week, the team announced through e-mail. Coming in Monday will be Bates-Diop, along with Creighton’s Marcus Foster, Colorado’s George King, USC’s Chimezie Metu and Oakland’s Kendrick Nunn. Scheduled for Tuesday are Holiday and Williams, as well as Notre Dame’s Matt Farrell, Penn State’s Tony Carr and Elie Okobo of France.
- Micah Seaborn of Monmouth, one of the late deciders at Wednesday’s withdrawal deadline, elected to remain in the draft, according to Josh Newman of USA Today.
The Lakers hosted LiAngelo Ball, the younger brother of their point guard, Lonzo Ball, for a pre-draft workout earlier this week. However, it appears that the Lakers’ association with the younger Ball will not go beyond the workout, Marc Stein of the New York Times reports.
Stein noted that there is “pessimism in the extreme” that the Lakers have any interest in LiAngelo, whether it be as an NBA or G League player. Before his workout with the Lakers, LiAngelo indicated that signing with the team and playing with his brother was his main focus.
“The Lakers are my priority, for sure,” LiAngelo said during a recent appearance on the Marcellus and Travis show on ESPNLA radio. “I want to play with my brother. Ever since I played with Zo, we went undefeated. When we get older, we will get stronger, faster and a better feel for the game. I’m willing to play for other teams, but my priority is to play with my brother.”
LiAngelo returned to the United States recently after completing his first professional season overseas with Vytautas Prienu of the Lithuanian league. He averaged 12.6 PPG during his stint. The brothers’ outspoken father, LaVar Ball, had said his goal was to have all three of his sons play together for the Lakers. At this time, that appears unlikely at best.
With the deadline passing for underclassmen to withdraw from the NBA draft, pre-draft workouts are taking on a new level of importance. Here are a few notes to pass on as the draft looms 20 days from now:
- Villanova’s Mikal Bridges and North Carolina’s Theo Pinson will work out for the Hornets on Saturday, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
- Notre Dame guard Matt Farrell has sessions scheduled Monday with the Lakers and Wednesday with the Nuggets, according to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog (Twitter link).
- Marquette’s Andrew Rowsey has workouts upcoming with the Raptors, Mavericks, Lakers and Kings, tweets Gery Woelfel of WoelfelsPressBox.
- The Kings are welcoming six players for a session today, relays Sean Cunningham of ABC10 in Sacramento (Twitter link). On hand will be Creighton’s Marcus Foster, West Virginia’s Daxter Miles, SMU’s Ben Emelogu and Seton Hall’s Desi Rodriguez, along with Missouri’s Alize Johnson and Jordan Barnett.
- The Jazz have a workout set for today with Oregon’s Troy Brown, West Virginia’s Jevon Carter, Georgia’s Yante Maten, Michigan’s Moritz Wagner and Kansas’ Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Malik Newman, the team announced on Twitter.
- Newman was in Phoenix for a workout on Thursday, the Suns tweeted. He was joined by Ohio State’s Keita Bates-Diop, Virginia’s Devon Hall, Colorado’s George King, Xavier’s J.P. Macura and USC’s Chimezie Metu.
Forward Jalen McDaniels will return to San Diego State for his sophomore season, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN. McDaniels is part of a crop of late decision makers who waited until shortly before tonight’s deadline of 11:59pm Eastern to announce whether they are staying in the draft.
“After thoughtful consideration with my family and coaching staff, I have decided to return to San Diego State for my sophomore year.” McDaniels posted on Twitter. “I’m looking forward to furthering my education and returning to the NCAA Tournament. Go Aztecs!”
McDaniels averaged 10.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in his first year at San Diego State. He held workouts with Cavaliers, Clippers, Timberwolves, Jazz, Warriors, Celtics, Nets, Hawks, Bucks, Spurs and Bulls, according to Mark Zeigler of The San Diego Union-Tribune.
In another significant last-minute decision, Nevada stars Cody Martin and Caleb Martin will both return to school, tweets Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports. Cody is ranked 90th and Caleb is 91st in the list of top 100 prospects compiled by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, but Jeff Goodman of ESPN suggests the Wolf Pack could be a top 10 team next season with both staying (Twitter link).
There’s also news to pass along on pre-draft workouts:
- The Lakers have a session set for Thursday with Kansas’ Devonte’ Graham and Billy Preston, Wichita State’s Landry Shamet, Penn State’s Tony Carr, Georgia Tech’s Josh Okogie and Gonzaga’s Johnathan Williams, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
- The Kings will hold a workout Thursday for SMU’s Shake Milton, Arizona’s Allonzo Trier, Vanderbilt’s Jeff Roberson, Rhode Island’s E.C. Matthews, Cincinnati’s Gary Clark and Missouri’s Jordan Barnett.
- On Tuesday, the Suns brought in Temple’s Obi Enechionyia, Cincinnati’s Jacob Evans, Arizona State’s Shannon Evans and Kodi Justice, Wyoming’s Alan Herndon and Australia player William McDowell-White.
- Donte Ingram of Loyola Chicago had “solid” workouts with the Bulls and Bucks last week, according to Gery Woelfel of WoelfelsPressBox (Twitter link). The Bucks also brought in UCLA’s Thomas Welsh.
- Texas center Mo Bamba will work out Friday for the Bulls, tweets Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago.
St. John’s Shamorie Ponds has decided to withdraw his name from the draft prior to Wednesday’s deadline, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets.
The Lakers, Nets, Cavaliers, Jazz and Nuggets were among the teams that worked out the 6’1” guard this month. However, the odds were stacked against him when he didn’t receive an invite to the draft combine.
The sophomore guard put up a 21.6/5.0/4.7 line for the Red Storm this past season. He was ranked No. 61 among ESPN Jonathan Givony’s Top 100 prospects.
Free agent point guard Isaiah Thomas would be a good fit for the Heat but they probably don’t have the salary-cap space to sign him, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel speculates. Thomas’ ability to score in bunches would boost a team prone to scoring droughts, Winderman continues. But it’s doubtful that a former All-Star coming off an injury-marred season would take a short-term deal, Winderman notes, as the Lakers guard is more likely to pursue what could be his last significant contract.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- The Hornets will hire Ronald Nored as an assistant coach on James Borrego‘s staff, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Nored served as the Nets’ G-League head coach this past season.
- Pat Riley‘s silence over the Hassan Whiteside situation in recent weeks suggests a trade is more likely than reconciliation, Winderman opines in another blog. Though Winderman believes Whiteside and coach Erik Spoelstra would like to find some middle ground, a separation appears to be in order despite the issue of Whiteside’s contract, which has two years and over $52MM remaining. Whiteside was disappointed with his reduced playing time.
- The Hawks will bring in six prospects for a workout on Tuesday, according to a team press release. That group includes Carsen Edwards (Purdue), Kyran Bowman (Boston College), Dorian Pickens (Stanford), Kerem Kanter (Xavier), Tremont Waters (LSU) and Kenrich Williams (TCU).
The Jazz worked out Shake Milton (SMU), Angel Delgado (Seton Hall), Theo Pinson (North Carolina), Omari Spellman (Villanova), Thomas Wilder (Western Michigan) and Elijah Stewart (USC) on Monday, according to team’s Twitter feed. Milton, a borderline first-round guard prospect ranked No. 34 by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, headlined that group.
The Jazz will host six more prospects on Tuesday — Kameron Chatman (Detroit), Sedrick Barefield (Utah), Kenneth Ogbe (Utah Valley), Dayon Goodman (Westminster), Tyler Rawson (Utah) and Ryan Richardson (Weber State) (Twitter links).
We have more draft workout news:
- Wichita State’s Landry Shamet worked out for the Warriors on Sunday, Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com tweets. The point guard is ranked No. 42 by Givony.
- Syracuse swingman Tyus Battle, rated No. 32 by Givony, worked out for the Knicks on Friday, Zagoria reports in another tweet. Small forward Brian Bowen, who was ineligible to play college ball last season, worked out for New York the same day and the Lakers on Sunday.
- The Suns brought in UCLA’s Aaron Holiday and Anfernee Simons, who spent a post-grad year at IMG Academy, and four other prospects on Monday, the team tweets. Holiday is rated No. 17 by Givony while Simons is ranked No. 21. Hamidou Diallo (Kentucky), Tony Carr (Penn State), Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (Kansas) and Bruce Brown (Miami, Fla.) joined them.
LiAngelo Ball, the younger brother of Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball, will take part in a pre-draft workout with the team on Tuesday, per ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. St. Bonaventure’s Jaylen Adams, UCLA’s Thomas Welsh, Virginia’s Devon Hall, Syracuse’s Tyus Battle and Arizona’s Dusan Ristic are also scheduled for the workout.
LiAngelo returned to the United States recently after completing his first professional season overseas with Vytautas Prienu of the Lithuanian league. He averaged 12.6 PPG during his stint. LiAngelo’s year got off to a rough start after he was arrested in China along with two other UCLA teammates on suspicion of shoplifting. Following his release, LiAngelo left the NCAA and, along with younger brother LaMelo, signed contracts with Vytautas.
“The Lakers are my priority, for sure,” LiAngelo said during a recent appearance on the Marcellus and Travis show on ESPNLA radio. “I want to play with my brother. Ever since I played with Zo, we went undefeated. When we get older, we will get stronger, faster and a better feel for the game. I’m willing to play for other teams, but my priority is to play with my brother.”
Check out more Lakers notes below:
- LaVar Ball, the patriarch of the Ball family, has never been shy to speak his mind when it comes to his sons and his latest comments are no different. During an interview with Hoops Hype’s Alex Kennedy, LaVar said that Lonzo’s health was compromised due to the Lakers’ training tactics. “My expectation for Lonzo is for him to be twice as good as he was this year, and to be more healthy,” he said. “He understands, he went through it. If you’re going to be doing those [workouts with] rubber-bands like that dude Gunnar has him doing, that [is] bulls–t training. That’s what I call it. S–t, he wasn’t like that when I brought him over there. When he first came [to the Lakers], he never got hurt. He was never hurt.”
- Duke’s Grayson Allen, one of the more controversial players in this year’s NBA Draft, has shown on-court potential but his composure and attitude have long been questioned. Allen worked out for the Lakers on Friday and Bill Oram of the Orange County Register examined a potential fit between L.A. and the sharpshooting Blue Devil.
- In addition to Allen, here is the latest list of players to have participated in pre-draft workouts for the Lakers.