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And-Ones: NBA Draft, International Play, Oliver

November 19th, 2017 at 6:07pm CST by Austin Kent

The NBA Draft is seven months away but that doesn’t mean hoops writers can’t weigh in on what Sam Vecenie of The Athletic refers to as a year-round process. The scribe’s initial mock draft does a fine job weighing in on the biggest prospects on the draft radar while digging admirably deep for a comprehensive 60-pick projection.

Expected to fall in the No. 1 slot is the much-hyped Slovenian star, Luka Doncic. The Real Madrid swingman has shown a remarkable feel for the game at a young age and could make an impact for a team like the Bulls, who currently sit most likely to land that top spot come next June.

It’s after the first pick where Vecenie’s mock gets particularly interesting. The writer opts to put Arizona big man DeAndre Ayton in the No. 2 spot, ahead of the likes of Marvin Bagley III and Michael Porter Jr.

With analysis for each of the first 30 projections, the early look at the draft can’t be missed. Especially considering that he has college basketball’s biggest villain, Grayson Allen, falling directly into the laps of the world champion Warriors.

There’s more from around the league:

The number of fringe NBA players who opt to sign overseas in international leagues following NBA training camps has dropped precipitously. Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype writes that the trend can be attributed to a depressed European economy and the leaps and bounds that the G League has made over the course of the past 10 years.
The fifth edition of FIBA’s 3×3 World Cup will take place June 8-12, the governing body’s official site says. This year the competition will take place in the Philippines.
A Rockets training camp invitee has been picked up by the G League affiliate of the Bucks. Chris Reichert of 2 Ways, 10 Days tweets that the Wisconsin Herd have claimed Cameron Oliver off waivers.

Draft Notes: Fultz, Ball, Hutchison, 2018

April 11th, 2017 at 12:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks currently have the sixth-best odds in the NBA draft lottery, which would give them a modest 6.3% chance to land the first overall pick. Despite those fairly long odds, potential No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz has considered the possibility of playing for New York, and was in attendance on Sunday at Madison Square Garden to take a first-hand look at the team and its triangle system.

As Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News details, Fultz said it would be “amazing” to be drafted by the Knicks, and didn’t express any reservations about the triangle.

“I think I could play in any system,” Fultz said. “I’m very versatile, so it was cool to see that. It’s a lot of openings and stuff like that, so that’s why I came to see that in person.”

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

Former UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball is the biggest threat to Fultz for that No. 1 pick, but if he had to choose between being drafted first overall and being selected by the Lakers, Ball would opt for the Lakers, he recently told ESPN (video link). Ball also made the case for why clubs should draft him over Fultz, suggesting that he’s more capable of leading a team than the Washington point guard is.
Boise State’s Chandler Hutchison will enter his name in the 2017 NBA draft pool, but won’t hire an agent, according to an announcement from the school. “Our coaches have informed me that NBA teams are expressing interest, and I feel that I need to take advantage of the opportunity to be evaluated and find out where I truly stand,” Hutchison said in a statement. The junior shooting guard, who isn’t considered a top prospect by DraftExpress or ESPN, will have until May 24 to decide whether to withdraw his name and return to Boise State.
Much has been made of the strength of the 2017 draft class, but as Chad Ford of ESPN.com writes in an Insider-only piece, the 2018 class projects to have several elite prospects at the top too. However, it won’t be as deep as 2017’s class. “[The 2017] class was one of the most talented and deepest I’ve ever seen,” one NBA GM said. “[For 2018], I love three or four guys and that’s about it.” Michael Porter Jr. (Missouri), Luka Doncic (Real Madrid), and DeAndre Ayton (Arizona) are the three players at the top of Ford’s 2018 board.
Former Green Bay power forward Kerem Kanter, who was said to be testing the draft process before potentially graduating and transferring, has committed to Xavier, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. As such, the brother of Enes Kanter figures to postpone his pro career for another year.