Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Wade, Raptors, Workouts
The Celtics own three of the first 22 selections in the NBA draft and we reported last month that the team was expected to shop at least one of those picks. It appears that Boston has begun making calls with Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders connecting Houston as a potential trade partner for the franchise.
Boston has interest in Clint Capela, though the big man is not the organization’s top priority. As we wait to see if Capela is shipped to Boston or if Danny Ainge‘s squad unloads a first-rounder elsewhere, let’s take a look at some draft notes from the Atlantic Division:
- The Sixers worked out six prospects on Monday, per Derek Bodner of The Athletic (Twitter link). Jarrell Brantley (College of Charlestown), Ignas Brazdeikis (Michigan), Caleb Martin (Nevada), Jeremiah Martin (Memphis), Jaylen Nowell (Washington), and Marcel Ponitka (Arka Gdynia) all participated in drills for the franchise.
- Sources tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link) that Dean Wade (Kansas State) will work out for the Nets. Wade has had six workouts since the NBA Draft Lottery.
- The Raptors had six prospects in for workouts on Monday, per Blake Murphy of The Athletic (Twitter link). Simisola Shittu (Vanderbilt), Isaiah Pineiro (San Diego), Aric Holman (Miss State), Daulton Hommes (Western Washington), Armoni Brooks (Houston), and Justin Wright-Foreman (Hofstra) all worked out for the team.
- Six more prospects worked out for the Raptors today, Murphy tweets. Oshae Brissett (Syracuse), Javon Bess (St. Louis), Kyle Alexander (Tennessee), Jakeenan Gant (Louisiana), Jalek Felton (North Carolina) and Quinndary Weatherspoon (Miss State) all participated in drills for Toronto.
236 Early Entrants Declare For 2018 NBA Draft
The NBA has released the official list of early entrants for the 2018 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 236 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 181 are from colleges, while 55 are international early entrants.
That number blows away the previous record for early entrants, established in 2017. Last year, 182 early entrants declared for the draft, though ultimately only 73 of those prospects remained in the draft by the final deadline.
This year’s total of 236 early entrants also figures to shrink significantly by May 30 and again by June 11, the two key deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. But it still looks like that pool will remain crowded, with the eventual number of early entrants likely exceeding 60, the number of picks in the draft.
Our list of early entrants is now up to date and can be found right here. Here are today’s updates:
College underclassmen:
The following players were listed on the NBA’s official breakdown today, but weren’t yet noted on our own list. For now, we’re assuming they haven’t yet hired agents.
- Mike Amius, F, Western Carolina (junior)
- Sedrick Barefield, G, Utah (junior)
- Lamonte Bearden, G, Western Kentucky (junior)
- Tashawn Berry, G, Dakota College (sophomore)
- Elijah Bryant, G, BYU (junior)
- Yoeli Childs, F, BYU (sophomore)
- Jordan Davis, G, Northern Colorado (junior)
- Shawntrez Davis, F, Bethune-Cookman (junior)
- Dextor Foster, G, ASA College (junior)
- Tremaine Fraiser, G, Westchester CC (junior)
- Kaiser Gates, F, Xavier (junior)
- Michael Gilmore, F, Florida Gulf Coast (junior)
- Zach Hankins, C, Ferris State (junior)
- Malik Hines, F, Massachusetts (junior)
- Ismaila Kane, F, Atlanta Metropolitan (freshman)
- Devonte Klines, G, Montana State (junior)
- Kalob Ledoux, G, McNeese State (sophomore)
- Marquez Letcher-Ellis, F, Rice (sophomore)
- Victor Lewis II, G, West Texas A&M (junior)
- Dominic Magee, G, Southern Miss (junior)
- Malik Martin, C, South Florida (junior)
- Christian Mekowulu, F, Tennessee State (junior)
- Aaron Menzies, C, Seattle (junior)
- Max Montana, F, San Diego State (junior)
- Travis Munnings, F, Louisiana-Monroe (junior)
- Jordan Murdock, G/F, Friends University (junior)
- Ray Ona Embo, G, Tulane (sophomore)
- Keanu Peters, G, Salt Lake CC (sophomore)
- Jalon Pipkins, G, Cal State Northridge (freshman)
- Cody Riley, C, UCLA (freshman)
- Ronshad Shabazz, G, Appalachian State (junior)
- Tremont Waters, G, LSU (freshman)
The following players reportedly declared for the draft or planned to, but weren’t named in the NBA’s official announcement today. As such, we’ve removed them from our list.
- Tookie Brown, G, Georgia Southern (junior)
- Harry Froling, C, Marquette (sophomore)
- Aric Holman, F, Mississippi State (junior)
- Jack McVeigh, F, Nebraska (junior)
- Elijah Minnie, F, Eastern Michigan (junior)
- Kobe Paras, G, Cal State Northridge (sophomore)
- Trayvon Reed, C, Texas Southern (junior)
- Max Strus, G, DePaul (junior)
- Jordon Varnado, F, Troy (junior)
International players:
The following players were listed on the NBA’s official breakdown today, but weren’t yet noted on our list.
- Berke Atar, C, Turkey (born 1999)
- Laurynas Beliauskas, G, Lithuania (born 1997)
- Rihards Berzins, F/C, Latvia (born 1997)
- Etienne Ca, F, France (born 1997)
- Sigfredo Casero-Ortiz, G, France (born 1997)
- Berkan Durmaz, F, Turkey (born 1997)
- Aleksander Dziewa, C, Poland (born 1997)
- Stephane Gombauld, F, France (born 1997)
- Yoan Granvorka, F, Switzerland (born 1997)
- Michal Kolenda, F, Poland (born 1997)
- Antonios Koniaris, G, Greece (born 1997)
- Leon Kratzer, C, Germany (born 1997)
- Shekinah Munanga, F, France (born 1997)
- Williams Narace, F, France (born 1997)
- Marcel Ponitka, G, Poland (born 1997)
- Leonardo Tote, F, Italy (born 1997)
- Martynas Varnas, G, Lithuania (born 1997)
- Filip Zagrajski, G, Croatia (born 1997)