The Pacers rookie will join LaMelo Ball from the 2020 NBA Draft class to sign a shoe endorsement contract with PUMA.
Indiana Pacers rookie Cassius Stanley, who is on a two-way contract, has signed a shoe endorsement deal with PUMA, the apparel company announced on Saturday.
Stanley, who will be participating in the Slam Dunk Contest on Sunday during NBA All-Star 2021, will be wearing PUMA during the event. Stanley will join LaMelo Ball as the only other rookie from this year’s draft class to sign with PUMA.
The Pacers’ second-round pick will become the first player signed to a two-way contract to perform in the Slam Dunk Contest. He has played sparingly this season with the Pacers, appearing in only eight games, and recently returned from an assignment in the NBA G League.
In 12 games with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Stanley averaged 12.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists.
Stanley registered a 44-inch max vertical jump during the pre-draft testing last year, which ranked as the third-highest ever. Given his high-flying ability, Stanley will enter Sunday as the favorite (-125) to win, according to BetMGM.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, each All-Star event will take place on Sunday with the Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest tipping off the action at 6:30 p.m. EST. The Slam Dunk Contest will be held during halftime of the All-Star Game.
TNT’s coverage of All-Star 2021 will begin at 5 p.m. EST.
The Pacers rookie is set to become the first player signed to a two-way contract to participate in the Slam Dunk Contest.
On Tuesday, the NBA announced the full list of players set to participate in the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star 2021 on Sunday in Atlanta, Georgia.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, each event will take place on Sunday with the Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest tipping off the action at 6:30 p.m. EST. The Slam Dunk Contest will be held during halftime of the All-Star Game.
The three events feature a star-studded participant list, with the likes of Dallas Mavericks forward Luka Doncic, Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul and Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic among those set to take part in the Skills Challenge.
Meanwhile, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Boston Celtics guard Jayson Tatum and Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell headline the players in the 3-Point Contest.
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The league announced that Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons will compete in the Slam Dunk Contest, with two rookies set to join him: Cassius Stanley of the Indiana Pacers and Obi Toppin of the New York Knicks.
Stanley and Toppin will be looking to become the first rookie player to win the event since Hamidou Diallo accomplished the feat in 2019 with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Of course, Diallo flashed the Superman cape to win the event.
Stanley is currently on assignment in the NBA G League with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants but will make the trip up to Atlanta to participate. He will become the first player signed to a two-way contract to perform in the Slam Dunk Contest.
Stanley registered a 44-inch max vertical jump during the pre-draft testing last year, which ranked as the third-highest ever. Coincidentally enough, his jump finished just short of Diallo’s 44.5-inch jump two years prior at the NBA combine.
The 54th overall pick seemingly enters the Slam Dunk Contest on Sunday as one of the favorites, at least according to Shaquille O’Neal and Candace Parker on the set of NBA on TNT.
Top prospects like Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Green are competing against NBA veterans like Jeremy Lin.
The 2021 NBA G League season, featuring big names like Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Green, kicked off Wednesday afternoon.
Even before the pandemic, this season was going to look and feel different than any other because it was the debut of the G League Ignite squad. This is the inaugural campaign for the team, an alternative to the NCAA that offers a pathway to the NBA for top prospects.
But this season is also different than normal because, just like the NBA did to finish out the 2019-20 season, the league is playing in a bubble location at the ESPN Wide World of Sport Complex in Florida.
The seventeen teams that opted into playing will have a condensed schedule of fifteen games between Feb. 10-March 6. Single-elimination playoffs begin on March 8 and the NBA G League Finals is on March 11.
Below are some of the most interesting players worth tracking as the games continue over the next few weeks.
“They’re literally being placed right in the middle of the fire. That learning curve is going to be very steep.”
Cassius Stanley has known this day was coming, and he’s long dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player. He just never expected it to happen in a year unlike any other. None of his fellow rookies foresaw it playing out like this.
Stanley, selected by the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the 2020 NBA draft, was a standout high school basketball player at the powerhouse Sierra Canyon in Los Angeles before playing a one-and-done season at Duke University. His path hasn’t always been clear, but he’s reached the place he wanted to be.
It’s just that, thanks to COVID-19, nothing feels normal. At all.
Yet Stanley, 21, said he’s feeling mostly settled as his pro career begins. He was still moving into a new apartment when he recently spoke with For The Win, but credited his teammates and the NBA’s virtual rookie transition program for helping him navigate a process that is inherently chaotic during a year in which every normal rhythm has been knocked off beat.
The rookie program put him at ease as he reconnected with old friends, teammates and opponents.
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
“Everyone is going through the same thing,” said Stanley. “It was pretty cool to scroll and see who was on and everyone was active. We were all turning on our mics and asking questions and it was really good to see some of the guys that I knew in high school and in AAU and college. Now, seeing all of us together in the same program and going through the same thing as rookies, I think that calmed a lot of nerves.”
The rookie program is important every year, but making sure its lessons carried through virtually was of vital importance as the NBA worked toward starting a new season today. Greg Taylor, the NBA’s Senior Vice President for Player Development, leads a team responsible for helping players navigate life in the NBA — and professional basketball in general — off the court. Taylor knows that maintaining an elite basketball career, even without the strange circumstances of an ongoing global pandemic, is a stressful job.
He told For The Win that his department exists to give players the tool kit to help navigate this in a healthy manner, both mentally and physically.
“Our goal is to prepare them for what to expect as they enter the league and to just let them understand that we are here both to support them and also to provide them with resources,” explained Taylor. “There is no question or experience or challenge that they will have that we haven’t had a chance to understand and see over the years.”
The rookie transition program, which has existed in an official capacity since 1986, is the main event for Taylor’s team. What previously occurred over four August days in New Jersey was abridged this year via Zoom over two days at the beginning of December.
Taylor recognized that the program missed the fraternal bonding aspects that come with the in-person setting of previous years. But he said the league was able to open invitations to a wider group of rookies and, for the first time, include several undrafted free agents that have signed two-way deals in the programming as well.
During the sessions, incoming rookies heard from the NBPA’s Dr. Bill Parham and NBA Mind Health’s Dr. Kensa Gunter. The NBA and NBPA also had medical experts on hand to discuss COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
Rookies also joined various peer-to-peer panels hosted by three-time NBA champion Dwyane Wade and current players in the league including Karl-Anthony Towns, Tobias Harris, Danillo Gallinari and Pat Connaughton.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
“With someone like Karl-Anthony Towns, he did a great job of relating because he was in our shoes just a few years ago. He went through some of the exact same things like EYBL, AAU, college,” said Stanley. “He made sure that we knew he was one of our guys, that he is definitely someone we should reach out to if we have any questions.”
Stanley, who averaged 7.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 14.3 minutes over three preseason games, has also been able to forge strong relationships with Pacers teammates. He specifically mentioned Victor Oladipo, Malcolm Brogdon, Jeremy Lamb, TJ McConnell, Doug McDermott, Aaron Holiday and Justin Holiday as players who’ve guided him. That’s part of the rookie program: Young players are taught how to befriend veterans and lean on them for mentoring and insight.
Taylor described the engagement on the Zoom sessions as “phenomenal” and enjoyed listening to the rookies talk to the current players about topics including what to expect on and off the floor, how to take care of their bodies, the value of sleep and hydration and nutrition, how to navigate the rookie wall, how to get in good graces with coaches and how to reach out for help.
He highlighted Tyrese Haliburton, James Wiseman, Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball and Cole Anthony as those who took the time to ask very thoughtful questions.
Meanwhile, as these individuals receive significantly large paychecks for the first time in their lives and suddenly have to account for managing life-changing money, one of the primary goals of the rookie transition program is to help with financial literacy.
Purvis Short was selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft and enjoyed twelve seasons in the league. He now serves as the NBPA’s Chief of Player Programming and told For The Win that players from his era struggled without the sort of programs the league now provides.
“We didn’t have financial education programs. We didn’t have a career development program,” said Short. “So a lot of us made a lot of mistakes, man.”
Purvis Short (Mike Powell/Getty Images)
These days, Short says that one of the reasons he still works with the players’ labor union is because he wishes that he had a better understanding of the expectations that an NBA player carries when he comes into the league.
He emphasized that he personally wants to help rookies learn how to conduct and carry themselves so as to best represent themselves as an individual and as a member of an NBA organization.
Short can pull from his firsthand experience to tell you that that success on the court has a lot to do with athletic talent, of course. But it is also about how well someone is able to adjust to a new environment, teammates, coaches and work habits.
Nothing will be able to fully prepare a rookie as they turn the page to this massive new chapter in their lives. The rookie transition program, however, will make it a little bit easier for players like Stanley who are up for the challenge.
“This year was particularly difficult,” Short said. “They’re literally being placed right in the middle of the fire. That learning curve is going to be very steep. But that’s why we’re here, to try to help them in whatever way we can and hopefully ease that transition.”
Every year, the winners of the draft are the teams who find the hidden gems that are able to exceed expectations of where they were picked.
Every year, the winners of the draft are the teams who find the hidden gems that are able to exceed expectations of where they were picked.
Due to the ongoing global pandemic, many prospects struggled to separate themselves the way they would have in a typical pre-draft process. Drafting is never an exact science but this year, specifically, it would not be a surprise if one of the players who has the best career was not selected in the lottery.
Below are the top three prospects who we feel were especially good value picks and could end up being considered draft-day steals when it’s all said and done.
After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.
After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.
Originally scheduled for June, the ongoing pandemic pushed the big night back by five months. While this may cause some teams to overthink their decisions, it gave analysts plenty of time to study all of the top prospects eligible in this class.
This year, players had to participate in a mostly virtual pre-draft process. On the bright side, this meant that teams had the opportunity to interview more candidates than ever before.
However, the number of in-person visits were incredibly limited due to the restrictive parameters set by the league. Similarly, the NBA draft combine was conducted without the typical scrimmages where players can separate themselves from the others with impressive on-court performances.
Overall, the players that stood out in this pre-draft process had a different path to recognition than any other year. College basketball players did not have the opportunity to showcase themselves during March Madness. The nation’s top seniors did not get to participate in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.
As such, executives will rely mostly on the existing game footage as well as the intel they gathered during their conversations with the prospects. We also depended on similar strategies, getting access to one-on-one interviews with more than three dozen prospects and exchanging our thoughts with various scouts across the league.
This helped us put together our final big board, looking at the Top 100 players ranked on their potential to make a difference for teams in the NBA.
Relevant statistics were pulled from Synergy Sports Tech, Bart-Torvik, KenPom, Open Look Analytics and RealGM. Note that the age listed for each player references how old they will be on the night of the draft.
This also provided context for realistic high-end and low-end predictions for the players most often included in mock drafts.
Please note that the range included for each player is not based on our own reporting or intel and it only reflects the data pulled from the various mock drafts.
The full list of our latest aggregate mock draft rankings can be found here. HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.
This also provided context for realistic high-end and low-end predictions for the players most often included in mock drafts.
Please note that the range included for each player is not based on our own reporting or intel and it only reflects the data pulled from the various mock drafts.
The full list of our latest aggregate mock draft rankings can be found here. HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.
The Oklahoma City Thunder took Duke guard Cassius Stanley in the first round of The Rookie Wire’s 2020 NBA mock draft.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder selected a sleeper pick with an immense amount of athleticism with their first-round pick in the Rookie Wire’s updated 2020 mock draft on Thursday.
Stanley is often projected as a second-round pick, but his abilities give him first-round potential and his athleticism fits the mold of Thunder prospects. From writer Bryan Kalbrosky:
“(Stanley) is more than just an insane vertical leaper. He also considers himself to be a combo guard who can push the break with ease for strong finishes in transition. He shot almost 50% on 3-pointers taken from the corner, per Synergy Sports, and 43.8% on 3-pointers off the catch.”
An athletic 6-foot-6 3-point shooter? How could he fall so far down the draft?
There are some areas that Stanley needs to improve upon.
First off, while his shooter percentages were good, he only attempted three shots from 3-point range per game and averaged 1.1 makes. Stanley also only averaged one assist per game, and his playmaking needs work if the team that drafts him hopes he will be a secondary ballhandler.
His size and athleticism give him the potential to be a good defender, but he has yet to show consistent skill on that end of the court.
If Oklahoma City selects him, the organization would have to hope that he would be able to reflect his high school days, when he won back-to-back California high school state championships at Sierra Canyon as one of the primary scorers, in the pros.
Stanley isn’t a sure bet, but he has the size, athleticism and glimmers of shooting that show potential.
With reports the Boston Celtics have met virtually with Duke’s Cassius Stanley, is the bouncy wing’s fit with the team a good one?
The Boston Celtics have met with 6-foot-6 Duke shooting guard prospect Cassius Stanley virtually, according to Fortune Sport’s Chris Grenham.
The 21-year-old Californian is mocked anywhere from the start of the second round to close to the end of it, a polarizing prospect with some flashy abilities — but also considerable warts.
A bouncy wing with a 6-foot-7 wingspan who rebounds and protects the rim well for his position because of those qualities, he also has a tendency to attack the cup a little too relentlessly, with little in the way of passing ability to dump the rock when facing collapsing defenders.
He’s a solid shooter when hit with a pass while open, but can’t shoot off the dribble, and is generally raw with questionable decision-making in general.
The Los Angeles native might be a bit of a reach for the Celtics with the 30th pick of the 2020 NBA Draft owed them by the Milwaukee Bucks, but if he fell to 47th pick, he could make a great prospect for one of Boston’s two way slots.
He’ll need time and reps to get seasoned enough to grow his game, and won’t get that with the parent club, but there’s a real shot at a high-end rotation player with Stanley if it works out.
