Category: NBA Draft

The NBA & NCAA Announce Dates Regarding Draft Related Events & Deadlines

The NBA & NCAA Announce Dates Regarding Draft Related Events & Deadlines The new early entry withdrawal deadline leaves little breathing room for roster building for college coaches. Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire The NBA announced plans to …

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The NBA & NCAA Announce Dates Regarding Draft Related Events & Deadlines

The new early entry withdrawal deadline leaves little breathing room for roster building for college coaches.

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

The NBA announced plans to not only resume their season but also created a concrete timeline to begin draft related events. 

The world of sports has begun to try and start again in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought competition to a stop globally back in late March. So as some leagues resume competitive play around the world and others have closed up shop for their respective seasons, the NBA instead decided to release some exciting news this week that will effect the college basketball world to for next season.

On Thursday June 4th, the NBA announced a plan to restart the 2019-2020 season on July 31st in Orlando, FL with a vote of approval from the NBA board of governors. The decision was only controversial to one team (The Portland Trail Blazers) who voted against proposal, but when NBA basketball returns it will look a little different.

Aside from the rest of the season only being played at one site, the new twenty-two team format leaves out eight teams considered out of range for playoff contention, while including sixteen teams at the top of their conference standings and six teams within six games of a playoff berth.

Also announced were concrete dates surrounding the NBA Draft, which was scheduled to be held here in a few weeks before the pandemic hit.

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The draft along with the coinciding scouting combine had been postponed with no news as to a possible rescheduling as we approach the onset of June. It seems now as the NBA’s focus was on restarting the current season, in a safe and strategic way before mentioning the draft in any way.

The first date to be rescheduled looks to be the draft lottery, moved from May 19th to August 25th. Followed by the Draft itself, moved from June 25th to October 15th, which should take place only a few days after the final draft order is set after a possible Game 7 taking place on as late as October 12th.

These announced changes coincide directly with the 2020-2021 college basketball season as the original draft early entrant withdrawal deadline of June 3rd came and went this week with no comment from the NCAA.

So after the NBA released their newly scheduled dates, the NCAA in turn announced a more vague withdrawal deadline of August 3rd or 10 days after the NBA  Draft Combine, whichever comes first.

NCAA Senior Vice President for Basketball Dan Gavitt spoke to the decision, which was a a collaborative one between the Division I Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

“This provides the utmost flexibility to student-athletes testing the waters to make the most informed decision about their future during this uncertain time,” NCAA Senior Vice President for Basketball Dan Gavitt said. “And by deciding before classes start for the fall semester, it also encourages student-athletes who choose to return to school to be fully engaged in their academic pursuits and the tremendous experience and opportunity to play college basketball.”

All things considered it is nice to finally have some clarity on the situation as well as some concrete dates to work around. It’s also nice to see some understanding and flexibility from the NCAA and it’s coaches regarding the new deadline. As a player’s stock and decision to return to school will be directly effected by their performance, evaluation and feedback from their attendance at the combine, not to mention failing to receive an invite in the first place.

But in the eyes of coaching staffs everywhere, this puts them in a tough place come August. As most programs would like to have a concrete idea of what their roster will look like on opening night by the start of summer workouts. They are now stuck waiting for potential draft prospects to make a decision based on the scouting combine, which new dates for the event haven’t been announced yet, as it may not happen as another possible casualty to the current times.

Still, this is a win for the players who now have more time to make an informed decision with the possibility of returning to school in the fall later than every other draft class in history.

For an update on the current draft stock of Mountain West prospects, check out this week’s update.

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New Sports Illustrated mock sees Boston take Hampton, 3 bigs

Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo sees Boston taking the NBL’s RJ Hampton 17th overall — and three big men after.

Sports Illustrated’s NCAA expert Jeremy Woo has released a new mock draft with the Boston Celtics taking some novel prospects in the 2020 NBA Draft.

The Celtics could see their actual draft fortunes change with eight games of the 2019-20 NBA season finally being resumed at the end of July in Lake Buena Vista Florida at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, particularly if the Memphis Grizzlies fall out of the postseason picture.

Had the season ended today, Boston would get that first rounder 17th overall, though it’s not out of the question that selection could end up as high as seventh overall if the Griz stumble enough (due to top-six protections) — or dropping even further back if Memphis has a late surge.

Similarly, the projected 26th (their own) and 30th (owed them by the Milwaukee Bucks) could move about a bit as well, though not much — particularly given the Bucks’ pick is all but guaranteed to remain where it is.

And while the Celtics have dealt away their own second round pick in this draft, they are owed a second from the Brooklyn Nets that will convey about 46th overall.

So who does Woo see the Celtics taking?

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How a 22-team return will affect the Celtics’ 2020 NBA draft odds

The new format and its draft odds will likely benefit the Boston Celtics’ potential draft odds, though not through their own draft picks.

ESPN senior writer Zach Lowe related how the new return-to-play format approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors will affect the NBA Draft Thursday.

The approved format will see 22 teams descend on Lake Buena Vista, Florida to resume the 2019-20 season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Walt Disney World at the end of July with many changes to the usual course of a season due to the pandemic which delayed the season to begin with.

For the purposes of sussing out how these changes will affect the 2020 NBA Draft (now to be held on October 15th) many have been wondering how this will impact draft odds compared to previous seasons.

Lowe relates that for all 16 teams that make the playoffs — whether by record alone or qualifying through a potential play-in game — draft order will be by reverse order of how the team performed up to the March 11th suspension of league activities and seeding games combined.

The lottery would be comprised of the eight teams not traveling to Florida for the season restart and the six teams who make the trip to the Disney-hosted ‘bubble’ but do not make the playoffs, and odds would only be derived from their records as of March 11th.

As has been noted by the Celtics Wire previously, this leaves in place the unlikely-but-possible chance that the first round draft pick owed the team by the Memphis Grizzlies could conceivably become a lottery pick.

Should Memphis manage to fall in the standings enough to trigger the play-in game scenario in the West, their 2020 first round pick would enter the lottery, and convey to Boston so long as it is drawn above the top-six protection the Grizzlies placed upon it.

With the Grizzlies just 3.5 games behind the Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings, it’s definitely a candidate for the new format.

Any eighth seed within four games of the ninth will have to beat that opponent two times in a row to advance to the postseason, meaning it is actually realistic for Memphis to end up in the lottery, even if it is still more likely they will not.

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2020 NBA Draft, Draft Lottery set for Aug. 25 and Oct.15, respectively

The 2020 NBA Draft Lottery and Draft will be held on August 25th and October 15th respectively, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Boston Celtics will need their ducks in a row for the 2020 NBA Draft by at least October 25th, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The ESPN analyst reports the NBA has decided on that date to host the draft, just three days later than the latest possible date of the 2020 NBA Finals.

And of course the league will need to hold a draft lottery to have a draft, which Wojnarowski relates will be conducted on August 25th.

No word at present on whether there will be a draft combine or individual workouts in light of the ongoing pandemic.

Nor any news on whether the draft lottery and/or draft will be in-person (with or without an audience) or virtual in the same vein of the WNBA and NFL earlier this year.

The issue of how the potential play-in games might affect draft odds, but with today’s critical Board of Governors’ meeting where these issues were discussed to at least some extent, details are likely soon forthcoming.

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Mountain West Basketball: NBA Draft Update

Mountain West Basketball: NBA Draft Update Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire Let’s take a look at where some of our favorite MW stars stand going into June. As the world of sports seeks to get back to business as “normal” worldwide after …

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Mountain West Basketball: NBA Draft Update

 

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Let’s take a look at where some of our favorite MW stars stand going into June. 

As the world of sports seeks to get back to business as “normal” worldwide after coming to a sudden halt in late March, the NBA is tasked with rescheduling their current season, free agency, and all draft-related activities in the coming months.

The anticipated early entrant withdrawal date on Wednesday, June 3rd has been pushed back like many other draft related deadlines. There hasn’t been any mention of a new deadline, but the NCAA said it would be set once a more concrete pre-draft schedule was announced by the NCAA. 

The early entry withdrawal deadline was not the only date pushed back as the draft lottery, scheduled for May 19th and the scouting combine, scheduled to be held May 21st-24th were also moved further back.

The only date that has remained untouched is the draft itself, which is still scheduled for June 25th, but likely to change. But one thing is for sure, and that is that time is winding down

There is definitely an unknown or mystery element to this year’s draft process, players who may normally opt to stay in the draft due to certain unforeseen

ESPN-Updated Friday 5/29/2020

NBADraft.net-Updated Tuesday 6/2/2020

CBS Sports-Published 5/12/2020

The Athletic-Published on 5/5/2020 *Subscription is needed to view The Athletic’s content

Sports Illustrated Top 80 Rankings-Published on 5/6/2020

The Ringer’s 2020 NBA Draft Guide-Updated May 19th, 2020

Guys who could return next season

© Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports(2)

Derrick Alston Jr. |Junior Guard |  Boise State

Projection: Late second round to undrafted

CBS Sports: 65th

ESPN: 95th

NBA Draft.net: 57th (big board)/58th Mock draft

The Athletic: 57th

Sports Illustrated: not ranked

The Ringer: not ranked

Alston Jr. is a legacy draft prospect, as his father was drafted in the second round and 33rd overall in the 1994 draft out of Duquesne. His father’s NBA career was short lived (a little over two seasons), but played almost two decades overseas and has since made a career in couching in the NBA and NBA G-League as the current head coach of the Westchester Knicks.

Alston Jr. is an intriguing prospect as a 6-9 guard who can handle the ball and get his teammates involved when he drives the lane.

NCAA Basketball: New Mexico at San Diego State

Matt Mitchell |Junior Forward | San Diego State

Projection: Undrafted

CBS Sports: not ranked

ESPN: not ranked

NBA Draft.net: not ranked

The Athletic: 82nd

Sports Illustrated: not ranked

The Ringer: not ranked

Mitchell was a terrific player on what may have been one of the best Aztec teams in school history. He began the season coming off of the bench for the Aztec’s first 13 games before reentering the starting lineup and never leaving. His development over the course of the season elevated Mitchell to a spot on the conference’s first team at the end of the season.

After declaring for the draft in late April, he spoke with Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune revealing anything but eagerness to jump to the NBA.

“I was definitely going back and forth on the decision to put my name in,” Mitchell said. “But at the end of the day, I felt it was the best thing to do for myself and help myself in the future. All I’m looking to get out of this is to get feedback about what I need to get better at, what they’re looking for me to do better next season.

“And if they do open for workouts, under God’s graces, I would take workouts if asked. That’s all I’m looking to get out of it. I don’t think I’m looking to leave this year.”

Mitchell is extremely self-reflective and understands the current situation globally and how it limits exposure and potential in-person contact with NBA teams. He also understands

Decided to stay in the draft

NCAA Basketball: San Diego State at Fresno State

Malachi Flynn | Junior Guard | San Diego State

Projection: Early first round to mid-second round

CBS Sports: 45th

ESPN: 38th

NBA Draft.net: 39th (Big Board)/41st (Mock Draft)

The Athletic: 37th

Sports Illustrated: 29th

The Ringer: 36th

Flynn had

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Jalen Harris | Redshirt Junior Guard | Nevada

Projection: Late second round to undrafted

CBS Sports: 70th

ESPN: 86th

NBA Draft.net: not ranked

The Athletic: 80th

Sports Illustrated: 60th

The Ringer: not ranked

The Seniors

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Sam Merrill | Senior Guard | Utah State

Projection: Undrafted

CBS Sports: 98th

ESPN: 67th

NBA Draft.net: not ranked

The Athletic: 71st

Sports Illustrated: 57th

The Ringer: not ranked

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Justinian Jessup | Senior Guard | Boise State

Projection: Undrafted

CBS Sports: not ranked

ESPN: 92nd

NBA Draft.net: not ranked

The Athletic: not ranked

Sports Illustrated: not ranked

The Ringer: not ranked

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Five 2020 draft-and-stash candidates for the Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics brought on seven rookies in 2019-20, and have as many as four incoming 2020 picks; here’s five players already overseas who might be draft-and-stash candidates.

The Boston Celtics have a lot of rookies this season — seven, in fact — and have as many as four draft picks in the 2020 NBA Draft.

You don’t need to be a general manager or math expert to realize a 15-man roster with 11 players with a season or less experience isn’t exactly an optimally constructed team, which is a roundabout way of saying the Celtics are going to have to make some moves to avoid wasting draft assets.

Some players aren’t likely to come back. Others may choose to leave. Trades may be made — to consolidate players, draft assets, or both. But there’s one other possibility in team president Danny Ainge’s toolkit that he may dust off despite it not working out so well last time around.

That time of course would be when he drafted French big man Guerschon Yabusele, who, while an interesting prospect, failed to develop into the prospect hoped for once he arrived stateside.

But this time, the bulk of the Celtics draft assets are in the late first round, with a second rounder likely still in range for a quality prospect, with some luck.

Who might be a good option to spend a season or two overseas while the team takes some more time sorting out who’ll stick from it’s current, colossal class of rookies?

Drawing from HoopsHype’s “Ranking the Top 20 international prospects eligible for 2020 NBA draft“, we’ll take a look at several prospects already “stashed” abroad.

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Five 2020 second-round guard prospects for Boston to consider

The Boston Celtics don’t just have three first-round picks in the 2020 NBA Draft – they also have a pick in the middle of the second round, and these are five guards they should consider.

The Boston Celtics don’t know when they will be drafting the team’s next rookie class in the 2020 NBA Draft, but whenever it happens, the Celtics will have as many as four selections in it.

While they don’t know the date of the draft, they know they are certain to have at least two first-round draft picks. More likely, they will have three if the Memphis Grizzlies make the playoffs.

If the season ended today, they would.

They’ll also have a second round draft pick coming to them from the Atlanta Hawks currently slated to fall 46th overall.

And though the lion’s share of attention has fallen to the likely trio of first round picks, there might be a quality prospect to be had midway through the second round as well.

To that end, the Celtics Wire will look at five guards, bigs and wings who might be a good fit for Boston in that range, starting today with guards.

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Celtics among several teams using ‘IQ tests’ for draft prospects

The Boston Celtics are reportedly one of several teams incorporating a new approach to evaluating draft prospects in a pandemic.

The 2020 NBA Draft is but one of many challenges the league and teams like the Boston Celtics face in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but Boston may be one of several teams trying out a novel idea to gauge prospects, reports Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman.

With the resumption of the 2019-20 NBA season finally getting traction for a July 31st restart in Orlando, Florida at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Walt Disney World, teams need to prepare their players to be in the best condition possible by the end of July.

At the same time, front offices continue gathering data on players they have interest in selecting for a draft that not only has no concrete date, but may end up being without a combine or even physically-present event due to the restrictions COVID-19 has placed on our lives.

In early April, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski related that the NBA had banned in-person interviews or workouts with potential draft prospects due to the virus, instead limited to a total of four hours of virtual interviews with a prospect.

No guidelines were discussed as to what those interviews were composed of.

But, Wasserman notes that Boston, along with the Charlotte Hornets, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors have been using some sort of “IQ test” which involves “shapes, numbers, memory, [and] matching” over Zoom calls.

To what end or what exactly such an approach entails remains unclear, but this may not be the last we here about unorthodox means of assessing draft prospects filtering out to the NBA media.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, after all.

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Five wings for the Boston Celtics to watch from the 2021 NBA Draft

While it might be too early for most to think about the 2021 NBA Draft for most, the Boston Celtics ought to consider these five wings when the time comes.

It’s understandable that most fans aren’t especially dialed in on the prospects likely to participate in the 2021 NBA Draft with the 2020 draft yet to even happen.

But teambuilding never sleeps, and you can bet that the Boston Celtics have been keeping close tabs on the next wave of prospects all 30 franchises will be looking to replenish their rosters with when the time finally comes.

With that in mind, Celtics Wire has put together this article analyzing five wings the Celtics should keep tabs on as potential draftees in the draft after next, using the outstanding early analysis on the top prospects at all positions of 2021 draft prospects created by our sister site, Rookie Wire.

As of now, Boston has only one pick (their own) available in the 2021 draft, which gives us a good idea of the likely range it will fall in — the latter third of the first round.

So with that said, who should the Celtics be considering among wing players?

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Nevada’s Jalen Harris Officially Remaining In NBA Draft

The Nevada star is off after one year and hopes to get drafted.

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Nevada’s Jalen Harris Officially Remaining In NBA Draft

Harris is giving up his senior year.

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

Nevada loses a starter

Nevada’s Jalen Harris was testing the waters to enter the NBA Draft but now he made the announcement on Twitter thanking the Wolf Pack for his one year on campus.

During that one season, he had a great year after coming in from Louisiana Tech, he put up 21.7 points per game, including topping 30 points six times, averaged 6.5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. He also was named MW Wire’s co-newcomer of the year and a first-team conference.

Looking through most mock drafts, Harris is not projected to be a first-rounder and very few have him even as a second-rounder so it is a bit peculiar to see him declare early.

Harris is 85th on ESPN’s top 100 big board. NBAdraft.com lists him as not likely getting drafted category, does not have Harris among its top-100 prospects. He is No. 79 on The Athletic’s prospect board and barely cracks a first-round grade from Sports Illustrated at No. 60.

It seems a bit risky and the Wolf Pack staff would like for him to be taken in the top 45 to feel comfortable going pro.

“Noodles and I feel like 45 is the cutoff now,” Nevada head coach Steve Alford said via Nevada Sports Net. “It used to be 30. You look at the last six years, there’s been guaranteed contracts going all the way down to draft pick 45 on average. I had Norman Powell.

“I think he went 42, 43, 44 (actually 46th) and now he’s making about $10 million a year with the Raptors. He stayed all four years and wasn’t on anybody’s board after his junior year. Everybody’s path is different. I’m just trying to help the Harris family, feed them as much information as I can and know I’m being honest.”

There are plenty of reasons to leave and stay and now it is up to Harris to work out as much as he can to impress scouts — however that looks with in-person workouts likely limited — leading up to the NBA Draft.

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