Cavs Sign, Waive Zeke Mayo
5:59 pm: Mayo has been waived, per NBA.com’s transaction log, putting him on track to sign a G League contract and join the Charge.
10:14 am: The Cavaliers have added guard Zeke Mayo on an Exhibit 10 contract, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith tweets.
Mayo, an undrafted rookie out of Kansas, was a member of the Wizards’ Summer League team. He played one season for the Jayhawks, averaging 14.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists while shooting 42.2% from deep. He had 18 points and six rebounds in an NCAA Tournament first-round loss to Arkansas.
Prior to that, Mayo spent three seasons with South Dakota State and was named the Summit League Player of the Year in 2024.
The 6’4” guard will likely be waived and join the Cleveland Charge, the Cavs’ G League affiliate. He could earn a bonus worth up to $85,300 with the Charge if he sticks with that team at least 60 days.
Draft Notes: Sixers’ Plans, Heat Workouts, Sorber, Mock
Confirming a recent report that stated the Sixers have talked to the Spurs about the possibility about the No. 2 overall pick, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer notes that moving up to draft Dylan Harper would give Philadelphia the sort of point guard the team has long coveted. Harper would pair nicely with Tyrese Maxey while Jared McCain and Quentin Grimes could split on/off-ball duties.
If the Sixers don’t make a deal for the No. 2 pick, it remains unclear whether they’ll stick at No. 3 or trade down. The third pick feels like an early turning point in the draft, with the Sixers reportedly impressed by Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe and, according to Pompey, split on Harper’s Rutgers teammate Ace Bailey.
In 30 games last year, Bailey averaged 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.
We have more rumors related to the draft:
- San Francisco guard Marcus Williams and Kansas guard Zeke Mayo have worked out for the Heat, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. Neither player is projected to be drafted, but Miami has a strong history of developing overlooked players. Williams averaged 15.1 points and 4.3 assists per game last year while Mayo averaged 14.6 PPG. Both players shot over 40.0% from three. Rounding up recent mocks, Jackson writes that Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf and Rasheer Fleming are among popular picks for the Heat if they stick with their 20th overall selection.
- Georgetown center Thomas Sorber visited with the Jazz, according to The Athletic’s Tony Jones (Twitter link). Sorber is recovering from a season-ending foot injury, so he didn’t work out but instead had dinner with team officials and underwent a medical evaluation. Sorber is ESPN’s 18th best-available prospect and the Jazz hold picks Nos. 5, 21, 43 and 53.
- HoopsHype updated its aggregate mock draft that combines evaluations from 10 major sites to provide a consensus prediction. Bailey remains at No. 3 with Edgecombe going fourth to the Hornets. Jeremiah Fears (mocked sixth to the Wizards) and Cedric Coward (mocked 15th to the Thunder) are among the notable risers.
NBA Announces Initial Early Entrant List For 2024 Draft
The NBA has officially released the initial list of early entrants for the 2024 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 195 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 138 are from colleges, 43 had been playing for teams internationally, and 14 were playing non-college ball stateside (ie. the G League or Overtime Elite).
While that early entrant total obviously far exceeds the number of players who will be selected in this year’s draft (58), 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 and 242 a year ago. The NCAA’s NIL policy, which allows college athletes to be paid based on their name, image, and likeness, has presumably been a major factor in that trend.
This year’s total of 195 early entrants figures to decline significantly by May 29 and again by June 16, the two deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. But it’s still likely that the eventual number of early entrants will exceed 58 players. That group 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 2024 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.
- Achor Achor, F, Samford (senior)
- Jesse Bingham II, G/F, Indianapolis (senior)
- Jaden Bradley, G, Arizona (sophomore)
- Nimari Burnett, G, Michigan (junior)
- Isaiah Crawford, G/F, Louisiana Tech (senior)
- Anthony Dell’Orso, G/F, Campbell (sophomore)
- Noah Farrakhan, G, West Virginia (senior)
- RJ Felton, G, East Carolina (junior)
- Rasheer Fleming, F, St. Joseph’s (sophomore)
- Tyler Harris, G/F, Portland (freshman)
- Meechie Johnson, G, South Carolina (senior)
- Ryan Kalkbrenner, C, Creighton (senior)
- Toibu Lawal, F, VCU (sophomore)
- Kino Lilly Jr., G, Brown (junior)
- Javian McCollum, G, Oklahoma (junior)
- Igor Milicic Jr., F, Charlotte (junior)
- Shahid Muhammad, C, Southern Idaho (sophomore)
- Matthew Murrell, G, Mississippi (senior)
- Baye Ndongo, F, Georgia Tech (freshman)
- Carlos Nichols, G, Southern Crescent Tech (GA) (freshman)
- Wooga Poplar, G, Miami (FL) (junior)
- Jason Spurgin, C, Bowling Green (senior)
- A.J. Staton-McCray, G, Samford (junior)
- Jarin Stevenson, F, Alabama (freshman)
- Milos Uzan, G, Oklahoma (sophomore)
- Jaykwon Walton, G/F, Memphis (senior)
- Deshawndre Washington, G/F, New Mexico State (junior)
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.
- Miguel Allen, F, Spain (born 2003)
- Gael Bonilla, F, Spain (born 2003)
- Michael Caicedo, G/F, Spain (born 2003)
- Milhan Charles, F, Holland (born 2004)
- Brice Dessert, C, France (born 2003)
- Ruben Dominguez, G, Spain (born 2003)
- Ugo Doumbia, G, France (born 2003)
- Lucas Dufeal, F, France (born 2003)
- A.J. Johnson, G, Australia (born 2004)
- Gustav Knudsen, G/F, Denmark (born 2003)
- Konstantin Kostadinov, F, Spain (born 2003)
- Liutauras Lelevicius, G/F, Lithuania (born 2003)
- Eli Ndiaye, F/C, Spain (born 2004)
- Ousmane Ndiaye, C, Spain (born 2004)
- Musa Sagnia, F/C, Spain (born 2003)
- Cezar Unitu, G, Romania (born 2005)
- Fedor Zugic, G, Germany (born 2003)
Other players:
- Abdullah Ahmed, C, Westchester Knicks (born 2003)
- Somto Cyril, C, Overtime Elite (born 2005)
- Reynan Dos Santos, G, Overtime Elite (born 2004)
- Djordjije Jovanovic, F, Ontario Clippers (born 2003)
- Jalen Lewis, F/C, Overtime Elite (born 2005)
- Malique Lewis, F, Mexico City Capitanes (born 2004)
- Babacar Sane, F, G League Ignite (born 2003)
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.
It seems that last possibility is a real one, as Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets that a “miscommunication or mishap’ at the league office may result in a dozen or more additional names being added to the NBA’s early entrant list.
We’ve still removed the following names from our early entrant list for the time being, but it sounds like some could be re-added soon.
Note: Some of these players may also be transferring to new schools.
- Jabri Abdur-Rahim, G/F, Georgia (senior)
- Marchelus Avery, F, UCF (senior)
- Aaron Bradshaw, C, Kentucky (freshman)
- Mikeal Brown-Jones, F, UNC Greensboro (senior)
- Walter Clayton Jr., G, Florida (junior)
- David Coit, G, Northern Illinois (junior)
- Malik Dia, F, Belmont (sophomore)
- Terrence Edwards Jr., G/F, James Madison (senior)
- Elijah Fisher, G, DePaul (sophomore)
- BJ Freeman, G, Milwaukee (junior)
- Vladislav Goldin, C, Florida Atlantic (senior)
- Dominick Harris, G, Loyola Marymount (junior)
- Jordan Ivy-Curry, G, UTSA (senior)
- Kobe Johnson, G/F, USC (junior)
- Chris Ledlum, G/F, St. John’s (senior)
- Caleb Love, G, Arizona (senior)
- Zeke Mayo, G, South Dakota State (junior)
- Selton Miguel, G, South Florida (senior)
- Kylen Milton, G, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (senior)
- Dillon Mitchell, F, Texas (sophomore)
- Ugonna Onyenso, C, Kentucky (sophomore)
- Micah Parrish, G/F, San Diego State (senior)
- Micah Peavy, G/F, TCU (senior)
- Noah Reynolds, G, Green Bay (junior)
- Hunter Sallis, G, Wake Forest (junior)
- Adou Thiero, G, Kentucky (sophomore)
- Aboubacar Traore, G/F, Long Beach State (junior)
Florida State’s Baba Miller Among Prospects Testing Draft Waters
Florida State forward Baba Miller has decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal while also testing the NBA draft waters, a source tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link).
Miller, who was born and raised in Spain, played for Real Madrid in 2021/22 before coming stateside and joining the Seminoles in 2022.
The 6’11” forward was limited to 15 games as a freshman due to a suspension over a $3,000 payment he received to attend a training camp back in 2020, even though his family paid that money back. He was available for his entire sophomore season in 2023/24, averaging 7.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 24.8 minutes per game across 33 appearances (32 starts).
Miller is currently the No. 59 prospect on Givony’s draft board at ESPN, so he’s not a lock to be drafted in 2024. The feedback he receives during the pre-draft process could influence his decision on whether to keep his name in the draft and remain in school for his junior year.
The following college players also indicated in recent weeks that they would enter the NCAA transfer portal while testing the NBA draft waters:
- Mikeal Brown-Jones, F, UNC Greensboro (senior) (Twitter link via Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress)
- Malik Dia, F, Belmont (sophomore) (Twitter link via Joe Tipton of On3 Sports)
- BJ Freeman, G, Milwaukee (junior) (Twitter link via Tipton)
- Dominick Harris, G, Loyola Marymount (junior) (Twitter link via Tipton)
- Chaz Lanier, G, North Florida (senior) (Twitter link via Tipton)
- Note: Lanier is testing the draft waters but did not enter the transfer portal.
- Zeke Mayo, G, South Dakota State (junior) (Twitter link via Tipton)
- Kylen Milton, G, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (senior) (Twitter link via Tipton)
- Toby Okani, G/F, UIC (senior) (Twitter link via Chepkevich)
- Adou Thiero, G, Kentucky (sophomore) (link via Ben Roberts of Kentucky.com)
