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Aaron Henry Among Prospects Entering 2021 NBA Draft

April 12th, 2021 at 1:14pm CST by Luke Adams

Michigan State junior swingman Aaron Henry is entering the 2021 NBA draft, as the school confirmed today (via Twitter). While Henry could test the waters while retaining his college eligibility, he stated in his announcement that he intends to hire an agent, and it sounds like he’s prepared to go pro.

A 6’6″ guard/forward, Henry had his best college season in 2020/21, averaging 15.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 3.6 APG in 28 games (32.5 MPG) for the Spartans. His three-point shooting dipped to 29.6%, but he showed the ability to make those shots with more regularity in his first two college seasons, knocking down 35.7% of his attempts.

Henry is currently the No. 32 prospect on ESPN’s big board for the 2021 draft, making him a good candidate to have his name called on draft night in July.

Houston junior guard Quentin Grimes (No. 64) and Kansas junior guard Ochai Agbaji (No. 66) are among the other early entrants who have recently announced their intentions to declare for the 2021 draft, as detailed in press releases from Houston and Kansas. Grimes intends to go pro, while Agbaji will just be testing the waters for now.

Here are a few more updates on early entrants joining the draft pool:

  • Jalen Wilson, F, Kansas (freshman): Like his teammate Agbaji, Wilson will retain his NCAA eligibility while he goes through the pre-draft process, the Jayhawks announced in a press release.
  • Mac McClung, G, Texas Tech (junior): After transferring from Georgetown to Texas Tech in 2020, McClung has once again entered the transfer portal, he announced on Sunday (via Twitter). As he did a year ago, McClung will go through the draft process.
  • Scotty Pippen Jr., G, Vanderbilt (sophomore): Pippen, the son of former NBA star Scottie Pippen, announced on Twitter that he’s testing the draft waters.
  • Duane Washington, G, Ohio State (junior): Washington announced on Twitter that he’s entering the draft, and the wording of his statement suggests he expects to keep his name in rather than returning to school.
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Draft Decisions: Coffey, Tucker, Dotson, Grimes, Nwora

May 29th, 2019 at 10:24pm CST by clarkcrum

There’s little time left before tonight’s 11:59 pm EST NCAA withdrawal deadline. Below are some of the latest decisions:

Staying in the draft:

Withdrawing from the draft:

As noted by Jonathan Givony of ESPN, Dotson, Nwora, and Grimes were ranked Nos. 59, 63, and 73 before their announcements.

Remember to check our early entrants list for a full list of all draft decisions.

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Southeast Notes: Wizards, Hawks, Hornets

May 9th, 2019 at 4:58pm CST by Luke Adams

There have been no recent updates on the Wizards‘ search for a new head of basketball operations, leading to speculation that Washington is waiting to make a run at current Nuggets president of basketball ops Tim Connelly.

While Connelly’s Nuggets are still alive in the playoffs, David Aldridge of The Athletic argues that if Connelly is the Wizards’ man, they should go after him now. As Aldridge points out, active postseason runs didn’t stop the Timberwolves from hiring Gersson Rosas, or the Suns from naming Monty Williams their new head coach.

It’s not entirely clear if the Wizards are still targeting Connelly, but Aldridge hears from several sources that Denver’s head of basketball ops would be “delighted” to run the Wizards. A previous report referred to the Wizards’ open position as Connelly’s “dream job.” Connelly is still under contract with the Nuggets, but if the Wizards make an offer that significantly exceeds his current salary – which Aldridge says is “just north” of $2MM per year – then he could go to Denver’s ownership in good faith and ask for the opportunity to run his hometown team.

So far, the Wizards have interviewed Danny Ferry, Tommy Sheppard, Troy Weaver, and Rosas for the front office vacancy, Aldridge confirms.

As we wait to see what the Wizards do to replace Ernie Grunfeld, here’s more from around the Southeast…

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Bucks Notes: Hill, Gasol, Wilson, Draft Workouts

May 8th, 2019 at 7:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

Tonight’s expected return of Malcolm Brogdon won’t cost veteran guard George Hill any playing time, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Hill has averaged 11.6 PPG in eight playoffs games this year and has been Milwaukee’s leading scorer off the bench in each of the three wins over the Celtics.

Acquired from the Cavaliers in a three-team trade in December, Hill has brought a steadying presence to the Bucks‘ backcourt and helped fill the void while Brogdon was sidelined. Brogdon is expected to be on a minutes restriction for a while as he returns from a minor plantar fascia tear in his right foot that has kept him out of action since mid-March.

Milwaukee will face a difficult decision on Hill’s future this summer. Until July 1, he has just a $1MM guarantee on his $18MM salary for next season, and the Bucks could use some of that money to play the free agent market or to help re-sign Brogdon and Khris Middleton.

There’s more from Milwaukee on the night of Game 5:

  • The Bucks aren’t sure when center Pau Gasol might be available again, tweets Malika Andrews of ESPN. Gasol hasn’t played since injuring his left ankle nearly two months ago and has appeared in just three games since signing with Milwaukee on March 3. Coach Mike Budenholzer said today that Gasol’s return is “not imminent or anywhere near.”
  • Second-year forward D.J. Wilson suffered a twisted ankle yesterday and won’t be available for Game 5, according to Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). Wilson has appeared in six of the Bucks’ eight postseason games, but is averaging just six minutes per night.
  • Kansas guards Quentin Grimes and Devon Dotson were part of a pre-draft workout the Bucks held Tuesday, relays Gery Woelfel of Woelfel’sPressBox. Both were five-star recruits out of high school and had promising freshman seasons. Joining them were forwards EJ Montgomery of Kentucky and Dererk Pardon of Northwestern. All are considered to be second-round picks. Point guard Clayton Custer, formerly of Loyola Chicago, worked out for the team today, tweets Jordan Schultz of ESPN.
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Full List Of 2019 NBA Draft Combine Participants

May 8th, 2019 at 1:33pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has revealed its list of 66 players who have been invited to next week’s draft combine in Chicago and who are expected to attend. The combine will take place from May 15-19.

While a small handful of top prospects often skip the event, that won’t be the case this year — Zion Williamson and Ja Morant are on the league’s list of 66 names, along with R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish, Jarrett Culver, Darius Garland, De’Andre Hunter, and many more. Of course, those top prospects may not participate fully in all of the workouts and scrimmages at the combine.

A few more names figure to be added to this list, as a select number of the 40 draft-eligible prospects participating in the G League Elite Camp earlier in the week are expected to receive invites to the combine.

Here’s the full list of 66 names announced by the NBA today, in alphabetical order:

  1. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, G, Virginia Tech (sophomore)
  2. R.J. Barrett, G/F, Duke (freshman)
  3. Charles Bassey, C, Western Kentucky (freshman)
  4. Darius Bazley, F, Princeton HS (OH) (N/A)
  5. Bol Bol, C, Oregon (freshman)
  6. Jordan Bone, G, Tennessee (junior)
  7. Brian Bowen, F, USA (born 1998)
  8. Ky Bowman, G, Boston College (junior)
  9. Ignas Brazdeikis, F, Michigan (freshman)
  10. Moses Brown, C, UCLA (freshman)
  11. Brandon Clarke, F, Gonzaga (junior)
  12. Nicolas Claxton, F, Georgia (sophomore)
  13. Jarrett Culver, G/F, Texas Tech (sophomore)
  14. Luguentz Dort, G, Arizona State (freshman)
  15. Devon Dotson, G, Kansas (freshman)
  16. Carsen Edwards, G, Purdue (junior)
  17. Bruno Fernando, F, Maryland (sophomore)
  18. Daniel Gafford, F/C, Arkansas (sophomore)
  19. Darius Garland, G, Vanderbilt (freshman)
  20. Quentin Grimes, G, Kansas (freshman)
  21. Kyle Guy, G, Virginia (junior)
  22. Jaylen Hands, G, UCLA (sophomore)
  23. Jaxson Hayes, F/C, Texas (freshman)
  24. Tyler Herro, G, Kentucky (freshman)
  25. Jaylen Hoard, F, Wake Forest (freshman)
  26. Talen Horton-Tucker, G, Iowa State (freshman)
  27. De’Andre Hunter, F, Virginia (sophomore)
  28. Ty Jerome, G, Virginia (junior)
  29. Cameron Johnson, G, UNC (senior)
  30. Keldon Johnson, F, Kentucky (freshman)
  31. Mfiondu Kabengele, C, Florida State (sophomore)
  32. Louis King, F, Oregon (freshman)
  33. Romeo Langford, G, Indiana (freshman)
  34. Dedric Lawson, F, Kansas (junior)
  35. Jalen Lecque, G, Brewster Academy (NH) (N/A)
  36. Nassir Little, F, UNC (freshman)
  37. Charles Matthews, G, Michigan (junior)
  38. Jalen McDaniels, F, San Diego State (sophomore)
  39. Ja Morant, G, Murray State (sophomore)
  40. Zach Norvell Jr., G, Gonzaga (sophomore)
  41. Jaylen Nowell, G, Washington (sophomore)
  42. Jordan Nwora, F, Louisville (sophomore)
  43. Chuma Okeke, F, Auburn (sophomore)
  44. KZ Okpala, F, Stanford (sophomore)
  45. Miye Oni, G/F, Yale (junior)
  46. Eric Paschall, F, Villanova (senior)
  47. Shamorie Ponds, G, St. John’s (junior)
  48. Jordan Poole, G, Michigan (sophomore)
  49. Jontay Porter, F, Missouri (sophomore)
  50. Kevin Porter Jr, G, USC (freshman)
  51. Neemias Queta, C, Utah State (freshman)
  52. Cam Reddish, F, Duke (freshman)
  53. Naz Reid, C, LSU (freshman)
  54. Isaiah Roby, F, Nebraska (junior)
  55. Luka Samanic, F, Croatia (born 2000)
  56. Admiral Schofield, G, Tennessee (senior)
  57. Simisola Shittu, F, Vanderbilt (freshman)
  58. Killian Tillie, F, Gonzaga (junior)
  59. PJ Washington, F, Kentucky (sophomore)
  60. Tremont Waters, G, LSU (sophomore)
  61. Quinndary Weatherspoon, G, Missippi State (senior)
  62. Coby White, G, UNC (freshman)
  63. Kris Wilkes, G, UCLA (sophomore)
  64. Grant Williams, F, Tennessee (junior)
  65. Zion Williamson, F, Duke (freshman)
  66. Dylan Windler, G, Belmont (senior)

Rui Hachimura (Gonzaga) and Matisse Thybulle (Washington) are among the potential first-round picks who aren’t on the NBA’s list of combine participants, as noted by Jeremy Woo of SI.com and ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter links).

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Jaxson Hayes Declares For 2019 NBA Draft

April 11th, 2019 at 9:26am CST by Luke Adams

Texas freshman forward/center Jaxson Hayes has entered the 2019 NBA draft and is hiring an agent, the school announced on Thursday morning in a press release.

While Hayes could technically withdraw from the draft by May 29 even after signing with an agent, he appears ready to go pro. The Big 12 Freshman of the Year currently projects as a lottery pick, with ESPN’s Jonathan Givony ranking him as 2019’s No. 9 prospect.

In his first – and likely only – season as a Longhorn, Hayes averaged 10.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and an impressive 2.2 BPG in 32 games (23.3 MPG). He wasn’t a huge factor for Texas’ offense, but didn’t miss often when he did shoot, recording a .728 FG%.

In his scouting report on Hayes, Givony notes that the big man is still “fairly raw in a lot of areas” and isn’t a great defensive rebounder. However, Givony adds that Hayes has major upside and an “excellent physical profile.” Because the youngster began playing basketball late, his trajectory gives him plenty of potential for long-term growth, Givony writes.

Hayes joins an ever-growing list of early entrants for the 2019 NBA draft. Here are a few more prospects who have recently declared for the draft:

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