Tag: Nate Darling

Summer league standout Nate Darling ‘fits the Bulls greatest need’

Chicago Bulls Summer League standout Nate Darling could have a chance to make a real impact should he be signed to the main roster.

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Heading into the offseason, the Chicago Bulls aimed toward pushing forward rather than tearing down the roster. So far this summer, the moves Chicago has made have fallen in line with that plan. The Bulls signed Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig, improving their overall depth.

But on top of that, the Bulls had a great chance to evaluate some young talent moving into next year. While the Bulls are committed to winning, they should also be constantly looking to add youth to their squad, as that will be the best way for Chicago to maintain a solid future outlook.

The Bulls summer league team proved full of solid talent, but Sam Smith of NBA.com, described Nate Darling as one of the most impressive.

“He had his poorest game of the tournament Saturday with four points in 18 minutes and zero for four on three-pointers,” Smith wrote. “That dropped his three-point average for the five games to 32.4% after it mostly hovered close to 40% earlier. He was 39% in the G League this season. The Bulls guards rarely seemed to look for him or run any actions for him. But he fits the Bulls greatest need of a classic catch-and-shoot long distance shooter in the model of players like Cavs free agent addition Max Strus, Miami’s Duncan Robinson and Luke Kennard of Memphis.”

Darling’s offensive game could give Chicago’s offense a massive boost, should he earn the opportunity.

“The Bulls, according to basketball chief Artūras Karnišovas speaking on a Summer League broadcast, added free agent shooting in guard Jevon Carter and forward Torrey Craig,” Smith wrote. “Neither are high volume stand still shooters, though they shoot well from three and are top defenders. The 6-foot-6 Darling from Canada fits the offensive profile the Bulls lack with size, a pure shooting stroke with a quick release and an ability to score off the dribble. He finished Summer League averaging 11.2 points despite the offense mostly operating through Dalen Terry and Freeman-Liberty.”

Should the Bulls sign Darling to the main roster?

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Bulls Summer League Notebook: A new Chicago Darling, Terry’s struggles

In their first Summer League game, the Chicago Bulls took down the Toronto Raptors, so let’s take a look at some notes.

The Chicago Bulls competed in their first game of Summer League action on Friday night. They took down the Toronto Raptors in an ugly slugfest that ended in a very low score of 83-74. Obviously, a solid takeaway from that score could be the great defense being played, but in reality, it was just a healthy reminder that Summer League is Summer League for a reason.

Chicago rolled out a 10-man lineup, with Will Yoakum and Tyree Appleby being the only two players who didn’t see the court. As a team, the Bulls shot just 39.0% from the field and 34.5% from deep. Definitely not ideal.

With that said, we’ll be starting a notebook, recapping some of the top points from each Summer League game. Let’s take a look at Game 1.

Vernon Carey Jr. headlines Hornets rookies to play in G League bubble

Hornets second-round pick Vernon Carey Jr. headlines the players set to participate with the Greensboro Swarm in the NBA G League bubble.

Charlotte Hornets second-round pick Vernon Carey Jr. headlines the group of players expected to participate in the 2021 NBA G League season with the Greensboro Swarm at the Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida.

The Swarm are one of 18 teams set to play a 12-to-15 game schedule in a single-site location beginning next month. The league will announce the complete game schedule at a later date but the top eight teams will advance to a single-elimination playoff, set to run in March.

In addition to Carey, Nick Richards, Grant Riller and Nate Darling are among the rookie players set to join the Swarm in the bubble. Richards and Riller were both second-round picks while Darling went undrafted, but, like Riller, is signed to a two-way contract.

Name Pos. Prior/Country Classification
Vernon Carey Jr. C Duke/USA Assignment
Keandre Cook G Missouri State/USA Affiliate
Nate Darling G Delaware/Canada Two-Way
Javin DeLaurier F Duke/USA Affiliate
Ahmed Hill G Virginia Tech/USA Returning Rights
Ray McCallum G Detroit-Mercy/USA Returning Rights
Jalen McDaniels F/C San Diego State/USA Assignment
KJ McDaniels F Clemson/USA Returning Rights
Nick Richards C Kentucky/Jamaica Assignment
Grant Riller G Charleston/USA Two-Way
Jeff Roberson F Vanderbilt/USA Returning Rights
Admiral Schofield F Tennessee/USA Draft
Kobi Simmons G Arizona/USA Returning Rights
Xavier Sneed F Kansas State/USA Affiliate
Kahlil Whitney F Kentucky/USA Affiliate

Players, coaches, team and league staff living on the campus at Disney will be guided by comprehensive league-wide health and safety protocols, which are based on the core principles of social distancing, mask-wearing, hand hygiene and COVID-19 testing.

Teams were expected to arrive in Orlando this week to begin a mandatory quarantine period. Players will be tested daily for the coronavirus and must register three negative PCR tests at least 24 hours apart before receiving clearance to play.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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2020 NBA Draft Big Board 5.0: Final update ranking Top 100 prospects

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.

Everything to know about NBA G League pre-draft evaluation process

Rookie Wire obtained every detail possible about the NBA G League pre-draft evaluation process, including all of the known invitations sent.

Rookie Wire obtained every detail possible about the NBA G League pre-draft evaluation process, including all of the known invitations sent.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, many draft-eligible prospects not invited to the NBA combine have had trouble getting all of their information to team-decision makers in advance of the 2020 NBA Draft. To combat this, the NBA G League is offering a greater opportunity to be evaluated by team decision-makers.

This information included below was shared with USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire on the condition of anonymity because the person who shared the details was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

While the G League Elite Camp was canceled this year, a “select number” of participants were given the chance to share virtual evaluations through both shooting drills and an NBA pro day.

Prospects who agreed to participate will use HomeCourt, a mobile basketball training application, to record on-court workouts. The results will be shared with NBA team staffers through the app.

Players were encouraged to have two staffers with them in the gym to assist with the process. The coaches and trainers were required to wear a face mask and gloves during the workout.

NBA Evaluation: 8 Shooting Drills (based on previous editions of the Draft Combine)

  • Warm-Up/free-throws (50 shots)
  • Spot-Up shooting (50 shots)
  • Shooting off dribble/pull-up jumpers (30 shots)
  • Mid-Range/off the catch (20 shots)
  • 3-point drill /3-pointers off the catch (20 shots)
  • Side-mid-side/3-point jumpers on the move (2 minutes)
  • 3-point endurance/catch-and-shoot at game speed (5 minutes)
  • Cool down/free-throws (50 shots)

Each shooting drill can be completed a max of three times. Only the best score is uploaded into the NBA Player Evaluation platform for all NBA teams to access the data and video.

This is how the results look, as obtained by Babcock Hoops’ Derek Murray:

NBA Pro Day: 45-Minute Open Workout

  • This workout allows the draft prospect to share the unique
    aspects of his game through a 45-minute open workout.
  • Players are prohibited from partaking in live competition against any other draft-eligible and/or other players, including: informal scrimmages, pick-up games (e.g., 2-on-2), defensive drills (e.g., pick-and-roll coverage, post defense, etc.), offensive drills (e.g., Pick-and-Roll / Pop situations)
  • Pro Day must be a half-court workout.
  • Pro Day is an open workout for up to 45 minutes. If a player does NOT use the full 45 minutes, that is OK.
  • Must be completed on the same date as shooting drills. The player is allowed a 10-minute break in between.

KNOWN INVITATIONS

USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire was able to obtain a list of prospects invited to participate in this process. Note that others may have been included as well, though these were the names we can confirm at this time. 

Tres Tinkle, Oregon State

Malik Fitts, Saint Mary’s

Trevelin Queen, New Mexico State

Freddie Gillespie, Baylor

Jordan Ford, Saint Mary’s

Rayshaun Hammonds, Georgia

Jon Teske, Michigan

Emmitt Williams, LSU

Anthony Lamb, Vermont

Austin Wiley, Auburn

Isiaha Mike, SMU

Nate Darling, Delaware

Kamar Baldwin, Butler

Caleb Homesley, Liberty

Anthony Cowan, Maryland

Dwayne Sutton, Louisville

Steven Enoch, Louisville

Osasumwen Osaghae, Florida International

Kylor Kelley, Oregon State

John Mooney, Notre Dame

Xavier Sneed, Kansas State

EJ Montgomery, Kentucky

Quinton Rose, Temple

Jordan Bowden, Tennessee

Jake Toolson, BYU

Samir Doughty, Auburn

Terry Armstrong, South East Melbourne

Eli Pemberton, Hofstra

Kouat Noi, Cairns

Sacar Anim, Marquette

Jeff Dowtin, Rhode Island

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