NBA To Allow Teams To Attend Several High School Showcases
The NBA will allow teams to scout a series of high school events over the course of the 2023/24 season, beginning with the Nike EYBL Scholastic Showcase Games in Las Vegas later this week, reports ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
As Givony explains, after instituting the one-and-done rule, which prevents prospects from entering the draft directly out of high school, the NBA also put a series of “no-contact” rules in place in 2005, prohibiting its clubs from scouting high school players in person. However, front offices have long pushed the league office to loosen those rules and it seems the NBA is complying.
According to Givony, one reason the league is becoming more willing to permit teams to scout high school events and players is the fact that a number of prospects in recent years, including Shaedon Sharpe and Darius Bazley, have opted not to play competitive basketball during the year after high school. Others, such as James Wiseman and Darius Garland, have seen very limited action in their lone college season due to an injury or an eligibility issue.
Being able to scout those prospects at high school events would have given teams more information to base their evaluations on once they became draft-eligible.
This week’s event in Vegas, which will take place when teams are already in town for the in-season tournament final four, will feature top prospects Cooper Flagg and Tre Johnson facing off against one another as members of Montverde Academy and Link Academy, respectively.
Here are the 2023/24 high school events that were certified by the NBA for scouts in a memo sent to teams last month, according to Givony:
- Nike EYBL Scholastic Showcase Games (Dec. 8-9 in Las Vegas, NV)
- Sunshine Prep Showcase at IMG Academy (Dec. 14-17 in Bradenton, FL)
- Tarkanian Classic (Dec. 15-21 in Las Vegas, NV)
- City of Palms Classic (Dec. 18-23 in Fort Myers, FL)
- HoopHall Classic (Jan. 11-15, Springfield, MA)
- Throne National Championship (March 28-31 in New York City, NY)
- High School Boys Basketball Nationals (April 4-6 in Brownsburg, IN)
Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Koloko, Siakam, Sixers
Appearing on FanDuel’s Run It Back show (Twitter video link), Shams Charania of The Athletic said that he anticipates the Celtics being active on the trade market as February’s deadline nears. The goal for the C’s, Charania says, will be to “beef up” their bench rotation.
The expectation coming into the season was that Boston would have a top-heavy roster, and that has certainly been the case so far this fall. Top scorers Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis have averaged nearly 69 combined points per game, while the club’s reserves are totaling just 25.7 points per contest, which ranks 29th in the NBA.
As Charania observes, the Celtics parted with a pair of future first-round picks in their preseason trade for Jrue Holiday, but one of those came from Golden State, so they still have some flexibility with draft assets going forward and could theoretically move multiple first-rounders. The team also has a trade exception worth approximately $6.2MM that could come in handy in a deal involving a player earning a modest salary.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- There are still no concrete updates on the status of Raptors big man Christian Koloko, who has been sidelined since Summer League due to a respiratory issue, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. The 23-year-old appeared in 58 games as a rookie last season, but is still just doing drill work with coaches after practices and has yet to participate in full practices this fall, Grange notes.
- Raptors forward Pascal Siakam is in the midst of one of the worst shooting slumps of his career, having made just five of his last 52 three-pointers, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. Siakam’s poor shooting has been a major factor in Toronto’s underwhelming 33.7% rate on threes (28th in the NBA), but he’s confident he’ll turn things around. “I think the most important [thing] is just putting the work in,” Siakam said. “… Either you stop shooting them or the other thing you do is you keep shooting and it just kinda [evens out]. I think it’s just basketball. It happens and you just got to continue to work on it, trust the work and the process.”
- The scheduling around the in-season tournament has resulted in a stretch of four consecutive off-days for the Sixers. Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer takes a closer look at how the 76ers have been taking advantage of the break in their schedule, including head coach Nick Nurse giving his team two days off followed by two days of “sharp, intense” practices.
Southeast Notes: Hawks, Ball, Heat, McClung
With Jalen Johnson unavailable due to a wrist injury, the Hawks have been experimenting a little more with different frontcourt combinations, including playing centers Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu alongside one another, writes Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required).
The pairing is very much a work in progress, particularly on the offensive end, but it showed some intriguing potential against bigger teams like San Antonio and Milwaukee, according to Williams.
“There’s certain times in the game where that allows itself and there’s certain matchups where I think it pays dividends defensively,” head coach Quin Snyder said. “(Saturday vs. Milwaukee) was one of those nights).”
For his part, Okongwu is on board with the idea of handling power forward alongside Capela if it means he’ll get an opportunity to play a little more.
“Whatever it takes for me to be on the court longer, I’ll do it,” Okongwu said. “Playing the four, it’s obviously is an adjustment but nothing I can’t do.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Hornets guard LaMelo Ball still has a noticeable limp and isn’t expected to return anytime soon, but he’s no longer wearing a walking boot, tweets Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. That’s a promising first step in Ball’s recovery from a severely sprained right ankle, which he’s scheduled to have reevaluated this week.
- Buoyed by a seven-game winning streak in the first half of November, the Heat are 11-9 after 20 games, but many of their victories have come against subpar competition and they’ve lost four of their last five contests. Jimmy Butler kept coming back to one word when describing the team’s performance so far, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. “We stand right where we don’t want to be, which is very mediocre, not good, not bad, not great, not any of those things,” Butler said. “Just mediocre. You talk about our offense has been mediocre. You talk about our defense has been mediocre. That’s the word I would use.”
- Mac McClung, who has been playing for the Magic‘s G League affiliate this season, was named the NBAGL’s player of the month for November, the league announced on Monday (Twitter link). McClung averaged 25.4 points, 5.7 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game in nine November contests for the Osceola Magic, but isn’t under contract with Orlando — the 2023 slam dunk champion remains an NBA free agent, available to sign with any team.
Tournament Notes: Haliburton, Pacers, Pelicans, Awards
After missing Saturday’s win over Miami due to an upper respiratory infection, Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton got off to a slow start in Monday’s in-season tournament quarterfinal and had to use an inhaler at halftime, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. He bounced back in a big way in the second half, registering his first career triple-double (26 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds) and leading Indiana to a comeback victory over the favored Celtics.
It was the first Pacers game this season that was nationally televised and it represented an opportunity for one of the NBA’s rising talents to show off his game for a wider audience, according to David Aldridge of The Athletic, who suggests that Haliburton’s star turn has been the best thing about the in-season tournament so far.
“You don’t play on national TV if you don’t win games,” Haliburton said. “The more we come out here and prove that, on a night-to-night basis, that we can win games, it’s gonna change. And that’s all that we’re about right now; changing how this organization is viewed and how we are as players viewed, and just coming out here and competing every night.”
The fourth-year guard has been the driving force of a Pacers offense that has a 123.6 rating, which is the top mark in the league by nearly four full points. He earned “MVP” chants from the home crowd in Indiana.
“I haven’t heard MVP chants, maybe when (Victor) Oladipo was here, but Ty’s really come in and taken over and it’s fun stuff,” Myles Turner said after the victory, per Bontemps.
Here’s more on the NBA’s in-season tournament:
- Although Larry Nance Jr. is currently on the shelf, the Pelicans are otherwise as healthy as they’ve been since early in the 2022/23 season — they’re eager to make a run at show what this roster is capable of, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN. That effort began with a quarterfinal win over Sacramento on Monday. Star forward Zion Williamson only scored 10 points in the victory, but New Orleans got at least 16 points apiece from five players, including the other four starters. “With their complete roster, they are the team that I could see challenging the Denver Nuggets for the top team in the West,” a league source told ESPN.
- In an announcement on Monday (Twitter link), the league unveiled its new awards related to the in-season tournament, including the NBA Cup for the team that wins the event and the trophies for the tournament’s MVP and all-tournament team.
- Players on two-way contracts will receive half the prize money that players on standard deals will receive in the in-season tournament, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That means a two-way player on the championship team would receive $250K rather than $500K, but that’s still a significant chunk of money for players who are earning just $559,782 this season. “It’s another good reason to be motivated,” Suns two-way player Saben Lee said, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “But regardless, guys love to play basketball and compete at a high level.”
- A few of the teams still alive in the tournament have open roster spots, so it’s worth noting that a player won’t be eligible to participate in the tournament final unless he’s added to the roster before the semifinals, according to Marks (Twitter link).
Western Notes: MPJ, Alexander-Walker, Wemby, Morant, A. Holiday
With Aaron Gordon unavailable for the Nuggets‘ past three games due to a right heel injury, Michael Porter Jr. has seen more action at power forward and said the transition has been a smooth one, per Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette (Twitter links).
“It’s easier for me, I think, at the four. It’s more of a matchup for me,” Porter explained. “Those bigger guys guarding me, they don’t want to chase around screens. They don’t want to close out all the way. I can get by them easier. So, it’s fun playing the four. It’s fine playing the three, too, but it hasn’t been too much of an adjustment, because our offense is very fluid.”
Porter scored a season-high 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting in Denver’s victory over Houston on Wednesday. It remains to be seen which position he’ll spend the most time at on Friday, as Gordon is listed as questionable for the Nuggets’ contest in Phoenix.
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker didn’t have much of a role for the rebuilding Jazz last season, but after a trade to Minnesota, he’s playing key minutes for a contending Timberwolves team, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. Alexander-Walker had his best game of the season in a win over his former team on Thursday, racking up 20 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and five steals in 36 minutes.
- Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama has been on a tear lately, averaging 21.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.3 blocks, and 2.5 steals per night in his past four games. However, all four of those games were losses. The Spurs know they need more production out of other players on the roster to help the young phenom, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required).
- Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has been subpoenaed to testify next month in an ongoing civil case related to an incident that occurred during a pickup game at his house during the summer of 2022. Lucas Finton of The Memphis Commercial Appeal has the details.
- Speaking to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Rockets guard Aaron Holiday discussed a handful of topics, including his new role as a locker room leader, his early impressions of Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks as teammates, Alperen Sengun‘s development, and whether he and brothers Jrue Holiday and Justin Holiday have talked about playing on the same team. “Yeah, but everything has to work out perfectly for that to happen,” Aaron said of his teaming up with his brothers. “It would be tough for that to happen, but obviously we’re all for it.”
Fischer’s Latest: Pistons, Ivey, M. Williams, Bridges
After starting 73 games and averaging 31.1 minutes per night as a rookie last season, Pistons guard Jaden Ivey has started just five of 15 games in 2023/24, with his playing time dipping to 22.7 MPG. As we outlined last night, he was moved back to the bench on Thursday vs. New York and logged just 13 minutes, his second-lowest mark of the season.
Ivey’s inconsistent role under new head coach Monty Williams has “sparked some tension” among the team’s top decision-makers, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, who cites league sources.
As Fischer details, there were rumblings back in training camp that Williams’ fondness for rookies Ausar Thompson and Marcus Sasser – who were drafted after he was hired – could lead to reduced minutes for Ivey. For his part, last year’s No. 5 overall pick has taken his fluctuating role in stride.
“There wasn’t anything said,” Ivey told Fischer. “Once I saw what was going on, coming off the bench was no problem for me. I love every single one of these dudes in here. I’d ride for them any day. Coming off the bench isn’t a confidence thing or a downer for me. I’m still confident in my game and play the same way.”
Here’s more from Fischer:
- If Ivey’s role remains in flux, there will certainly be rival teams calling the Pistons to see what it would take to acquire him, according to Fischer, who notes that several clubs attempted to trade up and acquired the guard during the 2022 draft, even after Detroit made the pick official. For now though, the expectation is that the Pistons will be focused on trading veterans, Fischer says, with Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, and Monte Morris among the candidates to be dealt.
- Monty Williams‘ record-setting six-year, $78MM+ contract has led to speculation from rival teams about the type of influence he’ll have in personnel decisions. However, the Pistons‘ head coach said this week that he doesn’t expect to get overly involved in the team’s in-season trade negotiations, even though he and general manager Troy Weaver talk about the roster. “Troy tells me stuff, but that’s not my job,” Williams said, per Fischer. “I trust his ability to evaluate talent. He’s one of the best in the league. He’s gonna ask me about a guy. Does he fit our style? Is he the kind of player we want? That kind of thing. But I’m not one of those coaches that’s gonna be like, ‘No’ or ‘Yes,’ that kind of thing. I gotta trust his judgment.”
- In the latest episode of his No Cap Room podcast with Dan Devine (YouTube link), Fischer suggested that it’s possible 2023/24 will be Miles Bridges‘ last season with the Hornets. “There’s not a lot of confidence or expectation around the league that’s going to be back in Charlotte next year,” Fischer said. Bridges signed his qualifying offer as a restricted free agent during the 2023 offseason, which means he’ll be unrestricted in 2024.
Pacific Notes: LeBron, Bronny, Divac, Kings, Wiggins, Moody
A little over four months after suffering cardiac arrest, USC freshman Bronny James has been cleared to make a full return to basketball, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. According to Charania, the expectation is that James will resume practicing with the team next week and make his NCAA debut not long after that.
Discussing the good news on Thursday, star forward LeBron James – Bronny’s father – told reporters that if his son’s USC debut occurs on the same day as a Lakers game, he intends to skip his own game to watch Bronny.
“Whenever he’s cleared and ready to have his first game, I already told my teammates that if they play on the same day we’re playing, I’m going to have to catch them the next game,” James said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “Family over everything … But definitely got to see Bronny’s first game whenever he’s cleared and ready to go.”
Teammate Anthony Davis said on Thursday that James has the support of the Lakers’ locker room if he missed a game to attend Bronny’s debut, but as John Hollinger of The Athletic observes (via Twitter), it likely won’t come to that. After this Saturday, the Lakers and Trojans won’t play on the same day until December 28, so as long as Bronny’s timeline doesn’t get pushed back, he’ll probably suit up for USC before then.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Vlade Divac, a former player and head of basketball operations for the Kings, has formally returned to the organization in the role of team ambassador, reports Sam Amick of The Athletic. As Amick explains, Divac’s position is on the business side of the franchise and doesn’t include any basketball operations influence. The former All-Star center is focused on “community, fan, and business outreach,” per Amick.
- Seerat Sohi of The Ringer considers whether the Kings still have more room for internal improvement or whether the front office might feel pressure to make a trade to raise the team’s ceiling. If they go the latter route, the Kings will have to make sure they find a systemic fit who doesn’t overlap with the club’s existing talent, Sohi writes.
- Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins injured his right index finger when he slammed a car door on it on Thursday, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Although Wiggins missed Thursday’s game, head coach Steve Kerr believes his absence will be short-term, Slater adds.
- Third-year wing Moses Moody started in Wiggins’ place on Thursday and logged a season-high 28 minutes, scoring 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Moody has earned an opportunity to play a larger role for the Warriors, argues Zach Lowe of ESPN (Insider link).
Zach LaVine Out At Least One Week Due To Foot Issue
Bulls guard Zach LaVine will be sidelined for at least the next week due to right foot soreness, the team announced today (via Twitter).
LaVine initially sat out the Bulls’ game on November 22 due to what was listed on the injury report as right foot soreness, though he referred to it during a media session as a mid-foot sprain. The issue flared up again during Tuesday’s loss to Boston, forcing him out of action for Thursday’s contest vs. Milwaukee.
It sounds like the Bulls want to give LaVine some time to rest and recover so that the issue doesn’t become a recurring one over the course of the season. Based on the timeline announced by the club, he’ll at least miss games vs. New Orleans (on Saturday) and Charlotte (next Wednesday). The Bulls will visit San Antonio next Friday.
LaVine, 28, has averaged 21.0 points per night on .443/.336/.866 shooting in 18 appearances (35.3 MPG) so far this season. The scoring average and field goal percentage represent his lowest marks since the 2017/18 season.
LaVine is one of the NBA’s top trade candidates, so it’s safe to assume teams around the NBA will be keeping a close eye on the status of his right foot in the coming days and weeks.
NBA Waiver Order Now Based On 2023/24 Records
As of December 1, the NBA’s waiver priority order is determined by teams’ current-year records, rather than the previous season’s results.
That means, starting today, the waiver order for this season is based on teams’ 2023/24 records, with the worst teams getting the highest priority. In other words, if two teams place a claim on the same player, the team lower in this season’s NBA standings will be awarded that player.
Up until today, the waiver claim order was based on which teams had the worst records in 2022/23.
Waiver claims are relatively rare in the NBA, but it’s still worth noting which teams will have the first crack at intriguing players who may be cut over the next few weeks or months.
[RELATED: 2023/24 NBA Waiver Claims]
Here’s what the teams at the top of the NBA’s waiver order look like as of today:
- Detroit Pistons (2-17)
- San Antonio Spurs (3-15) (tie)
Washington Wizards (3-15) (tie) - Memphis Grizzlies (4-13)
- Chicago Bulls (6-14)
- Utah Jazz (6-13)
- Portland Trail Blazers (6-12)
- Charlotte Hornets (6-11)
- Los Angeles Clippers (8-10)
- Golden State Warriors (9-10) (tie)
Toronto Raptors (9-10) (tie)
In instances where multiple teams have identical records, head-to-head record for the current season is used to break ties — the team with the worst winning percentage in head-to-head games gets the higher priority.
If the tied teams have yet to face one another or if they’ve split their head-to-head matchups, a coin flip determines priority for those teams. That would be the case for both the Spurs and Wizards and Warriors and Raptors right now, since those two pairs have yet to go up against each other this season.
If a waived player can’t be claimed using the minimum salary exception, a team must use a trade exception, a disabled player exception, or cap room to absorb his salary. So a club with a top priority won’t be in position to nab just anyone who reaches waivers.
The Pistons, for example, have no cap space or exceptions available to place a waiver claim on any player earning more than the minimum, so despite their spot at the top of the waiver order, their ability to claim players is somewhat limited.
Central Notes: Jerome, Pistons, J. Smith, Connaughton, Bulls
Frustrated by his slow recovery from a severe right ankle sprain, Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome has adjusted his treatment plan in the hopes of accelerating his return to the court, reports Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscriber link).
As Fedor details, Jerome recently had the ankle immobilized within a cast, which he’ll wear for about a week. The hope is that he’ll be able to resume individual workouts after having the cast removed.
“He is recovering,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said on Tuesday. “They’re doing different steps with him and trying some new things, different things in order to help him. He’s doing another treatment now and I’ll let the medical staff talk about timeline when they put all that together. He’s trying something different than just the normal rehab.”
Jerome has long been a favorite of Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman, according to Fedor. When he signed a two-year deal with the team this past summer, the plan was for him to be mentored by veteran point guard Ricky Rubio.
Instead, due to Rubio’s absence, Jerome was thrust into the backup point guard role to open the season, then suffered the ankle injury in just his second game as a Cavalier. While it hasn’t been an ideal start to his time in Cleveland, Jerome is trying to look at the bright side, telling Fedor, “Guess it’s better to be injured early rather than late.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- Following a team-record 15th consecutive loss on Wednesday, Pistons head coach Monty Williams suggested that “this group struggles with adversity,” which is one reason why the slump has only gotten worse, per Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. James L. Edwards III of The Athletic expects lineup changes to be around the corner, with Bojan Bogdanovic likely to start when he makes his season debut — that could happen as soon as this Thursday or Saturday, says Edwards.
- Pacers center Jalen Smith‘s leg injury isn’t as serious as the team initially feared, but he has been diagnosed with a left knee bone bruise and a left heel contusion and will miss at least the next two games, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Isaiah Jackson is the leading candidate to take Smith’s spot in the rotation, while two-way player Oscar Tshiebwe is being called up from the G League to provide depth, Dopirak adds.
- In an in-depth story for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jim Owczarski takes a look at the journey Pat Connaughton has taken to secure his place in the NBA as a reliable role player for the Bucks, as well as the work he has done in Milwaukee off the court.
- While it’s one thing to be beaten by more talented teams, the slumping Bulls have also had more “low-effort moments” during their recent losing streak, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.