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NBA Reveals Players Expected At 2023 Draft Combine

May 9th, 2023 at 6:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

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:

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Projected First-Rounder Maxwell Lewis Entering Draft

March 20th, 2023 at 4:35pm CST by Rory Maher

Pepperdine forward Maxwell Lewis plans to forgo his remaining college eligibility and enter the 2023 NBA Draft, he tells ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. After being named to the WCC All-Freshman team last season, Lewis improved his stock in 2022/23 by earning a spot on the All-WCC Second Team.

In 31 games (31.4 MPG) as a sophomore this season, Lewis averaged 17.1 PPG, 5.7 RPG and 2.8 APG on .468/.348/.787 shooting. The Waves went just 9-22, but he impressed scouts with his ability to create shots for himself and others, Givony writes. He’s currently projected to go No. 27 overall by ESPN.

“I never had the role I had at Pepperdine this season, just being able go at defenders one on one and in ball screens,” Lewis said. “I was in the corner in AAU and high school, shooting 3s and waiting for dump offs. Coach [Lorenzo] Romar gave me a lot of flexibility and trusted me. Having that role and be given that opportunity gave me the ability to do more. Also worker harder and being in the gym more than I ever have.”

According to Givony, the 6’7″ Lewis is a late bloomer, giving the impression that he still has plenty of untapped upside. Givony also provides some highlights of Lewis’ game for those who haven’t seen him play (Twitter video link).

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And-Ones: Darlan, Ignite, 2023 Draft, Vet Extensions, Team Canada

March 3rd, 2023 at 3:14pm CST by Luke Adams

The G League Ignite has secured another top prospect for the 2023/24 season. Thierry Darlan, a point guard from the NBA Academy Africa in Senegal, has committed to the Ignite, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

According to Givony, Darlan drew interest from NCAA schools like Arizona, Kansas, and Santa Clara, but has decided to compete in the G League rather than going the college route. Although the 19-year-old is technically eligible to enter the 2023 draft, per Givony, he’s expected to wait until 2024 to declare as an early entrant.

In his latest 2024 mock draft, Givony projected Darlan to be the No. 45 pick. The 6’7″ guard becomes the fourth prospect projected to be drafted in ’24 who will suit up for the Ignite next season, joining Babacar Sane (No. 24 in Givony’s mock), London Johnson (No. 31), and potential No. 1 pick Matas Buzelis.

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

  • In a pair of articles this week for Bleacher Report, Jonathan Wasserman shares a new two-round 2023 mock draft and received input from scouts on which college players’ stocks have risen and fallen the most in recent weeks. Gonzaga’s Julian Strawther and Santa Clara’s Brandin Podziemski are among the risers, while Pepperdine’s Maxwell Lewis and Oregon’s Kel’el Ware are a couple of the fallers.
  • Following up on a report from Shams Charania that indicated the new CBA could change the rules for veteran contract extensions, Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype explores why those modifications have been deemed necessary and considers which players could be most affected by the potential tweaks.
  • While Team USA is no longer requiring its stars to make multiyear commitments to the program, the Canadian national team secured three-year commitments from stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray and appears well positioned to send a competitive squad to this year’s World Cup and perhaps next year’s Olympics, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
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And-Ones: G League Ignite, Henderson, Wembanyama, Thornwell

December 27th, 2022 at 2:08pm CST by Luke Adams

After attending the G League’s Winter Showcase in Las Vegas last week, John Hollinger of The Athletic came away curious about the long-term future of the G League Ignite.

A handful of top prospects – like Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga, and Dyson Daniels – have played for the Ignite before entering the NBA draft in recent years, and current Ignite guard Scoot Henderson may end up being the best of the bunch. But many of the prospects on the Ignite’s roster only project to be borderline NBA players, as Hollinger observes.

“Why are we paying almost half a million (dollars) for a two-way guy?” one league source said to Hollinger.

Even if the Ignite were attracting only elite prospects, people around the NBA have questioned why the league is paying significant salaries to develop prospects who would simply develop elsewhere if the Ignite didn’t exist, Hollinger writes. The Ignite aren’t playing in front of packed houses and haven’t become must-see television relative to college basketball, where NIL money has helped the NCAA maintain a recruiting edge.

Hollinger adds that most people he has spoken to don’t believe the Ignite are particularly well coached or well run, with prospects like Jaden Hardy looking much better once he left the program.

For what it’s worth, Henderson told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype that he thinks his year with the Ignite has been good for him and that it has helped him develop “as a person” in addition to helping him develop as a player.

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

  • ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link) has updated his 2023 mock draft and provided fresh scouting reports for a handful of his non-lottery prospects, including UCF’s Taylor Hendricks, Ohio State’s Brice Sensabaugh, and Pepperdine’s Maxwell Lewis.
  • According to Givony, a number of NBA executives who attended last week’s G League Winter Showcase said they wouldn’t be surprised if Scoot Henderson, who is out with a nasal fracture, doesn’t play another game this season, since his spot near the top of the 2023 draft is already assured. However, Givony says G League Ignite officials “emphatically” shot down that line of thinking and said Henderson should be back on the court relatively soon.
  • Henderson is the consensus No. 2 prospect in the 2023 class behind Victor Wembanyama, who continues to impress fans and evaluators with his two-way talent. The young French star racked up 26 points and 18 rebounds for Metropolitans 92 in his last game of the calendar year on Monday (link via ESPN).
  • After signing in October with Frutti Extra Bursaspor, veteran guard Sindarius Thornwell has mutually parted ways with the Turkish team two months later, the club announced (via Twitter). Thornwell has appeared in 160 total NBA games, but hasn’t been in the league since 2020/21, when he played for New Orleans and Atlanta.
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