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Draft Notes: Jackson, Combine, Bates, Flagler

May 15th, 2023 at 10:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Andre Jackson Jr., one of the key players in UConn’s national championship run, has worked out for the Celtics and Nets, Tony East of SI.com tweets. Those workouts came prior to the combo guard’s workout with the Pacers on Friday. Currently at the NBA Combine, Jackson is ranked as the 30th-best prospect on ESPN’s Best Available list

We have more draft-related news:

  • Santa Clara guard Brandin Podziemski, Texas forward Dillon Mitchell and G League Ignite forward Leonard Miller are some of the players with the most at stake at this week’s draft combine, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo. The ESPN duo examines a number of storylines that will play out in Chicago this week.
  • Eastern Michigan forward Emoni Bates had an impressive shooting performance in the first day of the combine, according to Mike Curtis of the Detroit News. Bates tied for first in the shooting-off-the-dribble drill and was second in the 3-point star drill, making 19-of-25 (76%) attempts from beyond the arc. The Memphis transfer and former five-star recruit is ranked No. 56 by ESPN.
  • Another fringe second-round prospect, Baylor’s Adam Flagler, sat down with Draft Digest’s Bryce Simon and says he has the leadership skills to be an NBA point guard. “The point guard role was easier than expected because of who I am as a person, caring, compassionate,” Flagler said. “My voice is something I used to get my point across and doing what I can to help you. As a point guard you spend time off the court to know who they [teammates] are and how to push their buttons so you can demand those things on the court.” Flagler is ranked No. 68 by ESPN.
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Central Notes: Pacers, Pistons, Duren, Cavs

May 11th, 2023 at 4:11pm CST by Rory Maher

Indiana will be hosting six prospects on Friday for the team’s first pre-draft workout, the Pacers announced in a press release.

The six players are UConn’s Andre Jackson, UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez, Missouri’s Kobe Brown, Creighton’s Arthur Kaluma, North Dakota State’s Grant Nelson, and Liutauras Lelevicius, a Lithuanian prospect who played for Zalgris II this past season.

Jackson (30), Jaquez (32), Brown (43), Kaluma (90), and Nelson (94) all appear on ESPN’s top-100 prospects list, while Lelevicius is unranked. The Pacers control their own lottery pick, two late first-rounders (26th and 29th), and two second-round picks (either 50th or 32nd, plus 55th).

Here’s more from the Central:

  • Hiring the right head coach, having a successful draft, and acquiring forward depth in free agency are among the top offseason priorities for the Pistons, according to Mike Curtis of The Detroit News (subscriber link), who thinks the team should pursue Nets restricted free agent Cameron Johnson.
  • Pistons center Jalen Duren, who was recently named to the All-Rookie Second Team, was mostly pleased with his debut season, but he’s going to work on his conditioning and consistency in year two, Curtis writes in another subscriber-only story. “Consistency is a huge word,” Duren said. “To be great, you have to be consistent. For me, it’s honestly just being locked in and trying to understand what’s going on. ‘Being where my feet are,’ I like to say, and try to take over games, dominate games and affect games in any way possible. … I feel like that will come. I’m excited about what I can be in this league.”
  • Josh Richardson, Kelly Oubre, Max Strus, Gary Trent Jr. and Jalen McDaniels could be the types of wings the Cavaliers choose to go after in free agency with their mid-level exception, Kelsey Russo states in a mailbag for The Athletic. I don’t see Trent falling to that price point, especially since he could just opt in to his $18.8MM player option if he isn’t confident about getting a better payday, but the other four might be attainable (whether or not they’d be a good fit is another story).
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NBA Reveals Players Expected At 2023 Draft Combine

May 9th, 2023 at 6:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The NBA has announced 78 players that are expected to attend this year’s draft combine, scheduled for May 15-21 at in Chicago, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets.

Additionally, a select number of standout players from the G League Elite Camp, which takes place May 13-14 in Chicago, will be invited to participate in the combine.

Players will have interviews with NBA teams and participate in five-on-five scrimmages, as well as shooting, strength and agility drills. Some top prospects opt out of the scrimmages.

Victor Wembanyama, the projected top pick, is not on the list. His French League season is still ongoing.

The list of invitees is as follows:

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Draft Notes: Sanogo, Jackson, Tshiebwe, Bates, Droppers

April 30th, 2023 at 8:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Adama Sanogo and Andre Jackson Jr. were two key contributors to UConn’s national championship season. Both players have been invited to the NBA Combine in Chicago in May. Adam Zagoria tweets.

Jackson, a combo guard, is a potential first-rounder. He’s currently ranked No. 30 on ESPN’s Best Available list. Despite a stellar college career, Sanogo may have to open some eyes during the pre-draft process in order to get drafted. He’s currently ranked No.  87.

We have more draft-related items:

  • Kentucky’s star big man Oscar Tshiebwe hasn’t ruled out returning to college but he’s got a number of workouts lined up, Zagoria adds in another tweet. Tshiebwe has already scheduled workouts with the Celtics, Bucks, Rockets and Kings. He averaged 16.5 PPG and 13.7 RPG this past season and is currently ranked No. 66 on ESPN’s list.
  • Will guard Emoni Bates get drafted? The Athletic’s Shams Charania, John Hollinger and Brendan Quinn explore that question. Bates averaged 19.2 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 30 games with Eastern Michigan after a tumultuous freshman campaign with Memphis. Bates catches scouts’ attention with his high-level shot-making but doesn’t offer much else, according to The Athletic trio. He’s ranked No. 56 by ESPN and No. 78 by The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie.
  • What do Illinois’ Coleman Hawkins, Houston’s Marcus Sasser and Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis have in common? They are some of the players who have seen their draft stock decline heading into the combine, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto.
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Andre Jackson, Zach Edey Among Draft’s Latest Early Entrants

April 18th, 2023 at 12:31pm CST by Luke Adams

UConn junior guard Andre Jackson has opted to enter his name in the 2023 NBA draft pool and will test the waters, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

[RELATED: 2023 NBA Draft Early Entrants List]

Jackson, who started 31 of 36 games for the national champions in 2022/23, averaged just 6.7 points per game with a modest .432/.281/.646 shooting line. However, he chipped in 6.2 RPG, 4.7 APG, and 1.1 SPG while playing strong defense.

According to Wojnarowski, team executives believe Jackson’s play in the NCAA tournament boosted his stock and view him as a borderline first-round pick if he remains in the draft. The junior is currently the No. 30 overall prospect on ESPN’s big board for 2023.

In addition to Jackson, Purdue center Zach Edey also announced today that he’ll test the draft waters without forgoing his remaining college eligibility (Twitter link).

Unlike Jackson, who is considered a promising NBA prospect despite underwhelming scoring numbers at the college level, Edey was an NCAA star, earning National Player of the Year honors after averaging 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks in 31.7 minutes per game across 34 starts as a junior for the Boilermakers.

However, there are questions about Edey’s NBA ceiling due to his lack of lack of agility and versatility on defense, Jonathan Givony of ESPN writes in his scouting report. The 7’4″ Edey still ranks 49th overall on ESPN’s board, but is referred to by Givony as a “Boban Marjanovic-style player” unless he can add some range to his jump shot.

Finally, Adam Flagler, who won a national championship with Baylor in 2021, is also declaring for the 2023 draft, per Givony (Twitter link). The redshirt senior guard only ranks 74th overall on ESPN’s board, but is coming off a strong 2022/23 season in which he posted 15.6 PPG and 4.6 APG while making 40.0% of his three-pointers.

Flagler has one year of NCAA eligibility remaining, but neither Givony’s report nor his own Instagram announcement indicates whether he plans to forgo that final year or keep the door open to return to school. When he withdrew from last year’s draft, his comments strongly hinted that he planned to go pro in 2023.

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Draft Notes: Ware, Bamba, Nolley, Top Prospects, More

March 27th, 2023 at 4:14pm CST by Rory Maher

Oregon center Kel’el Ware has decided to transfer to a new school and does not intend to enter the 2023 NBA Draft, he tells Travis Branham of 247Sports.com.

Ware, who averaged 6.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks on .457/.273/.712 shooting in 35 games (15.8 MPG) as a freshman for the Ducks, is a former top high school recruit and is currently ranked No. 35 on ESPN’s big board.

While Ware was a projected second-round pick, Jonathan Givony of ESPN says (via Twitter) “there were real concerns” about the big man’s chances of getting drafted.

Here are some more draft-related notes:

  • Washington State’s TJ Bamba has decided to test the draft waters. He’s entering the draft while maintaining his college eligibility and will also enter the transfer portal, he announced on Twitter. The junior guard averaged 15.8 points and 3.7 rebounds on .426/.372/.730 shooting in 31 games for the Cougars (32.2 MPG) in 2022/23.
  • Cincinnati guard/forward Landers Nolley will declare for the draft, he tells Givony (Twitter link). According to his own announcement (via Twitter), Nolley will maintain his college eligibility, so he won’t be hiring an agent just yet. Nolley, who has one year of eligibility left after previous stops at Virginia Tech and Memphis, averaged a team-high 16.8 points along with 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.0 steal on .447/.417/.750 shooting in 36 games (32.1 MPG) for the Bearcats this season.
  • Which top draft prospects boosted their stock in the NCAA tournament? Givony tackles that subject in a story for ESPN (Insider link). Jordan Hawkins (No. 15 on ESPN’s big board) and Andre Jackson (No. 39) may hear their names called earlier by helping UConn advance to the Final Four.
  • The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor released a new mock draft last week. One surprising pick in his mock is Tennessee forward Julian Phillips, who is ranked No. 56 by ESPN. O’Connor has the freshman going No. 29 to the Pacers.
  • Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report examines what scouts are looking to see from five potential NBA prospects in the Final Four. Miami’s Isaiah Wong and Jordan Miller have a chance to help themselves once again as they face off against UConn, according to Wasserman.
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