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Nets Notes: Johnson, Bridges, Whitehead, Milutinov

June 24th, 2023 at 5:24pm CST by Arthur Hill

Cameron Johnson will be one of the top names on the free agent market, and long-time teammate Mikal Bridges is urging him to stay with the Nets, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

Johnson and Bridges have been together since Johnson was drafted in 2019 by Phoenix, where they were nicknamed “The Twins” because of their close friendship. They spent three and a half years as Suns teammates before both being shipped to Brooklyn in February as part of the Kevin Durant trade.

“I just know a lot of people probably want him on different teams,” Bridges said. “I just tell him, I’ll just be like ‘I know money and this and that, but just know where I want you. And you can’t leave your Twin!’ But he knows. He knows that I never want him to go. And I hope that he stays and they offer him a really good deal. Get my boy paid and go from there.”

Johnson will be a restricted free agent, so the Nets will be able to match any offer he receives, but they can’t talk to him about a new contract until the official start of free agency at 6 p.m. ET on Friday. General manager Sean Marks told Lewis on draft night that he’s hoping to reach an agreement with Johnson before he meets with any other teams.

“I think it’s one of those things that maybe … we should expect the unexpected,” Marks said. “Things happen all the time in this. We’ll be prepared for that. Cam knows how we feel about him. We hope he’s a Net and so we’ll just have to sort of play it all out. … I think we’ve got a nice young group and he can see how this group has a chance to do something special here and do something special in Brooklyn.”

There’s more from Brooklyn:

  • The Nets weren’t afraid to gamble on Dariq Whitehead with their 22nd pick, even though he underwent a second surgery on his right foot last month, per Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Whitehead was considered one of the top prospects in the nation heading into his freshman season at Duke, and the 18-year-old is confident that he can eventually get past his physical issues. “I think I can definitely get back to that guy who I was,” Whitehead said. “I feel like people definitely from last year, they tend to think that I’m not athletic, and that was due to me pretty much playing on one leg. But I feel like I can definitely show the athletic part, and then really my playmaking.” 
  • The Nets selected a pair of teenagers in the first round in Whitehead and Noah Clowney, but Marks said that’s not an indication that the team is focused on rebuilding rather than winning right away, relays Ian Beglay of SNY.tv.
  • Nikola Milutinov, whose draft rights the Nets acquired in a 2021 trade, has signed a two-year contract with Olympiacos, according to Dario Skerletic of Sportando. The 28-year-old center spent the past three seasons with CSKA Moscow.
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Draft Notes: Wembanyama, Coulibaly, Lewis, Clowney

June 18th, 2023 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Although Victor Wembanyama may be the best NBA draft prospect in 20 years, the Spurs understand that his body type carries a certain amount of injury risk, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. McDonald notes that foot injuries have interrupted or even ended the careers of numerous big men, such as Bill Walton, Yao Ming, Arvydas Sabonis and Greg Oden. The latest example is Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren, who suffered a foot fracture in an exhibition game last summer that forced him to miss his entire first season.

Wembanyama possesses an agility that has rarely been seen in someone so tall, and he has a team of advisors who have created a specialized training regimen to help him avoid stress injuries. Their prescription includes an all-natural diet with five meals each day, along with 10 hours of sleep.

“When you talk about a generational talent, it often times goes beyond your ability to make a shot or your ability to jump or put the ball on the floor,” Spurs general manager Brian Wright said. “As we’ve studied Victor, he’s very in depth with everything he does. It’s all those little details that go into becoming great.”

There’s more draft news to pass along:

  • Wembanyama is advocating for his French teammate, Bilal Coulibaly, to be selected in the lottery, relays NBA reporter Esfandiar Baraheni (Twitter link). “When I see the top 10 prospects announced at the draft, and for example the twins, Amen and Ausar Thompson, whose profile is similar to Bilal’s,” Wembanyama said, “I tell myself, very factually, that if these players are announced in the first five picks while playing in a league, Overtime Elite, whose level is light years away from what we experience here, then Bilal must be at least a top five.”
  • Pepperdine’s Maxwell Lewis, who worked out for the Trail Blazers on Thursday, views himself as a definite first-round pick, per Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. “In my opinion, after just being in this environment, I feel like I’m a top-20 guy,” Lewis said. “We’ll see. Sky’s the limit.”
  • Alabama’s Noah Clowney is the 20th player to receive a Green Room invitation for draft night, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link).
  • Washington State guard Justin Powell has upcoming workouts scheduled with the Rockets and Nets, tweets Adam Zagoria of NJ.com.
  • The Hornets are hosting six players on Sunday for a pre-draft workout (Twitter link). They are Kam’Ron Blue of Coppin State, GG Jackson of South Carolina, Terry Roberts of Georgia, Vincent Valerio-Bodon of Sopron KC, Jalen Wilson of Kansas and Isaiah Wong of Miami.
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Pacers Notes: Walker, Hendricks, Clowney, Jackson-Davis, Forwards

June 6th, 2023 at 9:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pacers hold the No. 7 pick in the lottery and they’ll host two high-level prospects for solo workouts on Wednesday. Houston Cougars forward Jarace Walker and UCF forward Taylor Hendricks will visit separately, the team’s PR department tweets (Twitter links). Walker is listed right at No. 7 on ESPN’s Best Available list; Hendricks sits at No. 9.

We have more on the Pacers:

  • Alabama’s Noah Clowney, who visited the Pacers in a six-player workout on Tuesday, said he can be a defensive force in the NBA, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star writes. “I can guard, but I want people to know I can guard multiple ways,” Clowney said. “I can contain people, but I can also push people a certain way, guard multiple people, guard multiple positions. … I’d imagine when I first start practicing, I’m going to struggle guarding smaller guys. … As far as protecting the rim, that doesn’t really change.” Clowney is ranked No. 20 by ESPN; the Pacers also own picks No. 26, No. 29, No. 32 and No. 55.
  • Marcus Bagley (Arizona State), Josh Bannan (Montana), Alex Gross (Morehead State), G.G. Jackson (South Carolina), and JT Shumate (Toledo) also visited the Pacers on Tuesday, according to a team press release.
  • Indiana University star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis visited on Monday and said he’s been working on his perimeter shooting, according to Dopirak. “I’ve been in Los Angeles working on my game, working on my 3-point shot,” Jackson-Davis said. “It’s something that I’ve showcased in these workouts. The hard work that I’ve put in is paying off. I’ve been able to shoot 3s and hit them in live settings and that’s something I’m going to have to do at the next level. … They’ve never seen me do it. No one could know if I could shoot the ball.” He’s ranked No. 28 by ESPN.
  • The Pacers will likely look to upgrade at forward via either free agency or trade this offseason. Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype believes they could target either Jerami Grant or Kyle Kuzma in unrestricted free agency or put together an offer sheet for either Cameron Johnson and Rui Hachimura. On the trade front, they could make a run at either of the Raptors’ starters, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby.
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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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Alabama’s Noah Clowney Among Draft’s Recent Early Entrants

April 2nd, 2023 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

Alabama power forward Noah Clowney will enter the 2023 NBA draft following his freshman season, having announced his intentions on Instagram. Clowney’s statement doesn’t include any mention of preserving his remaining NCAA eligibility, which likely means he plans to forgo that eligibility and go pro.

In his first and only college season, Clowney averaged 9.8 points and 7.9 rebounds in 25.4 minutes per game (36 games) as a full-time starter for the Crimson Tide. His strong showing earned him a spot on the SEC’s All-Freshman team.

The No. 20 overall prospect on ESPN’s big board, Clowney is one of two potential first-round picks out of Alabama this year, joining college teammate Brandon Miller.

In his most recent mock draft, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic had Clowney coming off the board at No. 25, noting that there are NBA evaluators who love the 18-year-old’s “mix of athleticism and length,” though he remains raw and doesn’t have a reliable jump shot.

The following prospects also recently declared for the draft as early entrants:

Expected to remain in the draft:

Testing the draft waters:

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