Tag: NBA Draft

March Madness archive: Jordan Poole drills buzzer beater to send Michigan to Sweet 16

Before he was drafted in the first round by the Warriors, Jordan Poole knocked down a game-winning shot at the Buzzer to send Michigan to the Sweet 16.

The first two rounds of the NCAA tournament is marked as a holiday weekend for basketball fans across the country. However, there will be no March Madness this time around due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With no brackets being busted, Warriors Wire is highlighting standout March performances from members on the current Golden State roster.

Before he was selected in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors, Jordan Poole was coming off the bench for the Michigan Wolverines.

In 2018, Poole turned into a March Madness icon overnight. In the second round of the tournament, Michigan linked up with the sixth-seeded Houston Cougars. The round of 32 matchup turned into a classic.

Michigan and Houston exchanged haymakers throughout the game, but in the final minute, thing were notched at 61. Back-to-back free throws from Devin Davis gave the Cougars a two-point lead with 24 seconds on the clock. Luckily for Michigan, Davis missed his next set of free throws to give the Wolverines the ball back down two.

With four seconds left, Poole checked into the game. Michigan heaved the ball to the half-court line where Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman found Poole open behind the 3-point line.

Poole launched a shot deep beyond the arc that swished through the net as time expired. The 18-year-old freshman was mobbed by his teammates as they danced to the Sweet-16 with a 64-63 win. Poole finished the game with eight points in 11 minutes for Michigan.

Watch Poole’s epic game-winner via YouTube:

Poole’s Wolverines advanced all the way to the championship game, where they met Eric Paschall’s Villanova Wildcats. Jay Wright and Villanova cruised to a 79-62 victory to bring a banner back to Philadelphia.

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Potential Warriors top prospect target declares for the 2020 NBA Draft

Top-prospect Anthony Edwards has officially declared for the 2020 NBA draft.

For the first time in years, the Golden State Warriors are in line to hold a top-pick in the NBA draft. With no March Madness tournament and the college basketball season over due to the coronavirus pandemic, prospects are starting to declare for the NBA draft.

Star freshman Anthony Edwards has officially entered his name into the 2020 draft. In his first season of college basketball, the potential first overall pick averaged 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals in 32 games for the Bulldogs.

The 18-year-old guard shot 40.2 % from the field and 29.4 % from beyond the arc during his first season in the SEC. Edwards racked up three games of 30 or more points for the Bulldogs, with his career-high of 37 coming against the highly ranked Michigan State Spartans in the Maui Invitational Tournament.

The freshman is a streaky shooter, drilling six and seven 3-pointers in single games this season, but he did finish the final 10 games of his college career, only shooting 21.9% from long distance.

The Atlanta native is valued for his playmaking skills, whether he’s slashing downhill to the basket or trying to open up the floor for his teammates. The young combo guard was the focal point in Athens, yet he only recorded over five assists once in his career. At the next level, his passing numbers could rise. Still, the freshman’s explosive nature will quickly catch the attention of the NBA.

At 6-foot-5 225 lbs and only 18-years-old, Edwards would give Steve Kerr a piece of clay to mold into the Warriors core. Whether he’s riding next to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in the backcourt or leading the offensive attack for Golden State’s bench unit, Edwards is an exciting name to watch leading up to June.

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The last time each NBA team won the draft lottery

Here’s the last time each NBA team won the lottery.

With the NBA season in limbo for the time being because of the coronavirus, we don’t know exactly when basketball will be back or when the next NBA draft will be.

One thing we do know, though, is that the college basketball season is over and the opportunities for teams to scout prospects has dwindled pretty much down to nothing, so it’s time to get ready for the draft. Right now, the Golden State Warriors have the highest odds to win this year’s lottery, but you never know how the balls will bounce.

With all that in mind, we thought it’d be a great time to revisit when each NBA last won the draft lottery, starting with the teams most likely to win this one.

2020 lottery teams (for now):

Warriors

Photo: AP-Andy Kuno

Last lottery win: 1995
Selection: Joe Smith
Chance to win in 2020: 14%

Cavaliers

Last lottery win: 2014
Selection: Andrew Wiggins
Chance to win in 2020: 14%

Timberwolves

Last lottery win: 2015
Selection: Karl-Anthony Towns
Chance to win in 2020: 14%

Hawks

The Hawks have never won the NBA Draft Lottery
Chance to win in 2020: 12.5%

Pistons

The Pistons have never won the NBA Draft Lottery
Chance to win in 2020: 10.5%

Knicks

Last lottery win: 1985
Selection: Patrick Ewing
Chance to win in 2020: 9.0%

Bulls

Last lottery win: 2008
Selection: Derrick Rose
Chance to win in 2020: 7.5%

Hornets

Last lottery win: 1991
Selection: Larry Johnson
Chance to win in 2020: 6.0%

Wizards

Last lottery win: 2010
Selection: John Wall
Chance to win in 2020: 4.5%

Suns

Last lottery win: 2018
Selection: Deandre Ayton
Chance to win in 2020: 3.0%

Spurs

Last lottery win: 1997
Selection: Tim Duncan
Chance to win in 2020: 2.0%

Kings

Last lottery win: 1989
Selection: Pervis Ellison
Chance to win in 2020: 1.3%

Pelicans

Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Last lottery win: 2019
Selection: Zion Williamson
Chance to win in 2020: 1.2%

Blazers

Last lottery win: 2007
Selection: Greg Oden
Chance to win in 2020: .5%

2019 playoff teams:

Mavericks

The Mavericks have never won the NBA Draft Lottery

Grizzlies

The Grizzlies have never won the NBA Draft Lottery

Magic

Last lottery win: 2004
Selection: Dwight Howard

Nets

Last lottery win: 2017 (pick was conveyed to the Celtics, and later the 76ers), 2000 (as New Jersey Nets)
Selection: Kenyon Martin (2000)

Pacers

The Pacers have never won the NBA Draft Lottery

Clippers

Last lottery win: 2011’s pick was conveyed to the Cavaliers. Before that, 2009
Selection: Blake Griffin (2009)

Thunder

Neither the Thunder nor the Sonics have ever won the NBA Draft Lottery

Celtics

The Celtics have never won the NBA Draft Lottery, but did receive the No. 1 overall pick in 2017 through a trade with the Nets. Boston then traded the pick to the Sixers.

Jazz

The Jazz have never won the NBA Draft Lottery

76ers

Photo: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Last lottery win: 2016
Selection: Ben Simmons

Lakers

The Lakers have never won the NBA Draft Lottery

Heat

The Heat have never won the NBA Draft Lottery

Rockets

Last lottery win: 2002
Selection: Yao Ming

Nuggets

The Nuggets have never won the NBA Draft Lottery

Raptors

The Raptors have never won the NBA Draft Lottery

Bucks

Last lottery win: 2005
Selection: Andrew Bogut

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Will prospect Isaac Okoro be a lottery pick in the 2020 NBA Draft?

Auburn Tigers freshman wing Isaac Okoro will reportedly test the waters and declare for the 2020 NBA Draft, pending feedback from teams.

Auburn Tigers freshman wing Isaac Okoro will reportedly test the waters and declare for the 2020 NBA Draft, pending feedback from teams.

Okoro is nineteen years old and averaged 12.9 points with 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game during his freshman campaign in the SEC. He also averaged 1.01 points per possession on offense, per Synergy, which finished 86th percentile among all NCAA players. His offensive rating (112.8) ranked second-best among all of the freshmen in his conference.

He was named Second-Team All-SEC as well as All-Freshman Team and All-Defensive Team. The accolades may help improve his draft stock despite the shortened season.

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl told reporters on Friday evening that if Okoro learns he is projected as one of the first fourteen names selected in the upcoming NBA Draft, he should keep his name in consideration (via Rivals):

“Pearl and Auburn were told by NBA scouts for most of the 2019-20 season that Okoro will be a lottery pick. The defensive specialist who also averaged 13 points per game with the Tigers was at one point — and still is, in a few mock drafts — considered a top-5 pick. Pearl said if Okoro receives that same feedback whenever and however the draft process is carried out, the coach will tell him he should take advantage of it and become an NBA player.”

Okoro had developed a reputation for winning, as his high school team went undefeated en route to a state title when he was a senior. As mentioned by Pearl, after winning all fifteen of their first games to start the season, Okoro began gaining momentum as one of the top prospects in the upcoming draft class.

The former Top-40 recruit saw his first college basketball season end on a sour note, unfortunately, with Auburn dropping two of the final games that Okoro played before the abrupt conclusion.

Even though he is one of the most impressive athletes in this class, aspects of his game that require more work and attention were exposed for concern. For example, the prospect connected on approximately six field goals per game. However, only 19.2 percent of those attempts were from beyond five feet of the basket.

Credit: Synergy Sports Tech

It is worth noting that when Okoro had been given the opportunity to score as the ballhandler in transition or when cutting to the basket, he was remarkably efficient. For example, his two-point percentage (60.2 percent) ranked sixth-best among all freshmen who recorded as many attempts in 2019-20. But just 16.0 percent of those attempts were jumpers, per Hoop-Math.com,

That makes sense as the freshman averaged just 0.73 points per possession when shooting off the catch in a set offense, per Synergy, which ranked 19th percentile. He was just 11-for-45 (24.4 percent) on these looks, showcasing a lack of touch as a shooter.

That being said, there are plenty of other prospects who did not have much of a jump shot coming out of college who turned out to be productive players in the NBA.

Kawhi Leonard, who has shot 38.1 percent from three-point range during his career, connected on just 20.5 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc as a freshman.

More recently, Charlotte Hornets forward PJ Washington has proven another example of someone who drastically improved his jumper. Washington made just 23.8 percent of his field goals from downtown as a freshman in the SEC for the Kentucky Wildcats. But as an NBA rookie, he is now shooting 37.4 percent from three.

Most mock drafts and big boards have Okoro falling somewhere between No. 3 overall and No. 17 overall. Our latest big board at Rookie Wire projects his stock at No. 9 overall.

There are going to be a handful of front offices who will be eager to select Okoro and pair him with a shooting coach the way the San Antonio Spurs once did with Leonard and Chip Engelland. One of those teams will likely have a lottery pick and it will be hard to convince them that there are more enticing prospects than Okoro.

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Michigan State forward Xavier Tillman Sr. a first-rounder in latest SB Nation NBA mock draft

Tillman is projected to go 28th overall to the Toronto Raptors.

It’s offseason time in college basketball and that means–despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic–its mock draft season.

Michigan State junior Xavier Tillman Sr. has an NBA decision to make this offseason, and–by the looks of one mock draft–he might not really have much of a decision. Tillman is projected to get drafted 28th overall to the Toronto Raptors in SB Nation’s latest mock draft.

Of Tillman, author Ricky O’Donnell writes, “Tillman might have been the most impactful player in college basketball over the last season and a half. Michigan State took off when he replaced Nick Ward in the Spartan lineup as a sophomore. In a full-time role as a junior, all Tillman did was lead college basketball in box score plus-minus by anchoring Tom Izzo’s defense and acting as an indispensable part of its offense. A 6’8, 245-pound center, Tillman is neither the biggest or the fastest frontcourt prospect in this draft, but he might be the smartest. He always seems to know where to be and never wastes his movement. Known for his shot-blocking and rebounding, Tillman also finished in the 88th percentile of points per possession on offense.”

As a borderline first-round prospect, getting picked in the top 30 would be huge for Tillman–who is married and has two children. The financial implications between a first round and second round pick in the NBA are quite large.

In the NBA first round picks get two-year deals guaranteed with team options for an additional two years. Last year’s 28th pick, Michigan’s Jordan Poole, will make $4 million over the next two years and two team options could bring his deal to more than $10 million. Usually teams will play out their team options and then determine whether or not to sign the player to an extension or risk losing them to free agency. For example, Pascal Siakam, the 27th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, played his first three years on his rookie deal. Toronto, to avoid him entering restricted free agency, signed Siakam to a four-year $130 million extension. Being a first round pick gives a player that leverage to get a deal done with the team that drafted him. Those guarantees and longer deals don’t exist for all second round picks. Some of the top second-round players will get guaranteed money, but they are not required to like first rounders.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA is still seeking applications for their Undergraduate Advisory Committee. This is the group that provides NBA feedback on an undergraduate college player’s professional potential. Tillman will almost certainly submit his name for advisory and I’d expect Aaron Henry and perhaps Joey Hauser to as well, just to get a feel for where their stock is. Cassius Winston did so last season, but opted to return to Michigan State for his senior season.

There is no word on what the NBA Draft process and timeline will be due to the coronavirus.

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Coronavirus pandemic may complicate Celtics, NBA’s 2020 Draft plans

The coronavirus pandemic may have thrown a monkey wrench in the Boston Celtics’ and NBA’s present – but could also make the future more complicated.

The coronavirus pandemic currently disrupting the Boston Celtics and wider NBA season is going to require much adaptability and ingenuity from the league and its composite teams.

In order to continue moving back towards something resembling normalcy, the league will have to adjust a number of critical operating procedures and events, and how teams handle the 2020 NBA Draft is just one of them.

Apart from the incredibly-fraught difficulty of hosting workouts, the draft combine, and even the event itself, issues regarding how to determine lottery order are themselves no simple task.

If there is a possibility of resuming at least some of the regular season, those games will likely impact the draft.

But, the possibility exists that reverse order based on current standings may be the only path forward for non-lottery teams, and even the lottery process itself presents significant hurdles.

The accounting firms, league officials and team representatives included to ensure legitimacy and create the entertainment product we all wait for the results of year-to-year seem at best extraneous, and could represent a significant risk to public health as are other, non-essential gatherings.

How the league would conduct the lottery might have to rely on a skeleton crew of individuals and a whole lot of trust from team governors.

If the season were to end right now, Boston would own the 17th overall pick via the Memphis Grizzlies, the 26th pick (their own) and the 30th (via the league-best Milwaukee Bucks).

This brings us to the other end of the logistical nightmare, the assessment of prospects and the event of the draft itself.

It’s impossible to predict when such events might happen as much as how, meaning we’ll need a lot more context to really be able to say anything substantive about how the pandemic could affect them,

But it’s a very realistic prospect that there will simply not be any draft combine or workouts, or if there are, that they’d be conducted remotely with the aid of small crews of help local to the athlete on a prospect-by-prospect basis.

This isn’t the end of the world, as teams have been scouting prospects for years in most cases and have a wealth of data and film to review (and more time than usual to do it), it still robs teams of the chance to see how prospects might mesh with their system, staff, and philosophy.

Will the draft be in a context when smaller crowds can gather again?

It’s impossible to say right now, but the possibility of the first entirely-remote draft may be on the table if quarantine footing is required longer than the eight-week period promoted by the Centers for Disease Control.

What that would look like and how it would work again remain beyond the scope of our ability to project.

It would also likely signal further disruption to team sports worldwide.

So, let’s cross our fingers, wash our hands, and stay in as much as humanly possible for our individual contexts, and hope we don’t have to address such problems in the future — while preparing for the possibility that we might.

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NBA Draft: USC freshman Onyeka Okongwu is a name to watch for the Warriors

USC freshman Onyeka Okongwu is a name to know for the Golden State Warriors.

Instead of preparing for a deep playoff run, the Golden State Warriors are lining up for a top pick in the 2020 NBA draft.

With the NBA schedule on pause and the college basketball season over due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Warriors’ front office, it’s time for Steve Kerr and Bob Myers to turn their attention to the upcoming draft class.

While James Wiseman, LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards might lead many mock drafts, the 2020 prospect pool has a bit of mystery to it. With there being no consensus top pick, Golden State scouts in the front office will need to do their homework.

A prospect that is quickly rising up draft boards is USC big man Onyeka Okongwu. The 6-foot-9 freshman was a teammate of the Ball brothers at Chino Hills high school and is now making a name for himself at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

Could Onyeka fit with Golden State at the top of the draft? Warriors Wire looked at how the Trojan freshman could fit in the Bay Area.

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Utah State Basketball: Sam Merrill And Life Without The Big Dance

Utah State Basketball: Sam Merrill And Life Without The Big Dance Merrill like others moving forward after NCAA’s decision to cancel postseason. Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire Utah State’s Sam Merrill gives a first hand account of what this …

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Utah State Basketball: Sam Merrill And Life Without The Big Dance

Merrill like others moving forward after NCAA’s decision to cancel postseason.

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Utah State’s Sam Merrill gives a first hand account of what this decision mean’s to collegiate athletes.

Sam Merrill has given a lot to Utah State University. After growing up an Aggie fan in Bountiful, UT just an hour south of Logan, Merrill will graduate this spring leaving his imprint on a program that received a ticket to go dancing after being led by their senior star to a Mountain West tournament championship for the second straight season.

But the world had different plans, and as sports leagues across the globe began postponing or suspending their seasons with the fear of outright canceling them still a very real possibility. Then as the dominoes began to fall midweek, the NCAA announced their plan. The tournament was to be played without fans, which many were against but ultimately accepted given the current state of sports around the globe.

In an interview conducted by the Utah State athletics department released this past week, which featured senior guard Sam Merrill inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Merrill spoke about life without the NCAA tournament from the perspective of a group this decision impacts the most, the players.

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He provided an inside look at the timeline between the start of the Aggies season to just this past week when the tournament was canceled. After a Mountain West conference tournament run that placed them in the championship game against the best team in the conference, No. 1 seeded and top-five ranked San Diego State.

After a hard fought game, Merrill and the Aggies found themselves tied 56-56 in possession of the ball and with only one guy to take the last shot. A Merrill three-pointer with 2.5 seconds left on the clock sealed the deal.

The Aggies would cut down the nets inside the Thomas and Mack Center for the second straight year and as one of the few conferences to start and finish their postseason tournament, it was time to wait. Wait for March 15th and wait for selection Sunday.

When first hearing about the news to continue on with a fan-less NCAA tournament, Merrill admits he thought it would be a better idea to cancel the whole thing altogether. In which you can’t blame him as one thing that makes this sport and time of year so special is the fans. Last year’s national championship game had over 72,000 fans in attendance and to Merrill’s point that would be a huge change in the tournament’s pageantry.

He then spoke about how head coach Craig Smith had been mentally preparing his guys for a complete cancellation going into the week as that was what everyone was expecting to happen next.

The news broke Thursday, March 12th regarding the tournament’s cancellation. It was tough news for everyone around the sport to hear, but as media, fans and businessmen complained. This decision really impacted two groups of people, the players and the coaches. While many student-athletes have taken to Twitter to protest, we hadn’t seen much out of the senior until this video interview. Many have

Merrill also spoke to the ups and downs of the 2019-2020 season, which for an Aggie team that came into the year with a mix of high expectations, injuries and inconsistent play in the first half of the season. But learning to adapt, bounce back and make adjustments during the season helped the Aggies finish second in an extremely competitive Mountain West. His senior season didn’t exactly go according to plan and even though it ended prematurely, to Merrill it still was a spectacular finish to his career.

“It’s a perfect way to go out for me personally and for us as a team to beat one of the best teams in the country and win a conference championship and be able to celebrate together, like I said we wish their was more but it’s a perfect way.” -Sam Merrill

When asked about his plans in the next coming weeks, Merrill mentioned his next steps for a life after Utah State. As the 24 year old talked about finding an agent, scheduling pre-draft workouts and accelerating that entire process. He also mentioned the possibility of spring athletes retaining a year of eligibility, which has now been confirmed as an official plan of the NCAA.

But after backing that idea he stated “you never know what’s going to happen in a year maybe some seniors won’t want to come back and we’ll just be ready to move on.” Then when asked about the possibility of winter sport athletes getting any sort of eligibility back and if that would be something he would be interested in coming back for, he replied by saying

“I’m definitely in support of it, especially all of the teams that…you know some team’s their seasons had already ended, like a lot of teams in our league and some tournaments had already started but a lot teams didn’t get a finish. And for a lot of those teams you sit their and wonder what if so i’m definitely in support of it but for me…I’m going to be twenty-four in a couple of months um…i’ll be graduating…I fell like I’ve given everything I had to Utah State so for me I feel like it is time to move on but I am definitely in support for those who feel like they’ve left things unsaid.”

With those words it seems as though Merrill is done with collegiate basketball and for fans of the Mountain West over the past four years, we can only be thankful for what he has brought to the Aggie program and the Mountain West as a whole and wish him well on his professional aspirations.

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LaVar Ball says LiAngelo would have been lottery pick if not for China incident

LaVar Ball recent spoke in an interview about LiAngelo Ball signing with the Oklahoma City Blue and his path to get there.

While Lonzo and LaMelo Ball have proven to be NBA-caliber players, LiAngelo Ball has been far off the mark for much of his amateur and professional career. The middle of the Ball brothers, LiAngelo has a vastly different skill set than either of his brothers.

While both Lonzo and LaMelo excel with the ball in their hands as playmaking guards, LiAngelo has been more of a spot-up shooter that, actually, complements his brother’s skillsets.

LiAngelo, though, has never been a particularly efficient shooter and, as a result, has struggled to find a steady professional career. His incident in China added a black cloud over his career and held him back even further.

However, he’s finally broken through in recent months, first joining Oklahoma City’s G League affiliate as a practice player before being extended and signing a G League contract with the OKC Blue.

During an interview with Forbes, LaVar talked about LiAngelo signing with a G League team and how big of an accomplishment that was.

“It wasn’t a big deal because here’s the thing; all my boys are going to go pro. So Gelo went a different direction, that means he has to take a different route. But they all cut from the same cloth. If Gelo didn’t do what he did, he would have been a lottery pick too. It’s not like I’m going to have two boys living in my house saying, ‘Oh nah I’m not going to work out like that.'”

LiAngelo was nowhere nears a lottery-level talent and LaVar claiming so also discredits the hard work LiAngelo put into getting into the G League. To go from practice player to earning a contract is no small feat. Saying it’s not a big deal because he’s a lottery talent diminishes that.

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Georgia basketball: Anthony Edwards wins SEC Freshman of the Year

Georgia basketball star Anthony Edwards wins SEC Freshman of the Year.

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Georgia basketball superstar Anthony Edwards has won the SEC Freshman of the Year Award, the conference announced on Tuesday.

He becomes Georgia’s first player ever to win the award since its creation in 2001.

Edwards came to Georgia as a five-star out of Atlanta with the highest expectations since Dominique Wilkins. And though the team may have had a disappointing season, going 15-16, Edwards put on a show all season.

During his freshman year, Edwards averaged 19.5 points per game. He also averaged 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals a game. Edwards posted three 30-point games and had 13 games with 20 points or more.

Additionally, Edwards was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team and was named second team All-SEC.

Edwards is expected to No. 1 in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Georgia kicks off SEC Tournament play on Wednesday vs Ole Miss. If the Bulldogs want to make the NCAA Tournament, they’ll need to win five SEC games in five days. The conference tournament takes place in Nashville.,