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Draft Notes: Monyyong, Hornets, Bleijenbergh, Castleton

July 4th, 2021 at 2:37pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Little Rock big man Ruot Monyyong is set to work out for the Kings on July 8, tweets Jason Jones of The Athletic. Jones adds that the 6’10” Monyyong was the 2020 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year and was twice named to the All-Sun Belt team during his college career. Monyyong averaged 11.9 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 1.8 BPG, 1.5 APG, and 0.9 SPG across his two NCAA seasons.

There’s more on the draft:

  • The Hornets tweeted their draft prospect workouts for Saturday, July 3. The club took a look at the following players: Western Kentucky center Charles Bassey, Marquette guard D.J. Carton, Oregon guard Chris Duarte, Tennessee guard Keon Johnson, Kentucky forward Isaiah Jackson, and Alabama guard Joshua Primo. Charlotte currently possesses the No. 11 and No. 56 picks in the upcoming 2021 draft.
  • 6’10” Belgian wing Vrenz Bleijenbergh has pre-draft workouts scheduled with the Thunder, Grizzlies, Pistons and Kings, tweets Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. Wasserman notes that the oversized small forward is thought of as a solid play-maker and shooter.
  • Florida power forward Colin Castleton plans to return to school for the 2021/22 season, and will accordingly withdraw from the 2021 NBA draft, tweets Jeff Goodman of Stadium. The 6’11” Castleton averaged 12.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 1.1 APG last season.
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Thunder Notes: SGA, Presti, Draft Picks, Micic

July 2nd, 2021 at 3:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

With the Thunder‘s rebuilding process underway, one definite part of the foundation is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The third-year guard will be eligible for a rookie-scale extension this summer, and Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti recently spoke about the possibility of getting something done.

“We have a big conversation that we’ll be able to have with Shai coming up in the offseason,” Presti said, per Bobby Marks of ESPN. “We’re really looking forward to that. His impact on the team was pretty obvious, and we think he’s a very, very bright rising player in the NBA. We couldn’t be more excited about the growth he took, both as a player but also as a leader during the year.”

Gilgeous-Alexander was acquired from the Clippers two years ago in the trade that sent Paul George to Los Angeles. He averaged 19.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists in his first season with the Thunder and was posting a 23.7/4.7/5.9 line through 35 games this year before being sidelined by plantar fasciitis.

“I thought he helped a lot of our guys improve and put them in position to be successful, and that got much tougher when he wasn’t on the court, which is an indicator that he’s a good player,” Presti said. “That’s what you want.”

There’s more from Oklahoma City:

  • The Thunder tied for the fourth-worst record in the league and Presti is willing to be patient with trying to mold the team back into a playoff contender, Marks notes in the same story. Although OKC has plenty of cap space, the team won’t be chasing any of the top names when free agency begins next month. The Thunder have six picks in the upcoming draft, along with trade exceptions worth $27.5MM, $12.8MM, $10.1MM and $9.6MM. “You stick to your principles, you stick to your values, you think in the best interests of the organization long term,” Presti said. “In our case we’re really focused on building a sustainably great team in Oklahoma City. I think good things will happen, and I think we should be optimistic about that and continue to be forward facing with that respect.”
  • Oklahoma City secured a first-round pick by acquiring Kemba Walker from the Celtics, and the Thunder are in position to do it again, Marks adds. He suggests the Nets may be willing to part with the 27th selection to move DeAndre Jordan, who is owed nearly $20MM over the next two seasons.
  • There was talk of Vasilije Micic joining the Thunder next season, but the reigning EuroLeague MVP has agreed to a three-year contract extension with Anadolu Efes, according to Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohooops. The 27-year-old point guard will have an NBA out next summer and in 2023.
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Lakers Notes: Third Star, Schröder, K. Walker, Sale

July 2nd, 2021 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Adding a third star this summer won’t be easy for the Lakers, even if there are a few on the market, writes Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. L.A.’s season was derailed by injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, showing the need for another elite player, but the team may not have enough valuable assets to offer.

The Lakers own the 22nd pick in this year’s draft, but don’t have another tradable first-rounder until 2027. They’ve still got their selections in 2023 and 2025, but are limited by the league rule preventing future first-round picks from being traded in back-to-back years.

Goon cites the Trail Blazers‘ Damian Lillard and the Sixers‘ Ben Simmons as players who might be available, but he isn’t convinced that the Lakers can match salaries with a competitive offer, which would mean sending $31.4MM to Portland or $24.5MM to Philadelphia. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma will each make $13MM next season, but a package with them and the two draft picks may not be the best deal the Sixers can get. The Lakers could have another trade chip if Montrezl Harrell opts in at $9.7MM, but that still may not be enough for Philadelphia.

Getting the Blazers to trade Lillard for a similar package seems nearly impossible, and Goon sees L.A.’s best chance as a sign-and-trade involving Dennis Schröder. However, Schröder has expressed a desire to re-sign with the Lakers and there’s no guarantee that Portland would want him in return for Lillard.

There’s more from L.A.:

  • Schröder is expecting to get offers in the range of $100MM to $120MM in free agency, VP of the German Basketball Federation Armin Andres said, according to TalkBasket. Andres confirms that Schröder isn’t playing for Germany this summer because the cost of insuring his future earnings is too high.
  • The Lakers and Clippers will be the most interested teams in acquiring Kemba Walker from the Thunder, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on his latest podcast (hat tip to Justin Leger of Yahoo Sports). Walker, who was traded from the Celtics last month, was plagued by knee problems all season and still has two years and nearly $74MM left on his contract.
  • The NBA’s board of governors gave unanimous approval to the sale of 27% of the Lakers to Todd Boehly and Mark Walter, according to Scott Soshnick of Sportico. The deal is expected to be finalized next week.
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Thunder To Work Out Joshua Primo

June 30th, 2021 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams
  • Besides Indiana, Primo is scheduled for workouts with the Pelicans, Hornets, Spurs, and Thunder, a source tells Wasserman (Twitter link). The draft’s youngest prospect, Primo is “firmly” in the first-round picture, Wasserman adds.
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Hollinger’s Latest: Draft, Wiseman, Siakam, Trent, Combine

June 28th, 2021 at 12:47pm CST by Luke Adams

Sources who have spoken to John Hollinger of The Athletic are skeptical that the Pistons, Rockets, or Cavaliers will trade out of the top three spots in the draft.

As Hollinger notes, there are a lot of teams that figure to have interest in moving up in the draft, including several holding multiple first-round picks, such as the Magic, Thunder, and Knicks. However, it’s more difficult to find teams that will give serious consideration to moving down. Any trade up may require a substantial overpay, Hollinger adds.

Here are a few more tidbits from Hollinger following his time at the pre-draft combine in Chicago:

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Rosters Announced For Olympic Qualifying Tournaments

June 28th, 2021 at 9:16am CST by Luke Adams

Four qualifying tournaments to determine the final four teams in the men’s basketball pool at the Tokyo Olympics are set to tip off on Tuesday. In advance of the Olympic qualifiers, the 24 teams involved have officially set their 12-man rosters, according to a press release from FIBA.

More than two dozen current NBA players are participating in the tournament, and 11 of the 24 teams competing for Olympic spots have at least one current NBA players on their respective rosters. Of those clubs, Team Canada has the biggest contingent of NBA players — eight of the 12 players on Nick Nurse‘s squad finished the season on an NBA roster. Turkey is next with four NBA players.

The four qualifying tournaments will take place in Serbia, Lithuania, Croatia, and Canada. Only the winner of each six-team group will advance to Tokyo. Those four winners will join Japan, Nigeria, Argentina, Iran, France, Spain, Australia, and the U.S. in the 12-team Olympic tournament.

The teams that move onto the Olympics may tweak their rosters for Tokyo, depending on the availability of certain players. For instance, if Greece were to win its qualifying tournament, perhaps Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo – who remains active in the playoffs for now – would make an effort to join the team in Tokyo next month.

Here are the NBA players on the OQT rosters:

Belgrade, Serbia

Kaunas, Lithuania

Split, Croatia

Victoria, Canada

There are also many former NBA players among the 24 rosters, including Mario Hezonja (Croatia), Milos Teodosic (Serbia), Jan Vesely (Czech Republic), Timofey Mozgov (Russia), and Anthony Bennett (Canada).

To view the full rosters, be sure to visit FIBA’s official site and click through to each team from there.

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Draft Notes: Workouts, Aluma, T. Williams, Hurt, McBride

June 25th, 2021 at 3:16pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves and Jazz are hosting pre-draft group workouts in Minneapolis from July 8-11, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski, the event will be open to all 30 NBA teams and the goal will be to have 48 prospects participate over that four-day period.

In past years when teams have brought in groups of prospects for pre-draft workouts, they’ve typically hosted six players at a time. If the event in Minneapolis follows a similar pattern, it could showcase two groups of six players apiece on each day from July 8-11.

Here’s more on the upcoming draft:

  • Virginia Tech forward Keve Aluma is returning to school for another year, he announced on Twitter. Aluma had been testing the draft waters after 15.2 PPG and 7.9 RPG in 22 games (30.6 MPG) as a junior in 2020/21.
  • Purdue forward Trevion Williams is also pulling out of the draft and heading back to school, per a Twitter announcement. Williams put up 15.5 PPG and 9.1 RPG in 28 games (25.1 MPG) for the Boilemakers as a junior this year, earning All-Big Ten honors.
  • Duke forward Matthew Hurt has workouts on tap with the Celtics, Thunder, Pelicans, Lakers, Clippers, and Bucks, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link).
  • West Virginia guard Miles McBride has worked out for the Knicks and Celtics in addition to interviewing with several teams, tweets Alder Almo of Empire Sports Media.
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2021 NBA Draft Picks By Team

June 23rd, 2021 at 10:06am CST by Luke Adams

It wasn’t a great night for the Thunder at Tuesday’s draft lottery. The team had about a two-in-three chance that its own first-round pick would land in the top five and nearly a 50-50 chance that Houston’s pick would slide to No. 5, allowing OKC to swap the No. 18 selection for it. Instead, the Rockets kept their own pick and the Thunder’s selection slipped to No. 6.

Still, no NBA team has more draft picks in 2021 than the Thunder, who control three first-round selections and three more second-rounders.

The Pelicans, Pistons, Knicks, and Nets join them as teams that hold at least four draft picks this year. Those five clubs currently control 23 of the 60 picks in the 2021 draft, so it’s probably safe to assume they’ll be active on the trade market before or during the draft.

To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2021 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 60 picks by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…

Teams with more than two picks:

  • Oklahoma City Thunder (6): 6, 16, 18, 34, 36, 55
  • Brooklyn Nets (5): 27, 29, 44, 49, 59
  • Detroit Pistons (4): 1, 37, 42, 52
  • New Orleans Pelicans (4): 17, 35, 43, 51
  • New York Knicks (4): 19, 21, 32, 58
  • Houston Rockets (3): 2, 23, 24
  • Toronto Raptors (3): 4, 46, 47
  • Orlando Magic (3): 5, 8, 33
  • Charlotte Hornets (3): 11, 56, 57
  • Indiana Pacers (3): 13, 54, 60
  • Philadelphia 76ers (3): 28, 50, 53

Teams with two picks:

  • Golden State Warriors: 7, 14
  • Sacramento Kings: 9, 39
  • San Antonio Spurs: 12, 41
  • Memphis Grizzlies: 10, 40
  • Atlanta Hawks: 20, 48

Teams with one pick:

  • Cleveland Cavaliers: 3
  • Washington Wizards: 15
  • Los Angeles Lakers: 22
  • Los Angeles Clippers: 25
  • Denver Nuggets: 26
  • Utah Jazz: 30
  • Milwaukee Bucks: 31
  • Chicago Bulls: 38
  • Boston Celtics: 45

Teams with no picks:

  • Dallas Mavericks
  • Miami Heat
  • Minnesota Timberwolves
  • Phoenix Suns
  • Portland Trail Blazers
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Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Jazz, D’Antoni, Wolves, Bolmaro, Walker

June 22nd, 2021 at 9:09pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Nuggets‘ season was over long before they expected it to be, especially given the stellar play of star center Nikola Jokic, which was rewarded with an MVP award. But a devastating knee injury to point guard Jamal Murray, the team’s leading scorer in last year’s playoffs, in addition to some disappointing play from key contributors, left the team reeling after a four-game sweep at the hands of the Suns.

Now, there are questions that must be answered, writes Mike Singer of The Denver Post. One area of focus will be shoring up the Nuggets’ frontcourt, as Paul Millsap, JaMychal Green and JaVale McGee are all free agents. Singer also touches on how despite a disappointing end to his second year, Michael Porter Jr. is still very much a player worth keeping faith in, as he enters the first healthy offseason of his career.

Singer, along with Mark Kiszla and Matt Schubert of The Denver Post also answered a few of the most pressing questions facing the Nuggets, such as Aaron Gordon‘s future after his struggles stepping into a scoring role in the second round, potential areas of improvement for head coach Mike Malone, and Austin Rivers‘ impending free agency.

We have more from around the Northwest Division:

  • Like Denver, the Jazz‘s season also ended in ignominious fashion after they surrendered a 2-0 lead to the Clippers to lose in six games, culminating in a blown 25-point lead in Game Six. Tony Jones of The Athletic takes a look at where the Jazz can go from here. One area of focus will be finding another forward along with Royce O’Neale who can take the tough defensive matchups on the wing. There’s also the question of Mike Conley‘s free agency to consider, and the related question of whether the Jazz want to try to turn Donovan Mitchell into their full-time point guard. The roster isn’t far away, Jones says, but it still needs some work if Utah is to have any hope of taking the next step towards being a bona-fide contender.
  • Mike D’Antoni is getting a second interview with the Trail Blazers sometime this week, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Becky Hammon has already met with Blazers ownership for her second interview, and Chauncey Billups is set to do the same later in the week. Those three appear to be the finalists for the head coach job in Portland, though it’s possible other top candidates haven’t been reported yet.
  • The Timberwolves could be an interesting landing spot for Ben Simmons if the Sixers decide to trade him, writes Michael Rand of The Star Tribune. With an elite-shooting big man in Karl-Anthony Towns and another high-level shot creator in last year’s number one pick Anthony Edwards, Simmons could focus on defense and passing, the way he has always wanted to. The question comes down to cost. The Wolves have D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley, either of whom could hold some interest to the Sixers, but Sixers GM Daryl Morey may want to hold out for more.
  • The Timberwolves aren’t crying over lost picks, writes Chris Hine of the Star Tribune. “We prepared accordingly,” GM Gersson Rosas said pre-draft lottery, about the possibility of losing their first-round draft pick. “We drafted a player last year that has the opportunity to come this season in case there wasn’t a pick.” That’s a reference to Leandro Bolmaro, a very interesting point guard prospect recently named “Most Spectacular Player” of the Spanish league. Rosas also emphasized the added financial flexibility from not having to pay a high-end rookie-scale contract. “That’ll allow us to be more aggressive in terms of trades and free agency based on our financial position,” Rosas said.
  • Thunder general manager Sam Presti hasn’t had a chance to meet with new addition Kemba Walker yet, as Walker has been out of the country, tweets Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. Presti did say that he liked Walker’s fit with star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has grown used to playing with multiple lead guards — he spent much of the 2019/20 season playing alongside Chris Paul and Dennis Schröder.
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Pistons Win 2021 Draft Lottery; Rockets, Cavs, Raptors In Top Four

June 22nd, 2021 at 7:57pm CST by Luke Adams

With Tuesday night’s lottery results now official, the top 14 slots for the 2021 NBA draft have been set. The lottery order is as follows:

  1. Detroit Pistons
  2. Houston Rockets
  3. Cleveland Cavaliers
  4. Toronto Raptors
  5. Orlando Magic
  6. Oklahoma City Thunder
  7. Golden State Warriors (from Timberwolves)
  8. Orlando Magic (from Bulls)
  9. Sacramento Kings
  10. New Orleans Pelicans
  11. Charlotte Hornets
  12. San Antonio Spurs
  13. Indiana Pacers
  14. Golden State Warriors

It’s a huge win for the Pistons and for general manager Troy Weaver, who had one of the best drafts of any NBA team in 2020, nabbing Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart, Saddiq Bey, and Saben Lee. This time around, Detroit is in position to draft Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham, who is widely considered to be the No. 1 prospect in the 2021 draft class.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), the plan is for Cunningham to visit just one team before the July 29 draft: the Pistons.

The Rockets, like Detroit, entered the night with the best odds at landing a top-four pick (52.1%). And while they ended up at No. 2 rather than No. 1, it’s a major relief for the franchise, which would have had to send its pick to the Thunder in exchange for the No. 18 selection if it had landed outside of the top four.

Rather than falling out of the lottery, Houston is poised to take its pick from a top tier of prospects that includes Evan Mobley, Jalen Suggs, Jalen Green, and Jonathan Kuminga. Whichever player the Rockets select figures to become the centerpiece of the team’s rebuild.

The Cavaliers and Raptors moved up in the lottery standings, from fifth and seventh respectively, into the top four. As we noted in our Cavs offseason preview earlier today, Cleveland hasn’t missed on any of its recent lottery picks, but also hasn’t landed a prospect who looks capable of being the club’s franchise player. The Cavs may get that opportunity in 2021.

As for the Raptors, after making the playoffs for seven straight seasons and winning a title in 2019, they had a disastrous 2020/21 campaign, displaced from their home in Toronto due to the coronavirus pandemic and dealing with constant COVID-19 and injury issues. They’re now in position to add an intriguing young player to a core that already includes Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, and OG Anunoby.

Although none of the teams that moved into the top four did so from the bottom half of the lottery, it’s worth noting that the No. 7 spot in the lottery standings has been especially lucky since the NBA revamped the format three years ago. The Pelicans moved up to No. 1 from that position in 2019, allowing them to draft Zion Williamson. In 2020, the Hornets moved from No. 7 to No. 3, putting them in position to select eventual Rookie of the Year LaMelo Ball. Now the Raptors have moved up from that spot too.

The night’s biggest losers include the Timberwolves and Bulls, who would have held onto their lottery picks if they had moved into the top three and the top four, respectively. Instead, those picks will be sent to the Warriors and Magic at No. 7 and No. 8.

The Magic‘s own pick and the Thunder‘s selection slipped two spots as a result of the lottery — they’ll pick at No. 5 and No. 6.

It was still a good night for the Magic, who control two of the top eight picks in a strong draft, but the outcome wasn’t great for Oklahoma City. The Thunder entered the evening with the potential to come away with two top-five picks. Instead, they’ll have zero, having lost the ability to swap first-rounders with Houston.

The 9-14 picks in the draft lottery standings remained unchanged.

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