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Draft Notes: Latest Mocks, Murray-Boyles, Jakucionis, NIL Impact, Seniors, Team Needs

June 23rd, 2025 at 5:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The latest ESPN mock draft has plenty of guards going in the lottery. Their experts, Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo, believe that eight guards and/or wings will come off the board within the first 13 picks.

After Cooper Flagg (Mavericks) and Dylan Harper (Spurs), ESPN’s latest mock has guards V.J. Edgecombe (Sixers), Kon Knueppel (Hornets) and Jeremiah Fears (Jazz) rounding out the top five. Ace Bailey, formerly considered a top three pick, slips to the Wizards at No. 6. The Suns, who are acquiring the No. 10 pick from the Rockets, are projected to take South Carolina big man Collin Murray-Boyles.

Here’s more draft-related info:

In his latest mock draft, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie says he thinks the Sixers trading down from the No. 3 slot remains a real possibility. The Hornets have also had discussions moving both up and down the board from the No. 4 spot, while Texas wing Tre Johnson could be a surprise selection in the top five, Vecenie writes, adding that Johnson could go as high as No. 3.
Speaking of Murray-Boyles, he worked out for the Trail Blazers over the weekend, as did Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis, Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian tweets. ESPN ranks Murray-Boyles at No. 13 overall with Jakucionis at No. 10. Portland owns the No. 11 pick.
Just 32 non-international early entrants from colleges and other basketball teams or leagues and 14 international players remain in the draft, a dramatic drop-off from recent years. What’s the difference? NIL money has motivated most prospects to stay in college, unless they believe they’ll go in the first round, as Amanda Christovich of Front Office Sports details. “If you are not a guaranteed first-round pick, top-20, top-30 guy—unless you really do not want to play college basketball anymore, we are recommending and most of them are staying in school as long as they possibly can,” Michael Raymond, president and founder of Raymond Representation, told Christovich.
The draft is usually headed by one-and-dones and other underclassmen. However, there are more seasoned college players who will come off the board this year. HoopsHype’s Cyro Asseo de Choch takes a look at the cream of the senior crop.
The Athletic’s Law Murray breaks down the biggest draft needs for each team, identifying the picks each of those clubs hold.

Draft Notes: Centers, Luis, Sleepers, Flagg, Richardson, Gonzalez

June 20th, 2025 at 3:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Ahead of next week’s draft, David Aldridge of The Athletic talked to several college coaches and NBA executives and scouts about the top big men in the 2025 draft class, including Khaman Maluach, Derik Queen, Collin Murray-Boyles, and Thomas Sorber, among others. Interestingly, one of the college head coaches who spoke to Aldridge believes Maluach has “the biggest upside of anybody” in this year’s draft.

“He’s huge. And he’s long. He’s a good athlete. And I think he has natural defensive instincts,” that coach said of the Duke center. “He shoots the ball better than I think, maybe, he was able to show this year. He’s a live body. He’s enthusiastic about playing. It seems he loves the process, is not afraid of it. He’s competitive. He’s not afraid. He’s ready to mix it up if he needs to. His length, size and athleticism, and then when you add those other things, I think the only thing that could stop him is injury.”

Meanwhile, multiple college assistant coaches questioned what sort of players Queen will match up with defensively at the NBA level.

“I don’t worry about him at all on offense. But I don’t think he can guard fives. I don’t think he’s great in pick-and-roll defense, and I don’t think he can move well enough laterally to guard Giannis (Antetokounmpo) and Michael Porter Jr., these scorers,” one of those assistants said. “Can he guard (Mikal) Bridges? Can he guard Josh Hart? Can he guard Stew (Isaiah Stewart), the next tier of guys who aren’t the primary offensive option, but they know how to cut, how to go to the glass?”

We have more on the 2025 NBA draft:

Speaking to Cyro Asseo de Choch of HoopsHype, St. John’s standout RJ Luis Jr. – a second-team All-American in 2025 – discusses his breakout junior year, what he can bring to an NBA team, and why he believes he can be “even better” in the NBA than he was at the college level.
CJ Moore of The Athletic surveyed college basketball coaches to get their thoughts on some of this year’s second-round prospects and to have them identify some deeper sleepers who might find their way onto NBA rosters as undrafted free agents. Houston guard LJ Cryer, St. John’s wing Aaron Scott, Butler wing Jahmyl Telfort, Missouri guard Caleb Grill, and San Francisco guard Marcus Williams earned mentions as sleepers.
Applying his stats-based model to some of this year’s top prospects, Kevin Pelton of ESPN finds that Kon Knueppel (No. 2) and Noa Essengue (No. 5) are among the players whom that model likes a little more than draft experts do, while Ace Bailey (No. 22) and Tre Johnson (No. 24) are among those who don’t fare nearly as well. Interestingly, Pelton notes that his projection for Cooper Flagg is the third-best in his overall database, which dates back to 2005, behind only Zion Williamson and Luka Doncic.
With green room invitations sent out to a total of 24 prospects for next week’s draft, the only players in ESPN’s top 25 who didn’t get invites are Jase Richardson (No. 18) and Hugo Gonzalez (No. 22), notes Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Gonzalez is still playing in the Spanish League postseason.

Draft Notes: Guards, Wings, Trades, Fears, Queen

June 19th, 2025 at 10:12pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Even after Duke phenom Cooper Flagg and Rutgers guard Dylan Harper, the draft’s presumed top two picks, come off the board, this year’s draft lottery is loaded with intriguing wings and guards.

David Aldridge of The Athletic consulted with anonymous league scouts and coaches about the best guard prospects in the draft, and also took a look at the best potential NBA wings.

Harper proved to be somewhat divisive. The folks Aldridge consulted were decidedly mixed on his upside, with some projecting him as an eventual All-Star and others believing he could be a longtime pro but may not have a high ceiling.

“He has a professionalism about him that’s really uncommon,” one college assistant coach said of Harper. “He knows the game. He plays the right way. He guards. He tries defensively.”

Arizona wing Carter Bryant may lack a great handle, but an Eastern Conference scout appreciates the rest of his offensive makeup. He’s projected to be the No. 10 pick in the latest ESPN mock.

“His shot’s fluid, especially in spot-up situations,” the scout said. “He’s not somebody who’ll create his own shots, at least his first few years in the league. He’s good at relocating to open space. His shot comes out of his hand really well, and the defense is high-level.”

There’s more intel ahead of the draft:

In a fairly deep draft year, Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports identifies several prospects he believes could be worth trading down out of the top three to acquire for the Spurs and Sixers. O’Connor evaluates the shooting promise of Duke guard Kon Knueppel and Texas guard Tre Johnson, the motor of Baylor wing V.J. Edgecombe, and the upside of Duke center Khaman Maluach, among other lottery-level players.
Should they stay put, the Nets could still have plenty of promising possibilities to select with the eighth pick this year. An NBA scout raved to Brian Lewis of The New York Post about the upside of Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears, who could still be available in the middle of the lottery. “I’m not [drafting] in the top two or three, in terms of being able to hit a home run on a guy that could be an absolute superstar game-changer, he’d be one of the guys past [Nos.] 3 or 4 that could actually do that,” the scout said.
Under a new front office regime, the Pelicans are high on freshman Maryland big Derik Queen, a source informs Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman (Twitter link). New Orleans possesses the No. 7 pick this season following another injury-plagued year. The All-Big Ten center averaged 16.5 PPG and 9.0 RPG in Maryland last year.

Draft Rumors: Top Eight, Maluach, Raptors, Sixers, Hornets, More

June 17th, 2025 at 3:14pm CST by Luke Adams

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

June 17th, 2025 at 1:43pm CST by Luke Adams

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.

NBA Invites 13 Prospects To Draft Green Room

June 10th, 2025 at 2:57pm CST by Luke Adams

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.

Fischer’s Latest: Sixers’ Draft Plans, George, Spurs, Durant, Holiday

May 21st, 2025 at 12:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers will listen to offers for the No. 3 pick in next month’s draft, but they aren’t expected to part with it unless they get another high selection in return, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reports in his latest Substack column (subscription required).

There has been speculation that president of basketball operations Daryl Morey might be interested in moving the pick in exchange for a veteran who could offer immediate help to a team that’s coming off a 24-58 season. However, Fischer states that the front office recognizes the value of having young players on rookie-scale contracts in the apron era.

Jared McCain, last year’s first-round pick, got off to a strong start before tearing his meniscus in December and undergoing season-ending surgery. Morey is counting on McCain to return and form a solid young core with Tyrese Maxey and this year’s pick that will fit well alongside Joel Embiid and Paul George.

Fischer indicates that rival teams with interest in trading for the No. 3 pick are split over whether Rutgers forward Ace Bailey or Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe is the better selection. He adds that Texas guard Tre Johnson may also be in that mix.

Fischer shares more inside information from around the NBA:

The Sixers aren’t trying to get rid of George, and Fischer calls recent reports that they might package the No. 3 pick to unload his contract a “misread” of the situation. Fischer states that the team understands George’s value is at a low point coming off an injury-plagued season, and teams will be wary of taking his contract, which has three years and $162.4MM remaining. Fischer adds that Philadelphia is unlikely to pursue a George trade unless he requests it.
“Numerous rival teams” have told Fischer that they expect the Spurs to hold onto the No. 2 selection and draft Rutgers guard Dylan Harper, even though he’s not a perfect fit with De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle.
The Suns haven’t started trade discussions involving Kevin Durant, and Fischer cautions that it’s not a sure thing he’ll be moved this summer. New general manager Brian Gregory has been focused on finding a head coach, trimming the list of candidates down to nine over the weekend. Fischer reports that Phoenix will be in the market for a starting-level center during the offseason.
Jrue Holiday has been a popular name in trade rumors, but Fischer hears that the Celtics may not have an easy time moving him. Multiple rival executives have told Fischer that Boston will have to include a sweetener, likely in the form of draft picks, to get anyone to take on the $104MM that the 34-year-old Holiday is owed over the next three years.

Draft Notes: Celtics, Flagg, NBA Comparables, McGlockton

May 20th, 2025 at 7:51am CST by Luke Adams

When he reported last week that the Celtics interviewed projected No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg and probable top-10 pick Tre Johnson at the draft combine in Chicago, Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports (Twitter video link) cautioned not to read too much into it.

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens confirmed as much at his end-of-season media session on Monday, explaining that those meetings don’t mean the team is thinking about trying to acquire a top draft pick, as Khari A. Thompson of Boston.com relays.

“We can rank who we want to talk to and the people we know we can’t get in to work out is how we decide who we want to talk to at the combine,” Stevens said. “Otherwise, we may never get to talk to them again. So, the only people that will come in and work out for us are the people in our range or maybe they’re at the bottom end of our range or whatever the case may be.

“… Will there be fireworks on draft night? I can’t imagine, but again, who knows? I wouldn’t guess with us, no.”

As O’Connor notes, teams are permitted a limited number of interviews with prospects at the combine, so Stevens and the Celtics determined it didn’t make sense to use that opportunity to talk to prospects who will likely be willing to visit Boston in the coming weeks anyway. The Celtics hold the 28th and 32nd overall picks in this year’s draft.

Here are a few more draft-related notes:

Which NBA players do some of this year’s top prospects model their games after? Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic passes along answers from 13 draft-eligible players, including Rutgers’ Dylan Harper comparing himself to “big guards like Cade Cunningham, James Harden, and Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander)” and UConn’s Liam McNeeley likening his game to that of Gordon Hayward.
Using player measurement data from this year’s combine, including height, standing reach, wingspan, and more, Frank Urbina and Alberto de Roa of HoopsHype take a look at which current and former NBA players are the best points of comparison for this year’s top prospects.
After testing the draft waters this spring, junior Vanderbilt forward Devin McGlockton plans to withdraw from the draft and return to school for his senior year, tweets Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports. McGlockton, who wasn’t on ESPN’s list of 2025’s top 100 prospects, averaged 10.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game on .568/.338/.667 shooting for the Commodores in 2024/25.
NCAA early entrants in this year’s draft pool have until next Wednesday to decide whether or not to withdraw. While the NBA’s withdrawal deadline is June 15, college players who withdraw between May 29 and June 15 would forfeit their remaining NCAA eligibility. The full list of draft-related dates and deadlines for 2025 can be found here.

Central Notes: Giddey, Bulls, Hardaway, Pistons

May 18th, 2025 at 3:30pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Bulls have some major decisions to make about their talented — and perhaps too crowded — backcourt moving forward, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times (subscriber link).

Starting guard Josh Giddey enjoyed an impressive debut season in Chicago. As he heads to restricted free agency this offseason, however, Cowley wonders just how much will be too much for the Bulls when it comes to Giddey’s annual salary.

Following a rocky start, Giddey rounded into form down the season’s home stretch. After the league’s All-Star break — and after the Bulls traded away former All-Star guard Zach LaVine — Giddey logged averages of 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 9.3 assists per night, and connected on an impressive 45.7% of his three-point attempts.

“Coming into a new situation, I never want to come in here and step on any toes,” Giddey said. “I was trying too hard to fit in and please everybody, and [after the] All-Star break and [trade] deadline, I started to play freely and be me.”

Cowley is convinced that Giddey will remain in Chicago long-term, but notes that recently extended reserve guard Lonzo Ball and veterans Ayo Dosunmu, Kevin Huerter and Coby White could all be on the trade market next season. Among those four, only Ball is under contract beyond 2025/26.

There’s more out of the Central Division:

Bulls front office decision makers had an opportunity at this week’s draft combine in Chicago to get an up-close look at some candidates for their No. 12 pick in June’s draft, writes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. As Poe writes, the Bulls interviewed prospects like Texas guard Tre Johnson, Georgetown center Thomas Sorber, Georgia forward Asa Newell, Connecticut forward Liam McNeeley, South Carolina forward Collin Murray-Boyles, and Michigan State guard Jase Richardson. Poe adds that Duke center Khaman Maluach and Maryland center Derik Queen could also be on Chicago’s radar.
Upon being traded to Detroit from Dallas during the 2024 offseason, Pistons swingman Tim Hardaway Jr. emerged as exactly the kind of reliable, role-playing veteran the team needed en route to its first playoff appearance in six years, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. Hardaway is one of three heavily used Pistons vets who will hit free agency this summer, along with Sixth Man of the Year finalist Malik Beasley and guard Dennis Schröder. Langlois notes that there is a possibility that all three could be back on new deals, if the price is right.
In case you missed it, nine-time Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is set to meet up with Milwaukee decision makers to discuss his future with the team next week.

Draft Rumors: Spurs, Giannis, Bucks, Sixers, Coward, More

May 16th, 2025 at 9:07am CST by Rory Maher

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).