Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Caleb Love

Mark Sears, Michael Ajayi Headline Latest NBA Draft Withdrawals

May 29th, 2024 at 7:48pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Alabama’s Mark Sears is withdrawing from the 2024 NBA draft and will return to play for the Crimson Tide after helping his team reach the Final Four this past season, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reports (Twitter link).

Coming in at No. 80 on ESPN’s best-available board, Sears was a second-team All-American and a first-team All-SEC selection in 2023/24. The 6’1″ guard averaged 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game while shooting 50.8% from the field, 43.6% from three and 85.7% from the free-throw line.

“I got good feedback from the NBA,” Sears said, per Givony. “But I can still get better in a few areas. I want to show I am a dog on defense next season, continue to bring vocal leadership, and work on my body and get into better shape. NIL has changed basketball and NBA teams told me that age isn’t a factor in today’s game, so I was comfortable coming back to try and bring home a national championship to Alabama.”

Michael Ajayi, who is transferring from Pepperdine to Gonzaga, also withdrew from the draft, according to Givony (Twitter link). The 6’7″ guard averaged 17.2 points and 9.9 rebounds while shooting 47.0% from beyond the arc. He made the All-WCC First Team in his first year with Pepperdine.

Ajayi is ranked No. 75 on ESPN’s big board and, according to Givony, he’ll be “closely monitored” as a senior after earning some fans during the pre-draft process.

Both Sears and Ajayi participated in the 2024 NBA Combine.

Here are more of the latest draft decisions from early entrants ahead of the tonight’s NCAA withdrawal deadline:

Withdrawing from the draft:

  • Ole Miss guard Matthew Murrell is returning to the Rebels for his super-senior season after averaging 16.2 points last season, per CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein (Twitter link). Murrell is No. 77 on ESPN’s board.
  • Wooga Poplar, who is transferring from Miami, is returning to school. He’s visiting Oregon next week, according to Rothstein (Twitter link). Poplar averaged 13.1 points and 4.8 rebounds in his junior season after helping Miami reach the Final Four in 2023.
  • Princeton guard Xaivian Lee is returning to school for his junior season, per Givony (Twitter link). Lee averaged 17.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game en route to a First-Team All-Ivy League nod.
  • Former Campbell guard Anthony Dell’Orso is transferring to Arizona for his junior season, according to Givony (Twitter link). He averaged 19.5 points per contest and shot 38.0% from three.
  • Malik Dia is transferring from Belmont to Ole Miss for his junior season (Twitter link via Rothstein). He averaged 16.9 points and 5.8 rebounds last season after starting his collegiate career at Vanderbilt.
  • Jalon Moore is returning to Oklahoma for his senior season (Twitter link via Rothstein). Moore began his career at Georgia Tech before joining the Sooners in his junior season.
  • In case you missed it, Arizona guard Caleb Love is withdrawing from the draft for his super-senior season with the Wildcats.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Northwest Notes: Conley, Blazers, Nuggets, Thunder

May 29th, 2024 at 6:18pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Seventeen-year NBA veteran and Timberwolves guard Mike Conley is the closest he’s ever been to the NBA Finals after winning Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, Andscape’s Marc J. Spears writes. The Wolves went down 3-0 to Dallas but held off elimination on Tuesday night with a 105-100 victory.

“This is the biggest game I’ve had in my career,” Conley said after Game 4. “The next game is the biggest game I’ve had in my career. It’s the biggest win. Honestly, it is. If you look at the board and see the seven up there, that is how many games we have left to win. That is how many we are away from a ring.”

On a roster with an average age under 27 years old and with a franchise star (Anthony Edwards) who was six years old when Conley entered the league, the point guard is the veteran presence who has played a key role in getting this team this deep into the postseason. Conley, whom head coach Chris Finch says “means everything” to the club, is averaging 11.9 points and 6.0 assists through 14 playoff games this season.

Conley also made the Western Conference Finals in 2013 with Memphis, but he and his team were swept by San Antonio. Tuesday’s win was his first career conference finals win. While Dallas holds a commanding 3-1 lead, Minnesota’s players and coaches continue exude confidence, Spears writes.

“It’s one game. Game 5 is Game 7,” Conley said. “This is all we got. Keep our mentality like that. Don’t look at the circus that surrounds us and all the stuff you been hearing. Keep the faith more than anything. The testament with the guys tonight is that we truly didn’t believe this was our last game … This doesn’t come around very often. So, when you get this chance, give everything you got. Don’t be afraid to fail.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

  • The Trail Blazers hosted Louisiana Tech’s Isaiah Crawford, UConn’s Alex Karaban, Arizona’s Caleb Love, Boston College’s Quinten Post, Indiana’s Kel’el Ware and Tyler Smith of the G League Ignite for a pre-draft workout on Tuesday, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Twitter link). Portland holds picks Nos. 7, 14, 34 and 40. Since the time of the workout, Karaban withdrew from the draft and CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reports Love is doing the same (Twitter link). Of the players listed, Ware is the highest ranked on ESPN’s best available list (No. 25).
  • Speculating how the Trail Blazers will manage having four picks in this year’s class, Highkin observes in a mailbag (Substack link) that Portland has 14 players on guaranteed contracts next season. If the Blazers do use most or all of their picks, that would likely mean some combination of Malcolm Brogdon, Jerami Grant, Robert Williams III, Matisse Thybulle and Anfernee Simons are out the door, or at the very least, being shopped, Highkin writes. Highkin explains that recent Blazers second-rounders (Rayan Rupert, Jabari Walker) have earned standard contracts, complicating matters at picks 34 and 40. As for likely targets at No. 7, Cody Williams and Tidjane Salaun could be in play, according to Highkin. In the second part of his mailbag (Substack link), he further breaks down what the Blazers will do with their veterans this offseason.
  • The Nuggets don’t have much money to spend on outside free agents this offseason and may be limited to minimum-salary players. Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports analyzes 10 potential low-cost free agents who could make sense in Denver, including Utah’s Kris Dunn, Los Angeles’s Mason Plumlee and Philadelphia’s Kyle Lowry.
  • Thunder general manager Sam Presti emphasized during his end-of-season press conference that he’s focused on building around what he already has. This season showed Oklahoma City’s roster needs additional time to continue to grow more than it needs outside moves, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman writes. Presti also said he doesn’t regret not being more aggressive at the deadline and is pleased with where the roster stands. “I know this is not going to go over well for people,” Presti said “But what we have is an appearance … We have shown up to the postseason. We’ll arrive if we can replicate that. Because there’s a lot of teams that have gotten to the playoffs for one year and then they, for whatever reasons, may not be able to get back there. So the way I would look at that is you can either pick the lock or you can crack the code. Picking the lock, you’re stealing it. Cracking the code, you own it.“
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

44 Prospects Invited To G League Elite Camp

May 4th, 2024 at 11:57am CST by Tristan Tucker

Forty-four prospects for the 2024 NBA draft were invited to the NBA’s G League Elite Camp, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter link).

The list of players is as follows:

The field of draft prospects scrimmage for two days in Chicago starting on May 11 ahead of the NBA’s annual draft combine. If players perform well enough, they’re often promoted to the larger combine immediately following the G League Elite Camp. Typically, at least a half dozen players move on.

While the combine usually focuses on the top-ranked players in each draft class, the G League Elite Camp offers opportunity to prospects further down boards who are more likely to go undrafted. Of the 44 names invited to the G League Elite Camp, only 16 rank among ESPN’s top 100 prospects. No prospect ranks higher than No. 48 (Onyenso) on ESPN’s board.

Nine of ESPN’s top 100 prospects have not been invited to Chicago for either event: Armel Traore (France), Zacharie Perrin (France), Andrija Jelavic (Croatia), Yannick Kraag (Netherlands), Tre Mitchell (Kentucky), Ilias Kamardine (France), Dylan Disu (Texas), Riley Minix (Morehead State) and Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee). According to Givony (Twitter link), the NBA might not announce the official list until Monday, so there’s a chance it’s amended.

The G League Elite Camp will give invitees who declared for the draft as early entrants an opportunity to see where they stand ahead of the draft withdrawal deadline on May 29. Not all of the players who participate in this event will remain in the draft pool.

Last year, future NBA players like Hornets forward Leaky Black, Pistons forward Tosan Evbuomwan, Mavericks forward Alex Fudge, Celtics guard Drew Peterson and Nets guard Jaylen Martin all participated in the event. Other recent notable alums of the event include Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado and Clippers guard Terance Mann.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

NBA Adds Six More Names To Draft’s Early Entrant List

May 2nd, 2024 at 5:30am CST by Luke Adams

After announcing on Tuesday that 195 prospects had declared for the 2024 NBA draft as early entrants, the league added six more names to that list on Wednesday, bringing the total number of early entrants to 201 (Twitter link).

The following players also entered the draft prior to last Saturday’s deadline, per the NBA:

Most of those players had been previously reported as early entrants or announced that they intended to enter the draft, then didn’t show up on the NBA’s initial list on Tuesday. Jonathan Givony of ESPN indicated (via Twitter) that a “miscommunication or mishap” at the league office appears to have resulted in them being initially omitted.

[RELATED: 2024 NBA Draft Early Entrants List]

Of the six (re-)additions to the early entrant list, Onyenso is the only one known to be committing forgoing his remaining NCAA eligibility, per an earlier report from Givony. Some others may end up going pro, but they’re believed to be preserving their college eligibility for now — or their intentions haven’t been reported.

College players have until May 29 to make a decision on whether or not to keep their names in the draft pool or return to school, while international early entrants – or college players not concerned about retaining their NCAA eligibility – face a June 16 withdrawal deadline.

Here are a couple more updates on the 2024 NBA draft pool:

  • Former Florida Atlantic guard Johnell Davis is testing the draft waters and his preference is to go pro, but if he doesn’t like the feedback he gets during the pre-draft process, he has a lucrative fallback option, according to Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 (via Twitter). Davis has committed to Arkansas and will be in line for an NIL deal worth more than $1MM if he opts to use his final year of college eligibility, says Goodman.
  • Creighton big man Ryan Kalkbrenner – who was the No. 52 prospect on ESPN’s big board, according to Givony (Twitter link) – announced on Wednesday (via Twitter) that he plans to return to the Bluejays for his super-senior season. The standout center, who averaged 17.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game in 2023/24, has a chance to win a fourth consecutive Big East Defensive Player of the Year award, Givony notes.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

NBA Announces Initial Early Entrant List For 2024 Draft

April 30th, 2024 at 12:32pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially released the initial list of early entrants for the 2024 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 195 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 138 are from colleges, 43 had been playing for teams internationally, and 14 were playing non-college ball stateside (ie. the G League or Overtime Elite).

While that early entrant total obviously far exceeds the number of players who will be selected in this year’s draft (58), it’s down significantly from the figures we’ve seen in recent years. A record 353 early entrants initially declared for the draft in 2021, but that number dropped to 283 in 2022 and 242 a year ago. The NCAA’s NIL policy, which allows college athletes to be paid based on their name, image, and likeness, has presumably been a major factor in that trend.

This year’s total of 195 early entrants figures to decline significantly by May 29 and again by June 16, the two deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. But it’s still likely that the eventual number of early entrants will exceed 58 players. That group will join the college seniors with no remaining eligibility and other automatically eligible players in this year’s draft pool.

Our tracker of early entrants for the 2024 draft is fully up to date and can be found right here.

Here are the changes we made to our tracker today:

Newly added players

College players:

These players either didn’t publicly announce that they were entering the draft or we simply missed it when they did.

International players:

These players weren’t previously mentioned on our list of international early entrants. The country listed here indicates where they last played, not necessarily where they were born.

Other players:

  • Abdullah Ahmed, C, Westchester Knicks (born 2003)
  • Somto Cyril, C, Overtime Elite (born 2005)
  • Reynan Dos Santos, G, Overtime Elite (born 2004)
  • Djordjije Jovanovic, F, Ontario Clippers (born 2003)
  • Jalen Lewis, F/C, Overtime Elite (born 2005)
  • Malique Lewis, F, Mexico City Capitanes (born 2004)
  • Babacar Sane, F, G League Ignite (born 2003)

Players removed

Despite reports or announcements that the players below would declare for the draft, they didn’t show up on the NBA’s official list.

That could mean a number of things — they may have decided against entering the draft; they may have entered the draft, then withdrawn; they may have had no NCAA eligibility remaining, making them automatically draft-eligible; they may have incorrectly filed their paperwork; or the NBA may have accidentally omitted some names.

It seems that last possibility is a real one, as Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets that a “miscommunication or mishap’ at the league office may result in a dozen or more additional names being added to the NBA’s early entrant list.

We’ve still removed the following names from our early entrant list for the time being, but it sounds like some could be re-added soon.

Note: Some of these players may also be transferring to new schools.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Draft Notes: Mitchell, Love, Jackson, Blums, Bowman

April 16th, 2024 at 7:23pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Junior guard Ajay Mitchell, a projected second-round pick, is declaring for the draft, agent Todd Ramasar tells ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter link). The 6’4″ UC Santa Barbara floor leader averaged 20.3 points and 4.3 assists while making 38% of his 3-point attempts this past season. He’s currently ranked No. 54 on ESPN’s Best Available list.

We have more draft-related news:

  • Arizona guard Caleb Love will enter the draft while maintaining his college eligibility, he revealed on a Twitter post. Love averaged 18.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists this past season. Love played three seasons for North Carolina and averaged 18.8 points during a 2022 NCAA Tournament run when the Tar Heels reached the title game.
  • Overtime Elite’s Jahzare Jackson is declaring for the draft, he announced on Instagram. The 6’11” center averaged 12.1 points and 7.5 rebounds for the developmental team.
  • VEF Riga combo guard Roberts Blums will declare for the draft, Jon Chepkevich tweets. Blums was the 2023 FIBA European U18B’s MVP. This season, he was named the Estonian-Latvian League’s Best Young Player.
  • American-born Malik Bowman, who is playing in Portugal, is also declaring for the draft, he announced on Instagram. Bowman, a power forward, has averaged 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds in 12 games for SC Lusitania.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0