Pacers Notes: Trade/FA Targets, Nembhard, Pre-Draft Workouts
The Pacers aren’t expected to make a major trade this summer after acquiring Ivica Zubac at February’s trade deadline. However, there are some lower-level acquisitions they could make this offseason and the Indianapolis Star’s Dustin Dopirak explores which players they might pursue.
If the Pacers prioritize a scoring option, they could go after a player like Malik Monk or Max Strus. Dopirak anticipates it would require Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard to make such a deal a reality. Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe could also be available if Oklahoma City decides to offload some salary.
Dalton Knecht and Saddiq Bey could be options to fill that role without sacrificing a top-eight player, Dopirak notes. Khris Middleton, Anfernee Simons, Kevin Huerter, Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre, Ayo Dosunmu and Bones Hyland are among the players who could be targeted with Indiana’s non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Here’s more on the Pacers:
- Guard Andrew Nembhard played in 57 games and averaged a career high 31.3 minutes per night in 2025/26. His counting stats rose but his intangibles are just as crucial to the team’s success, Tony East writes in a CircleCitySpin.com piece. “I think I’ve always been a guy who tries to lead by example and go out there and show I can compete,” Nembhard said. “But I think this year I was put in a position where I had to voice my opinion more, kind of rally the troops in a way.” Nembhard is entering the second season of a three-year, $58.65MM contract.
- The Pacers will hold their third and fourth pre-draft workouts on Thursday and Friday, respectively, according to a team press release. Thursday’s workout includes John Camden (California), Melvin Council (Kansas), Tamin Lipsey (Iowa State), Corey Stephenson (Florida International), Malik Thomas (Virginia), and Jalen Warley (Gonzaga).
- Their Friday workout includes Sam Alexis (Indiana), Chris Bell (California), Kylan Boswell (Illinois), Maliq Brown (Duke), Isaac McKneely (Louisville), and Braden Smith (Purdue). Indiana currently doesn’t have a pick in this year’s draft, but a trade could change that. The team also figures to be active after the draft adding rookie free agents on Exhibit 10 and/or two-way deals.
Draft Notes: Jazz, Kings, 2027 Pick Value, Samodurov
With the 2026 NBA draft combine over, the Jazz are in the next stage of their draft preparation, writes Sarah Todd of Deseret News.
One important area for Utah, which holds the second overall pick, is the return of medical evaluations and testing. Given that potential No. 2 pick Darryn Peterson dealt with health issues throughout his freshman season at Kansas, those medicals could play a crucial role in the Jazz’s decision on draft night. Peterson was limited to just 24 games this season, and often came under scrutiny for subbing himself out as he dealt with nagging hamstring and cramping issues.
The Jazz will also begin their pre-draft workouts this week. For the top prospects, this will likely consist more of in-depth interviews and dinners with coaches rather than heavily intensive skill drills, Todd writes.
We have more from around the draft:
- The Kings will host a pre-draft workout on Monday for six players: Quadir Copeland (North Carolina State), Melvin Council (Kansas), Tre White (Kansas), Nick Martinelli (Northwestern), KeShawn Murphy (Auburn), and Caden Powell (Baylor), per Sean Cunningham of KCRA News (via Twitter). In addition to the seventh overall pick, the Kings hold two second-round picks at No. 34 and No. 45. The aforementioned prospects would all likely be competing for the second-round picks or undrafted free agency slots. Of the six, Martinelli is highest rated on Jeremy Woo’s big board for ESPN at 53rd overall, while White, Murphy, and Powell are all unranked.
- With the league adjusting to the reality of the new rules regarding tanking and the lottery, one topic of discussion is how the new odds will impact the Grizzlies and Jazz, who completed a trade involving Utah’s 2027 first-round pick. The Jazz are hoping to be a much-improved team next season as they get their first extended look at a Lauri Markkanen/Jaren Jackson Jr./Walker Kessler frontcourt. They’ll also add the No. 2 overall pick and are expecting internal growth from players like Keyonte George and Ace Bailey. If Utah is at least in the play-in mix, the Grizzlies will actually gain expected value from that traded pick as a result of the lottery changes, Chris Crouse writes for Forty Eight Minutes, even though the pick would be prohibited from landing in the top five.
- Greek big man Alexandros Samodurov, an early entrant in the 2026 draft after playing this season for Panathinaikos, has committed to UNC, Jonathan Givony reports (via Twitter). The 21-year-old big man, who recently removed his name from the draft pool, flashed a burgeoning outside shot this year, in addition to strong shot-blocking ability.
44 Prospects Invited To 2026 G League Combine
Earlier today, the NBA revealed the 73 prospects that have been invited to the draft combine in Chicago later this month. That group of players will be joined by a small group of standouts from the G League combine, which takes place from May 8-10 in the days leading up to the main event.
While the league typically doesn’t formally announce which prospect receive invites to the G League combine, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link) has the details, reporting that the following 44 players make up the list of invitees:
- Michael Ajayi, F, Butler (senior)
- Alijah Arenas, G, USC (freshman)
- Donovan Atwell, G/F, Texas Tech (senior)
- Nathan Bittle, C, Oregon (senior)
- Elliot Cadeau, G, Michigan (junior)
- Rafael Castro, F/C, George Washington (senior)
- Zach Cleveland, F, Liberty (senior)
- Jacob Cofie, F, USC (sophomore)
- MJ Collins, G, Utah State (senior)
- Quadir Copeland, G, North Carolina State (senior)
- Melvin Council, G, Kansas (senior)
- Tucker DeVries, G/F, Indiana (senior)
- Tre Donaldson, G, Miami (senior)
- Reynan Dos Santos, G, Mexico City Capitanes (born 2004)
- Malique Ewin, F/C, Arkansas (senior)
- Jamal Fuller, G/F, Long Island (senior)
- Isiah Harwell, G, Houston (freshman)
- Jaden Henley, G/F, Grand Canyon (senior)
- Bryce Hopkins, G/F, St. John’s (senior)
- Graham Ike, F, Gonzaga (senior)
- Kasen Jennings, G, Appalachian State (senior)
- Trey Kaufman-Renn, F, Purdue (senior)
- Keba Keita, C, BYU (senior)
- Kobe Knox, G/F, South Carolina (senior)
- Xaivian Lee, G, Florida (senior)
- Malique Lewis, F, Australia (born 2004)
- Tamin Lipsey, G, Iowa State (senior)
- Fletcher Loyer, G, Purdue (senior)
- Aidan Mahaney, G, Santa Barbara (senior)
- Robert McCray, G, Florida State (senior)
- Kevin (Boopie) Miller, G, SMU (senior)
- Mark Mitchell, F, Missouri (senior)
- Paulius Murauskas, F, Saint Mary’s (junior)
- Jaron Pierre, G, SMU (senior)
- Kowacie Reeves, G/F, Georgia Tech (senior)
- Jaylin Sellers, G, Providence (senior)
- Markhi Strickland, G, North Dakota State (senior)
- Aiden Tobiason, G, Temple (sophomore)
- Seth Trimble, G, North Carolina (senior)
- Cade Tyson, F, Minnesota (senior)
- Ernest Udeh, C, Miami (senior)
- Lamar Wilkerson, G, Indiana (senior)
- Darrion Williams, F, North Carolina State (senior)
- Noam Yaacov, G, Belgium (born 2004)
While the players invited to the G League combine generally aren’t regarded as highly as NBA prospects as those selected for the primary combine, there are always at least a handful who end up in the league on two-way or standard contracts. Last year, for instance, Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Dylan Cardwell, Ryan Nembhard, Amari Williams, Will Richard, and Jahmai Mashack were among the invitees.
The G League combine will give some players who declared for the draft as early entrants an opportunity to see where they stand ahead of the draft withdrawal deadline on May 27. Not all of the players who participate in this event will remain in the draft pool.
Arenas, for instance, is the highest-rated prospect on ESPN’s board among the G League combine invitees, coming in at No. 52, but Ryan Kartje of The Los Angeles Times reported this week that he’s expected to withdraw and return to USC. As Givony notes (Twitter link), the list above is subject to change — if Arenas or other players end up declining invitations because they don’t plan to stay in the draft, they could be replaced before the event begins next Friday.
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.
Lowe, Deng, Council Among Latest To Withdraw From NBA Draft
After testing the waters as an early entrant, sophomore guard Jaland Lowe has decided to withdraw from the 2025 NBA draft, he announced today on Instagram.
Lowe spent his first two college seasons at Pittsburgh and averaged 16.8 points, 5.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game for the Panthers in 2024/25, though he struggled to score efficiently, making just 37.6% of his shots from the floor, including 26.6% of his three-pointers.
Lowe was invited to the G League Elite Camp in Chicago earlier this month, but wasn’t on ESPN’s list of top 100 prospects for 2025, so he would’ve had an uphill climb to be drafted this year. He’ll be transferring to Kentucky for his junior year as he looks to improve his stock.
A couple more prospects who are transferring to new schools have also decided to pull their names out of the 2025 draft pool, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter links). Rothstein reports that forward Jerry Deng and guard Melvin Council Jr. will retain their NCAA eligibility and continue their college careers.
Deng spent his freshman season at Hampton University before transferring to Florida State for his sophomore year. He’s on the move again and will play for N.C. State as a junior in 2025/26, Rothstein notes. Deng averaged 7.0 PPG and 1.9 RPG in a limited role for the Seminoles last season.
As for Council, he has one year of college eligibility remaining and will take advantage of it by transferring from St. Bonaventure to Kansas. In 34 games in 2024/25 for the Bonnies, Council averaged 14.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 4.1 APG, and 2.1 SPG in 37.1 MPG, with a shooting line of .435/.299/.819. He’ll be automatically draft-eligible in 2026.
The deadline for NCAA early entrants to withdraw from the draft and retain their college eligibility is May 28 at 11:59 pm Eastern time, so there will likely be many more decisions reported in the coming days. We’re tracking those decisions right here.
The NBA’s final draft withdrawal deadline is June 15, so international early entrants who don’t have to worry about losing their NCAA eligibility will make their decisions by that date.
NBA Announces Initial Early Entrant List For 2025 Draft
The NBA has officially released the initial list of early entrants for the 2025 NBA draft, announcing in a press release (Twitter link) that 106 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 73 are from colleges, 30 had been playing for teams internationally, and three were playing non-college ball stateside (in the G League).
While that early entrant total exceeds the number of players who will be selected in this year’s draft (59), it’s down significantly from the figures we’ve seen in recent years. A record 353 early entrants initially declared for the draft in 2021, but that number dropped to 283 in 2022, 242 in 2023, and 201 a year ago.
The NCAA’s NIL policy, which allows college athletes to be paid based on their name, image, and likeness, has been a major factor in that downward trend — fewer prospects feel the need to go pro as soon as possible when they’re earning big money at the college level.
The huge dip this year can also be attributed in large part to the fact that most college seniors are now automatically draft-eligible. In recent years, most fourth-year seniors faced an “early entrant” decision because they were granted an extra year of NCAA eligibility due to COVID-19 and didn’t have the 2020/21 season count toward their typical limit.
This year’s total of 106 early entrants figures to decline significantly by May 28 and again by June 15, the two deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. The leftover early entrants will join the college seniors with no remaining eligibility and other automatically eligible players in this year’s draft pool.
Our tracker of early entrants for the 2025 draft is fully up to date and can be found right here.
Here are the changes we made to our tracker today:
Newly added players
College players:
These players either didn’t publicly announce that they were entering the draft or we simply missed it when they did.
- Chad Baker-Mazara, G/F, Auburn (senior)
- Quincy Ballard, C, Wichita State (senior)
- Jaden Bradley, G, Arizona (junior)
- Tayton Conerway, G, Troy (senior)
- Melvin Council Jr., G, St. Bonaventure (senior)
- Jerry Deng, F, Florida State (sophomore)
- Isaiah Evans, G/F, Duke (freshman)
- Dominick Harris, G, UCLA (senior)
- Chris Howell, G, UC San Diego (junior)
- Camron McDowell, G, Northwestern Oklahoma State (junior)
- Devin McGlockton, F, Vanderbilt (junior)
- Kebba Njie, F, Notre Dame (junior)
- AK Okereke, F, Cornell (junior)
- Omar Rowe, G, Morehouse (senior)
- Bruce Thornton, G, Ohio State (junior)
- Brandon Walker, F, Montana State (junior)
- Money Williams, G, Montana (sophomore)
International players:
These players weren’t previously mentioned on our list of international early entrants. The country listed here indicates where they last played, not necessarily where they were born.
- Alec Anigbata, F, Germany (born 2004)
- Asim Djulovic, G/F, Serbia (born 2005)
- Lazar Gacic, C, Serbia (born 2005)
- Ben Henshall, G/F, Australia (born 2004)
- Muodubem Muoneke, G, Spain (born 2003)
- Eli Ndiaye, C, Spain (born 2004)
- Zaion Nebot, G, France (born 2004)
- David Torresani, G, Italy (born 2005)
- Rocco Zikarsky, C, Australia (born 2006)
Players removed
Despite reports or announcements that the players below would declare for the draft, they didn’t show up on the NBA’s official list.
That could mean a number of things — they may have decided against entering the draft; they may have entered the draft, then withdrawn; they may have had no NCAA eligibility remaining, making them automatically draft-eligible; they may have incorrectly filed their paperwork; or the NBA may have accidentally omitted some names.
Because they’re absent from the NBA’s official list, we’ve removed the following names from our own early entrant list.
Note: Some of these players may also be transferring to new schools.
- Abdi Bashir, G, Monmouth (sophomore)
- Terrence Brown, G, FDU (sophomore)
- Christian Coleman, F, UAB (senior)
- Jason Edwards, G, Vanderbilt (junior)
- Keyshawn Hall, G/F, UCF (junior)
- Nate Johnson, G, Akron (junior)
- Duncan Powell, F, Georgia Tech (junior)
- Nick Pringle, F, South Carolina
- Oziyah Sellers, G, Stanford (junior)
- Daniel Skillings, G/F, Cincinnati (junior)
- Marquel Sutton, F, Omaha (senior)
- Lamar Wilkerson, G, Sam Houston State (senior)
- Kam Williams, G/F, Tulane (freshman)
- Shelton Williams-Dryden, F, West Georgia (junior)
According to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter link), two-time national champion Alex Karaban of UConn also initially filed paperwork to test the draft waters, but withdrew from the pool before the NBA put out today’s early entrant list. He’ll return to the Huskies for his senior season.