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2018 NBA Draft

Luka Doncic Won’t Work Out For NBA Teams

May 2nd, 2018 at 9:15am CST by Luke Adams

Slovenian guard/forward Luka Doncic is a candidate to be the top pick in the 2018 NBA draft, but his commitment to Real Madrid in Spain will prevent him from working out for any NBA teams leading up to the draft, agent Bill Duffy tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.

“I don’t think that will be an issue,” Duffy said. “Playing in the Euroleague speaks for itself. What he has been able to do, it speaks to both the talent and preparedness for Luka. He has had a different level of experience than most of his peers. Euroleague is the next step to playing in the NBA.”

As Deveney outlines, Doncic’s Real Madrid squad is scheduled to compete in the Euroleague Final Four later this month, then will play in the Spanish League (ACB) postseason after that. The ACB playoffs are scheduled to begin on May 27, and could end as late as June 23, two days after the NBA draft. According to Duffy, there’s no chance that Doncic will miss any postseason games with his current team.

“He is committed to Real Madrid, all the way through,” Duffy said.

While NBA teams picking in the top five would prefer the chance to meet with Doncic and work him out individually, scouting him in the Euroleague Final Four and the ACB postseason will be a great opportunity for talent evaluators to see how he performs against some of the highest-level competition in Europe.

“With the video we have these days, I know what I need to know from looking at (Doncic) against other top players,” one NBA general manager told Deveney. “Anyone who wants to pick him is going to want to talk to him, but the workout is not something that is going to keep you from picking him. I am not sure I need reels and reels more tape here.”

In his most recent mock draft at ESPN.com, Jonathan Givony has Doncic coming off the board second overall to the Grizzlies.

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Draft Updates: London, Dixson, Magee, Ahmad

May 1st, 2018 at 3:10pm CST by Luke Adams

A pair of early entrants who declared for the 2018 NBA draft without hiring agents will keep their names in this year’s pool and go pro, according to reports.

Chattanooga’s Makinde London, who began his college career at Xavier, has signed with an agent, a source tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN (Twitter link). London, who didn’t receive an invite to the NBA draft combine, is coming off a junior year in which he averaged 13.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 1.8 APG.

Meanwhile,  Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports reports (via Twitter) that UIC sophomore forward Dikembe Dixson will also be staying in the draft rather than returning to college. That news doesn’t come as a surprise, since Dixson’s initial announcement – in which he talked about wanting to eventually return to UIC to graduate – strongly suggested that he would go pro, forgoing his remaining NCAA eligibility.

Here are more draft-related updates on this year’s early entrants:

  • Southern Miss guard Dominic Magee will return to the program for his senior year after testing the draft waters, a source tells Rothstein (Twitter link). Magee averaged 11.7 PPG and 6.6 RPG in 2017/18 for the Golden Eagles.
  • West Virginia junior forward Esa Ahmad, who announced in early April that he would test the draft waters without an agent, is expected to withdraw his name from the 2018 draft pool, reports Goodman (via Twitter). Ahmad’s WVU teammate Sagaba Konate is also going through the draft process –both players will have to formally decide by May 30 whether to stay in the draft or return to school.
  • Junior center Malik Martin won’t be returning to South Florida for his senior year, tweets Rothstein. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean Martin will go pro. According to Rothstein, there’s also a chance that the big man will graduate and transfer.
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Draft Updates: Early Entrant Decisions, Peters, Daum

April 30th, 2018 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

More than 50 NCAA underclassmen have already hired agents – or plan to – and have forfeited their remaining college eligibility, but there are another 100+ early entrants who will have to decide in the next month whether to keep their names in the draft or return to school.

In his latest piece for The Athletic, Michael Scotto took a closer look at five of those underclassmen who have decisions to make, speaking to three NBA general managers, four executives, and a scout about Tyus Battle (Syracuse), Khyri Thomas (Creighton), Jarred Vanderbilt (Kentucky), PJ Washington (Kentucky), and Bruno Fernando (Maryland).

While all eight talent evaluators who spoke to Scotto believe that Thomas should go pro, they were divided on Battle and Vanderbilt, and the majority felt that Washington and Fernando should head back to their respective programs.

Here are a few more draft notes and updates:

  • Mississippi State guard Lamar Peters, who entered the 2018 NBA draft without hiring an agent, has decided to withdraw from the process and return to school for his junior year, he announced on Twitter. Peters will rejoin teammates Aric Holman and Nick Weatherspoon, both of whom considered testing the draft waters but ultimately didn’t enter their names.
  • South Dakota State forward Mike Daum will also withdraw from the draft process and head back to school for the 2018/19 season, he announced over the weekend (via Twitter). Daum will look to follow up a junior year that saw him average 23.9 PPG and 10.3 RPG for the Jackrabbits.
  • There’s no consensus among elite high school prospects on whether the elimination of the one-and-done rule for draft prospects would be a good thing, as Jason Jordan of USA Today details. While most players who spoke to Jordan were in favor of giving prospects more freedom by adjusting the rule, others worried that doing so could result in a flood of early entrants who aren’t yet ready for the next level.
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BC’s Jerome Robinson To Stay In Draft

April 28th, 2018 at 7:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

Potential first-round pick Jerome Robinson of Boston College has signed with CAA Sports and will remain in this year’s draft, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.

The 6’6″ point guard averaged 24 points for the Eagles as a junior this season. He and teammate Ky Bowman both elected to enter the draft earlier this month without agents, but Robinson’s decision to hire CAA finalizes his status.

Robinson comes in 39th on the list of the top 100 prospects compiled by Jonathan Givony of ESPN and is projected to be taken 40th by the Nets in Givony’s latest mock draft.

“I feel that my game and my mentality is pro ready,” Robinson told ESPN’s Jeff Goodman. “Simple as that.” (Twitter link).

Several teams are projecting Robinson as a late first-round selection, Goodman adds (Twitter link).

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Collin Sexton Signs With Agents Ahead Of NBA Draft

April 28th, 2018 at 10:31am CST by marksuleymanov

Alabama point guard Collin Sexton has signed with agents Austin Brown and Leon Rose of CAA ahead of the 2018 NBA Draft, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Sexton is considered a likely lottery pick and one of the top point guards in this year’s class.

Earlier this month, Sexton announced his intention sign with an agent and enter the draft, thus foregoing his remaining NCAA eligibility.

“I will be going to the NBA,” Sexton said. “I made this decision because I feel like it’s been my dream growing up, it’s so close. Also I talked to my family and the coaching staff and they felt like I’m pretty much ready and I’ll be good because they taught me a whole lot here at Alabama.”

Sexton, 19, was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Year after averaging 19.2 PPG and 3.6 APG. The five-star recruit will be Alabama’s first one-and-done player since the current rules were instituted in 2006.

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And-Ones: Rice Commission, Ball Brothers, Chang

April 25th, 2018 at 8:36pm CST by clarkcrum

Earlier today, we relayed that the the Commission on College Basketball, headed by former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, released a detailed 60-page report in response to a request by the NCAA for sweeping reforms of college basketball.

In an in-depth article for ESPN, college basketball reporters Jeff Borzello and Myron Metcalf, along with NBA draft analyst Jonathan Givony, gave their two cents on what the report means for the future of college basketball and, for our purposes, the NBA.

As part of what is most likely the most relevant portion of the article for our readers, Givony blasts the commission for “washing its hands” of any real responsibility and repeatedly blaming the NBA’s one-and-done rule for the problems in college basketball.

“Abolishing the NBA age limit, also known as the one-and-done rule, is the commission’s first recommendation… The insistence on prioritizing this topic over a myriad of others is an indication of how much the commission is washing its hands of any real responsibility for the issues facing college basketball.

“It’s preposterous to think that abolishing the one-and-done rule will fix all of college basketball’s problems. The much bigger issue is not allowing players to profit from their likeness, receive endorsement deals or be properly compensated by schools for the huge amount of money they generate — one the commission conveniently deflected, citing ongoing litigation and other issues.”

One potential consequence of the NBA not eliminating the one-and-done rule is for the NCAA to revisit “freshman ineligibility,” which Metcalf wholeheartedly disagreed with.

“This doesn’t make sense. So you want players who aren’t drafted to retain their collegiate eligibility and scholarships, but you’re also willing to put talented high school kids in a situation where they might not be allowed to enter the NBA draft or play for a college team as freshmen?

“This is worst stickup in sports history. The NBA doesn’t have to listen to the NCAA. That’s why they’ve had the age limit for more than a decade, despite complaints from many collegiate power brokers.”

Other topics broached include allowing undrafted players to return to school, harsher punishment for rule breakers, and the influence of AAU and other recruiting enterprises. The entire article is well-done and worth a read.

Below are more odds and ends from around the world of basketball:

  • Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball‘s younger brothers, LiAngelo Ball and LaMelo Ball, will leave their team in Lithuania before season’s end, reports Lithuanian basketball reporter Donatas Urbonas. BC Vytautas still has two regular seasons games left to play and they are fighting to avoid relegation.
  • The NBA has appointed Derek Chang as CEO of NBA China reports Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Chang will oversee the NBA’s basketball and business development in China.
  • With the NBA Draft early entry deadline now behind us, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders gives us a look at his mock draft. Like many others, he has Arizona freshman DeAndre Ayton going No. 1 overall.
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236 Early Entrants Declare For 2018 NBA Draft

April 24th, 2018 at 5:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has released the official list of early entrants for the 2018 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 236 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 181 are from colleges, while 55 are international early entrants.

That number blows away the previous record for early entrants, established in 2017. Last year, 182 early entrants declared for the draft, though ultimately only 73 of those prospects remained in the draft by the final deadline.

This year’s total of 236 early entrants also figures to shrink significantly by May 30 and again by June 11, the two key deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. But it still looks like that pool will remain crowded, with the eventual number of early entrants likely exceeding 60, the number of picks in the draft.

Our list of early entrants is now up to date and can be found right here. Here are today’s updates:

College underclassmen:

The following players were listed on the NBA’s official breakdown today, but weren’t yet noted on our own list. For now, we’re assuming they haven’t yet hired agents.

The following players reportedly declared for the draft or planned to, but weren’t named in the NBA’s official announcement today. As such, we’ve removed them from our list.

International players:

The following players were listed on the NBA’s official breakdown today, but weren’t yet noted on our list.

  • Berke Atar, C, Turkey (born 1999)
  • Laurynas Beliauskas, G, Lithuania (born 1997)
  • Rihards Berzins, F/C, Latvia (born 1997)
  • Etienne Ca, F, France (born 1997)
  • Sigfredo Casero-Ortiz, G, France (born 1997)
  • Berkan Durmaz, F, Turkey (born 1997)
  • Aleksander Dziewa, C, Poland (born 1997)
  • Stephane Gombauld, F, France (born 1997)
  • Yoan Granvorka, F, Switzerland (born 1997)
  • Michal Kolenda, F, Poland (born 1997)
  • Antonios Koniaris, G, Greece (born 1997)
  • Leon Kratzer, C, Germany (born 1997)
  • Shekinah Munanga, F, France (born 1997)
  • Williams Narace, F, France (born 1997)
  • Marcel Ponitka, G, Poland (born 1997)
  • Leonardo Tote, F, Italy (born 1997)
  • Martynas Varnas, G, Lithuania (born 1997)
  • Filip Zagrajski, G, Croatia (born 1997)
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2018 NBA Draft Dates, Deadlines To Watch

April 24th, 2018 at 3:52pm CST by Luke Adams

The deadline for early entrants to declare for the 2018 NBA draft has now passed, but news of those decisions continues to trickle in. Earlier today, Rob Dauster of NBC Sports reported that Wichita State forward Markis McDuffie is testing the draft waters, giving himself the option of withdrawing his name later in the process and returning to school for his senior year.

Until an official early entrant list is released, we may continue to hear about last-minute decisions like McDuffie’s. Still, for the most part, 2018’s initial early entrant list appears set. Now it’s time to look ahead to see which 2018 NBA draft dates and deadlines are up next. For instance, just how long will McDuffie have to decide whether or not to pull his name from this year’s draft pool?

Let’s run through the timeline…

April 27: Invites issued for draft combine

This one isn’t listed on the NBA’s official calendar of key offseason dates, but Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports reported last week (via Twitter) that combine invitations are expected to be sent out to prospects this Friday. That means we shouldn’t have to wait much longer to find out which players will be in attendance at next month’s event.

May 15: NBA draft lottery

The 2018 draft lottery will be conducted in Chicago on May 15, with the NBA moving up the event to ensure it takes place before the combine. That should give teams with lottery picks a better idea of which players they want to talk to and get a closer look at later in the week.

Pistons and Celtics fans will want to keep an eye on this year’s lottery just in case those clubs beat the odds and secure a top-three pick. Detroit will send its first-rounder to the Clippers unless it lands in the top three (2.5% chance), while the Sixers will get the Lakers‘ first-rounder unless it moves up to No. 2 or No. 3 in the lottery, in which case it’ll be sent to Boston (2.9% chance).

Otherwise, teams at the bottom of the NBA’s standings – like the Suns, Grizzlies, Mavericks, Hawks, and Magic – will have the most at stake on May 15.

The full pre-lottery draft order for 2018 can be found right here.

May 16-20: NBA draft combine

This five-day event, which also takes place in Chicago, allows NBA teams to get a first-hand look at many of this year’s top draft-eligible players (though perhaps not a handful of 2018’s very best prospects, since potential top-five picks don’t have much to gain by participating in the combine).

The combine will be particularly important for early entrants who have yet to hire an agent. The feedback they get at the combine could go a long way toward dictating whether they decide to keep their names in the draft or return to school for another year.

May 30: NCAA early entrant withdrawal deadline

College underclassmen who want to retain their NCAA eligibility will have to withdraw their names from the draft pool by May 30. NBA rules call for a later withdrawal deadline, but the NCAA has its own set of rules that say the deadline is 10 days after the combine.

As such, a college underclassmen could technically wait until after May 30 to withdraw from the draft and he would retain his NBA draft eligibility for a future year. However, he would forfeit his amateur status in that scenario, making him ineligible to return to his NCAA squad.

June 11: NBA early entrant withdrawal deadline

This is the NBA’s final deadline for early entrants to withdraw their names from the draft pool and retain their draft eligibility for a future year. By this point, we generally know whether an NCAA underclassman kept his name in the draft or not, but this is an important deadline for international players, who aren’t subject to the same restrictions as college players. We’ll likely hear about several international early entrants withdrawing from the draft during the days leading up to June 11.

June 21: NBA draft day

The most exciting few weeks of the NBA offseason unofficially get underway on draft day, which is often when the first major trades of the summer are completed and we get a sense of which direction certain teams are heading.

It’s also worth noting that the hours and days after the draft ends will be hugely important for many of this year’s draft-eligible prospects — a ton of players who aren’t selected with one of the 60 picks in the draft will reach agreements shortly thereafter to play for an NBA team’s Summer League squad, or even to attend training camp with a club.

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Draft Updates: Maye, Lewis, Sexton, Green

April 23rd, 2018 at 10:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

North Carolina junior forward Luke Maye will enter the draft but won’t hire an agent in order to retain his college eligibility, according to the team’s website. The first-team All-ACC selection averaged 16.9 PPG and 10.1 RPG.

“This is what the system is designed to do, which is provide players with an opportunity to workout with NBA teams and get feedback from those teams,” Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said in a statement.

The 6’8” Maye is not listed among the top 100 prospects by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

In other draft-related news:

  • New Jersey Institute of Technology forward Abdul Lewis will test the draft waters, Jeff Goodman of ESPN tweets. Lewis averaged 12.0 PPG and 8.8 RPG as a junior. The 6’10” Lewis played for South Alabama during his freshman campaign.
  • Alabama point guard Collin Sexton could be next season’s Donovan Mitchell, a late lottery steal, according to Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders. Sexton could slide to the 8-13 range in the lottery and has star potential, Brigham continues. Michigan State sophomore swingman Miles Bridges and Missouri freshman big man Jontay Porter, the brother of more heralded Michael Porter Jr., could also fit the category of a major first-round bargain, Brigham adds.
  • Kentucky freshman guard Quade Green will return for his sophomore season, his mother to the Lexington Herald-Leader (Twitter link). The 6’0” Green averaged 9.3 PPG and 2.7 APG in 25.6 MPG as a freshman.
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Draft Updates: Bonga, Uchendu, Adams, Osmani

April 23rd, 2018 at 8:58am CST by Luke Adams

The deadline for early entrants to declare for the 2018 NBA draft was on Sunday night at 11:59 pm ET, which means that this year’s list of early entrants should be set. We’ve been tracking those decisions right here, but the official list may look slightly different than ours — underclassmen who originally announced that they’ll test the waters may have a change of heart, and there could be some early entrants who entered the draft without formally announcing their decisions.

While we wait for an official list of early entrants for the 2018 NBA draft, let’s round up a few of the weekend’s final decisions…

  • German forward Isaac Bonga declared for the draft, a source told Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Bonga, who currently ranks 57th on ESPN’s big board of 2018 prospects, is playing for the Fraport Skyliners in Frankfurt. He was born in 1999, so if he decides to pull out of this year’s draft, he’d have two more chances to declare as an early entrant.
  • Brazilian center Michael Uchendu is entering the 2018 draft, Givony reports (via Twitter). Uchendu, born in 1998, is currently playing for Bauru in Brazil.
  • UConn point guard Jalen Adams won’t test the draft waters this year, telling ESPN’s Jeff Goodman (Twitter link) that he’s returning to school for his senior season. Adams averaged 18.1 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 4.2 RPG for the Huskies in his junior year. His teammates Terry Larrier and Christian Vital declared for the draft, though Vital isn’t hiring an agent.
  • Albanian big man Erxhan Osmani has entered the 2018 NBA draft, per Givony (Twitter link). Playing for Turkish squad Bandirma, Osmani has averaged 13.8 PPG and a team-high 8.8 RPG in 24 contests.
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