- The Grizzlies own the fourth overall pick in this month’s draft. Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal looks at four possible ways Memphis could utilize that fourth pick, noting that trading it seems unlikely.
- The Grizzlies need to guess right with this year’s No. 4 pick to help make up for past draft mistakes, claims Peter Edmiston of the Commercial Appeal. Memphis has just two of its first-rounders still on the roster, Mike Conley from 2007 and Jarell Martin from 2015. The Grizzlies have helped themselves by getting players such as Dillon Brooks, Ivan Rabb, Andrew Harrison, Deyonta Davis and Wayne Selden in the second round, but they need a first-round star to help build their future.
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.
Canada Basketball has announced its preliminary 18-man roster of players who have been invited to participate in training camp and exhibition play ahead of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers next month, reports Josh Lewenberg of The Sports Network.
Among the 18 named individuals, eight played in the NBA last season – Khem Birch (Magic), Chris Boucher (Warriors), Dillon Brooks (Grizzlies), Cory Joseph (Pacers), Jamal Murray (Nuggets), Kelly Olynyk (Heat), Dwight Powell (Mavericks), and Tristan Thompson (Cavaliers).
The preliminary roster also includes former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett, as well as three other G League players – Aaron Best, Olivier Hanlan, and Kaza Kajami-Keane.
The remaining six players are former first-round pick of the Magic, Andrew Nicholson, former college standouts’ Iowa State’s Melvin Ejim, Baylor’s Brady Heslip, and Gonzaga’s Kevin Pangos, as well as brothers Phil Scrubb and Tommy Scrubb.
As also highlighted by Lewenberg, notable absences include Trey Lyles (Nuggets), Nik Stauskas (Nets), and most glaringly, Andrew Wiggins (Timberwolves). Per Lewenberg, multiple sources indicated that one factor in Wiggins’ decision to decline Canada Basketball’s invitation is his strained relationship with national team head coach Jay Triano, who left Wiggins on the bench during the final moments of a qualifying game for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Oklahoma guard Trae Young has elected to grant the Knicks a private workout, a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post. Young, who intends to work out for “a handful” of clubs, is still figuring out his schedule, so the date of the workout remains unclear, per Berman.
Young, widely viewed as a top-eight prospect, isn’t expected to be on the board when the Knicks pick at No. 9. Even if he’s available, he may not be the first choice for a New York club with multiple point guards already on the roster and a more glaring need on the wing. Still, Young is very much on the Knicks’ radar due to his high upside, sources tell Berman.
According to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link), the Suns, Kings, Hawks, Grizzlies, Knicks, and Sixers have already “passed through” Oklahoma to talk to staff and faculty about Young. The Cavaliers have also been in touch with the program about Young, Zagoria adds.
In Jonathan Givony’s latest mock draft for ESPN.com, he has Young coming off the board at No. 6 to Orlando, writing that the 19-year-old is a “highly skilled scorer and passer with unlimited range on his jump shot and tremendous instincts in the pick-and-roll.”
For the first time since 2015, the Celtics won’t have a top-five pick in the draft this year. However, it sounds like they may still have their eye on a top-five prospect.
According to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, sources say that Boston has expressed interest in Texas big man Mohamed Bamba, including interviewing him at the draft combine in Chicago earlier this month. The Celtics’ first-round pick is at No. 27, and Bamba is expected to come off the board within the first six or seven picks on draft night, so in order to have a shot at the young center, the C’s would need to move way up.
While a trade doesn’t seem particularly likely, Deveney has previously reported that the Grizzlies are open to making a move with the No. 4 pick, and suggests today that the Mavericks may be willing to discuss the No. 5 selection. Additionally, Boston has no shortage of potential trade chips. The team could own up to four first-round picks in 2019, including the Kings’ selection (if it doesn’t end up first overall). Plus, given the Celtics’ backcourt and wing depth, players like Terry Rozier or Jaylen Brown could become trade candidates for the right return.
The Celtics made a big draft trade last year when they sent the No. 1 pick to Philadelphia, but going from No. 27 into the top five would be an even more drastic move. As we wait to see if Boston seriously explores that possibility, let’s round up a few more Celtics notes…
- While Celtics CEO Wyc Grousbeck didn’t want to discuss specific dollar figures, he told Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald that ownership will have no qualms about spending to keep Boston’s roster together and pursue championships. “We put winning ahead of everything else,” Grousbeck said. “Every now and then you’ve got to make room and play the kids and get a Gordon Hayward in free agency, and other times you just try to keep a core together and build onto it. And we’re in the latter stage right now in trying to keep this group together and build onto it as best we can.”
- More from Grousbeck, via Bulpett: “We can’t keep everybody if we’re going to keep adding (because of roster size limitations), but everybody who’s watched this team for 15 years knows what we’re about. … We live for banners. We live for rings. That’s what we live for.”
- In a look at the Celtics’ potential roster and rotation for 2018/19, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe notes that Marcus Morris seems aware that a healthy lineup could create a minutes crunch for the team. “There’s going to be a lot of players next year, so I’m not 100% sure where I fit totally yet,” Morris said. “It’s just something I’m still kind of wary about.”
- Within that same story, Himmelsbach says it’s “quite unlikely” that the Celtics will have interest in re-signing Greg Monroe this summer.
- Georgia Tech prospect Josh Okogie suffered a grade 1 right adductor strain during a workout with the Grizzlies last Wednesday, his agent tells ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter link). The injury, which was diagnosed by the Spurs on Thursday, brought Okogie’s workout schedule to a temporary halt — he’ll be re-evaluated tomorrow.
The Grizzlies’ draft preparations won’t be interrupted by the departure of executive VP of basketball operations Ed Stefanski, according to Michael Wallace of the team’s website. Stefanski accepted a front-office position with the Pistons on Thursday.
“Our draft process moves forward at this time,” Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace told Michael Wallace. “In due time, we’ll get to if we’re going to do something else in our front office. But our draft (process) rolls on. And we know who (Stefanski) likes already.”
The Grizzlies didn’t get lucky in the lottery but still have the No. 4 overall pick, as well as the No. 32 pick in the second round.
With the Grizzlies projected to be a middle-of-the-pack team heading into the 2017/18 season, I wrote last September that there was little chance of the club bottoming out entirely as long as Mike Conley and Marc Gasol stayed healthy. But Conley didn’t stay healthy, appearing in just 12 games. And sure enough, the Grizzlies bottomed out without him, firing head coach David Fizdale and finishing with a 22-60 record, the NBA’s second-worst mark.
Conley and Gasol can still be a very productive duo, but they’re both getting older and health will remain a concern going forward. Of course, it goes without saying that the same caveat applies to the team’s other maximum-salary player, Chandler Parsons, who has appeared in just 70 games since signing with the Grizzlies two years ago.
Armed with a top-five pick and a few standout veterans, the Grizzlies could bounce back in 2018/19 if they have better health luck, but given the ages and injuries histories of their core players, it may be unrealistic to bank on that.
Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:
1. Is this the start of a rebuild or a blip on the radar?
The most favorable way to frame the Grizzlies’ 2017/18 season is to compare it what happened to the Spurs in 1996/97. After seven straight playoff appearances, San Antonio lost David Robinson for the season, went 20-62, nabbed Tim Duncan with the No. 1 pick in the draft, and immediately returned to title contention with Duncan and a healthy Robinson the following season. The Spurs won the NBA Finals two years later, and haven’t missed the postseason since.
Like those Spurs, the Grizzlies had earned seven consecutive playoff appearances prior to last season’s disaster. And with Conley on the way back, Memphis doesn’t view itself as a rebuilding club. The Grizzlies probably won’t follow in the Spurs’ footsteps by winning a title anytime soon, but they figure to focus on getting back into the playoffs immediately, which means we shouldn’t expect the team to sell off pieces this summer.
2. Will the Marc Gasol trade rumors start up again?
If the Grizzlies expect to rebound rather than rebuild, any Gasol trade rumors that surface in the coming months figure to be shot down just like the ones during the season were. Still, this is an issue that could extend into the regular season if Memphis doesn’t get off to a good start.
Gasol’s contract calls for a $24MM+ salary in 2018/19, with a $25.5MM+ player option for 2019/20. That’s a high price tag, but it’s one that plenty of teams would be interested in taking on. The Heat, for instance, would likely jump at the chance to swap their similarly-priced center, Hassan Whiteside, for Gasol.
The Grizzlies don’t have a ton of appealing trade assets under team control, so if they do decide to take a step back and rework their roster at some point within the next year or so, shopping Gasol may represent their best chance to pick up young players or picks. His status will be worth watching.
While he has long been considered a strong candidate to be the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, Luka Doncic no longer appears to be a lock to even be a top-three selection, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link). While it’s hard to know what to believe at this time of year, Givony explains to Kevin Pelton that the Kings, Hawks, and Grizzlies didn’t send anyone to watch the EuroLeague Final Four in person last week, and several NBA evaluators seem to have cooled on Doncic.
Givony believes those evaluators are overthinking matters, but admits “the skepticism is a lot more prevalent than expected.” As ESPN’s draft guru explains, some people around the league have concerns about Doncic’s athleticism – or lack thereof – and his ability to keep improving. However, Givony points to Doncic’s incredible workload over the last 18 months, along with European teams’ relative inattention to players’ diets and conditioning, as reasons why the young star may have not looked quite as impressive in recent months as he did last fall. On an NBA schedule, working with NBA coaches, those issues could be addressed.
Ultimately, Givony and Pelton both believe that Doncic is worthy of the No. 1 pick, with Givony writing that the 19-year-old is “too productive, too skilled, too smart and too good a fit in the modern game to pass up.” However, it remains to be seen how many teams at the top of the draft will agree with that assessment.
Here’s more on the 2018 NBA draft:
- UNC forward Luke Maye has decided to return to the Tar Heels for his senior year after testing the draft waters, he announced today on Instagram. Maye, who earned a spot on the All-ACC First Team and was named the conference’s Most Improved Player, averaged a double-double (16.9 PPG, 10.1 RPG) in 2017/18.
- Texas guard Kerwin Roach II has withdrawn his name from the 2018 draft and will head back to the Longhorns for his senior year, the school announced in a press release. “I’m hungry for the opportunity to make a career in the NBA, but I realize I have to improve in so many areas on the court,” Roach said in a statement. “I’m also on pace to earn my degree, and that is a big deal for me and my family.”
- After testing the draft waters without an agent, West Virginia forward Sagaba Konate will head back to school for his junior year, he confirms to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman (Twitter link).
- Sean Deveney of The Sporting News and the staff at Basketball Insiders are among those who have released new mock drafts this week.