Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Billy Preston

Top Prospect LaMelo Ball Sidelined With Foot Injury

December 9th, 2019 at 8:59am CST by Luke Adams

LaMelo Ball had recently been gathering momentum for the top pick in the 2020 NBA draft as a result of his strong play in Australia’s National Basketball League, but evaluators hoping to take a closer look at Ball will have to delay those plans until the new year.

According to a press release issued by the Illawarra Hawks, Ball’s NBL team, the guard suffered a bruised foot in practice and is expected to miss approximately four weeks. The Hawks’ season doesn’t end until mid-February, so the club will look to get Ball back in its lineup for the home stretch.

Ball has impressed scouts by averaging 17.0 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 6.8 APG through 12 games as an 18-year-old in one of the world’s most competitive basketball leagues. While he has struggled a little with his shot (.377 FG%, .250 3PT%), Ball has boosted his stock and is a contender for the No. 1 pick in 2020.

According to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, several NBA decision-makers had been planning to visit Australia in the coming weeks to get an in-person look at Ball and fellow projected lottery pick R.J. Hampton, who is a member of the New Zealand Breakers. Hampton is dealing with a health issue of his own — Givony hears from a source that the young guard is day to day with a hip flexor injury.

In other Illawarra news, the Hawks announced in a press release that they’ve signed 22-year-old forward Billy Preston. Preston started the 2018/19 season on a two-way contract with the Cavaliers, but was released by Cleveland last December.

Retweet 3 Share 0 Send via email0

NBA Announces 80 Players For G League Elite Camp

May 7th, 2019 at 11:25am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has announced in a press release that 80 players are set to participate in its G League Elite Camp next week in Chicago from May 12-14. The event will include 40 prospects who are eligible for this year’s draft, as well as 40 standout prospects from the 2018/19 G League season.

Heading into this spring, the NBA revamped its G League Elite Camp, which in past years has simply showcased some of the NBAGL’s top performers.  That aspect of the event will still exist, but G League players will only participate in the first two days of the event.

The second half of the event will feature 40 draft-eligible prospects who aren’t among the 60 prospects invited to the actual draft combine. The list of participants was determined by an NBA team vote, and those prospects will work out and scrimmage during the final two days of the event — there will be no overlap with the G League portion of the event.

As this week’s announcement confirms, a select number of draft-eligible prospects participating in the G League Elite Camp will also be invited to attend the combine itself, which takes place from May 15-19 in Chicago.

Here are the list of draft-eligible prospects who are expected to participate in the 2019 G League Elite Mini Camp, per the NBA:

  1. Tyus Battle (Syracuse)
  2. Bennie Boatwright (USC)
  3. Phil Booth (Villanova)
  4. Oshae Brissett (Syracuse)
  5. Bryce Brown (Auburn)
  6. Zylan Cheatham (Arizona State)
  7. Chris Clemons (Campbell)
  8. Amir Coffey (Minnesota)
  9. Tyler Cook (Iowa)
  10. Jarron Cumberland (Cincinnati)
  11. Aubrey Dawkins (Central Florida)
  12. Javin DeLaurier (Duke)
  13. Mamadi Diakite (Virginia)
  14. CJ Elleby (Washington State)
  15. Tacko Fall (UCF)
  16. Robert Franks (Washington State)
  17. Jared Harper (Auburn)
  18. Ethan Happ (Wisconsin)
  19. Dewan Hernandez (Miami)
  20. Amir Hinton (Shaw (NC))
  21. DaQuan Jeffries (Tulsa)
  22. Sagaba Konate (West Virginia)
  23. Matur Maker (Mississauga Prep (Canada))
  24. Terance Mann (Florida State)
  25. Caleb Martin (Nevada)
  26. Cody Martin (Nevada)
  27. Luke Maye (North Carolina)
  28. Trey Mourning (Georgetown)
  29. Andrew Nembhard (Florida)
  30. James Palmer Jr. (Nebraska)
  31. Josh Perkins (Gonzaga)
  32. Reggie Perry (Mississippi State)
  33. Jalen Pickett (Siena)
  34. Myles Powell (Seton Hall)
  35. Justin Robinson (Virginia Tech)
  36. Marial Shayok (Iowa State)
  37. Max Strus (DePaul)
  38. Lindell Wigginton (Iowa State)
  39. Kenny Wooten (Oregon)
  40. Justin Wright-Foreman (Hofstra)

Here are the 40 G League players set to participate in the G League Elite Camp:

  1. Josh Adams (Raptors 905)
  2. Jaylen Barford (Greensboro Swarm)
  3. Amida Brimah (Austin Spurs)
  4. Jared Brownridge (Delaware Blue Coats)
  5. Antonius Cleveland (Santa Cruz Warriors)
  6. Charles Cooke (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
  7. Cody Demps (Stockton Kings)
  8. Aaron Epps (Northern Arizona Suns)
  9. Abdul Gaddy (Oklahoma City Blue)
  10. John Gillon (Greensboro Swarm)
  11. Kaiser Gates (Windy City Bulls)
  12. Isaac Haas (Salt Lake City Stars)
  13. Johnny Hamilton (Grand Rapids Drive)
  14. Dusty Hannahs (Memphis Hustle)
  15. Zak Irvin (Westchester Knicks)
  16. Peter Jok (Northern Arizona Suns)
  17. Matt Jones (Stockton Kings)
  18. Marcus Lee (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
  19. Zach Lofton (Grand Rapids Drive)
  20. Tahjere McCall (Long Island Nets)
  21. Brandon McCoy (Wisconsin Herd)
  22. MiKyle McIntosh (Raptors 905)
  23. Jordan McLaughlin (Long Island Nets)
  24. Jaylen Morris (Erie BayHawks)
  25. Mychal Mulder (Windy City Bulls)
  26. Malik Newman (Canton Charge)
  27. Retin Obasohan (Northern Arizona Suns)
  28. Chinanu Onuaku (Greensboro Swarm)
  29. Norvel Pelle (Delaware Blue Coats)
  30. Darel Poirier (Capital City Go-Go)
  31. Billy Preston (Texas Legends)
  32. Desi Rodriguez (Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario)
  33. Kenneth Smith (Grand Rapids Drive)
  34. Richard Solomon (Oklahoma City Blue)
  35. Emanuel Terry (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
  36. Juan Toscano-Anderson (Santa Cruz Warriors)
  37. Dakarai Tucker (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)
  38. Andrew White III (Maine Red Claws)
  39. Thomas Wimbush (Long Island Nets)
  40. Todd Withers (Grand Rapids Drive)
Retweet 5 Share 0 Send via email0

Cavaliers Waive Preston, Harrison, Sign Blossomgame, Jones

December 2nd, 2018 at 11:15am CST by Arthur Hill

The Cavaliers have replaced both of their players on two-way contracts, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Cleveland waived Billy Preston and Andrew Harrison and signed Jaron Blossomgame and Jalen Jones.

Blossomgame, a second-round pick by the Spurs in 2017, was recently acquired in a trade by Cleveland’s G League affiliate in Canton. The 25-year-old averaged 17.2 PPG in five games with the Charge while shooting 49% from the floor and 38% on 3-pointers.

Jones, also 25, played 16 games last season with the Pelicans and Mavericks. He started the year as a two-way player in New Orleans, then was claimed off waivers by Dallas in January. Fedor speculates that he may remain with the Cavs for a few games, rather than being sent to the G League right away, because David Nwaba is sidelined with a sore knee.

Preston signed a two-way deal with Cleveland in July, but hasn’t advanced above the G League. Fedor states that the Cavaliers talked about calling him up as insurance with the recent rash of injuries, but management decided he wasn’t ready to contribute at the NBA level.

The Cavs signed Harrison on November 9 to provide an extra ball-handler with George Hill hurt. Hill returned to the lineup last night and Alec Burks, acquired in a trade with the Jazz this week, will help run the offense, which eliminates the need to keep Harrison. He had played in 10 of the team’s past 11 games and was averaging 4.3 PPG.

Retweet 8 Share 0 Send via email0

Contract Details: Bolden, Carter, Harrell, Smart

July 29th, 2018 at 10:21am CST by Arthur Hill

Sixers forward Jonah Bolden has received the largest contract of any rookie second-round pick this summer, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The 36th player taken in the 2017 draft, Bolden spent a season with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel before coming to the NBA. Philadelphia gave him a four-year, $7MM deal with a starting salary of $1.69MM, although the third and fourth seasons are non-guaranteed.

The Nets signed Rodions Kurucs to a similar arrangement, Pincus adds (Twitter link). The 40th pick in this year’s draft, Kurucs will make $1.62MM in his first year and has incentives that could bring the value of his four-year contract up to $6.96MM. The first three seasons are fully guaranteed.

Pincus passes on a few more details about deals signed this summer:

  • Although Jevon Carter was taken 32nd overall, he signed for just the minimum salary over two seasons, less than others in his draft range (Twitter link). However, he received a full guarantee from the Grizzlies on both years. Jalen Brunson, taken at No. 33 by the Mavericks, makes more per season but is locked into a four-year deal (Twitter link). He will receive $1.23MM in his rookie year, with minimum salaries for the next three seasons. The first three years are fully guaranteed. Elie Okobo, the 31st pick, signed a four-year agreement with the Suns that will pay him $1.24MM in his first year, with three seasons at the minimum to follow. Only his first two years are guaranteed, and Phoenix has a team option on the final season (Twitter link).
  • Among the two-way contracts handed out this summer, only four players signed multi-year deals. Kostas Antetokounmpo of the Mavericks, Billy Preston of the Cavaliers, Yuta Watanabe of the Grizzlies and Thomas Welsh of the Nuggets all have two-year agreements (Twitter link).
  • The Clippers will pay Montrezl Harrell $6MM in each season of his two-year, $12MM deal (Twitter link).
  • Celtics guard Marcus Smart has a base salary of $11.16MM in the first year of his new deal, but $500K of likely incentives place the cap hit at $11.66MM. The incentives remain in effect for each season of his four-year contract.
Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0

Contract Details: CP3, MCW, Nurkic, Anderson

July 10th, 2018 at 9:41am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets‘ four-year max deal for Chris Paul includes a player option in year four, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). While that added detail on CP3’s new agreement with Houston is interesting, the possibility of an opt-out probably won’t be a factor in 2021 when a decision is due. Paul will be 36 years old when he has to decide on that $44MM+ option, so he seems unlikely to turn it down.

Pincus has several more specific details on recently-signed contracts, so let’s round them up…

  • Michael Carter-Williams‘ one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Rockets isn’t fully guaranteed. The deal, worth $1,757,429 in total, has a $1.2MM partial guarantee for now (Twitter link).
  • The Trail Blazers‘ agreement with Jusuf Nurkic can be worth up to $54MM, but has a base value of $48MM, with $6MM in unlikely incentives. The fourth and final year is also currently only partially guaranteed for $4MM (Twitter link).
  • Kyle Anderson‘s new four-year contract with the Grizzlies features a 15% trade kicker (Twitter link).
  • Bruce Brown (Pistons) and Keita Bates-Diop (Timberwolves) got three-year, minimum-salary deals with two guaranteed seasons from their respective teams (Twitter link).
  • Of the two-way contracts signed so far this offseason, Billy Preston‘s deal with the Cavaliers is the only one confirmed to be for two years rather than just one (Twitter link).
Retweet 3 Share 0 Send via email0

Cavs Sign Billy Preston To Two-Way Contract

July 6th, 2018 at 9:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers have signed power forward Billy Preston to a two-way contract, Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets.

The 6’10” Preston did not play college basketball last season. The McDonald’s All-American committed to Kansas but was the subject of an NCAA investigation into his eligibility. He wound up signing with a Bosnian team but only played three games there due to a shoulder injury.

Preston went undrafted before agreeing to join the Cavs’ summer-league team. He’ll fill one of Cleveland’s two-way slots, with John Holland currently penciled in for the other.

Retweet 6 Share 0 Send via email0

Draft Updates: Musa, Knox, Williams, Sixers

June 17th, 2018 at 12:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Nets may be willing to package their picks to move up for Bosnia’s Dzanan Musa, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The 19-year-old small forward has spent the past week visiting teams that might be willing to use a first-round selection on him. The Nets hold the 29th pick, but may have to give up their second-rounders at 40 and 45 to get into Musa’s range.

Musa has two years remaining on his contract with KK Cedevita in the EuroLeague, but he plans to come to the NBA next season.

“I want to compete at the highest level and to compete with the best players in the world,” Musa said in an interview with CBS Sports affiliate 1430-AM in Indianapolis. “[My strength is] scoring: shooting, midrange floaters, to the rim. … I just want to get picked by the team who sees me as a project. But I think I’m a lottery pick for sure.”

There’s more draft-related news to pass along:

Retweet 1 Share 0 Send via email0

Draft Workouts: Sexton, Hornets, Lakers, Wizards

June 13th, 2018 at 2:43pm CST by Luke Adams

Alabama point guard Collin Sexton will headline the Hornets‘ pre-draft workouts on Thursday, according to a press release from the team. Sexton’s stock is high enough that he’s a decent bet to come off the board within the first 10 picks of next week’s draft, but if he slips to No. 11, Charlotte would face an interesting decision — drafting Sexton would almost certainly increase the trade buzz surrounding the team’s current standout point guard Kemba Walker.

In addition to Sexton and previously-reported participant Zhaire Smith, Josh Newkirk (Indiana), Matt Mobley (St. Bonaventure), Deng Adel (Louisville), Gary Clark (Cincinnati), and Devon Hall (Virginia) will also get a look from the Hornets on Thursday.

Here are more updates on pre-draft workouts from around the NBA:

Retweet 6 Share 0 Send via email0

Draft Notes: R. Williams, Nuggets, Clips, Wizards

June 13th, 2018 at 11:18am CST by Luke Adams

Texas A&M center Robert Williams, who previously worked out for the Bulls, Hornets, and Knicks, continues to earn looks from teams picking in the top half of the first round. According to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News (Twitter link), Williams still has workouts on tap with the Clippers, Nuggets, Wizards, who hold the picks from 12 through 15.

Williams’ session with the Nuggets will take place today, according to a press release from the club. In addition to scheduling an individual session with Williams, Denver has also lined up a group workout which will feature Hayden Dalton (Wyoming), Jacob Evans (Cincinnati), Arnoldas Kulboka (Capo d’Orlando), Dzanan Musa (Cedevita), Ajdin Penava (Marshall), and Johnathan Williams (Gonzaga).

Meanwhile, the Bucks – who hold the No. 17 selection – also wanted to bring in Williams for a workout, but he expects to be off the board before Milwaukee picks and has passed on the team’s invitation, per Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times. According to Woelfel, Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith, another good bet to be drafted in the top 16, also won’t work out for the Bucks.

Here’s more on the 2018 NBA draft:

Retweet 1 Share 0 Send via email0

Draft Notes: Sixers, Z. Smith, Pacers, Suns, Wolves

June 12th, 2018 at 2:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers‘ previously-reported workout with Villanova wing Mikal Bridges is taking place today, but Bridges isn’t the only prospect in town to get a look from the club. According to a press release, the 76ers also hosted a group workout today, with Marcus Derrickson (Georgetown), Marcus Foster (Creighton), Donte Ingram (Loyola Chicago), Nick King (Middle Tennessee State), MiKyle McIntosh), and Zhaire Smith (Texas Tech) taking part.

Speaking of Smith, his busy workout schedule will continue, with an audition for the Hornets still on tap, as Jessica Camerato of NBC Sports Philadelphia tweets. We previously heard that Smith also has a workout lined up with Phoenix.

Let’s round up a few more draft-related notes…

Retweet 4 Share 0 Send via email0
Load More Posts