NBA Reveals Players Expected At 2023 Draft Combine
The NBA has announced 78 players that are expected to attend this year’s draft combine, scheduled for May 15-21 at in Chicago, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets.
Additionally, a select number of standout players from the G League Elite Camp, which takes place May 13-14 in Chicago, will be invited to participate in the combine.
Players will have interviews with NBA teams and participate in five-on-five scrimmages, as well as shooting, strength and agility drills. Some top prospects opt out of the scrimmages.
Victor Wembanyama, the projected top pick, is not on the list. His French League season is still ongoing.
The list of invitees is as follows:
- Trey Alexander (Creighton)
- Amari Bailey (UCLA)
- Emoni Bates (Eastern Michigan)
- Reece Beekman (Virginia)
- Anthony Black (Arkansas)
- Adem Bona (UCLA)
- Kobe Brown (Missouri)
- Kobe Bufkin (Michigan)
- Toumani Camara (Dayton)
- Sidy Cissoko (G League Ignite)
- Jaylen Clark (UCLA)
- Noah Clowney (Alabama)
- Ricky Council IV (Arkansas)
- Gradey Dick (Kansas)
- Nikola Djurisic (Mega [Serbia])
- Zach Edey (Purdue)
- Adam Flagler (Baylor)
- Keyonte George (Baylor)
- Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State)
- Coleman Hawkins (Illinois)
- Jordan Hawkins (Connecticut)
- Scoot Henderson (G League Ignite)
- Taylor Hendricks (UCF)
- DaRon Holmes II (Dayton)
- Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana)
- Jett Howard (Michigan)
- Andre Jackson Jr. (Connecticut)
- GG Jackson II (South Carolina)
- Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana)
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA)
- Keyontae Johnson (Kansas State)
- Colby Jones (Xavier)
- Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton)
- Arthur Kaluma (Creighton)
- Mojave King (G League Ignite)
- Bobi Klintman (Wake Forest)
- Maxwell Lewis (Pepperdine)
- Dereck Lively II (Duke)
- Chris Livingston (Kentucky)
- Seth Lundy (Penn State)
- Kevin McCullar (Kansas)
- Mike Miles Jr. (TCU)
- Brandon Miller (Alabama)
- Jordan Miller (Miami)
- Leonard Miller (G League Ignite)
- Judah Mintz (Syracuse)
- Dillon Mitchell (Texas)
- Omari Moore (San Jose State)
- Kris Murray (Iowa)
- Grant Nelson (North Dakota State)
- James Nnaji (Barcelona [Spain])
- Julian Phillips (Tennessee)
- Jalen Pickett (Penn State)
- Brandin Podziemski (Santa Clara)
- Olivier-Maxence Prosper (Marquette)
- Rayan Rupert (New Zealand Breakers [Oceania])
- Adama Sanogo (Connecticut)
- Marcus Sasser (Houston)
- Brice Sensabaugh (Ohio State)
- Terrence Shannon Jr. (Illinois)
- Ben Sheppard (Belmont)
- Jalen Slawson (Furman)
- Nick Smith Jr. (Arkansas)
- Terquavion Smith (North Carolina State)
- Julian Strawther (Gonzaga)
- Amen Thompson (Overtime Elite)
- Ausar Thompson (Overtime Elite)
- Drew Timme (Gonzaga)
- Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky)
- Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona)
- Tristan Vukcevic (Partizan [Serbia])
- Jarace Walker (Houston)
- Cason Wallace (Kentucky)
- Jordan Walsh (Arkansas)
- Dariq Whitehead (Duke)
- Cam Whitmore (Villanova)
- Jalen Wilson (Kansas)
- Isaiah Wong (Miami)
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.
Michigan’s Kobe Bufkin Declares For NBA Draft
Michigan point guard Kobe Bufkin has announced that he is declaring for the 2023 NBA draft, according to the school (Twitter link).
“As a result of our collective dedication, I was able to fulfill my dream of attending and representing the University of Michigan,” he said in a statement.
“To my U of M family, it was been an amazing experience, being a part of such an iconic university,” Bufkin continued. “This is including the Ann Arbor community, the outstanding academic experience, and of course, my basketball brotherhood. A brotherhood that I will forever hold close to my heart.”
Bufkin is currently listed as the No. 23 prospect on ESPN’s big board.
The 6’4″ guard started all 33 of his games played during his sophomore season with the Wolverines in 2022/23. He averaged 14.0 PPG on .482/.355/.849 shooting splits, 4.5 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.3 SPG and 0.7 BPG.
Michigan did not quality for the NCAA Tournament this season, but instead participated in the 2023 NIT competition as the third seed.
And-Ones: 2023 Draft, M. Leonard, TV Rights, Elam Ending
The latest installment of Jonathan Givony’s 2023 NBA draft stock watch at ESPN (Insider link) highlights a series of Duke prospects, with big man Kyle Filipowski coming in at No. 14 on Givony’s big board, followed by center Dereck Lively II at No. 24 and swingman Dariq Whitehead at No. 26.
Whitehead’s stock has slipped since the start of the season, according to Givony, who notes that the freshman has struggled to be effective when healthy and ranks dead last among ESPN’s top 100 prospects in two-point field goal percentage (39.7%).
Jeremy Woo of SI.com also takes stock of where a few 2023 draft prospects stand, writing that UCF forward Taylor Hendricks is solidifying his place as a first-rounder and identifying Michigan guard Kobe Bufkin as a possible sleeper.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Free agent center Meyers Leonard spoke to Jeremy Schaap of ESPN’s Outside the Lines about his efforts to make it back to the NBA, discussing the work he has done to educate himself about antisemitism since uttering a slur on a video game stream nearly two years ago. Leonard also said that he suffered nerve damage when he underwent ankle surgery in April 2021 and spent much of the last two seasons rehabbing shoulder and ankle injuries.
- Bill Shea of The Athletic explores how the collapse of the regional sports network model will affect the NBA as it negotiates its next media rights deal. It’s safe to assume the NBA’s next agreement will include a major streaming element, according to Shea, who observes that other leagues like the NFL, MLS, and MLB have established partnerships with companies like Amazon and Apple in recent years.
- With the “Elam Ending” gaining some momentum in the G League, Jake Uitti of HoopsHype spoke to the creator, Nick Elam, about why he believes in the idea and what it was like to see the NBA adopt the concept for its All-Star Game, beginning in 2020.