50 Prospects Reportedly Invited To G League Elite Camp
A total of 50 prospects for the 2023 NBA draft have been invited to the NBA’s G League Elite Camp, according to reports from Adam Zagoria of Forbes and Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report (Twitter links).
Those players are as follows:
- Charles Bediako (Alabama)
- Leaky Black (North Carolina)
- Jalen Bridges (Baylor)
- Johni Broome (Auburn)
- Joe Bryant (Norfolk State)
- Tyler Burton (Richmond)
- Michael Caicedo (Coviran Granada – Spain)
- Tyger Campbell (UCLA)
- Colin Castleton (Florida)
- Malcolm Cazalon (Mega Basket – Serbia)
- Tristan Da Silva (Colorado)
- Antoine Davis (Detroit)
- Johnell Davis (FAU)
- Kendric Davis (Memphis)
- Shaun Doss (Arkansas Pine-Bluff)
- Tosan Evbuomwan (Princeton)
- PJ Hall (Clemson)
- Hakim Hart (Maryland)
- Joey Hauser (Michigan State)
- Nadir Hifi (Le Portel – France)
- D’Moi Hodge (Missouri)
- Zvonimir Ivisic (SC Derby – Montenegro)
- Josiah-Jordan James (Tennessee)
- Dillon Jones (Weber State)
- Mojave King (G League Ignite)
- Taevion Kinsey (Marshall)
- Pelle Larsson (Arizona)
- Tyrin Lawrence (Vanderbilt)
- Jaylen Martin (Overtime Elite)
- Matthew Mayer (Illinois)
- Caleb McConnell (Rutgers)
- Emanuel Miller (TCU)
- Matthew Murrell (Mississippi)
- Ousmane N’Diaye (Baskonia – Spain)
- Tristen Newton (UConn)
- Olivier Nkamhoua (Tennessee)
- Landers Nolley II (Cincinnati)
- Markquis Nowell (Kansas State)
- Norchad Omier (Miami)
- Clifford Omoruyi (Rutgers)
- Drew Peterson (USC)
- Antonio Reeves (Kentucky)
- Sir’Jabari Rice (Texas)
- Spencer Rodgers (Kennesaw State)
- Mark Sears (Alabama)
- Mike Sharavjamts (Dayton)
- Isaiah Stevens (Colorado State)
- Jacob Toppin (Kentucky)
- Hunter Tyson (Clemson)
- Anton Watson (Gonzaga)
The name of the G League Elite Camp is a bit of a misnomer — when first introduced, the event showcased NBAGL players, but the field of participants now consists exclusively of draft prospects. The event will take place on May 13 and 14 in Chicago, ahead of this year’s draft combine.
Like the combine, the Elite Camp brings young players to Chicago to meet NBA teams and participate in drills and scrimmages. While the combine focuses on the top prospects in a given draft class, the Elite Camp generally features prospects who are trying to break into that upper echelon of prospects but are more likely to go undrafted. The top performers at the event typically receive invites to the combine.
Of the 50 G League Elite Camp invitees, 15 show up on Jonathan Givony’s list of this year’s top 100 prospects at ESPN.com. However, no Elite Camp invitee ranks higher than No. 58 (Hart) on ESPN’s board.
The G League Elite Camp will give the invitees who declared for the draft as early entrants an opportunity to see where they stand ahead of the draft withdrawal deadline on May 31. Not all of the players who participate in this event will remain in the draft pool.
Some NBA players who have participated in past G League Elite Camps include Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado, Pacers forward Oshae Brissett, Clippers guard Terance Mann, and Heat wing Max Strus.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 5/4/2023
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today at 10:00 am Central time (11 am Eastern).
Click here to read the transcript, and join us on Tuesday afternoon for our next live chat, hosted by Dana Gauruder.
Joel Embiid Cleared To Return For Game 2
6:38pm: Embiid will be in the Sixers’ starting lineup for Game 2, tweets Charania.
9:05am: Newly crowned Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid is on track to return to action in Game 2 of the Sixers‘ second round series against the Celtics, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Charania’s report suggests Embiid is expected to play on Wednesday night in Boston as long as he doesn’t experience any setbacks today.
Embiid has been sidelined since Game 3 of Philadelphia’s first round win over Brooklyn due to a sprained LCL in his right knee. He reportedly received a PRP injection last week to promote healing in the knee. Although he was ruled out for Game 1, reports at the time indicated there was “optimism” about his chances of making it back for Game 2.
According to Charania, after Embiid was officially named MVP on Tuesday night, he turned to the team during a brief celebration and announced, “I’m back.”
If Embiid does return on Wednesday and remains healthy for the remainder of the series, the 76ers have a legitimate opportunity to upset the Celtics, who entered the second round as the favorites to come out of the East.
An Embiid-less Sixers squad pulled out a Game 1 win on the road as James Harden matched a career postseason high with 45 points. That victory ensured the team will return to Philadelphia for Game 3 with no worse than a split of the first two games.
Community Shootaround: NBA Playoff Check-In
After meeting in the NBA Finals a year ago, the Celtics and Warriors will have to overcome early second-round deficits if they hope to compete again for a title this June.
The Celtics lost the first game of their second round series to the Sixers on Monday, despite the fact that the game was played in Boston and Philadelphia was missing MVP center Joel Embiid. The Warriors lost Game 1 to the Lakers on Tuesday even though they made 21 three-pointers to L.A.’s six. The two teams’ disparate styles were on full display, as the Lakers knocked down 15 more two-pointers and 20 more free throws than Golden State.
Even though Embiid is on track to return in Game 2 on Wednesday and Boston has lost its home court advantage, the Celtics are still the favorites to advance beyond the second round, per BetOnline.ag. That’s not the case for the defending champions though, as the Lakers are now considered the betting favorites in the West’s No. 6 vs. No. 7 matchup.
Neither the Celtics (-158) nor the Lakers (-155) are overwhelming favorites in their respective series, but they’re still viewed as better bets to make the conference finals than either the Heat (-118) or Knicks (-102), according to BetOnline.ag.
That matchup of Eastern Conference upstarts is essentially viewed as a toss-up, with the Heat’s split of the first two games in New York having been negated by Jimmy Butler‘s uncertain status going forward after he missed Game 2 with a sprained ankle. Miami is already playing without Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo — missing Butler may leave the team with too little firepower to knock off the Knicks, but if he’s able to return for Game 3 on Saturday, the Heat’s position looks much stronger.
Of the eight teams in the second round, the Nuggets (-430) are the biggest favorites to make the conference finals after registering two strong home wins over the Suns. But with the series heading back to Phoenix, a home victory or two for the Suns could significantly alter the outlook of that matchup.
If the Suns hope to mount a comeback, they’ll likely have to do so without Chris Paul, at least for the next two or three games. The future Hall of Famer has a strained groin and isn’t expected to return to action before next week.
With the first round behind us and this year’s potential title contenders emerging, we want to check in on your thoughts on this spring’s playoffs. Has your NBA Finals pick changed since the postseason tipped off? Which four teams do you expect to make it through to the conference finals? Are the Nuggets the best bet to advance, or is there another team you’re more confident in?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
Latest On Dillon Brooks
One reason why the Grizzlies informed Dillon Brooks they won’t re-sign him this summer was a disconnect between the two sides over his role on offense, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Brooks’ usage rate increased each year during his first five NBA seasons, all the way up to 28.8% in 2021/22, but dipped back down to 21.8% in ’22/23, his lowest mark in four years. The comments the veteran forward made in his end-of-season media session over the weekend indicated that he wasn’t thrilled by that role reduction.
“I don’t think I lost any thing on the offensive end,” Brooks said. “I was just there to three-and-D, shoot and play defense. I got way more to my game than that.”
Of course, Brooks’ personality – both on and off the court – was also a major factor the Grizzlies considered when they made their decision not to re-sign him. As Cole writes, Ja Morant, head coach Taylor Jenkins, and general manager Zach Kleiman all expressed a desire to tone down on the trash talking going forward, while Brooks said he had no regrets about his own comments, telling reporters, “That’s who I am.”
Here’s more on Brooks:
- Despite an unceremonious end to his time in Memphis, there’s expected to be a market for Brooks in free agency this summer, according to reports from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. One general manager who spoke to Deveney suggested that Brooks’ price before his stock crashed might have been something like $54MM over three years — now, he could be a mid-level target for over-the-cap clubs. “There will be tax teams hoping to get him in on a one-plus-one deal—come to us, we have a good culture, help us win, clean up your reputation, and then go back on the market next year,” the GM said. “He’ll be in demand.”
- During an appearance on ESPN’s Around the Horn, Ramona Shelburne suggested that Brooks’ asking price on his next contract is – or at least was – $25MM per year (Twitter video link). Given the context, it’s unclear whether that’s solid info or merely speculation on Shelburne’s part — either way, it’s almost certainly an unrealistic goal.
- The breakup with Brooks is just the start of what will be a difficult offseason for Kleiman, writes Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Within that story, Giannotto asserts that the Grizzlies weren’t the source of Tuesday’s leak to Charania, since it wouldn’t have made sense for them to say they wouldn’t re-sign him “under any circumstances.”
- Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca takes a look at what went wrong for Brooks in Memphis and considers what the marketplace for him will look like this summer.
Atlantic Notes: Embiid, J. Brown, Celtics, Nets, T. Young
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday for the first time since being named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, Sixers star Joel Embiid referred to the honor as one he has dreamed about since he started playing basketball, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com. Embiid also expressed pride at having defied the odds, given that he didn’t start playing basketball until he was 15 years old in his home country of Cameroon.
“Probably the probability of someone like me, starting playing basketball at 15, to get the chance to be the MVP of the league is, I’d say, probably negative zero,” Embiid said. “… We don’t have a lot of opportunities back in Africa in general to get to this point. But improbable doesn’t mean impossible, and you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. As long as you believe in it, and you know keep walking hard, anything can happen.”
While Embiid stressed that winning an NBA title would be more meaningful than taking home an individual award, he made an effort not to downplay the achievement and its importance to him.
“Obviously winning a championship is going to be way better and we have that opportunity. But I’m just competitive. I want it all,” he said. “I want to win everything that I can get my hands on and everybody around me knows that. It doesn’t matter if it’s about basketball or if you’re playing a game in life or whatever. I want to win everything. I want to be first.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have silenced doubts about their fit in the last year or two, but a second-round postseason exit by the Celtics might raise new questions about Brown’s long-term future in Boston, says Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. “Jaylen is 26 years old,” one Western Conference coach told Deveney.” He is maybe the best No. 2 option in the league, or right there with LeBron (James) and (Anthony Davis), or Devin Booker–(Kevin) Durant in Phoenix. It is a good thing to be the best No. 2 option, but at his age, I don’t think Jaylen sees it that way. He is good enough to be a No. 1 option for half the teams in the league and maybe he wants that challenge.”
- The Nets had preliminary conversations about Hawks big man John Collins prior to the trade deadline in February and some executives wonder whether Brooklyn could circle back on Collins this offseason, Deveney writes for Heavy.com. However, there’s skepticism that the Nets would be able to make a play for Collins without moving Ben Simmons, and Simmons’ trade value will be extremely limited.
- Eric Koreen of The Athletic considers whether Thaddeus Young‘s expiring contract could be a useful trade asset this offseason for a Raptors team that will be looking to upgrade its rotation. Young seems more likely to be waived than traded, since his $8MM salary for 2023/24 is only guaranteed for $1MM. His outgoing salary for matching purposes in a trade would be equivalent to his partial guarantee, so the Raptors would have to increase that guarantee in order to take back a mid-sized contract, which would reduce Young’s value.
Knicks Notes: Randle, Hartenstein, Barrett, Quickley, Hardaway
Julius Randle‘s stat line (25 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists) in the Knicks‘ Game 2 win over Miami on Tuesday suggests he didn’t miss a beat after being sidelined for the first game of the series due to a left ankle injury. However, Randle admitted after the game that the rehab process he went through in order to return for Game 2 wasn’t easy, per Nick Friedell of ESPN.com.
“It was hell,” Randle said. “Just every day around the clock, trying to get my body right. I don’t have a problem doing the work, mentally it’s a grind, though. But I just want to make myself available to the team … just happy that I was able to be out there and contribute and help us get a win.”
Asked after the victory about how his ankle was feeling, Randle deflected the question.
“It doesn’t even really matter, to be honest,” he said, according to Friedell. “I do whatever I got to do to make myself available to play. And just take it a day at a time.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- After Mitchell Robinson was a difference maker in New York’s first round win over Cleveland, backup center Isaiah Hartenstein has come up big early in round two. Hartenstein was a team-best plus-six in 14 minutes in Game 1, then played 26 minutes in Game 2 as Robinson battled foul trouble. As Zach Braziller of The New York Post details, Hartenstein gave the Knicks a much-needed spark with his physical play on Tuesday.
- After an up-and-down first round vs. Cleveland, RJ Barrett has scored 26 and 24 points in the first two games vs. Miami. Barrett, whose nine-figure contract extension will take effect in 2023/24, took a seat late in the game for defensive reasons, but the fourth-year forward earned praise from head coach Tom Thibodeau for his performance, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
- Immanuel Quickley, the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year runner-up this season, logged a season-low nine minutes in Game 2 and scored just six points, but Thibodeau remains confident that the Knicks will once again lean on Quickley before the series is over, according to Peter Botte of The New York Post. “We need him,” Thibodeau told reporters after the game. “.. He’s got a knack for putting the ball in the basket, and I don’t want him overthinking it. Shoot your shot, when he’s aggressive and attacking, he’ll be fine. We’ve seen him now, as everyone knows, he’s a scorer.”
- Tim Hardaway Sr., who had been working as a scout for the Knicks, was on an expiring contract and left the team a few weeks ago to pursue media opportunities, a league source tells Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
Kings’ Monte McNair Named Executive Of The Year
Having constructed the roster that snapped a record-setting 16-year playoff drought, Kings general manager Monte McNair has been named the NBA’s Executive of the Year for the 2022/23 season, the league announced today.
McNair, who controversially sent ascendant guard Tyrese Haliburton to Indiana in a blockbuster deal for Domantas Sabonis at last season’s trade deadline, supplemented the star duo of Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox this past offseason by drafting Keegan Murray, signing Malik Monk, and trading for Kevin Huerter.
Perhaps most importantly, McNair hired Mike Brown as the Kings’ new head coach after parting ways with Alvin Gentry. Brown won Coach of the Year honors after leading Sacramento to a 48-34 record and its first postseason berth since 2006.
Unlike most of the NBA’s other major postseason awards, the Executive of the Year is voted on by the league’s 30 general managers instead of 100 media members.
McNair received 16 first-place votes and showed up on 24 ballots, earning 98 total points. He beat out runner-up Koby Altman of the Cavaliers, who got seven first-place votes and was included on 21 ballots, finishing with 63 total points.
No other executive received more than two first-place votes or 20 total points. Jazz GM Justin Zanik, Nuggets GM Calvin Booth, and Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens rounded out the top five vote-getters, while sixth-place finisher Bucks general manager Jon Horst joined Stevens as the other executives who received two first-place votes. Nine additional execs received at least one vote.
And-Ones: Grizzlies, Cavs, 2023 Draft, World Cup, More
The adage that defense wins NBA championships certainly didn’t prove true for the Grizzlies and Cavaliers, who were quickly eliminated from the playoffs after finishing the regular season with the best defensive ratings in the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. As Hollinger points out, both teams actually played good defense in the first round but struggled on the other end of the floor, finishing ahead of only Brooklyn in offensive rating in round one.
The Grizzlies were hurt by playing multiple non-shooters – the Lakers gave plenty of space to Dillon Brooks and David Roddy – and missed the presence of Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke, who could have grabbed offensive rebounds and generated second-chance points.
As for the Cavaliers, while Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland bore the brunt of the blame for the team’s offensive struggles, the team got very little from its frontcourt starters (each of whom averaged single-digit points per game) and from its reserves, Hollinger notes.
Hollinger explores ways in which the two teams could make roster upgrades this summer, suggesting that the Grizzlies will face a decision on whether to sacrifice some youth in order to acquire a reliable veteran or two. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, should have the cap flexibility to re-sign Caris LeVert and use their mid-level exception without surpassing the tax apron, and could shop Cedi Osman and/or Ricky Rubio for wing upgrades, Hollinger writes.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Sam Vecenie of The Athletic has updated his top-100 big board for the 2023 NBA draft, moving UCF’s Taylor Hendricks all the way up to No. 6, Michigan’s Kobe Bufkin up to No. 11, and G League Ignite forward Leonard Miller to No. 13.
- A panel of ESPN writers, led by Brian Windhorst, breaks down the 2023 World Cup field, observing that Team USA ended up with a pretty favorable draw, while Group H (headed by France and Canada) looks like the proverbial “group of death.”
- A separate group of ESPN reporters, including Dave McMenamin, Ramona Shelburne, and Tim Bontemps, participated in a discussion about the playoffs so far, identifying their early postseason MVP (Heat star Jimmy Butler), debating which injury will have the biggest impact on the rest of the playoffs, and naming their dream conference finals matchups.
- None of them are still alive in the postseason, but rising stars Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant, and Zion Williamson are the top three picks in a hypothetical “23-and-under” mock draft conducted by James L. Edwards, Tim Cato, and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. Evan Mobley, Jaren Jackson, and Tyrese Haliburton were the next three players off the board.
Suns Notes: Durant, Bench, Paul, Payne, Shamet
Kevin Durant‘s playoff résumé – including 29.4 PPG in 155 games and a pair of Finals MVP trophies – was a major part of why the Suns traded for him in February. Durant performed at his usual postseason level in the first round against the Clippers, but has been a minus-24 in Phoenix’s first two games vs. Denver, making just 3-of-15 three-pointers (20.%) and committing nine turnovers.
As Gerald Bourguet of GoPHNX.com writes, the Suns need more from Durant if they hope to erase their 2-0 deficit and knock off the top-seeded Nuggets. Still, head coach Monty Williams isn’t concerned about his star forward’s production, chalking up Durant’s 10-of-27 showing on Monday to an off night.
“He just missed a ton of shots, but we got a lot of the shots we wanted,” Williams said. “He and Book took most of the shots, we just didn’t shoot a great percentage tonight. And that kind of stuff happens. They only scored 97 points. Our defense was much better tonight, we just couldn’t put the ball in the hole.”
Here’s more out of Phoenix ahead of Friday’s Game 3:
- The Suns’ bench production was dismal in Game 2, as Damion Lee, Cameron Payne, Torrey Craig, Bismack Biyombo, Jock Landale, and Ish Wainright combined for just four points on 2-of-16 shooting (0-of-9 on threes). While the team would presumably like to see those numbers improve going forward, Dana Scott of The Arizona Republic notes that Phoenix ranked last in the regular season among playoff teams in bench points, and Williams has said the roster is designed for the starters to do most of the scoring while the reserves contribute in other ways.
- After Shams Charania reported on Tuesday that Chris Paul is expected to miss at least one week of action, the Suns officially listed their point guard as day-to-day due to his left groin strain (Twitter link). Although the team’s designation leaves the door open for a quicker return, I’d still be surprised if Paul makes it back before the one-week mark.
- Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, who also hears that Paul will miss at least a week, examines how the Suns can cope with the veteran’s absence. As Rankin observes, if Phoenix doesn’t want to move Payne into the starting lineup, the club could opt to shift Devin Booker to the point and start a player like Landry Shamet alongside him. Shamet was a DNP-CD in Game 2 after logging 14 minutes in Game 1.