Admon Gilder

And-Ones: Lewis, Ignite, Best Draft Assets, RSNs

Veteran NBA referee Eric Lewis has retired, the league announced today in a brief press release (Twitter link). Lewis officiated more than 1,000 regular season NBA games over the course of his career and has worked several NBA Finals contests since 2019.

Back in May, the NBA opened an investigation into a possible Twitter burner account run by Lewis. The Twitter account, which has since been deleted, responded to many posts about NBA officiating to defend Lewis and other referees. League rules prohibit referees from publicly commenting on the officiating without authorization.

According to today’s announcement, since Lewis has decided to retire, the NBA has closed its investigation into his social media activity.

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

  • Having previously announced the prospects that are joining the program for the 2023/24 season, the G League Ignite issued a press release revealing the veteran players who will serve as mentors. John Jenkins and Eric Mika will be returning to the team and will be joined by former NBA guards Jeremy Pargo and David Stockton, as well as guard Admon Gilder, who has played in a handful of international leagues since going undrafted out of Gonzaga in 2020.
  • Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report ranked all 30 NBA teams based on their future draft assets, from the Thunder (No. 1) and Spurs (No. 2) to the Timberwolves (No. 29) and Suns (No. 30).
  • Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic takes a look at where things stand with the NBA and the Bally Sports regional sports networks after parent company Diamond Sports Group filed for bankruptcy. The league has been informed, according to Vorkunov, that Diamond Sports Group has the capital to honor its NBA commitments for the upcoming season, though one industry source told The Athletic that it’s a “very fluid situation.”

Draft Updates: Vick, Travis, Harper, Charalampopoulos

Kansas guard Lagerald Vick appears set to forgo his senior year and begin his professional career, according to an announcement from the Jayhawks. Vick’s own statement indicates that he doesn’t plan to hire an agent at the moment, which would give him the opportunity to withdraw his name from the draft pool and play one more college season. However, the press release from the program makes it sound as if he won’t be back.

“I believe the time is right for him to move on, explore his options as a professional and see what develops,” coach Bill Self said of Vick. “We won a lot of games with Lagerald over the last three years and appreciate everything he’s done for Kansas and our basketball program. We are 100% supportive of his decision and wish him the very best in whatever path this takes him.”

Here are more of the latest updates on early entrants for the 2018 NBA draft:

  • Stanford forward Reid Travis is declaring for the 2018 draft without hiring an agent, the school announced today. Travis, who averaged an impressive 19.5 PPG and 8.7 RPG as a junior, will have until May 30 to withdraw his name and retain his NCAA eligibility.
  • Auburn sophomore guard Jared Harper is testing the NBA draft waters, according to a press release. Harper is coming off a season in which he averaged 13.2 PPG and 5.4 APG while shooting 35.5% on three-pointers.
  • Greek forward Vasilis Charalampopoulos is the latest international early entrant to join 2018’s draft pool, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. A veteran of Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos, Charalampopoulos says it has “always been a dream” to play in the NBA. “Entering the draft gives me the opportunity to challenge myself outside of Europe,” he said. “This decision to enter the draft was not difficult. The difficult part was finding when the right time was for me.”
  • Texas A&M junior Admon Gilder is entering the draft without an agent, a source tells Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports (Twitter link). The 6’4″ guard averaged 12.3 PPG on .458/.395/.821 shooting in 2017/18.
  • Tyler Hall, a junior guard from Montana State, announced (via Twitter) that he’ll test the NBA draft waters this spring. The Bobcats’ leading scorer (17.5 PPG) will have the opportunity to return for his senior year if he removes his name from consideration by May 30.