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Draft Notes: Whitney, Scouting, Bruner, Mock Draft

April 10th, 2020 at 7:34pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Freshman forward Kahlil Whitney, who dropped out of Kentucky in January, has declared for the draft and will hire an agent, Jonathan Givony of ESPN reports. Whitney’s stock has taken a major hit since he arrived at Kentucky. He was the No. 12 recruit in the 2019 ESPN 100, but he struggled to keep his spot in the Wildcats’ rotation, averaging 3.3 PPG and 1.7 RPG in 12.8 MPG. He appeared in 18 games before dropping out of school. The 6’7” Whitney is ranked as the No. 80 NBA draft prospect in ESPN’s top 100 for the 2020 draft.

We have more draft-related news:

  • The limitations for scouting prospects due to the pandemic has some executives worried about their evaluations, Keith Smith of NBC Sports reports. For the time being, they can only look at film. As the process moves along, they can conduct virtual meetings with prospects but workouts, and even watching live workouts remotely, are prohibited. There are other concerns as well. “If there are medical red flags, it can take a guy right off our draft board,” an Eastern Conference GM told Smith. “Now, we have to trust what we get from the agent, and there’s different motivation there. Then we, of course, want to see the guy work out.”
  • Jordan Bruner has apparently opted to change schools rather than enter the draft pool. The former Yale forward is transferring to Alabama, Tyler DeLuca of Sooner Sportspad tweets. An earlier report suggested that Bruner, who has one year of eligibility remaining, would enter the draft.
  • The latest ESPN mock draft has the Warriors selecting Georgia guard Anthony Edwards with the No. 1 overall pick. Edwards is ranked No. 1 on ESPN’s best available list. The mock draft, conducted by Givony and Mike Schmitz, has the Cavaliers selecting center James Wiseman with the No. 2 pick and the Hawks taking Auburn swingman Isaac Okoro at No. 3.
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Draft Notes: Logistics, Medicals, Mock Draft, More

March 19th, 2020 at 12:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Even before the COVID-19 situation, the 2020 NBA draft was viewed as a confusing one, given how many of this year’s top prospects – including LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman, and RJ Hampton – had their seasons cut short by injuries or eligibility issues. Before going down with injuries, Ball and Hampton were playing on the other side of the world in Australia’s National Basketball League, limiting scouting opportunities for NBA teams.

Now, given the league’s hiatus and its shrinking list of pre-draft events, decision-makers are expecting to have to do their scouting almost exclusively via film, as Ethan Strauss of The Athletic details. Some executives, such as Warriors GM Bob Myers, are still hoping for the opportunity to meet prospects face-to-face, but are unsure whether that will be possible.

“Are we allowed to talk to them in person? That’s a huge part of hiring anybody, which is what a draft pick is; you’re hiring somebody into your company,” Myers said this week. “We’d like to be able to look at them and talk to them and we’d like to see them up close.”

The draft combine typically provides teams with an opportunity to meet dozens prospects in the span of a few days. However, as Strauss notes, even though this May’s combine hasn’t yet been postponed or canceled, few people expect it to happen. It’s also not clear when exactly the draft, currently scheduled for June 25, will take place if the NBA aims to resume its 2019/20 season in the spring or summer.

Here’s more on an uncertain 2020 draft:

  • Although teams are getting used to the idea of relying on digital scouting and conducting meetings through video apps like FaceTime or Zoom, executives are wondering how prospects will go through medical checks they’d usually undergo at the combine, writes Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. One team staffer conveyed a similar concern to Strauss: “What the league has to do is at least get the medical records. Everything else is optional.”
  • Jeremy Woo of SI.com takes his own look at the scheduling and logistical issues surrounding this year’s draft and digs into how the unusual circumstances may affect the decisions being made by potential early entrants.
  • Sam Vecenie of The Athletic has published an updated version of his mock draft, with Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Deni Avdija, James Wiseman, and Obi Toppin coming off the board first, in that order.
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And-Ones: P. Gasol, Player Options, 2020 Draft

February 28th, 2020 at 3:11pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran big man Pau Gasol suggested earlier this month that he hopes to get healthy in time to represent Spain in the 2020 Olympics, and that he hasn’t given up on the possibility of an NBA comeback. Gasol, who will turn 40 in July, recently reiterated that point to Spain’s Agencia Efe, as relayed by Eurohoops.

“I understand that sooner or later, whether this summer, next season or another, my retirement is inevitable,” Gasol said. “I hope that the foot recovers so that it can allow me to play a little more. We will see how much more. Enjoy one last season.”

Gasol’s foot issues limited him to 30 games in 2018/19 and sidelined him altogether in 2019/20 before he was waived by Portland. At this point, a return to the NBA seems unlikely, but it would be great to see Gasol get healthy and get a farewell season in 2020/21.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype takes an early look at this summer’s player option decisions, projecting which players are locks to opt in or out, and which decisions will end up being a little trickier. Gozlan singles out Mike Conley, Andre Drummond, and DeMar DeRozan as complicated cases, since they won’t match their 2020/21 option salaries if they opt out, but they could earn more total money on new multiyear deals.
  • Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Insider link) takes a look at some draft-related storylines to watch over the next month in the NCAA, including the final games of Anthony Edwards‘ college career, Isaac Okoro‘s draft stock, and the logjam of first-round point guard prospects.
  • Speaking of Edwards, the Georgia guard remains atop Sam Vecenie’s 2020 draft big board at The Athletic. LaMelo Ball, Deni Avdija, James Wiseman, and Killian Hayes round out Vecenie’s top five.
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And-Ones: Buford, Wiseman, Okafor, Bibby

February 24th, 2020 at 9:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Wisconsin Herd coach Chase Buford has been suspended two games without pay for a direct and extended public attack on the integrity and credibility of the game officials, according to a league press release. Among other comments, Buford called one of the officials a “clown” after his team, the Bucks’ G League affiliate, got outscored 48-20 in the fourth quarter and lost 126-117 to the Grand Rapids Drive on Sunday. Buford subsequently apologized for his tirade.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Projected lottery pick James Wiseman felt he was treated unfairly by the NCAA before he decided to leave Memphis during his freshman season, as he told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. He left the Tigers during a 12-game suspension for rules violations. His family accepted $11,500 in moving expenses in 2017 from Penny Hardaway, who became the team’s coach a year later. “I was really in the middle of a hurricane,” Wiseman said. “That’s like the worst place you could possibly be.” Wiseman is currently rated No. 3 on ESPN’s Best Available list.
  • Pelicans center Jahlil Okafor has agreed to play for Nigeria in this year’s Tokyo Olympics, Marc Spears of The Undefeated tweets. The team will be coached by Warriors assistant Mike Brown. Okafor’s grandfather Chicko was born in Nigeria.
  • Mike Bibby will coach the Aliens in the BIG3 this season, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. The former Kings guard was the Ghost Ballers’ team captain last season.
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And-Ones: Mock Draft, Maker, G League Union, Bethea Jr.

February 17th, 2020 at 10:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Georgia guard Anthony Edwards heads to Cleveland in the latest mock draft compiled by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. Former Memphis center James Wiseman (Golden State), Auburn swingman Isaac Okoro (Atlanta), guard LaMelo Ball (New York) and Israeli swingman Deni Avdija (Charlotte) round out the top five. USC big man Onyeka Okongwu has firmly moved into the top 10 after a couple of big performances against top competition and Givony has him going to Detroit at No. 7.

We have more from the basketball world:

  • Makur Maker has been declared eligible for this year’s draft, Evan Daniels of 247Sports reports. The 6’11” Maker is a five-star recruit currently at Hillcrest Academy in Phoenix but he doesn’t plan to play any more games there, Daniels continues. The question about his eligibility stemmed from not receiving his diploma following his senior year of high school. Maker plans to play in the Iverson Classic All-Star game and the Nike Hoop Summit, Daniels adds.
  • NBA players have voted to support the formation of a union for G League players, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. The vote was held at the NBPA meeting on Monday. Formal approval at the G League level will have to take place before the union can be formed (Twitter links).
  • Raptors 905 guard Michael Bethea Jr. is the subject of a feature story by The Athletic’s Blake Murphy on the life of a G League player.
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And-Ones: 2020 Mock Drafts, Stauskas, Deng, CBA

February 13th, 2020 at 9:39pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Georgia freshman guard Anthony Edwards has topped a new mock 2020 NBA draft from Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo. Guard LaMelo Ball of Australia’s Illawarra Hawks and Auburn small forward Isaac Okoro round out Woo’s top three.

The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie has also cooked up a new, post-trade deadline 2020 mock NBA draft. Though Vecenie notes that most NBA front offices believe this could be the weakest draft in several years, he notes that several players with high ceilings could be sleeper picks later in the draft.

Edwards (No. 1) and Ball (No. 3) make Vecenie’s top three as well, but sandwiched between them is James Wiseman. The 7’1″ freshman Memphis center played just three games for the Tigers before ultimately leaving the team to prepare for the draft after incurring a 12-game suspension.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Former NBA shooting guard Nik Stauskas has departed EuroLeague squad Baskonia following a season-ending knee surgery, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia and Alessandro Maggi. The 26-year-old Stauskas averaged 9 points a night in Euroleague play this season. Drafted No. 8 by Sacramento out of Michigan in 2014, Stauskas also enjoyed NBA stints in Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Cleveland.
  • The recently retired Luol Deng, a two-time All-Star with the Bulls, has been named a global ambassador for the Basketball Africa League, per ESPN. “I look forward to following some of the top African club teams when the inaugural season gets underway next month and supporting the BAL in expanding its footprint around the world,” the Sudanese-born Deng said in a statement. Deng, a 6’9″ defensive-oriented forward, logged 16 seasons in the NBA.
  • The Chinese Basketball Association will restart play on April 1, after play was suspended due to the coronavirus epidemic, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. It remains unclear if the CBA will run later than usual or merely have a condensed season.
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And-Ones: 2020 Draft, Giannis, Curry, Silver

January 10th, 2020 at 11:22am CST by Luke Adams

The 2019 NBA draft, like many in recent years, had an obvious hierarchy at the top, with No. 1 prospect Zion Williamson followed by clear top-tier options like Ja Morant and RJ Barrett. However, things don’t project to be quite so simple in 2020, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link), who suggests that the this year’s draft might be the weirdest one in years.

As Givony explains, James Wiseman‘s departure from the University of Memphis, Anthony Edwards‘ inconsistency at Georgia, and a handful of unknowns surrounding LaMelo Ball have ensured there’s no clear-cut favorite to be the No. 1 pick in June. Wiseman’s absence, along with injuries to Ball, Cole Anthony, and R.J. Hampton, have also resulted in a dearth of opportunities for evaluators to scout many of this year’s top prospects.

With so much uncertainty about the top of the 2020 class, a chaotic draft night is possible, according to Givony, who thinks teams might have big boards that look very different.

Despite Givony’s assertions, there seems to be at least a rough consensus among experts on the top of the draft order for now. In their latest mock drafts, Givony and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic each have Edwards, Wiseman, and Ball going 1-2-3, in that order. The two mock drafts do diverge significantly from there, however.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • After his postgame conversation with Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo on Wednesday went viral, Warriors Stephen Curry claimed to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (video link) that he wasn’t talking to Giannis about teaming up in Golden State in the future — he was giving him his gamer tag for the online game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. “Don’t shoot the messenger,” Haynes said, perhaps recognizing that some fans will find Curry’s explanation dubious.
  • Former NBA first-round pick Jared Cunningham, who had been playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League, has opted to return to China and sign with the Shanghai Sharks, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Cunningham, who has appeared in 84 regular season NBA games, played in the Chinese Basketball Association for Jiangsu in 2016/17.
  • Ethan Strauss of The Athletic identifies five issues facing commissioner Adam Silver in the coming years, including the NBA’s next TV rights deal and the league’s delicate relationship with China.
  • The National Basketball Players Association is creating an accelerator program to help current and former players invest in and create startup companies. Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg has the story and the details.
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And-Ones: I. Taylor, Wiseman, Draft, World Peace

December 30th, 2019 at 11:16am CST by Luke Adams

Free agent guard Isaiah Taylor was one of the Raptors’ final cuts this fall, having been waived just two days before the regular season began in order to create room on the roster for the team to retain Malcolm Miller. Now, Taylor is headed to the G League, where he has joined the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets‘ NBAGL affiliate, a source tells JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link).

Taylor, who received a $50K guarantee from Toronto on his training camp deal, has logged 71 regular season NBA games. Most of those came in 2017/18, when he appeared in 67 contests with the Hawks, but the other four occurred in 2016/17 with the Rockets. Taylor has previously signed multiple NBA contracts with Houston and has spent time with the Vipers, so he’ll be re-entering a familiar environment as he looks to play his way back to the NBA.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • James Wiseman, a candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, has officially left the University of Memphis and signed with Excel Sports for representation, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). Woj notes that the seven-footer met with several agents before deciding on Excel.
  • Speaking of the 2020 draft, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic recently shared some of the draft-related tidbits he heard of this month’s G League Showcase. According to Vecenie, draft evaluators are split over who should be the top pick — Anthony Edwards was mentioned most, but Wiseman and LaMelo Ball also have backers.
  • According to a report out of Puerto Rico relayed by Alessandro Maggi of Sportando, Puerto Rico’s new Mets de Guaynabo expansion team was interested in Metta World Peace as its head coach, but the former NBA forward declined an offer.
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And-Ones: Wiseman, Schwartz, Andrews, Hall Of Fame

December 20th, 2019 at 7:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

It’s unlikely that James Wiseman will fall below the top five in the June draft, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reports. The freshman center decided to leave Memphis on Thursday and sign with an agent to prepare for the draft.

Wiseman could have solidified his draft stock had he finished the college season on a high note after his 12-game NCAA suspension ended. However, he could have also slipped some if the Tigers had started losing games with Wiseman in the lineup. Givony continues. The lack of quality big men in a draft and the need of several lottery teams to add an impact big man could also help him, Givony adds.

We have more from around the basketball world:

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James Wiseman Leaves Memphis, Will Prepare For Draft

December 19th, 2019 at 1:57pm CST by Luke Adams

James Wiseman, a contender to be the No. 1 overall pick next spring, has left the University of Memphis and will begin preparing for the 2020 NBA draft, he announced today on Instagram. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), Wiseman began informing Memphis coaches in recent days about his decision to leave the school and hire an agent.

“This was not how I expected my freshman season to be, but I’m thankful for everyone who has supported my family and me throughout this process,” Wiseman said in his statement.

Wiseman, who appeared in three early-season games for Memphis, had been serving a 12-game suspension issued by the NCAA as a result of recruiting violations. Had he remained with the Tigers, he would have been eligible to return to action on January 12 vs. South Florida. Instead, his college career is already over.

In those three games as a Tiger, Wiseman was dominant, averaging 19.7 PPG, 10.7 RPG, and 3.0 BPG with a .769 FG% in just 23.0 minutes per contest. He currently ranks as the No. 3 player on ESPN’s big board, with Jonathan Givony praising his athleticism and soft touch around the rim, along with his ability to protect the rim and make switches on defense.

Wiseman’s decision represents the latest wrench thrown into the plans of NBA evaluators and scouts who were hoping to get an extended look at 2020’s top prospects this winter. Projected top-10 picks LaMelo Ball (foot), R.J. Hampton (hip), and Cole Anthony (knee) are all currently sidelined with injuries.

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