Draft Notes: C. White, Barrett, Culver, G. Williams
A number of draft-eligible prospects who attended this week’s combine decided against participating in today’s scrimmages, with at least one prospect leaving the event altogether.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported (via Twitter) that Jalen Lecque, who performed well during Thursday’s scrimmages, decided not to play anymore based on feedback to his family. Croatian forward Luka Samanic followed suit, as did Charles Bassey (Western Kentucky), Moses Brown (UCLA), and DaQuan Jeffries (Tulsa), according to Jeremy Woo of SI.com (via Twitter), who adds that Brown is believed to have suffered an injury on Thursday.
Meanwhile, projected lottery pick Coby White (UNC) left the combine on Friday after interviewing with several teams, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). White’s departure will likely fuel speculation of a draft promise, and while it’s a possibility, there have been no reports yet suggesting that’s the case.
Here’s more on the draft:
- A source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post that Duke forward R.J. Barrett would be just fine being drafted third or fourth overall rather than in the top two, since he prefers to play for the Knicks or Lakers. It appears likely that Barrett will get his wish, since the Pelicans and Grizzlies are believed to be locked in on Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, respectively.
- We passed along word of a handful of Jarrett Culver meetings on Thursday, but Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic provides details on a few more, writing that the Texas Tech swingman has also met with the Cavaliers, Magic, and Suns this week.
- Tennessee junior Grant Williams, a probable first-round pick, tells Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (video link) that he’ll be keeping his name in the 2019 draft.
- KZ Okpala (Stanford), Nassir Little (UNC), Keldon Johnson (Kentucky), Jordan Bone (Tennessee), Jordan Poole (Michigan), and Ty Jerome (Virginia) were among the prospects to meet with the Pistons this week, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com reports in a Twitter thread. Last week, before the combine, Detroit worked out Armoni Brooks (Houston), Jordan Caroline (Nevada), Javin DeLaurier (Duke), Miye Oni (Yale), Payton Pritchard (Oregon), and B.J. Taylor (UCF).
Full List Of 2019 NBA Draft Combine Participants
The NBA has revealed its list of 66 players who have been invited to next week’s draft combine in Chicago and who are expected to attend. The combine will take place from May 15-19.
While a small handful of top prospects often skip the event, that won’t be the case this year — Zion Williamson and Ja Morant are on the league’s list of 66 names, along with R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish, Jarrett Culver, Darius Garland, De’Andre Hunter, and many more. Of course, those top prospects may not participate fully in all of the workouts and scrimmages at the combine.
A few more names figure to be added to this list, as a select number of the 40 draft-eligible prospects participating in the G League Elite Camp earlier in the week are expected to receive invites to the combine.
Here’s the full list of 66 names announced by the NBA today, in alphabetical order:
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker, G, Virginia Tech (sophomore)
- R.J. Barrett, G/F, Duke (freshman)
- Charles Bassey, C, Western Kentucky (freshman)
- Darius Bazley, F, Princeton HS (OH) (N/A)
- Bol Bol, C, Oregon (freshman)
- Jordan Bone, G, Tennessee (junior)
- Brian Bowen, F, USA (born 1998)
- Ky Bowman, G, Boston College (junior)
- Ignas Brazdeikis, F, Michigan (freshman)
- Moses Brown, C, UCLA (freshman)
- Brandon Clarke, F, Gonzaga (junior)
- Nicolas Claxton, F, Georgia (sophomore)
- Jarrett Culver, G/F, Texas Tech (sophomore)
- Luguentz Dort, G, Arizona State (freshman)
- Devon Dotson, G, Kansas (freshman)
- Carsen Edwards, G, Purdue (junior)
- Bruno Fernando, F, Maryland (sophomore)
- Daniel Gafford, F/C, Arkansas (sophomore)
- Darius Garland, G, Vanderbilt (freshman)
- Quentin Grimes, G, Kansas (freshman)
- Kyle Guy, G, Virginia (junior)
- Jaylen Hands, G, UCLA (sophomore)
- Jaxson Hayes, F/C, Texas (freshman)
- Tyler Herro, G, Kentucky (freshman)
- Jaylen Hoard, F, Wake Forest (freshman)
- Talen Horton-Tucker, G, Iowa State (freshman)
- De’Andre Hunter, F, Virginia (sophomore)
- Ty Jerome, G, Virginia (junior)
- Cameron Johnson, G, UNC (senior)
- Keldon Johnson, F, Kentucky (freshman)
- Mfiondu Kabengele, C, Florida State (sophomore)
- Louis King, F, Oregon (freshman)
- Romeo Langford, G, Indiana (freshman)
- Dedric Lawson, F, Kansas (junior)
- Jalen Lecque, G, Brewster Academy (NH) (N/A)
- Nassir Little, F, UNC (freshman)
- Charles Matthews, G, Michigan (junior)
- Jalen McDaniels, F, San Diego State (sophomore)
- Ja Morant, G, Murray State (sophomore)
- Zach Norvell Jr., G, Gonzaga (sophomore)
- Jaylen Nowell, G, Washington (sophomore)
- Jordan Nwora, F, Louisville (sophomore)
- Chuma Okeke, F, Auburn (sophomore)
- Update: Okeke has elected to skip the combine.
- KZ Okpala, F, Stanford (sophomore)
- Miye Oni, G/F, Yale (junior)
- Eric Paschall, F, Villanova (senior)
- Shamorie Ponds, G, St. John’s (junior)
- Jordan Poole, G, Michigan (sophomore)
- Jontay Porter, F, Missouri (sophomore)
- Kevin Porter Jr, G, USC (freshman)
- Neemias Queta, C, Utah State (freshman)
- Cam Reddish, F, Duke (freshman)
- Naz Reid, C, LSU (freshman)
- Isaiah Roby, F, Nebraska (junior)
- Luka Samanic, F, Croatia (born 2000)
- Admiral Schofield, G, Tennessee (senior)
- Simisola Shittu, F, Vanderbilt (freshman)
- Killian Tillie, F, Gonzaga (junior)
- PJ Washington, F, Kentucky (sophomore)
- Tremont Waters, G, LSU (sophomore)
- Quinndary Weatherspoon, G, Missippi State (senior)
- Coby White, G, UNC (freshman)
- Kris Wilkes, G, UCLA (sophomore)
- Grant Williams, F, Tennessee (junior)
- Zion Williamson, F, Duke (freshman)
- Dylan Windler, G, Belmont (senior)
Rui Hachimura (Gonzaga) and Matisse Thybulle (Washington) are among the potential first-round picks who aren’t on the NBA’s list of combine participants, as noted by Jeremy Woo of SI.com and ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter links).
233 Early Entrants Declare For 2019 NBA Draft
The NBA has released the official list of early entrants for the 2019 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 233 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 175 are from colleges, while 58 are international early entrants.
That number falls just short of the previous record for early entrants, established in 2018. Last year, 236 early entrants declared for the draft, though ultimately only 91 of those prospects remained in the draft by the final deadline.
This year’s total of 233 early entrants also figures to shrink significantly by May 29 and again by June 10, 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 almost certainly 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.
- Darius Bazley, F, Princeton HS (OH) (N/A)
- Moses Brown, C, UCLA (freshman)
- Caleb Daniels, G, Tulane (sophomore)
- James Dickey, F, UNC Greensboro (junior)
- David DiLeo, F, Central Michigan (junior)
- Davon Dillard, G, Shaw (NC) (junior)
- Jason Draggs, F, Lee College (TX) (freshman)
- Aljami Durham, G, Indiana (sophomore)
- TJ Gibbs, G, Notre Dame (junior)
- Tony Goodwin II, G/F, Redemption Christian Academy (N/A)
- Jayce Johnson, C, Utah (junior)
- Sacha Killeya-Jones, F, North Carolina State (junior)
- Martin Krampelj, F, Creighton (junior)
- Trevor Manuel, F, Olivet (MI) (junior)
- Davion Mintz, G, Creighton (junior)
- Devonte Patterson, F, Prairie View A&M (junior)
- Lamar Peters, G, Mississippi State (junior)
- Cletrell Pope, F, Bethune-Cookman (junior)
- Nik Popovic, F, Boston College (junior)
- Austin Robinson, G, Kentucky Christian (sophomore)
- Ayinde Russell, G, Morehouse (junior)
- Kevin Samuel, C, TCU (freshman)
- Josh Sharkey, G, Samford (junior)
- Justin Smith, F, Indiana (sophomore)
- Jalen Sykes, F, St. Clair College (Canada) (junior)
- Marlon Taylor, G, LSU (junior)
- Donnie Tillman, F, Utah (sophomore)
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.
- James Banks III, F, Georgia Tech (junior)
- Samson Froling, F/C, Creighton (freshman)
- Kadre Gray, G, Laurentian (Canada) (junior)
- Vance Jackson, F, New Mexico (sophomore)
- Anthony Lamb, F, Vermont (junior)
- Devontae Shuler, G, Ole Miss (sophomore)
- Xavier Sneed, F, Kansas State (junior)
- Jeremiah Tilmon, F, Missouri (junior)
- Breein Tyree, G, Ole Miss (junior)
International players:
The following players were listed on the NBA’s official breakdown today, but weren’t yet noted on our list.
- Adrian Bogucki, C, Poland (born 1999)
- Leandro Bolmaro, G, Argentina (born 2000)
- Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, G/F, Greece (born 1999)
- David Okeke, F, Italy (born 1998)
The following international 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.
- Kevin Cham, G, France (born 1998)