Bronny James’ USC season ends, NBA draft intrigue increases

Now that USC’s season is over, the Bronny James debate will intensify.

Now that Bronny James’ USC basketball season is over, the NBA draft speculation will only become more intense. Bronny and LeBron James have decisions to make, and we will see what they choose to do. Part of the intrigue here is that LeBron James might value playing with Bronny sooner rather than later. Does that mean Bronny wants the very same thing, or does Bronny want to wait another year to enter the NBA, in which case he could either return to USC or go to the transfer portal and play for another school? Nothing seems certain. A move to the NBA and the Lakers with LeBron seems to be the most likely outcome, but no one should view that as a guarantee or a stone-cold lock.

Basketball evaluators would tell you that Bronny is not ready for the NBA, partly because his health problems limited his ability to train and build a fitness base this past season. It’s not a verdict on his quality so much as the limited timeline he has had to improve his game. The time he spent with USC and Andy Enfield, of course, did not significantly improve his offense. We all saw that and don’t need to go deep into the weeds on that point.

Bronny might not be ready for the NBA, but as we have written — and as LeBron Wire has noted — if drafting Bronny means keeping LeBron for 2025 and beyond, the Lakers will do so. Bronny’s value as a prospect would be secondary to the value of keeping LeBron on the Laker roster. That is one of many considerations for Bronny, LeBron, and the James family.

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Will the San Antonio Spurs’ tanking strategy pay off?

Will the San Antonio Spurs’ tanking pay off in the long run?

The San Antonio Spurs have been struggling this season. They’ve been one of the worst teams in the league and sit at the bottom of the Western Conference, a place they’ve been in for the majority of the season. But last year, their tanking paid off in the form of 20-year-old Frenchman Victor Wembanyama.

Wembanyama has been nothing short of incredible this season, churning out impressive performances on a nightly basis. With his size and skillset, combined with his personable nature, he should be a great face of the franchise in San Antonio for years to come. But what about moving forward?

The NBA Swish YouTube channel recently discussed whether or not the Spurs’ tanking strategy will pay off for the organization in the long run.

The Spurs already have Wembanyama, so the tank has been worth it for that fact alone. But who else will they be able to snag in future drafts?

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2024 NBA mock drafts, March update: First-round projections for Rockets

With the calendar turning to March, here’s a look at the latest first-round odds and pick projections for the Rockets (via Brooklyn) in the 2024 NBA draft.

The Brooklyn Nets (23-36) endured another difficult month in February 2024, with eight losses in their final 11 games.

Now, as the 2023-24 season winds down in March and April, the biggest beneficiaries of the Nets’ recent downfall are arguably the Houston Rockets, who own Brooklyn’s 2024 first-round draft pick as part of the blockbuster James Harden trade in January 2021.

Though the Rockets (25-34) are likely to lose their own first-round draft pick to Oklahoma City as part of the 2019 Chris Paul-Russell Westbrook trade, it’s worth noting that unlike the Harden-Brooklyn deal, the conveyance of Houston’s pick is top-four protected.

So, if the Rockets miss the 2023-24 Western Conference playoffs, they will actually have multiple chances — both with their own pick, and the one from Brooklyn, which they will receive no matter what — at securing a top-four pick in the first round 2024 NBA draft.

And if Houston loses its pick to the Thunder due to not winning the lottery, it’s becoming increasingly likely the pick they receive from Brooklyn will be higher in the first-round order, anyway.

With that in mind, here’s a look at who draft experts have going to Houston (with the Brooklyn pick) in the latest wave of mock drafts. Keep in mind that the projected pick slot varies based on the exact date of each mock’s publication, since the standings change daily.

Isaiah Collier feels the pressure before the 2024 NBA draft

Isaiah Collier, injured midway through the season, tries to make up for lost time at USC.

The 2024 college basketball season has not gone the way Isaiah Collier hoped it would. USC has lost a lot of games and fallen to the bottom of the Pac-12 standings. The Trojans and Collier will not play in the NCAA Tournament, barring a surprising and remarkable run at the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas next month. Collier himself got hurt midway through the season. He and his teammates were unable to develop momentum. Lost time is a difficult setback to deal with.

Losing the time to develop on the court and play with teammates over several weeks has limited Collier’s evolution as a player. It’s not his fault, but it’s something which has deprived him from encountering a greater and wider variety of situations, which leaves him slightly less prepared for the NBA than he would like to be. With the 2024 NBA draft rapidly approaching this summer — it is roughly four months away — Collier knows he needs to make these next few weeks, the last of the season, count in a big way for him and USC. Collier, a projected lottery pick, wants to make sure he enters the draft having put his best foot forward. Beating UCLA on Saturday night with some tough drives to the basket in traffic offered a good start. Those drives to the rim reminded scouts of what makes Collier such a promising pro prospect. The ability to finish in traffic through contact should serve Collier well in the NBA.

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Three Wildcats in first round of latest CBS NBA mock draft

Three Kentucky Wildcats are selected in the first round of the latest CBS NBA mock draft.

NBA mock drafts are a fun exercise, and there will be many of them written over the upcoming months. Fans love them and it’s always interesting to see where players are projected to be selected. CBS released a new one on Thursday, and they have predicted three Kentucky Wildcats to be picked in round one.

Reed Sheppard is first off the board, going to the Portland Trail Blazers fifth overall. He has quickly risen up draft boards due to his intelligent play and his ability to shoot from deep. He plays hard, and he does all the little things as well as anyone.

With the sixth pick, the Toronto Raptors are given Rob Dillingham. The shifty guard is one of the great playmakers in the country. He is a terrific shooter, but passes the ball well too. His ability to blow by defenders is unmatched in college basketball.

The final Wildcat selected in the CBS mock draft is also a guard. D.J. Wagner goes 27th to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who also picked his father Dajuan Wagner in the first round 22 years ago. The younger Wagner needs to become a better shooter, but has great quickness and is a good defender.

Five Kentucky Wildcats chosen in latest ESPN NBA mock draft

ESPN’s latest NBA mock draft features five Kentucky players to be selected this year.

The NBA Draft is still months away, but speculating about where players will be drafted is a year-round activity for some. Fans love to read about who their favorite teams might pick, and where their favorite players might wind up. On Tuesday, ESPN released a new NBA mock draft that features five Kentucky Wildcats being drafted in the two-round process.

The Wildcats talent level is well-known. It’s loaded with top Freshman talent, and there could be multiple players that wind up as one-and-done in Lexington. Other mock drafts have had as many as seven Kentucky players taken.

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo took at look this year’s class and projected five Wildcats to be selected (story requires subscription). Obviously, it will largely depend on who winds up declaring and who doesn’t. Some could decide to return to school and improve their chances at being a first round pick.

Here’s a look at which Kentucky players ESPN sees being picked in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Where are Filipowski, McCain in latest ESPN NBA mock draft?

The Blue Devils two biggest underclassmen stars both went in the first 20 picks of the latest ESPN mock draft on Tuesday. See where they ended up here.

The NCAA Tournament hasn’t happened yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early to think about the upcoming NBA draft.

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo released a two-round mock draft on Tuesday morning, and Duke’s two biggest underclassmen stars heard their names called within the first 20 picks.

Forward Kyle Filipowski went ninth overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 7-footer and preseason All-American is averaging 17.0 points and 8.3 rebounds on 49.7% shooting this season, and his quickness and competency from beyond the arc offer an enticing combination with his size.

Jared McCain, the first-year guard who tied a program freshman record with 35 points against Florida State on Saturday, went 20th overall to the Philadelphia 76ers. The 19-year-old is averaging 13.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game this season, and he’s pulled off three double-doubles in his last five games despite his 6-foot-3 frame.

No other Blue Devils were selected in the 58-pick mock draft.

2024 update: Rockets’ NBA draft assets, protections through 2031

As the 2024 offseason approaches, here’s where Rafael Stone and the Rockets stand with their future NBA draft assets through 2031.

The Houston Rockets have searched for a consistent backup center behind Alperen Sengun for much of the 2023-24 NBA season.

The good news is that as of February 2024, they found one by trading with Memphis for veteran center Steven Adams. The bad news is Adams will not play until the 2024-25 season due to injury.

Nonetheless, based on his track record, Memphis had enough leverage to extract three second-round draft picks from Rockets general manager Rafael Stone in the deal. In previous months, Houston also lost several second-round picks in deals to offload negatively valued contracts, such as the July 2023 trade sending TyTy Washington Jr. and Usman Garuba to Atlanta and the October 2023 deal sending Kevin Porter Jr. to Oklahoma City.

As a pivotal 2024 offseason approaches, it’s a good time to take stock of where the Rockets are with regards to their future draft assets. This includes a handful from Brooklyn as part of the blockbuster James Harden deal in January 2021, and the value of those appears to be improving as the Nets (21-33) meander through what appears to be an increasingly lost season.

Those types of draft assets could help the Rockets fill rotation spots internally with inexpensive young talent, or they could be used as trade assets to acquire veteran upgrades from other teams.

Through 2031, here’s an updated year-by-year list of the Rockets’ draft assets, as of February 2024. Scroll on for further details.

Two Blue Devils go first round in Bleacher Report’s latest NBA mock draft

Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman released a post-trade deadline NBA mock draft earlier this week and two Duke stars went in the first round.

With the NBA trade deadline now in the rearview mirror, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman released an updated 2024 NBA mock draft earlier this week, and his forecast featured two Blue Devils taken in the first round.

Kyle Filipowski heard his name called first as the ninth overall pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 7-footer made 44.1% of his attempts last year and 28.2% of his 3-pointers, but he’s improved those respective averages to 49.8% and 34.5% this season. His improved efficiency should catch the eyes of NBA scouts, Wasserman wrote.

Freshman Jared McCain, who recently topped On3’s freshman power rankings with his play this season, went 27th overall to the Utah Jazz. The first-year guard is shooting 38.5% from beyond the arc and averaging 5.0 rebounds per game this season, an alluring combination of precision and effort.

“NBA teams will eye him for a combo-guard shot-making role that gives him some secondary freedom to handle and make plays,” Wasserman wrote about McCain.

A third teammate went in the second round of Wasserman’s extended projections, with the Miami Heat snagging sophomore Tyrese Proctor with the 45th pick. The Australian has struggled from long-range over the past few games, but he’s still averaging 10.0 points and 3.5 assists per game. As a 6-foot-5 guard with defensive potential, he’ll easily draw interest.

Updated OKC Thunder draft pick assets, protections through 2030

Updated OKC Thunder draft pick assets, protections through 2030:

Over the years, the Oklahoma City Thunder have accumulated one of the deepest treasure troves of draft capital.

During the early 2020s, Thunder general manager Sam Presti added many draft picks via the trades of Paul George and Russell Westbrook in the 2019 offseason.

Those two deals alone gave the Thunder plenty of future draft currency from the LA Clippers and Houston Rockets. The Thunder also own other valuable draft picks from separate trades such as Philadelphia’s 2025 pick and a Dallas 2028 swap.

With the trade deadline over, let’s update what the Thunder’s draft capital looks like through 2030. This gives OKC plenty of ammo for future trades as draft picks are the currency of NBA transactions.