Draft Notes: Zoosman, Obiesie, Eboua, Holman, Herro
Israeli Yovel Zoosman, a 6’6” small forward, will keep his name in the draft, Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets. Zoosman plays for Maccabi Tel Aviv, which just advanced to the Israeli league playoff finals. Zoosman is ranked No. 53 on Givony’s Top 100 prospects list.
We have more draft decisions and workouts:
- German point guard Josh Obiesie will stay in the draft, according to another Givony tweet. Givony has Obiesie ranked No. 64 overall and No. 10 among point guard prospects.
- Forward Paul Eboua, Cameroon native, has withdrawn his name from the draft, according to Givony (Twitter link). He joins 11 other international players — Gytis Masiulis, Abdoulaye N’Doye, Digue Diawara, Aleksandr Balcerowski, Aleix Font, Zoran Paunovic, Dalibor Ilic, Louis Olinde, Jonas Matisseck, Tadas Sedekerskis and Vrenz Bleijenbergh — who have also decided to pull out of the draft. Matas Jogela, a Lithuanian forward, and William McDowell-White, an Australian guard, will remain in the draft, according to Givony (Twitter links).
- Mississippi State forward Aric Holman worked out for the Raptors on Monday, according to Ian Begley of SNY TV (Twitter link). He visited the Knicks last week and will work out for the Kings, Lakers and Cavaliers this week, Begley adds.
- First round prospect Tyler Herro (Kentucky) has worked out for the Spurs and will also visit the Pacers and Timberwolves, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. Herro is ranked No. 18 overall and No. 4 among shooting guards by Givony.
Eastern Draft Notes: Hawks, Barrett, Knicks, Pistons
With six of the top 44 picks in the 2019 NBA draft, the Hawks have been understandably busy when it comes to bringing in prospects for pre-draft workouts. While Atlanta is unlikely to keep all six of its selections, the club is doing its due diligence on players who might be available at each spot — or as undrafted free agents.
On Sunday, the Hawks worked out Darius Bazley (Princeton HS), Robert Franks (Washington State), Matur Maker (Zlatorog Lasko), William McDowell-White (Baunach), Miye Oni (Yale), and Trayvon Reed (Texas Southern), according to the team.
The Hawks conducted another workout on Monday, bringing in Jordan Bone (Tennessee), Brian Bowen (Sydney), Dewan Hernandez (Miami), Jordan Poole (Michigan), Justin Robinson (Virginia Tech), and Dean Wade (Kansas State) in for a look.
On Tuesday, the Hawks will host yet another workout, with Charlie Brown Jr. (St. Joe’s), Zylan Cheatham (Arizona State), Keldon Johnson (Kentucky), Nassir Little (UNC), KZ Okpala (Stanford), and Kevin Porter Jr. (USC) set to participate.
Here are a few more updates on pre-draft workouts from around the Eastern Conference:
- R.J. Barrett doesn’t have many team visits on his schedule this month. According to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (via Twitter), Barrett’s individual workout and meeting with the Knicks today represents his first and only session of the pre-draft process. “This is the place I want to be. So I hope they draft me,” the Duke forward said today (Twitter link via Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic). Barrett is widely viewed as the favorite to be selected with the No. 3 overall pick.
- Croatian forward Luka Samanic, an early entrant who will keep his name in the 2019 NBA draft pool, will have an individual workout on Tuesday with the Pacers, the team announced in a press release.
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Virginia Tech), KeVaughn Allen (Florida), Robert Franks (Washington State), Tyler Herro (Kentucky), Christ Koumadje (Florida State), and Greg Malinowski (Georgetown) worked out for the Magic on Monday, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic.
- The Pistons worked out Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Virginia Tech), Luguentz Dort (Arizona State), Amir Hinton (Shaw), Talen Horton-Tucker (Iowa State), Nassir Little (UNC), and Shamorie Ponds (St. John’s) on Friday, then auditioned Oshae Brissett (Syracuse), Barry Brown Jr. (Kansas State), Digue Diawara (France), Nikola Miskovic (Serbia), Zach Jackson (Omaha), and Josh Perkins (Gonzaga) on Monday, per Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter links).
Latest On Early Entrants List For 2019 NBA Draft
The deadline for early entrants to declare for the 2019 NBA draft fell on Sunday night, with plenty of NCAA underclassmen and international prospects entering their names into the draft before that deadline.
News continues to trickle in on players making draft decisions, and it will just be a matter of time before the NBA issues an official list of the players who declared for the 2019 NBA draft as early entrants. Once that group is set, the next key deadline to watch will be May 29 — that’s the last day for NCAA players to withdraw from draft consideration while retaining their college eligibility.
Here are many of the early entrants who have declared for the draft within the past couple days (our full list can be found here):
NCAA early entrants:
- James Banks III, F, Georgia Tech (junior) (Twitter link via Jon Rothstein of SI.com)
- Phil Bledsoe, F, Glenville State (junior) (link via Ryan Decker of 12 WBOY)
- Marques Bolden, C, Duke (junior) (press release via Duke)
- Jarron Cumberland, G, Cincinnati (junior) (press release via Cincinnati)
- Note: Cumberland is the No. 91 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com.
- Tulio Da Silva, F, Missouri State (junior) (press release via Missouri State)
- Silvio De Sousa, F, Kansas (sophomore) (Twitter link via De Sousa)
- Javin DeLaurier, F, Duke (junior) (press release via Duke)
- Kevon Harris, G, Stephen F. Austin (junior) (via agent Jerry Dianis)
- Malik Maitland, G, Bethune-Cookman (junior) (Twitter link via Maitland)
- Jermaine Marrow, G, Hampton (junior) (link via Dave Johnson of The Daily Press)
- Zach Norvell Jr., G, Gonzaga (sophomore) (press release via Gonzaga)
- Joel Ntambwe, F, UNLV (freshman) (Twitter link via Rothstein)
- Jalen Pickett, G, Siena (freshman) (Twitter link via ESPN’s Jonathan Givony)
- Nick Richards, F, Kentucky (sophomore) (press release via Kentucky)
- Xavier Sneed, F, Kansas State (junior) (link via KWCH.com)
- Killian Tillie, F, Gonzaga (junior) (press release via Gonzaga)
- Note: Tillie is the No. 82 prospect on Givony’s big board.
International early entrants:
- Dikembe Andre, C, Brazil (born 1999) (Twitter link via ESPN’s Jonathan Givony)
- Kevin Cham, G, France (born 1998) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Leo Cizmic, F, Croatia (born 1998) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Digue Diawara, F, France (born 1998) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Nenad Dimitrijevic, G, Macedonia (born 1998) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Felipe Dos Anjos, C, Brazil (born 1998) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Yago Mateus Dos Santos, G, Brazil (born 1999) (link via Cancha Latina)
- Paul Eboua, F, Cameroon (born 2000) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Osas Ehigiator, C, Spain (born 1999) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Biram Faye, F, Senegal (born 2000) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Ivan Fevrier, F, France (born 1999) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Aleix Font, G/F, Spain (born 1998) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Kadre Gray, G, Laurentian (Canada) (junior) (Twitter link via Barry Hayes)
- Lukasz Kolenda, G, Poland (born 1999) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Muhaymin Mustafa, G, Turkey (born 1999) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Joshua Obiesie, G, Germany (born 2000) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Note: Obiesie is the No. 46 prospect on Givony’s big board.
- Zoran Paunovic, G, Serbia (born 2000) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Dino Radoncic, F, Montenegro (born 1999) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Sander Raieste, F, Estonia (born 1999) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Neal Sako, C, France (born 1998) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Luka Samanic, F, Croatia (born 2000) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Note: Samanic is the No. 39 prospect on Givony’s big board.
- Njegos Sikiras, F, Bosnia (born 1999) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Borisa Simanic, F, Serbia (born 1998) (Twitter link via agent Misko Raznatovic)
- Khadim Sow, C, Senegal (born 1999) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Michael Uchendu, C, Brazil (born 1998) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Bastien Vautier, C, France (born 1998) (Twitter link via Givony)
- Warren Woghiren, C, France (born 1998) (Twitter link via Givony)
