Draft Rumors: Top Eight, Maluach, Raptors, Sixers, Hornets, More
There appears to be a consensus developing among many of the teams and executives around the league about the top eight prospects in the 2025 NBA draft, Jake Fischer writes for The Stein Line (Substack link). According to Fischer, while the order after the top two remains up in the air, Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, V.J. Edgecombe, Ace Bailey, Tre Johnson, Jeremiah Fears, Kon Knueppel, and Khaman Maluach are widely viewed as the the top eight players available this year.
“If it’s not those eight (drafted in the top eight), it will be seven of those eight,” one Eastern Conference executive told Fischer.
That developing consensus may be one reason why the Raptors’ selection at No. 9 is widely viewed as the top-10 pick most likely to be traded, according to Fischer.
While league sources tell Grant Afseth of RG.org that multiple members of Toronto’s front office are thought to be high on Maluach, the Duke big man seems unlikely to still be available at No. 9. He has visited the Wizards (No. 6) and Pelicans (No. 7), in addition to the Hawks (No. 13), and is also expected to meet with the Jazz (No. 5) before the draft. As such, the Raptors have been spending time evaluating centers who are little further down on draft boards, such as Danny Wolf and Asa Newell, Fischer reports.
A number of teams in the back half of the lottery, starting with the Pelicans at No. 7, have been connected to center prospects too, Fischer notes. That group includes the Bulls at No. 12 and the Hawks at No. 13 — Nikola Vucevic and Clint Capela have spent most of the last few years as those teams’ starting centers, but Vucevic is a trade candidate and Capela is entering free agency, so the Bulls and Hawks may each be looking to add a young player to their frontcourt.
Here’s more on the draft:
- The Sixers (No. 3) and Hornets (No. 4) have conveyed to teams that they’re prepared to listen to trade offers for their picks until they’re on the clock next Wednesday, sources tell Fischer. The Jazz (No. 5) haven’t actively encouraged trade interest in their pick, while the Wizards (No. 6) are considered a possible trade-up candidate, Fischer adds.
- The Raptors worked out guards Jase Richardson and Nolan Traore on Monday, according to Afseth. Both players are projected first-round picks, though Richardson is at No. 20 on ESPN’s big board while Traore is at No. 25. It’s unclear if Toronto is considering one or both at No. 9 or preparing for possible trade-down scenarios.
- Washington State’s Cedric Coward and French center Joan Beringer are receiving legitimate lottery consideration, Afseth writes in a separate RG.org story. The Hawks (No. 13) and Spurs (No. 14) are among the teams closely monitoring Beringer, sources tell Afseth. “He hasn’t been playing the game that long, but you’d never guess it with how quickly he picks things up,” one scout said of Beringer.
- Wisconsin’s Steven Crowl, who has worked out for the Warriors and Nuggets, among other teams, is having a strong pre-draft process and is considered a good candidate for a two-way contract, per Afseth.
- Illinois’ Will Riley was considered a likely target for the Magic at No. 16, according to Fischer, who says it’s possible some teams in the late teens will have a shot at Riley now that Orlando has traded that pick to the Grizzlies.
Wizards Rumors: Rebuild, Young Core, Draft, Fears
The Wizards are expected to take a patient approach to their rebuild, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic, who hears from a team source that the front office plans to continue evaluating its young core through at least the end of the 2027/28 season.
In addition to the current Wizards players who have one or two NBA seasons under their belts, like Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, Carlton Carrington, and Kyshawn George, that young core figures to feature at least one or two rookies from the 2025 draft class (Washington controls the sixth, 18th, and 40th overall picks), as well as the player(s) the team drafts in 2026.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Washington will remain at or near the top of the draft lottery for the next three seasons. Houston is an example of a club that has taken a few years to evaluate its young core while supplementing those players on rookie scale contracts with veteran free agents and making a significant move up the standings in the process.
As Robbins explains, the Wizards simply don’t want to give up on any of their young players too early by including them in a trade for a win-now veteran before they get a better sense of what those youngsters can become. Robbins points to the Kings trading Tyrese Haliburton less than two years after drafting him or the Pelicans trading Dyson Daniels after his second season as the types of moves the Wizards will look to avoid in the coming years.
We have more out of D.C.:
- Washington will send its 2026 first-round pick to New York if it lands outside the top eight. If that pick ends up in its protected range, the Knicks will instead receive the Wizards’ 2026 and 2027 second-rounders. Given how important it is to the Wizards to keep that first-rounder after having no luck in the 2025 draft lottery, Robbins says it’s “very difficult” to envision a scenario in which the club risks losing it. In other words, Washington appears likely to be one of the league’s five worst teams again in 2025/26.
- Robbins wouldn’t be surprised if the Wizards look to trade up from No. 6 or No. 18 for a specific player they like. As he points out, they moved up one spot in the 2023 lottery to nab Coulibaly and two spots in 2024 to draft George.
- The Wizards would like to upgrade their backcourt this summer and have done “extensive due diligence” on draft-eligible guards, sources tell Grant Afseth of RG.org, who identifies Jeremiah Fears as a name to watch if the Sooner standout is available at No. 6.
- A team source who spoke to Robbins believes that – with Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper virtually certain to be drafted first and second – the Wizards have six players in their next tier and will decide from among the prospects still available in that group. That tier consists of V.J. Edgecombe, Ace Bailey, Fears, Tre Johnson, Kon Knueppel, and Khaman Maluach.
Draft Rumors: Edgecombe, Bailey, Spurs, Knueppel, Fears, Hawks, More
For the first time since the Sixers claimed the No. 3 overall pick in last month’s draft lottery, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo are projecting Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe, rather than Rutgers forward Ace Bailey, to be the pick in that spot.
As Givony explains within ESPN’s latest mock draft, Edgecombe made a strong positive impression during his visit to Philadelphia, whereas Bailey initially didn’t make plans to meet with the Sixers at all. Bailey has since changed course and will work out for the 76ers later this week, but it sounds like he may not been enthusiastic about his “pathway to development” in Philadelphia.
According to Givony, Bailey hasn’t yet conducted a known workout and has declined invitations from multiple teams in his draft range. Sources tell ESPN that his camp believes he’s a top-three player in the draft class but that they want him to end up in a situation where there’s a path to stardom. With that in mind, some teams have wondered if Bailey has received a promise from a team outside the top five that he views as more favorable in terms of both playing time and geography.
Givony and Woo have Bailey slipping to Washington at No. 6 in their latest mock, with Givony writing that the Wizards and the Pelicans (at No. 7) are both believed to be “highly intrigued” by the 18-year-old’s upside and could probably offer him more minutes right away than a team like Philadelphia could.
Here’s more from ESPN on the 2025 NBA draft:
- Rival teams who have been in touch with the Spurs have come away believing that San Antonio will hang onto the No. 2 overall pick and select Dylan Harper, according to Givony, who says the Spurs are excited about adding a talent like Harper and appear willing to address potential fit issues down the road.
- Although the No. 8 pick is viewed as Kon Knueppel‘s likely floor, he could end up coming off the board a few picks ahead of that. The Hornets (No. 4) and Jazz (No. 5) both appear to have interest in the Duke sharpshooter, Givony reports.
- Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears looks like a relatively safe bet to be drafted between No. 5 and No. 8, writes Woo. The Jazz are viewed as the top end of Fears’ range, while the Pelicans (No. 7) and Nets (No. 8) are thought to be interested. Grant Afseth of RG.org said something similar on Monday while also identifying the Wizards at No. 6 as a possibility for Fears.
- Rival teams believe the Hawks will likely be targeting a big man and a guard with their first-round picks if they hang onto both of them, says Woo. Even if the Hawks do take that route, the order in which they address those two spots will hinge in large part on who’s available after the first 12 picks. ESPN’s mock has Atlanta taking Egor Demin at No. 13 and Danny Wolf at No. 22.
- Collin Murray-Boyles is considered a polarizing prospect, with some evaluators viewing the South Carolina standout as a potential “outstanding” role player while others are concerned about his shooting and his positional size, according to Woo. Murray-Boyles’ range may start around the No. 10 pick.
- Arizona’s Carter Bryant has had a very good pre-draft process and looks like a strong candidate to come off the board in the 9-15 range, per Givony.
Draft Notes: Sixers’ Plans, Heat Workouts, Sorber, Mock
Confirming a recent report that stated the Sixers have talked to the Spurs about the possibility about the No. 2 overall pick, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer notes that moving up to draft Dylan Harper would give Philadelphia the sort of point guard the team has long coveted. Harper would pair nicely with Tyrese Maxey while Jared McCain and Quentin Grimes could split on/off-ball duties.
If the Sixers don’t make a deal for the No. 2 pick, it remains unclear whether they’ll stick at No. 3 or trade down. The third pick feels like an early turning point in the draft, with the Sixers reportedly impressed by Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe and, according to Pompey, split on Harper’s Rutgers teammate Ace Bailey.
In 30 games last year, Bailey averaged 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.
We have more rumors related to the draft:
- San Francisco guard Marcus Williams and Kansas guard Zeke Mayo have worked out for the Heat, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. Neither player is projected to be drafted, but Miami has a strong history of developing overlooked players. Williams averaged 15.1 points and 4.3 assists per game last year while Mayo averaged 14.6 PPG. Both players shot over 40.0% from three. Rounding up recent mocks, Jackson writes that Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf and Rasheer Fleming are among popular picks for the Heat if they stick with their 20th overall selection.
- Georgetown center Thomas Sorber visited with the Jazz, according to The Athletic’s Tony Jones (Twitter link). Sorber is recovering from a season-ending foot injury, so he didn’t work out but instead had dinner with team officials and underwent a medical evaluation. Sorber is ESPN’s 18th best-available prospect and the Jazz hold picks Nos. 5, 21, 43 and 53.
- HoopsHype updated its aggregate mock draft that combines evaluations from 10 major sites to provide a consensus prediction. Bailey remains at No. 3 with Edgecombe going fourth to the Hornets. Jeremiah Fears (mocked sixth to the Wizards) and Cedric Coward (mocked 15th to the Thunder) are among the notable risers.
Draft Notes: Player Comps, Fit/Value, Guide, Withdrawals
In a story for ESPN.com, Jeremy Woo lists both the high- and low-end comparisons for each player mocked by ESPN to go in the top 15 of the 2025 draft, which will begin on June 25. Woo writes that the likely outcome for the comparisons typically falls somewhere in the middle.
For consensus top prospect Cooper Flagg, Woo says Jayson Tatum with more defense would be a best-case outcome, with his low-end comp being Andre Iguodala with more offense. How about Dylan Harper, widely viewed as the second-best player in the class? According to Woo, Harper has a chance to become a Jalen Brunson-type player with more size, while a career like D’Angelo Russell‘s may be his floor.
As the draft gets closer to the back end of the lottery, there’s a wider range of outcomes. For instance, if Collin Murray-Boyles improves his jump shot, Woo thinks he could develop into a player like Al Horford. But if he doesn’t, he might just be a frontcourt depth option with solid defense, similar to Xavier Tillman.
Derik Queen (Alperen Sengun/Sandro Mamukelashvili), Joan Beringer (Clint Capela/Jaxson Hayes) and Noa Essengue (Pascal Siakam/Jarred Vanderbilt) are among the prospects mentioned in the teens.
Here are a few more notes on the upcoming draft:
- ESPN’s latest mock draft focuses on the first round, with Jonathan Givony selecting a player who fills each team’s biggest need, while Woo chooses the prospects who offer the best value. While there’s a decent amount of overlap between the fit and value picks, there are also some major differences, starting at No. 2, where Givony views Kon Knueppel as the best fit for the Spurs (Harper is the best available).
- Sam Vecenie of The Athletic recently released his comprehensive draft guide, featuring in-depth scouting reports on 75 players and ranking his top 100 prospects. Vecenie is extremely bullish on Flagg, believing him to be the second-best prospect in the past decade, only behind Victor Wembanyama, and is also high on Harper. However, he’s not as optimistic about the rest of the draft, with those two in separate tiers of their own. Notably, Vecenie is much lower on Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears (No. 18 vs. No. 7) than ESPN. The same is true of BYU’s Egor Demin (No. 25 vs. No. 11). By contrast, he’s much higher on Cedric Coward (No. 10 vs No. 29) and Noah Penda (No. 15 vs. No. 28) than ESPN’s experts. The guide is well worth checking out in full if you subscribe to The Athletic.
- A pair of international prospects are withdrawing from the draft, according to Givony of ESPN and Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter links). Croatian forward/center Michael Ruzic, the 44th-ranked prospect on ESPN’s big board, has withdrawn from consideration, agents Bill Duffy and Sasa Zagorac tell Givony. Meanwhile, Bassala Bagayoko, a 6’9″ big man from Mali, will return to Spanish club Bilbao for the 2025/26 season, Chekpkevich reports. June 15 is the final deadline for early entrants to withdraw from the draft.
NBA Invites 13 Prospects To Draft Green Room
A total of 13 draft-eligible players have been invited to the NBA’s green room for the 2025 draft so far, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
Those players are as follows, sorted by their rank on ESPN’s big board:
Cooper Flagg (Duke)- Dylan Harper (Rutgers)
- Ace Bailey (Rutgers)
- V.J. Edgecombe (Baylor)
- Tre Johnson (Texas)
- Khaman Maluach (Duke)
- Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma)
- Kon Knueppel (Duke)
- Kasparas Jakucionis (Illinois)
- Egor Demin (BYU)
- Carter Bryant (Arizona)
- Derik Queen (Maryland)
- Asa Newell (Georgia)
As Givony observes, 12 of the top 13 players on ESPN’s board have received invitations so far, with the only exception being French forward Noa Essengue, who comes in at No. 9. The 18-year-old is still playing in Germany for Ratiopharm Ulm as the team vies for a spot in the Basketball Bundesliga Finals.
Essengue’s season could be over as soon as later this week, in which case he’d have no problem attending the draft and would likely get a green room invite. However, it’s also possible his season might extend beyond June 25 (day one of the draft) if Ulm makes the BBL Finals and the series requires the maximum five games — in that scenario, Game 5 would be played on June 26.
Another 11 green room invitations are expected to be sent out to prospects prior to the draft, a source tells Givony. The players invited to the green room can usually feel pretty confident about their chances to be first-round picks, since the league only decides who to invite after asking teams to vote on the 25 prospects they expect to come off the board first.
Still, there are occasionally instances in which players in the green room slip further than expected. Last season, Givony notes, Kyle Filipowski and Johnny Furphy received green room invites but weren’t selected until the second round, which was held a day later for the first time.
Nets Notes: Draft Trades, Johnson, Fears, Bridges Deal
The Nets possess four first-round picks in this month’s draft, including the No. 8 overall selection. They are reportedly pursuing another top-10 pick, NetsDaily tweets.
According to NetsDaily, Brooklyn may try to move its second-highest pick at No. 19 and Cameron Johnson to the Raptors for the No. 9 pick or the Rockets at No. 10, taking back a “bad contract” in the process. However, both of those teams might be a little reluctant to move their picks before learning whether Milwaukee makes Giannis Antetokounmpo available, as Toronto and Houston are both regarded as potential landing spots for the Bucks’ superstar.
Here’s more on the Nets:
- The Nets are positioned to follow the blueprint that led the Pacers and Thunder to the Finals, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. Both of those organizations chose to find young, defensive-minded players with rotations that go 10-deep, rather than stacking three superstars and fitting low-cost pieces around them.
- Oklahoma freshman guard Jeremiah Fears is ranked No. 7 on ESPN’s big board and NetsDaily’s Lucas Kaplan takes a long look at whether Fears could be the Nets’ long-term solution at the point. Kaplan notes that Fears, 18, had a high usage rate for an Southeastern Conference team and many defenders couldn’t stay in front of him, often resorting to fouling him.
- In this year’s draft alone, the Nets acquired the Nos. 19, 26 and 36 picks from the Mikal Bridges trade. How they use those picks will help determine whether the Nets or Knicks wind up as the ultimate winner in the deal, according to another NetsDaily.com story.
Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Sixers, Nets Draft
After acquiring Brandon Ingram at the February trade deadline, the Raptors are viewed by teams around the league as a candidate to make another major move this offseason, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (hat tip to RealGM).
“Toronto is one of those teams that is sitting there on the balls of its feet, which is interesting,” Windhorst said on the latest episode of the Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link).
Eric Koreen of The Athletic added that the state of the Eastern Conference should push the Raptors to be slightly more aggressive, as the bottom of the conference is likely to be weak, especially if Giannis Antetokounmpo departs for the Western Conference.
However, Koreen adds that his instinct is that the core five Raptors, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl, and Brandon Ingram, will likely remain with the team heading into next season.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- After a season that went much worse than expected, the Sixers are faced with a multitude of questions, writes Keith Pompey of The Inquirer. The first domino is the third overall pick in the 2025 draft. If they do use the No. 3 pick, don’t expect standout trade addition Quentin Grimes‘ impending free agency to impact the selection, says Pompey, who emphasizes the need to select the best player available. Pompey writes within the same story that another lackluster year from Philadelphia could spell the end of team president Daryl Morey‘s tenure as the lead decision-maker.
- Speaking of the third pick in the 2025 draft, count Sixers star Paul George as a firm believer in Ace Bailey, Pompey writes in a separate story. Pompey reports that George has hyped up the 6’9″ wing three different times leading into the offseason. Recently, George said, “If there was no Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey would have been an even bigger name that people would have been talking about in this draft. … I think he’s going to come into the league and make noise right away.” Carmelo Anthony and DeMarcus Cousins are two other former players who have raved about the shot-making wing, but others believe that the three-to-six or -seven range in the draft is basically interchangeable from a talent perspective.
- The Nets missed out on the Flagg sweepstakes, but they still have five picks in the top 36 of the 2025 draft. Collin Helwig of NetsDaily rounded up a list of players who have been confirmed to have worked out for the franchise, a list that doesn’t yet include Jeremiah Fears or Kon Knueppel. Colorado State’s Nique Clifford is the highest-ranked name known to have worked out for the team so far, along with Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier. Helwig notes that St. John’s Aaron Scott and Temple’s Steve Settle both worked out in Brooklyn, as did Wake Forest guard Hunter Sallis and West Virginia’s Javon Small. Finally, Helwig writes that international players Noa Essengue, Ben Saraf, and Hugo Gonzalez will not be working out for the team, as they finish their seasons overseas.
Draft Rumors: Spurs, Giannis, Bucks, Sixers, Coward, More
The Spurs moved up from No. 8 to No. 2 in the NBA draft lottery on Monday. As Sam Vecenie of The Athletic writes, Rutgers guard Dylan Harper is “nearly unanimously” viewed by league executives and scouts as the second-best prospect in the 2025 class.
However, San Antonio just traded for star point guard De’Aaron Fox in February and also has Rookie of the Year winner Stephon Castle. All three guards are at their best with the ball in their hands, which may make Harper’s fit a little awkward at first. For what it’s worth, he recently expressed confidence about the possibility of playing alongside Fox and Castle.
The majority of the NBA sources Vecenie has spoken to believe the “most likely outcome” is that San Antonio will keep the No. 2 pick and select Harper. But the value of that pick — and having Harper on a rookie scale contract for the next four years — could open another possibility: a potential trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, should he become available.
“If the Spurs paired Giannis and (Victor Wembanyama), they would be the favorite to win the title next year,” one Eastern Conference executive told Vecenie. “They’d have two guys who might be top-five players in the league next year on the same team. Plus, they fit. They’d have a dominant defense that no one would be able to score against inside, and they’d have the ability to play five-out in an even more devastating way than the Bucks did with Brook Lopez if they surrounded Giannis and Wemby with the right wings.”
Here are some more draft-related rumors, mostly from Vecenie:
- Vecenie hears the Bucks still want to keep Antetokounmpo, but it’s unclear if he will seek a change of scenery after spending his first 12 NBA seasons in Milwaukee. If Giannis does request a trade, the draft lottery results could be a boon for the Bucks. As Vecenie explains, while it isn’t known if the Spurs would actually offer the No. 2 pick as part of a package for Antetokounmpo, people around the league are very high on Harper, and Milwaukee could leverage his possible inclusion in a trade to try and create a bidding a war between San Antonio and any other interested suitors, with the Rockets viewed as another possible landing spot. According to Vecenie, Harper as a centerpiece to an offer would hold more league-wide appeal than Castle, who is a more polarizing prospect due to question marks about his shooting.
- The Sixers landing the No. 3 pick in the lottery could also be beneficial to the Bucks, Vecenie writes, since president of basketball operations Daryl Morey has historically been one of the most aggressive suitors for star players. The third pick doesn’t have as much value as the second in this draft, but it’s still an asset that Milwaukee could try to leverage in negotiations.
- Vecenie hears the Sixers are expected to be aggressive in looking for roster upgrades after acquiring the No. 3 pick and are expected to listen to offers from teams interested in moving up in the draft. However, if Philadelphia stands pat, it’s not yet clear which prospect it would prioritize. Ace Bailey is viewed as more of a long-term project instead of a player who can help a team win right now, Vecenie notes, and there are question marks about the fit and/or value of selecting V.J. Edgecombe, Tre Johnson or Kon Knueppel at No. 3.
- According to Vecenie, there appears to be a “dead zone” outside of the top eight for point guards who aren’t great at playing off the ball at this stage in their development, with the majority of the teams in the nine-to-18 range already having lead guards. Vecenie suggests that prospects like Jeremiah Fears, Nolan Traore and Jase Richardson have a chance to slide on draft night if they aren’t selected in top eight.
- Former Washington State forward Cedric Coward seems to be leaning toward keeping his name in the draft, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link). Coward plans to transfer to Duke if he stays in college, but that possibility sounds “increasingly unlikely,” says Givony. Coward, who started his college career at Willamette University, a Division III school, is ranked No. 35 on ESPN’s big board. He recently sat down for an extensive interview with Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports (YouTube link).
Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Maluach, Sixers, Bailey, Nets, Fears
While they didn’t fall as far as teams like Utah or Washington, the Raptors were among the clubs to slide multiple spots in Monday’s draft lottery. They entered the night with the seventh-best odds, but will be picking ninth overall in this year’s draft.
As Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes, that lack of lottery luck diminishes the odds of Toronto adding a difference-maker in this year’s draft after the team spent much of the season angling for a better draft position. While that will raise the level of difficulty as Masai Ujiri looks to build another title-contending team, the Raptors president indicated on lottery night that he wasn’t fazed by the results, pointing to the organization’s positive history with the No. 9 overall pick.
“Tracy McGrady. DeMar DeRozan. Jakob Poeltl,” Ujiri said. “We’ll be fine. I guarantee you we’ll be fine. … We have all our picks going forward. I think we continue this rebuild and grow as a team. And honestly, I’m as optimistic as I was (before the lottery).
“I believe that the NBA has become (about) movement, movement, movement. You just wait for your turn (for a big transaction that makes sense). It will come: patience and (we will) see if that’s the way. But I think for this team, we’re just going to keep growing. And (we have) young players. We’ll be fine adding another one.”
As for which prospects the Raptors might target at No. 9, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca points to Duke big man Khaman Maluach as one possible fit, noting that the club will be seeking center depth behind Poeltl. According to Grange, some league sources have told him Maluach is high on Toronto’s radar, while other sources with knowledge of the team’s thinking have pushed back on that notion.
The Raptors, who also hold 39th overall pick in this year’s draft, have a workout scheduled with Australian forward Alex Toohey, tweets Grange. Toohey is the No. 39 prospect on ESPN’s big board.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Confirming a report from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes that assistant coach Coby Karl has been let go by the Sixers. Karl is one of several staffers the team is parting ways with, according to Pompey, who identifies associate player development coach Terrel Harris, senior physical therapist and assistant athletic trainer John Tooher, and director of coaching operations Michelle Bell as a few of the others exiting the organization.
- In a column for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pompey makes the case that the Sixers should use the No. 3 overall pick on Rutgers’ Ace Bailey, assuming Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper are off the board. However, if they do select Bailey, the 76ers will need to make sure they “focus on making him a real contributor from day one,” Pompey contends, rather than possibly stunting his growth by making him a fourth option or role player.
- Could Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears be the right fit for the Nets at No. 8 in this year’s draft? Noting that Fears shows up at that spot in multiple mock drafts, Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes that the lottery prospect has worked out for Brooklyn and the Wizards so far and received some positive feedback from the Nets. “Yes, I met with Brooklyn. I worked out for Brooklyn as well,” Fears said. “The conversations were great. They were just telling me how they think I could fit within their system and be an overall good piece for them.”