Cason Wallace

NBA Reveals Players Expected At 2023 Draft Combine

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:

Southeast Notes: Isaac, Adebayo, Perry, Wizards’ Draft

Jonathan Isaac only appeared in 11 games this season but the Magic forward is optimistic he’ll be fully healthy by training camp, according to Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel. Isaac’s career has been marred by lower body injuries.

“This is really going to be the first summer I have to fully work,” he said. “Every other summer I’ve been rehabbing trying to get back onto the court. So I’ll hopefully in the next few weeks be a full go. And doing everything I need to do to have a healthy next season.”

Isaac’s contract for next season has a base salary of $17.6MM. It is partially guaranteed for $7.6MM before it becomes fully guaranteed on Jan. 10.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • Bam Adebayo racked up 17 points and 12 rebounds in Game 3 of the Heat’s playoff series against the Knicks and coach Erik Spoelstra said his impact went beyond the numbers, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald relays. Adebayo also hounded Julius Randle defensively, among other contributions. Spoelstra feels players who don’t put up big offensive numbers often get overlooked. “The average eye might not realize how dominant Bam’s game was to impact a win. He was dominant,” Spoelstra said. “And the shame of it is in today’s day and age, people only view that as dominant if you score 40 points or more or have some kind of gaudy stat line.”
  • The Wizards should seriously consider longtime NBA executive Scott Perry to be their next GM, Jerry Brewer of the Washington Post opines. The current Knicks GM is the type a multidimensional talent evaluator who could give the Wizards an identity, according to Brewer, who says Perry also has the skill set and personality to lead the organization.
  • What would the Wizards do if they wound up with the No. 10 pick in the draft for the second consecutive season? Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington explores that question using the RealGM draft simulator. The Wizards ended up with Kentucky point guard Cason Wallace in that simulation, which would fill their biggest need at a great value, Hughes notes.

Kentucky’s Cason Wallace Entering 2023 NBA Draft

Kentucky freshman guard Cason Wallace is entering the 2023 NBA draft and will forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

Wallace is the latest projected lottery pick to announce that he’s declaring for the draft and going pro, joining Brandon Miller, Jarace Walker, and Keyonte George, among others. Wallace is currently the No. 10 overall prospect in the 2023 draft class on Givony’s big board at ESPN.com.

Wallace’s numbers in 32 games as a freshman don’t necessarily jump off the page. He averaged 11.7 points, 4.3 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.0 steals in 32.2 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .446/.346/.757.

However, he finished the year strong, enjoying perhaps his best game of the season in the Wildcats’ second-round loss in the NCAA Tournament (21 points and nine rebounds on 9-of-11 shooting). He is also one of the best defenders in the draft, per Givony, and showed NBA evaluators a different aspect of his game when he assumed primary ball-handling duties following an injury to Kentucky point guard Sahvir Wheeler.

“Learning how to play the point guard position the whole game helped,” Wallace told ESPN. “It forced me to step up to another challenge in a new role.”

Wallace added that he’s intent on developing “each part” of his game further and intends to get “stronger, faster and quicker in the pre-draft process.”