- The Knicks are doing their homework on Purdue’s Jaden Ivey, having used one of their allotted 20 interviews on him at last week’s draft combine, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. While Berman suggests the meeting is a sign that New York has at least explored the idea of trading up from No. 11, he acknowledges that it’s not unusual for the Knicks to do their due diligence on players projected to be drafted outside of their range, if only to gather information for the future.
Celtics starting point guard Marcus Smart, already the Defensive Player of the Year and an All-Defensive First Teamer, has added another end-of-season honor to his résumé.
The league has given Smart the 2021/22 NBA Hustle Award, per a press statement. The award is given to players who contribute to their teams in ways that transcend traditional box score statistics, including deflections, screen assists, box-outs, loose balls recovered, drawn charges, and contested shots.
Smart previously won the award for the 2018/19 NBA season. With the hardware this year, he becomes the first-ever two-time recipient of the honor, which debuted during the 2016/17 season.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- With Nets assistant coach Ama’re Stoudemire moving on and David Vanterpool and Adam Harrington also expected to join the exodus, head coach Steve Nash‘s bench could look quite different next season, writes Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Former Hornets head coach James Borrego could be a target as a seasoned assistant for next season. Lewis adds that Brooklyn may make some changes to its front office personnel as well, mentioning that consultant Steve Clifford could also be looking to depart.
- Raptors All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet may be open to signing an extension with Toronto, but his decision could ultimately be dictated by the free agent market this season, writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic in a new mailbag. Koreen also projects the Raptors’ starting lineup heading into next year, identifies the team’s biggest offseason need, and more.
- Knicks small forward RJ Barrett, who missed New York’s final game of the year with a knee sprain, appears to be recovered and ready to play for Team Canada in this summer’s World Cup qualifiers, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
If the Knicks decide to address their backcourt needs through the draft, Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis could be an attractive option with the 11th pick, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. New York had representatives at his Pro Day on Saturday and interviewed him at last week’s draft combine.
“It went really well,’’ Davis said. “It was nice to see familiar face [in coach Tom Thibodeau] and somebody who’s been part of the game for a while. It was amazing to talk to him after seeing what he’s done with a lot of teams. He’s a very recognized coach in the league. I heard from people he likes guys like [me]. So hopefully I can fit in with them and they’ll be invested in me enough to draft me.’’
Davis is a strong defender – which likely appeals to Thibodeau – and a reliable mid-range shooter, but he only connected at 30.6% from beyond the arc this season with the Badgers. Berman sees the Spurs, who hold the ninth pick, as the greatest threat to take Davis before the Knicks are on the clock.
There’s more from New York:
- The Knicks’ reported interest in Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson is legitimate, Fred Katz of The Athletic states in a mailbag column. Brunson could be the top point guard on the free agent market this summer, and his father, Rick, has strong connections with both Thibodeau and team president Leon Rose. However, Katz theorizes that the Mavs’ run to the Western Conference Finals could make them more eager to re-sign Brunson, who could command more than $20MM per year in a new contract.
- Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News sees the Knicks as one of at least eight teams with interest in Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon and examines the offers that each could make. For New York, he suggests a package of Alec Burks, Kemba Walker and a future protected first-round pick. Winfield would add Evan Fournier, Cam Reddish and another first-rounder if Indiana is also willing to part with center Myles Turner.
- RJ Barrett has reached an agreement to play for the Canadian National Team, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. It’s a three-year commitment that will run through the Summer Olympics in 2024, and it will begin with the next round of World Cup qualifiers in July.
- According to Zagoria (Twitter link), Michigan State’s Gabe Brown has workouts with the Hornets and Magic on tap this week after previously auditioning for the Celtics, Nets, and Knicks.
- Marc Berman of The New York Post explores whether Malaki Branham could be a legitimate target at No. 11 for the Knicks, who met with the Ohio State sharpshooter at last week’s combine.
Jeremy Sochan doesn’t mind being thought of as irritating, writes David Aldridge of The Athletic. The Baylor forward, who has gone from a fringe first-rounder to a likely lottery pick in a matter of months, sees aggressive, annoying defense as his ticket to success in the NBA.
“I’ve always had that little edge,” he said. “My mom, she was my first coach, and to this day, she tells me defense comes first. … She used to tell me to be cheeky, being able to see the play two steps ahead. So, I feel with that, being cheeky, maybe getting into people’s spaces, can separate their games, and they can play worse. There’s examples: Draymond (Green), Patrick (Beverley), Jrue (Holiday), so there’s so many. I feel like I can be one of those in the next step.”
Sochan was the main attraction Friday in Chicago at an eight-player workout staged by Tandem Sports + Entertainment. At least nine NBA teams had representatives at the session, according to Aldridge, including the Spurs and Knicks, who both interviewed Sochan during the Draft Combine. San Antonio holds the ninth pick and New York has No. 11, which is about the range where Sochan is expected to be taken.
“We did a little bit (of defense) at the end, with the two-on-two, the screen work, but you can’t really show too much,” Sochan said after the session ended. “I feel like they’re going to have that in mind, and when I go to team workouts, I’ll be able to show a little bit more of that. And whoever picks me, I’ll be able to show that in practices and games.”
There’s more on the draft:
- Iowa’s Keegan Murray will turn 22 before he plays his first NBA game, but he doesn’t believe his age will discourage teams from drafting him, according to James Boyd of The Indianapolis Star. “I’d say I’m a 21-year-old in an 18-year-old’s body,” Murray said. “In high school, I was a 5-foot-10 sophomore and ended up growing to 6-foot-8 my senior year of high school. So I’m a late bloomer in that sense, so for me, I’m young. I feel young. … If you’re comparing me on age and not what I do on the court, then maybe that’s another conversation. I feel like my ceiling is as high as anyone else in the draft.”
- Dyson Daniels is starting to get some consideration as a top-five pick after an outstanding pro day at the combine, tweets Jonathan Givony of ESPN. The Australian swingman, who played with G League Ignite this season, impressed scouts with his shooting and “immense potential,” according to Givony.
- North Carolina guard Kerwin Walton worked out for some teams this week, but he may decide to return to college and transfer, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Walton’s workouts included the Timberwolves and Bucks, and he has an upcoming session with the Hornets, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link).
- Baylor’s Matthew Mayer plans to take his name out of the draft and transfer to another school, per Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog. “I’ve decided that I’m coming back to college, but don’t know where,” he said.
The Knicks’ top executive, Leon Rose, needs to go all out this summer to sign free agent Jalen Brunson, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post opines. The Knicks settled for Kemba Walker last summer instead of engaging in an all-out bidding war for Fred VanVleet. The same mistake can’t be made this time around, in Vaccaro’s view, so Rose must figure out a way to clear more cap space and give Brunson a competitive offer. Vaccaro also notes Brunson’s father, Rick Brunson, was Rose’s first ever client as a player agent.
We have more on the New York teams:
- Amar’e Stoudemire clarified comments he made on ESPN shows regarding Kyrie Irving and the Nets organization in an Instagram post (hat tip to Chris Milholen of NetsDaily.com). Stoudemire told coach Steve Nash he was leaving his post as a player development coach due to his religious obligations prior to his TV appearances and has no issue with Nash or GM Sean Marks. He also said he wasn’t trying to blast Irving when he said Irving “hurt us” due to his lack of availability during the season. “You’re not going to turn me against Kyrie. You’re not going to turn me against the Nets. You’re not going to turn me against anyone. So you can forget about it,” Stoudemire said.
- The Knicks have quietly added Vince Baldwin — a longtime Nike talent scout — as a “talent evaluator,” Marc Berman of the New York Post reports. Baldwin has extensive contacts in the high school and college ranks and is close with Knicks senior executive William Wesley. The Knicks also hired Tim Hardaway Sr. as a scout without making an official announcement.
- Center prospect Kai Sotto will work out for the Knicks on Monday, Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com tweets. The 7’3” big man from the Philippines spent last season in Australia’s National Basketball League, averaging 7.5 PPG and 4.5 RPG for the Adelaide 36ers.
Australian guard/forward Dyson Daniels, who played with the G League Ignite this past season as team’s de facto point guard, is on the Knicks‘ radar with the No. 11 pick, reports Marc Berman of The New York Post. Daniels is a defensive-minded initiator who’s a strong rebounder and passer, and the Knicks have been looking for a lead guard for a long time.
“I wanted to show NBA people he was a point guard,” Ignite head coach Jason Hart told The Post during Wednesday’s workouts. “So now when he gets drafted, they can put him at another position, but I think he’s a point guard because he can guard them. And he’s a natural pass-first type guy. So I played him at point guard. That’s what he looked to me. I was a point guard. And he had the same qualities point guards have. He just happened to be 6’7″ [Daniels measured 6’7.5″ in shoes Wednesday].”
Hart added that Daniels brings intangible qualities and wisdom that belie his young age (he turned 19 in March).
“He’s a young player with a lot of wisdom and know-how,” Hart said, per Berman. “That’s why a lot of NBA teams are intrigued by him. He knows how to do a lot of things to make a successful team. With his size, skill set and being an elite defender, he has the upside where his offense will catch up.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- The Knicks are keeping tabs on several players who might land at the back end of the lottery if they keep their first-round pick, including Daniels, Baylor forward Jeremy Sochan, Memphis center Jalen Duren, and Duke center Mark Williams, writes Steve Popper of Newsday.
- Fred Katz of The Athletic lists 10 prospects who might be a good fit in New York, including the aforementioned players and some new ones, such as Ohio State guard Malaki Branham and Wisconsin guard Johnny Davis.
- In a separate story for the Post, Berman speculates that the Knicks may revisit trade talks with the Pacers centered around Myles Turner and/or Malcolm Brogdon, both of whom the Knicks are reportedly interested in. Brogdon might be considered more expendable after Indiana acquired Tyrese Haliburton in February, while Turner seems less likely to be moved following this season’s Domantas Sabonis deal.
- The team never made an official announcement about it, but the Knicks have hired Tim Hardaway Sr. to serve as a scout, and he’s been interviewing draft prospects at the combine this week, sources tell Berman (Twitter link). The elder Hardaway was recently elected to the Hall of Fame.
Not only did the Thunder move up in Tuesday’s draft lottery to claim this year’s No. 2 overall pick, but they’re also one of just three teams with four picks in the 2022 draft. No team’s 2022 selections are more valuable than Oklahoma City’s — in addition to the second overall pick, the Thunder control No. 12, No. 30, and No. 34.
The Spurs and Timberwolves also each own four 2022 draft picks, with San Antonio controlling three first-rounders and No. 38, while Minnesota has No. 19 and three second-rounders.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, four clubs don’t currently own any 2022 draft picks. The Lakers, Suns, and Jazz are three of those teams, and either the Sixers or the Nets will be the fourth, depending on whether Brooklyn decides to acquire Philadelphia’s first-rounder or defer it to 2023.
To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2022 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 58 selections by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…
Teams with more than two picks:
- Oklahoma City Thunder (4): 2, 12, 30, 34
- San Antonio Spurs (4): 9, 20, 25, 38
- Minnesota Timberwolves (4): 19, 40, 48, 50
- Orlando Magic (3): 1, 32, 35
- Sacramento Kings (3): 4, 37, 49
- Indiana Pacers (3): 6, 31, 58
- Portland Trail Blazers (3): 7, 36, 57
- New Orleans Pelicans (3): 8, 41, 52
- Charlotte Hornets (3): 13, 15, 45
- Cleveland Cavaliers (3): 14, 39, 56
- Memphis Grizzlies (3): 22, 29, 47
- Golden State Warriors (3): 28, 51, 55
Teams with two picks:
- Houston Rockets: 3, 17
- Detroit Pistons: 5, 46
- Washington Wizards: 10, 54
- New York Knicks: 11, 42
- Atlanta Hawks: 16, 44
Teams with one pick:
- Chicago Bulls: 18
- Denver Nuggets: 21
- Philadelphia 76ers: 23
- Milwaukee Bucks: 24
- Dallas Mavericks: 26
- Miami Heat: 27
- Toronto Raptors: 33
- Los Angeles Clippers: 43
- Boston Celtics: 53
Teams with no picks:
- Brooklyn Nets
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Phoenix Suns
- Utah Jazz
In a recent interview with Michael Grady of YES Network (video link), Nets team president Sean Marks once again defended embattled Brooklyn guard Ben Simmons. Simmons, who missed the entire 2021/22 season due to mental health issues and a herniated disc in his lower back, had reportedly aimed to return in the first round of the playoffs, but experienced a setback.
“It’s a little bit of a testament that one, he tried to get back out there and tried to help his teammates and secondly, we have to be careful not judge people,” Marks said. “And if you’re outside that medical profession, when you’re chiming in from afar, you just have to be a bit careful of what you’re saying because you really don’t know.”
Simmons opted to treat the back injury with surgery after the Nets were officially eliminated in a 4-0 first-round sweep by the Celtics.
“Nobody wants to have surgery,” Marks said. “It’s the last resort but it’s bygone now and we’ve got to move forward on this, we’ve got to support him and so forth.”
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Former Timberwolves team president Gersson Rosas has an official title with the Knicks, having been named a senior basketball advisor, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Rosas was let go from Minnesota under murky circumstances and later joined the Knicks as a consultant. Begley notes that determining where Rosas slots in among the Knicks’ front office pecking order will be important during a critical 2022 offseason for New York.
- The Knicks are considering leaving 2021 draft-and-stash second-round pick Rokas Jokubaitis, currently playing for Barcelona in the EuroLeague Final Four, overseas to develop for another year, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Berman opines that New York could have more flexibility to sign the point guard prospect in 2023, after several short-term Knicks contracts come off the books. Jokubaitis averaged 7.2 PPG and 2.8 APG across 17 MPG in 35 EuroLeague contests this season.
- Former Celtics team president Danny Ainge, now in the Jazz front office, has enjoyed seeing the progress of his old team, writes Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. The Celtics are now trailing the Heat 1-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals. “I’ve been proud of this team all year,” Ainge said. “I really liked watching guys develop when I was there, and it’s been great watching guys like Jayson [Tatum] and Jaylen [Brown] and Marcus [Smart] and Rob [Williams] and all of them take another step this year. They just beat a great team, the defending champs.” Ainge drafted Tatum, Brown, Smart and Williams during his Celtics front office run.
With Tuesday night’s lottery results now official, the top 14 slots for the 2022 NBA draft have been set. The lottery order is as follows:
Orlando Magic- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Houston Rockets
- Sacramento Kings
- Detroit Pistons
- Indiana Pacers
- Portland Trail Blazers
- New Orleans Pelicans (from Lakers)
- San Antonio Spurs
- Washington Wizards
- New York Knicks
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Clippers)
- Charlotte Hornets
- Cleveland Cavaliers
It’s great news for the rebuilding Magic, who finished dead last in the Eastern Conference this season and had the NBA’s second-worst record (22-60). They entered the night tied for the best odds of landing the No. 1 overall pick at 14.0%, and will be picking first in the draft for the first time since 2004, when they selected Dwight Howard.
This time around, the Magic appear likely to draft a big man once again. Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren, Auburn’s Jabari Smith, and Duke’s Paolo Banchero, all power forwards or centers, are widely considered to be the top prospects in the 2022 class. Orlando could add one of them to a core that includes 2021 lottery picks Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs.
The Thunder are one of the night’s other big winners, moving up from fourth in the pre-lottery order to No. 2 overall. The rebuilding squad is loaded with first-round picks over the next five years, and will have the opportunity to draft a potential franchise player next month to complement guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey. Oklahoma City is the only team with two picks in this year’s lottery, having acquired the No. 12 overall selection from the Clippers.
The Rockets will have a top-three pick for a second straight year after nabbing Jalen Green second overall in 2021. They’ll be followed by the Kings, who moved up from seventh in the pre-lottery order to No. 4 in the draft, making good on their 31.9% chance to jump into the top four.
It’s the fourth consecutive time that the seventh team in the lottery standings has moved into the top four. The Pelicans (Zion Williamson), Hornets (LaMelo Ball), and Raptors (Scottie Barnes) did it in 2019, 2020, and 2021 after the NBA revamped its lottery format ahead of the 2019 event.
The Pistons, Pacers, and Trail Blazers were among the biggest losers on lottery night. Detroit moved down two spots, from No. 3 to No. 5, while Indiana and Portland both dropped one spot from their place in the pre-lottery order, landing at No. 6 and No. 7, respectively.
Since the Lakers’ first-round pick stayed at No. 8, it will head to the Pelicans rather than the Grizzlies — Memphis would have received it if it had fallen out of the top 10.
The rest of the lottery played out as expected, with the Spurs, Wizards, Knicks, Thunder, Hornets, and Cavaliers rounding out the top 14.