And-Ones: Lottery, Combine, Dunk Contest, Hayes, More

The NBA has officially set the dates for this year’s most significant pre-draft events, including the combine and lottery.

According to the league (Twitter link), the G League combine will take place from May 8-10, with the full-fledged combine to follow from May 10-17. Typically, the NBA invites approximately 75 top prospects to the combine, with a group of several dozen less-heralded draft-eligible players taking part in the G League combine. A handful of standouts from the G League event then receive invitations to stick around for the rest of the week.

As for the draft lottery, it will take place on Sunday, May 10, giving lottery teams the opportunity to learn exactly where their picks will land before they evaluate and interview prospects at the combine.

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

• Lakers center Jaxson Hayes and Spurs rookie Carter Bryant have accepted invitations to take part in this year’s NBA dunk contest, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). Both players are first-time participants.
• It’s poised to be an eventful few weeks for Hayes, who is also in the final stages of securing Slovenian citizenship, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. According to Urbonas, Hayes is putting the finishing touches on the paperwork required for a Slovenian passport and would be eligible to play for the national team this summer in World Cup qualifiers if there are no snags. Hayes spoke back in October about his goal of gaining Slovenian citizenship to team up with Lakers teammate Luka Doncic in international play.
• Danny Leroux of The Athletic looks ahead to the 2026 offseason, previewing the spending power for each NBA team, including the ones projected to have cap room. While trades made in the next six days could impact Leroux’s estimates, the Bulls (up to $68MM) and Wizards (up to $50MM) currently project to have the most space, while four teams – the Cavaliers, Thunder, Magic, and Knicks – are on track to operate in second-apron territory.
• The sixth season of the Basketball Africa League will tip off in South Africa on March 27. Marc J. Spears of Andscape has the details on the schedule and the format for the coming season, which will wrap up in late May with an eight-team playoff and a championship game.