Tag: Joshua Primo

Lakers working out Joshua Primo, Josh Christopher, four more prospects Friday

The Los Angeles Lakers worked out Joshua Primo, Josh Christopher and four more prospects ahead of the NBA draft.

The Los Angeles Lakers are bringing in six more players for workouts ahead of the 2021 NBA draft, the team announced.

The new crop of players includes Joshua Primo of Alabama, Josh Christopher of Arizona State, Marcus Zegarowski of Creighton, Anthony Tarke of Coppin State, Jayvon Graves of Buffalo and Eugene Omoruyi of Oregon.

Primo, 6’6″ guard, played one season at Alabama and averaged 8.1 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 43.1 percent overall on 6.5 attempts and 38.1 percent from deep on 3.8 attempts.

He’s seen as either a late first-round pick or early second-round pick because of his upside on both ends of the floor. In Kevin O’Conner of The Ringer’s latest mock draft, the Lakers take Primo at No. 22.

Christopher, 6’5″ guard, also played one season at Arizona State and averaged 14.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.4 assists. He shot 43.2 percent overall on 11.7 attempts and 30.5 percent from the perimeter on 3.9 attempts. Christopher is regarded as an early second-round pick or late first-round option at the most.

Zegarowski, 6’2″ guard, played three seasons at Creighton. Most recently, he averaged 15.8 points, 4.3 assists and 3.6 rebounds on 46.4 percent shooting overall on 12.0 attempts and 42.1 percent from deep on 6.6 attempts. He’s regarded as a second-round pick or undrafted.

Tarke, 6’6″ guard, played four seasons of collegiate basketball at three different schools. He most recently suited up for Coppin State and averaged 16.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.9 blocks. He shot 47 percent from the field on 11.6 attempts and 32.1 percent from deep on 3.5 attempts. He’s seen as a late second-round pick or undrafted.

Graves, 6’3″ guard, played all four seasons at Buffalo and as a senior, he averaged 14.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals while converting on 40.9 percent of his shots on 13.4 attempts and 28.1 percent from deep on 5.1 attempts. He’s regarded as a likely undrafted prospect.

Omoruyi, 6’6″ forward, played three seasons at Rutgers before moving to Oregon for his last season. He averaged 17.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals on 47.3 percent shooting (13.1 attempts) and 37.6 percent 3-point shooting (3.9 attempts). He’s seen as either a late second-round pick or undrafted.

The NBA draft will transpire on July 29.

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2021 NBA Draft Big Board 5.0: Final rankings of the Top 100 prospects

With just over a week left until the 2021 NBA draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, it’s officially the most wonderful time of the year! 

With just over a week left until the 2021 NBA draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, it’s officially the most wonderful time of the year!

That means that after a slew of surprising early entry withdrawals impacted the worlds of both college and international basketball, the next generation of NBA talent is getting closer to entering the league. As players finalize their place on big boards in front offices, I wanted to offer my opinion on how I think those rankings should look.

Note that our list is certainly going to look different from the lists at ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report and other publications. Player evaluation is an inexact science. Part of the process is being willing to admit when you were wrong about a player.

But avoiding group-think and ending higher than consensus on a player is how an NBA team ends up selecting them in the draft. With that in mind, here is who I would target if I were running a front office.

2021 NBA Mock Draft 6.0: Predicting all 60 picks after the combine

While most of the basketball world is focused on the NBA Finals, scouts and draftniks are in the midst of a very busy time of year as well.

While most of the basketball world is focused on the NBA Finals, scouts and draftniks are in the midst of a very busy time of year as well.

The most crucial dates leading up to the draft are the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the early entry application deadline, the lottery, the combine and the early entry withdrawal deadline. All have since come and gone, which means that we’re somehow already in the home stretch before the big night in Brooklyn on July 29.

Prospects are still frantically traveling around the country, visiting with teams for both individual and group workouts in front of key decision-makers. Still, others are currently playing for their national team on the FIBA circuit.

But as far as the public is concerned, the only new information that will be released between now and the draft will be filtered through whatever is reported by journalists. As such, until intel starts rolling in, this mock draft offers the most informed projections yet.

While these predictions are based on my conversations with NBA scouts and executives around the league, as well as my own scouting and information-gathering, they’re subject to change dramatically over the course of the next few weeks.

Did he stay or did he go? Tracking the biggest NBA draft decisions

All prospects who declared early entry for the 2021 NBA draft without foregoing their collegiate eligibility had until July 7 to withdraw.

All prospects who declared early entry for the 2021 NBA draft without foregoing their collegiate eligibility had until July 7 to withdraw.

While the official date from the league is not actually until July 19, the NCAA has mandated the deadline of July 7 for players who wish to play college basketball next season.

Prospects who declared as early entry candidates but were just “testing the waters” often opt to return to the collegiate ranks so as to improve their draft stock for the subsequent year instead. But there are several reasons why a player might be even more willing to return to college for another campaign than usual.

For example, seniors have the option to use another year of eligibility because of the massive impact of COVID-19. Others may be interested in playing another year of college in front of fans after last season was met with many restrictions.

Meanwhile, all NCAA athletes also now have the ability to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL) for the first time. This offers an avenue to collect some money while still in college without needing to fully commit to turning pro.

Here are the latest updates about who is still testing the waters, who will be turning pro and who will be returning to the NCAA.

Did he stay or did he go? Tracking the biggest NBA draft decisions

All prospects who declared early entry for the 2021 NBA draft without foregoing their collegiate eligibility had until July 7 to withdraw.

All prospects who declared early entry for the 2021 NBA draft without foregoing their collegiate eligibility had until July 7 to withdraw.

While the official date from the league is not actually until July 19, the NCAA has mandated the deadline of July 7 for players who wish to play college basketball next season.

Prospects who declared as early entry candidates but were just “testing the waters” often opt to return to the collegiate ranks so as to improve their draft stock for the subsequent year instead. But there are several reasons why a player might be even more willing to return to college for another campaign than usual.

For example, seniors have the option to use another year of eligibility because of the massive impact of COVID-19. Others may be interested in playing another year of college in front of fans after last season was met with many restrictions.

Meanwhile, all NCAA athletes also now have the ability to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL) for the first time. This offers an avenue to collect some money while still in college without needing to fully commit to turning pro.

Here are the latest updates about who is still testing the waters, who will be turning pro and who will be returning to the NCAA.

Did he stay or did he go? Tracking the biggest NBA draft decisions

All prospects who declared early entry for the 2021 NBA draft without foregoing their collegiate eligibility had until July 7 to withdraw.

All prospects who declared early entry for the 2021 NBA draft without foregoing their collegiate eligibility had until July 7 to withdraw.

While the official date from the league is not actually until July 19, the NCAA has mandated the deadline of July 7 for players who wish to play college basketball next season.

Prospects who declared as early entry candidates but were just “testing the waters” often opt to return to the collegiate ranks so as to improve their draft stock for the subsequent year instead. But there are several reasons why a player might be even more willing to return to college for another campaign than usual.

For example, seniors have the option to use another year of eligibility because of the massive impact of COVID-19. Others may be interested in playing another year of college in front of fans after last season was met with many restrictions.

Meanwhile, all NCAA athletes also now have the ability to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL) for the first time. This offers an avenue to collect some money while still in college without needing to fully commit to turning pro.

Here are the latest updates about who is still testing the waters, who will be turning pro and who will be returning to the NCAA.

NBA Mock Draft 5.0: All 60 picks updated after the 2021 lottery

Learn who we think will get selected with each of the 60 picks in the 2021 NBA draft.

The 2021 NBA draft order is set and the Detroit Pistons have won the lottery, taking home the No. 1 overall pick on Tuesday evening.

Of course, these projections are subject to change even over the next few days, as the NBA’s combine is currently underway in Chicago. Prospects are often able to separate themselves and improve their draft stock if they stand out during five-on-five scrimmages that will take place later this week.

Note that there are several players who are currently “testing the waters” (e.g. Texas Tech’s Terrence Shannon Jr., UCLA’s Johnny Juzang, St. John’s Julian Champagnie and Oral Roberts’ Max Abmas, etc.) that were omitted from this mock. Such players will have until midnight on July 8 to decide if they wish to return to the NCAA and improve their draft stock or remain in this class.

Unfortunately, collegiate national champion Jared Butler was omitted from our mock after news broke earlier today that he is “not permitted to play or practice” in the NBA, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, unless his heart condition is deemed as cleared.

We will continue to release more mock drafts as we gather more intel, but until then, here is how we project the draft to shake out on July 29.

NBA combine invitations suggest who could be heading back to the NCAA

We took a look at the participant list for the NBA draft combine and G League Elite Camp to tell us who might return to their college team.

We took a look at the participant list for the NBA draft combine and G League Elite Camp to tell us who might return to their college team.

While there is nothing final about our projections, now that those lists are finalized we know the names of the most notable players who have declared for the draft without foregoing their collegiate eligibility.

These prospects, who are all classified as “testing the waters” at this point, are the ones facing the toughest decision for their pro future but may have more clarity now than they did during the college basketball season.

2021 NBA Draft Big Board 4.0: Top 100 prospects pre-combine and lottery

Now that the early entry list is officially out and combine invitations have been sent out, the 2021 NBA draft class is starting to finalize.

Now that the early entry deadline has passed and combine invitations have been sent out, the 2021 NBA draft class is starting to finalize.

Last year, the NCAA tournament and the combine were both canceled due to the pandemic. That made evaluations much tougher for scouts and front offices around the league. This year, the pre-draft process feels somewhat normal again for top basketball prospects who are set to join the pros.

As a new class of players prepares to turn professional, here is how we would currently rank this class based on what we have seen from them so far, with some of my picks that are higher than other experts have them ranked.

2021 NBA Mock Draft 4.0: Player comparisons and predicting all 60 picks

Who should the Houston Rockets select if they get the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft?

While fans are now enjoying the NBA postseason, there are several teams that didn’t make the playoffs with full attention on the draft.

Now that the regular season and play-in tournament are both complete, the order is set for picks No. 15 to No. 60. However, we will have to wait until the lottery on June 22.

For more details on odds for when each team in the lottery will be on the clock, you can read this post by our own Charles Curtis.

Meanwhile, we also have a pretty clear idea of which prospects have opted to declare for the 2021 NBA draft. But any stragglers still have until May 30 to make their decision in order to be eligible for draft consideration.

Scouts and executives around the league will have an even better feel for this class come June 21, when the combine begins in Chicago.

After that, all those who hired either NCAA-certified agents or do not already have any representation have until July 19 to decide if they wish to remain in the class and forego their collegiate eligibility or return to school.

Until then, however, this is how we predict the two rounds of the 2021 NBA draft will shake out: