Tag: NBA Draft Lottery

Report: NBA moving up the date of the 2020 Draft Lottery to August 20

After the NBA moved up the Draft Lottery by five days, the Warriors will know where they’re picking in the draft earlier than expected.

For the first time in five years, the Golden State Warriors won’t be prepping for a trip to the NBA Finals. Instead, the next event circled on Golden State’s calendar is the NBA’s Draft Lottery.

After a league-worst 15-50 record, the Warriors will have the opportunity to make a selection inside the lottery for the first time since 2012. The 2020 draft will also serve as the first time the Warriors have been slated for a pick in the top five since 2002.

Before the Warriors submit their highly anticipated pick, Steve Kerr and Bob Myers will need to know when they’ll be on the clock. After initially rescheduling the lottery on Aug. 25, Shams Charania is reporting the league will move the event up to Aug. 20.

Via @ShamsCharania on Twitter:

According to Tankathon.com, the Warriors have a 14% chance of landing the first pick and a 47.9% chance of securing the fifth pick.

In recent mock drafts, USC’s Onyeka Okongwu, Georgia’s Anthony Edwards, Florida State’s Devin Vassell and Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Deni Avdija have been popular options for the Golden State Warriors.

Once the Warriors nail down where they’re making the selection, the tandem of Myers and Kerr will have a better idea of what prospect they can add alongside Stephen Curry. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

[lawrence-related id=27791,26576,25658,25446,25400,25137]

Report: NBA has held preliminary discussions on potential 2020 Draft Combine

As the NBA moves further into its plans for restarting the league, a potential NBA Draft Combine of sorts has been discussed for late August.

Every part of the NBA’s normal scheduling has changed in the wake of COVID-19. The league being put on hold for what will eventually be the better part of four months has had ripple effects in every aspect of the league.

One of the areas that has been most impacted with the fewest answers yet is the draft. Whereas during a normal NBA calendar year prospects would be working out for teams currently as the draft closes in at the end of June, present-day scenarios include Zoom interviews and at-home workouts with NBA teams instead left to game tape as the only way to see prospects in action.

In most seasons as well, a draft combine would have already been held with measurements gathered and drills completed, but the combine was another victim of the coronavirus stoppage. While the NBA has begun including plans for the 2020 NBA Draft, including setting dates for the lottery and the draft itself, a possibility of a combine had not yet been mentioned, let alone a date given.

DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony reported on Sunday, though, that the league has begun talks of something potentially resembling a combine.

Multiple team sources told ESPN that preliminary discussions are underway for some type of draft prospect gathering in Orlando during the last week of August. This would include medical testing, player interviews and, possibly, measurements. The exact format, including how many players would be invited, is still under consideration, though workouts or scrimmages would be unlikely.

Givony went on to note that the league is waiting to see how the NBA’s restart plan plays out before potentially bringing more prospects into the bubble inside Disney World. NBA teams have still been working under the expectation that, eventually, in-person interviews would be allowed which has meant fewer Zoom interviews for the top-level prospects.

Not having a combine or potentially individual workouts likely works against LaMelo Ball – as well as James Wiseman – in the competition for the No. 1 pick. Team workouts would have been the time for Ball to prove he is healthy and for teams to see him in-person rather than on a computer or TV screen halfway around the world.

Without in-person workouts or even a combine, Ball will be unable to answer questions about his game or put to rest any concerns about his health. Getting his measurements could be a further boost for Ball as his height has not been officially noted anywhere but has been speculated to be around 6’7″ or potentially even 6’8″. Those small things can add up against him in a tight race for the No. 1 pick.

[lawrence-related id=23661,23656,23642]

How the NBA’s plan to restart impacts the LaMelo Ball sweepstakes

While the NBA focuses on the plans for a postseason, the bottom of the league could feel the impacts of that decision in the draft lottery.

While the exact details of the NBA’s plan to restart are not yet known, many of the outlines of where the league intends to move forward are in place. The format in which a postseason takes place is a work in progress with a World Cup-esque system discussed that would see teams placed into groups of four or five teams.

More recently, a play-in tournament was also brought up during commissioner Adam Silver and the league’s survey sent to each NBA team. In either scenario, Lonzo Ball and the New Orleans Pelicans figure to be one of the teams that will continue to play.

But while the top two-thirds of the league finish out the regular season and advance into the postseason, the bottom third of the league may have already played their final games. And if those teams are indeed finished, the landscape of the upcoming NBA Draft could be impacted.

As it stands, the Golden State Warriors are comfortably in the top spot in the draft lottery, 4.0 games “ahead” of the Cavaliers. But the second spot and the sixth spot, currently belonging to the New York Knicks, are separated by just 1.5 games. The margins are razor thin as the Timberwolves own the third spot with a .297 win percentage while the Hawks are in the fourth spot with a .299 win percentage.

Those teams have anywhere between 15-18 games remaining on their schedule and considering the small measures between those tops spots currently, those games could be particularly impactful to each team’s percentages of landing either the top pick or inside the top four.

Again, for example, the Cavaliers currently have a 14.0 percent chance at the top pick and a 52.1% chance at remaining in the top four. The Knicks, meanwhile, have a 9.0 percent chance at the top pick and a 37.2% chance at sliding into the top four.

Though the NBA’s new lottery system leveled the playing field and allowed a team like the Lakers a better chance to jump into the lottery last season, having the best percentages is still, mathematically, the best chance at having a shot at the top spot.

If none of those teams 10 teams have the opportunity to play again this season, it would likely lead to the lottery standings being frozen as is, sealing the potential fortunes for many. While the draft lottery isn’t one of the top things on the mind of the league and Silver, it will certainly be something impacted by their decision on how to finish the season.

NBA and NCAA agree to ‘indefinitely’ postpone early entry deadline

Both the NBA and the NCAA have agreed to indefinitely extend the draft’s early entry deadline for 2020, according to Shams Charania.

Over the past 48 hours, there have been more signals popping up throughout the NBA landscape that the league is intent on making a return to play and eventually crowning a 2020 NBA Champion. Late on Wednesday, there was another one that indicates the league will take however long they need to finish the 2019-20 season.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the NBA and the NCAA have agreed to extend the early entry deadline for candidates beyond the original June 3 date indefinitely. This is an indication that the league will also be delaying the draft beyond its June 26.

This obviously is also something that helps college programs as well, allowing them to see who stays and who goes before the next college season.

As for the NBA, teams have done their homework when it comes to scouting, but they will not get to have individual workouts in which they can put players through specific drills they want to see and also have an opportunity to interview them.

[lawrence-related id=30006,30000]

 

NBA Postpones 2020 NBA Draft Combine & Draft Lottery

The NBA postponed both the NBA Draft Combine and the Draft Lottery. Read how this affects Michigan State players eligible for the Draft.

[jwplayer uiKRAikX]

Today, the NBA announced the postponement of both the 2020 NBA Draft Combine and the NBA Draft Lottery. The event was originally scheduled to take place in Chicago starting on Thursday, May 21, and ending on Sunday, May 24. Three Michigan State Basketball players declared for the draft this year: Cassius Winston, Xavier Tillman, and Aaron Henry.

Note, the postponement of the Draft Combine & Draft Lottery likely means a postponement for the Draft as well. Although, no formal announcement has been made on the Draft just yet. The Draft is currently scheduled to take place on June 25.

Here is a Tweet from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski with more information:

According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, there is a possibility that the NBA Draft takes place in either August or September. We will keep you posted on the Draft Combine and Draft updates along with how these changes affect the Spartans eligible for the 2020 NBA Draft. In the latest Athletic mock draft, Tillman and Winston were both picked in the second round of the Draft.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1363]

NBA Draft Lottery, Combine postponed indefinitely, league announces

The NBA Draft Lottery and Combine have been postponed indefinitely as the league considers coronavirus measures, the NBA announced Friday.

The NBA announced Friday afternoon that the draft lottery and combine, both of which had been scheduled during the month of May, had been postponed indefinitely.

The Golden State Warriors, who have the worst record in the league, are tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves as the teams with the best odds to get the top pick in the NBA Draft.

Golden State has a 14% chance of getting the No. 1 pick, 13.4% chance of No. 2, 12.7% chance of No. 3 and a 12.0% chance of No. 4. There is a 52.1% chance the team remains in the top four and a 47.9% chance it gets the No. 5 pick in draft.

The Warriors will not receive lower than pick No. 5, assuming non-playoff contenders do not play another game of basketball this season.

“More information on each event will be shared at a later date as the NBA continues to closely monitor the coronavirus pandemic and consult with infectious disease specialists, public health experts and government officials,” the league said in a statement.

This postpones the time Golden State will be able to get a full scouting reports on players and ultimately decide what to do with the draft pick.

There is a wide range of prospects that the Warriors might have their eyes on. Guard Anthony Edwards is frequently seen as the likely No. 1 pick, though that is far from the consensus, and LaMelo Ball and Killian Hayes are considered by some to be the top guards in the draft.

The Warriors may choose to go wing or big and focus on a player like Deni Avdija, James Wiseman, Onyeka Okongwu or Obi Toppin near the top of the draft.

Additionally, the Warriors could decide to trade the pick and either trade down in the draft or use it to acquire a player who is already established in the league.

With the draft lottery and combine suspended indefinitely, Golden State will have to wait longer to know what’s in stock for the team.

Report: NBA is postponing the draft lottery and combine

Welp.

It’s getting tougher and tougher to envision the NBA’s season continuing. It already felt unlikely that the NBA draft would happen on time because of the global coronavirus pandemic. Now, that’s all but official.

The NBA has reportedly voted to postpone the draft lottery and the NBA combine because of the pandemic, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The league voted to take the measure in a conference call between the NBA’s board of governors on Friday.

The lottery was scheduled to take place in a few weeks on May 19 with the NBA combine coming shortly after on May 21. A replacement date for both events has not yet been determined.

The league hasn’t decided to push the actual NBA draft back just yet, according to the report. But, if we’re reading the tea leaves, there’s no way the event can run on time as scheduled.

The regular season isn’t over. Teams haven’t even been able to interview prospects to this point. Bringing them in for workouts in the league’s current situation isn’t possible.

The draft date moving backward is an all but certain ripple effect of all that at this point. Another thing to look out for? Potentially postponing the 2020-21’s start into December. It’s on the table, according to Wojnarowski’s report.

There are a lot of uncertainties here. But one thing we do know? NBA basketball won’t doesn’t seem to be getting started anytime soon.