Draft Notes: Grizzlies, Tanner, Withdrawals, Warriors, Hornets
The Grizzlies are working out Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner on Wednesday, along with Chase Ross (Marquette), Sam Alexis (Indiana), and J’Vonne Hadley (Louisville), reports Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link).
Tanner, a potential first-round pick, is the most highly regarded prospect of that group and will face a decision in a matter of hours on whether or not to keep his name in the draft. The deadline for early entrants to withdraw and retain their NCAA eligibility is 11:59 pm Eastern on Wednesday.
Tanner is one of the more notable prospects who has yet to finalize his decision — it’s possible the feedback he gets on Wednesday from the Grizzlies, who hold this year’s third, 16th, and 32nd overall picks, will help sway him in one direction or the other.
We have a few more draft-related updates:
- Flory Bidunga, who is transferring from Kansas to Louisville, has withdrawn from the draft, per Joe Tipton of On3 (Twitter link). So has Shane Blakeney, who is transferring from Drexel to South Carolina, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link), as well as Anton Bonke, who is transferring from Charlotte to Michigan State, agent Scott Nichols tells Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Bidunga is entering his junior season in 2026/27, while Blakeney and Bonke will be seniors and will be automatically draft-eligible next year.
- In addition to Dillon Mitchell, Tre Donaldson, and Tyler Nickel, whose participation was previously reported, the Warriors are bringing in Nevada guard Corey Camper, South Carolina guard Kobe Knox, and San Diego State guard Reese Dixon-Waters for Wednesday’s group workout, according to the team (Twitter link).
- Nick Boyd (Wisconsin), Wyatt Fricks (Marshall), Nate Johnson (Kansas State), and Tre White (Kansas) are among the prospects visiting the Hornets for a pre-draft workout on Wednesday, league sources tell Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). Charlotte currently only holds the 14th and 18th overall picks, while Boyd and White rank 76th and 93rd, respectively, on ESPN’s top-100 list, so the team could be eyeing potential undrafted targets for two-way offers.
- Cincinnati forward Baba Miller had been scheduled to take part in a group workout with the Kings on Wednesday, but he was unable to participate due to an illness, tweets Sean Cunningham of KCRA News.
Portsmouth Invitational Tournament Announces 2026 Rosters
The 2026 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament will take place this week from April 15-18 in Portsmouth, VA. The event features college seniors working to boost their stock ahead of the NBA draft, with invitations to the combine a possibility for some standouts.
Several P.I.T. alumni have gone on to become solid NBA players in recent years, including Toumani Camara, Craig Porter Jr., Daniss Jenkins and Kobe Sanders, among others. Camara (2023) and Sanders (2025) were both second-round picks.
This year’s tournament features eight different teams with eight players apiece, for a total of 64 participants. Here’s the full list, per the P.I.T.:
- Rashaun Agee (Texas A&M)
- Donovan Atwell (Texas Tech)
- Ezra Ausar (USC)
- Robbie Avila (Saint Louis)
- Kylan Boswell (Illinois)
- Duke Brennan (Villanova)
- Nimari Burnett (Michigan)
- John Camden (California)
- Javontae Campbell (Bowling Green)
- Corey Camper Jr. (Nevada)
- Tre Carroll (Xavier)
- Rafael Castro (George Washington)
- Zach Cleveland (Liberty)
- Carson Cooper (Michigan State)
- Quadir Copeland (NC State)
- Melvin Council Jr. (Kansas)
- Malik Dia (Mississippi)
- Josh Dix (Creighton)
- Tre Donaldson (Miami)
- Themus Fulks (UCF)
- David Green (Tulsa)
- J’Vonne Hadley (Louisville)
- Jaden Henley (Grand Canyon)
- Meechie Johnson (South Carolina)
- Nate Johnson (Kansas State)
- Tavari Johnson (Akron)
- Lajae Jones (Florida State)
- Trey Kaufman-Renn (Purdue)
- Jaxon Kohler (Michigan State)
- Riley Kugel (UCF)
- Toibu Lawal (Virginia Tech)
- Xaivian Lee (Florida)
- Tamin Lipsey (Iowa State)
- Ven-Allen Lubin (NC State)
- Amani Lyles (Akron)
- Max Mackinnon (LSU)
- Rienk Mast (Nebraska)
- Robert McCray V (Florida State)
- Devin McGlockton (Vanderbilt)
- Duke Miles (Vanderbilt)
- Kevin (Boopie) Miller (SMU)
- Mark Mitchell (Missouri)
- KeShawn Murphy (Auburn)
- Izaiyah Nelson (USF)
- Moe Odum (Arizona State)
- Felix Okpara (Tennessee)
- Nijel Pack (Oklahoma)
- Kowacie Reeves Jr. (Georgia Tech)
- Malik Reneau (Miami)
- Jordan Riley (East Carolina)
- Chase Ross (Marquette)
- Anthony Roy (Oklahoma State)
- Jaylin Sellers (Providence)
- Tre’Von Spillers (Wake Forest)
- Corey Stephenson (FIU)
- AJ Storr (Mississippi)
- Peter Suder (Miami OH)
- Nick Townsend (Yale)
- Seth Trimble (UNC)
- Cade Tyson (Minnesota)
- Ernest Udeh Jr. (Miami)
- Jalen Washington (Vanderbilt)
- Solomon Washington (Maryland)
- Tre White (Kansas)
Champaign native Boswell, who helped lead the Illini to the Final Four, appears to be one of the top prospects among the group. The 6’2″ guard came in at No. 66 on ESPN’s latest big board, with Volunteers center Okpara (No. 86) and Boilermakers big man Kaufman-Renn (No. 88) among the other prospects on the top-100 list.
And-Ones: Extensions, Draft Sleepers, Edwards, Partizan
In a subscriber-only story for The Third Apron, Yossi Gozlan takes a look at 11 players around the NBA who are currently eligible for veteran contract extensions.
According to Gozlan, Spurs wing Julian Champagnie has been a complete bargain on his current deal and should be in line for a considerable raise. San Antonio holds a $3MM team option on Champagnie for 2026/27, which the team would have to decline to extend him.
As Gozlan writes, the maximum the 24-year-old could receive on an extension would be $87MM over four years. Gozlan suggests a four-year deal in the $75-76MM range could be a reasonable compromise for both sides.
Gozlan also projects extensions for Spurs forward Harrison Barnes (two years, $24MM) and Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic (exact same structure), among others.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- John Hollinger of The Athletic lists nine of his favorite sleepers ahead of the 2026 draft. Hollinger acknowledges that some of the players on his list, including Santa Clara forward Allen Graves and Stanford guard Ebuka Okorie, may decide to return for another college season in 2026/27. A couple other sleepers Hollinger mentions (Corey Camper and Emanuel Sharp) will be automatically draft-eligible, as they’re both fifth-year seniors.
- Former NBA big man Jesse Edwards, who spent last season on a two-way deal with the Timberwolves, is in advanced talks with Spanish club Baskonia about a rest-of-season contract, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. The Dutch center played for Melbourne United in Australia in 2025/26, averaging 13.5 PPG, 8.5 RPG and 1.1 BPG in 35 games (22.4 MPG).
- In an extensive interview with Milun Nesovic of Serbian outlet Meridian Sport, Partizan Belgrade president Ostoja Mijailovic discussed a number of current and former NBA players, as Eurohoops and Sportando relay. The Sixers were limited to offering Partizan $875K as part of a buyout for Cameron Payne, yet the EuroLeague club received $1.75MM in that agreement. According to Mijailovic, the remaining $875K came from Payne himself. Mijailovic confirmed Partizan forward Isaac Bonga received NBA interest last month, but the team had the option to decline the $875K buyout it was offered for Bonga and did so because it values him. However, the former second-round pick could be on the move this summer, as Partizan will no longer have the option to turn down a buyout offer for Bonga once ’25/26 ends.
- Mijailovic also expressed regret for the lucrative deals given to Jabari Parker and Shake Milton, and said the team remains fond of Dante Exum, who was waived by Washington last month after being traded by Dallas. Exum hasn’t played at all this season due to a knee injury. “It is certainly our desire to bring back players who left a mark at Partizan and who can help the team on the court,” Mijailovic said, per Eurohoops. “Exum is one of the players we all adored, and we still adore him.”