Tag: NBA Draft

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.,

Watch: Steph Curry threads no-look highlight reel pass with left hand

In his first game back from injury, Steph Curry drops highlight-reel dime with his surgically repaired left hand.

It has been 58 games since Stephen Curry suited up in his No. 30 Golden State Warriors uniform. Finally, Thursday night against the Toronto Raptors, that changed.

In Curry’s return to Golden State’s lineup for the first time in four months, all eyes were on his left hand. Since getting injured in late October against the Phoenix Suns, Curry’s hand has gone through two surgeries and a tedious rehab.

Outside of scrimmaging in practice, Curry’s hand has gone through a limited amount of full-contact situations. The two-time Most Valuable Player’s hand was bound to get tested against the Raptors.

The six-time All-Star didn’t waste any time using his surgically repaired hand. Curry whipped a behind the back no-look pass to Andrew Wiggins underneath the basket for an easy layup.

Via @Warriors:

Curry still has a long way to go as he works back from injury over the remaining 20 games on the schedule. Still, his highlight reel pass with his left hand is a positive sign for the future.

Georgia men’s basketball announces new season attendance record

For the second consecutive year, Georgia’s men’s basketball has surpassed Stegeman Coliseum’s annual attendance record.

For the second consecutive year, Georgia’s men’s basketball has surpassed Stegeman Coliseum’s annual attendance record.

Attendance spiked following Tom Crean’s 2018 appointment as the Bulldogs’ head coach. When Crean managed to secure the commitment of 2019’s top high school prospect Anthony Edwards, excitement built further for Georgia basketball fans.

So, an average season with an above-average NBA prospect ended on a sour note against rival Florida. Georgia fans have every right to feel dejected.

Win or lose, however, Georgia faithful kept buying tickets to hoot and holler for the Dawgs. The Steg was packed and, oh my, was it loud.

A sure sign of an impassioned fanbase, the majority of the home crowd stayed until each game’s final whistle all year.

Mind you, that’s not just because of the fans’ recognition of the inevitably horrific post-game traffic splitting from Carlton Street toward either Lumpkin Street or East Campus Road.

The 2019-2020 Bulldogs’ hopes aren’t dead. There’s still an entire conference tourney left to be played.

Crean’s squad, which entered the campaign with high hopes, needs to win next week’s SEC Tournament to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Unless conference tournament results prove otherwise, the Dawgs are considered a bubble team for the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).

In that case, a conference quarterfinal or semifinal would ostensibly improve Crean and company’s chances, but after such an up-and-down season, nothing can be guaranteed (always the case in the sports) or even predicted (always the case in Georgia sports).

Should the Bulldogs receive an NIT invite, they have the opportunity of hosting another game in Athens, potentially adding to the season’s attendance record.

Opinion: No, Georgia basketball did not waste its only season with Anthony Edwards

After Anthony Edwards committed to UGA in February of 2019, many Georgia fans quickly deemed him the Dawgs’ deliverer from mediocrity.

Anthony Edwards arrived in Athens, Georgia to much fanfare.

Depending on which recruiting service you asked, Edwards was either the first- or second-ranked high school basketball prospect of the 2019 recruiting cycle.

After the senior out of Atlanta’s Holy Spirit Prep announced his commitment to Tom Crean’s Bulldogs in February of 2019, many Georgia fans quickly deemed him the Dawgs’ deliverer from mediocrity.

Reminder: this was over three months before Edwards had even graduated high school and over eight months before he would play in his first collegiate competition.

What is almost certainly the Dawgs’ only regular season featuring Anthony Edwards ends with an even 15-15 record. Unless the 2020 Bulldogs can replicate the results of 2008’s unlikely winners in next week’s SEC tournament, Georgia may not qualify for any further postseason play.

Crean’s squad, which entered the campaign with high hopes, needs to win the conference tourney to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Unless tournament results prove otherwise, the Dawgs are considered a bubble team for the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).

A quarterfinal or semifinal appearance in the conference tourney would likely earn them a spot, anything less would likely leave them out. But Georgia basketball fans probably don’t want to think of any more what-ifs.

Though plagued with blown leads and those pesky what-ifs, the Bulldogs’ 2019-2020 campaign was highlighted by several miraculous finishes, wins over Georgia Tech and Auburn, and a slew of NBA-worthy clips from Edwards.

All of that sounds bad. And don’t get me wrong, it’s not great. But here’s the thing: Edwards is still projected as the top NBA draft pick by more than one draft analyst.

This isn’t a moral victory thing. Anyone who watched Georgia’s men’s basketball team all season saw the team fold and surrender late leads on multiple occasions.

To me, a recovering pessimist constantly checking my peripheral vision for any sort of bright side, such results don’t blind me from what I’ve learned to see truth of the matter:

If a star player like Anthony Edwards can come into Georgia’s historically average basketball program and maintain his projected draft position while packing Stegeman Coliseum to the brim, it shows young local talent that they can do the same and receive that fanfare and adoration similar to Edwards’.

That is, before they go get a fat paycheck in the NBA.

Though not assuredly, this could prove vital for a program currently struggling to tread water alongside a strong and balanced Southeastern Conference no longer run just by traditionally powerful Kentucky, Florida, and Tennessee (each of which can usually predict its two annual division games against Georgia as wins).

The Atlanta area is one of the highest-concentrated NBA breeding grounds in the United States. Georgia often lands local four-star recruits but very seldom secures commitments from upper echelon five-stars. The last was current Los Angeles Laker Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in 2011.

Examples: 2018’s Ashton Hagans and E.J. Montgomery enrolled at Kentucky. Wendell Carter enrolled at Duke in 2017. Kobi Simmons enrolled at Arizona in 2016.

So, yeah, in the short term, this isn’t ideal. Especially knowing that .500 winning percentage could’ve been a .533 or a possibly a .567, or heck, maybe even .600!

But since I’m speaking in hypotheticals, Georgia could very well have lost some of their eventual dramatic victories, namely against SMU, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas.

Given what Edwards’ success could mean for the future of Georgia men’s basketball recruiting in the future, I choose to see this year’s 15-15 record as a glass half full.

Even in the short term, the Bulldogs’ hopes aren’t dead. There’s still an entire conference tournament to be played.

Xavier Tillman, Cassius Winston listed as second round picks in latest RookieWire Big Board

Xavier Tillman and Cassius Winston are both projected as second-round picks according to RookieWire’s latest Big Board.

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Our sister site RookieWire recently put out a final NBA Draft Big Board to mark the final week of the NCAA Men’s Basketball regular season and they have two Spartans ranked in range to be drafted in the second round. Michigan State big man was listed at No. 47 while point guard Cassius Winston was up at No. 39.

Here is what they had to say about both players.

Cassius Winston:

“During his four seasons at Michigan State, Cassius Winston averaged 13.1 assists per 40 minutes. His career assist-rate (43.1%) ranks sixth-best among all NCAA players since 2009-10. While a bit undersized, he has been incredibly productive.”

Xavier Tillman:

“Michigan State junior Xavier Tillman is averaging 13.3 points and 10.2 rebounds with 2.1 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. He has been among the most prolific pick-and-roll finishers in the NCAA this season, per Synergy. His block percentage (7.0%) ranks Top-15 among all players as well.”

No Aaron Henry on the list, which went all the way up to 75 players. This was a little surprising to me, but good to at least see two Spartans listed.

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Anthony Edwards high on USA TODAY’s NBA Draft Big Board

Georgia basketball star Anthony Edwards is high on USA Today’s NBA Draft big board.

With the 2019-20 NCAA basketball regular season coming to an end, USA TODAY’s Rookie Wire put together its NBA Draft Big Board.

They listed 75 players and had Georgia freshman sensation Anthony Edwards as the No. 3 player on the board.

Edwards trails only LaMelo Ball and Onyeka Okongwu.

Edwards, a shooting guard who came to Georgia with massive expectations, had a solid season in Athens despite the team’s struggles.

Edwards’ numbers have been great, averaging nearly 20 points, five rebounds and three assists. Though Georgia’s season was a disappointment, Edwards gave Dawgnation something to watch and get excited over.

On Edwards, Rookie Wire said:

Under head coach Tom Crean, the University of Georgia freshman has been a revelation in transition offense. Edwards ranks Top-5 in total scoring on these plays, per Synergy, averaging 5.7 points per game. He looks his best when his shot attempts come closer to the rim, especially considering his 6-foot-9 wingspan. Farther from the basket, meanwhile, more than half of his 3-pointers have been unassisted. This shows he is capable of creating his own shot.

Most NBA mock drafts have Edwards going at No. 1 overall, thanks to his superstar potential. If that happens, Edwards would become Georgia’s first ever No. 1 NBA Draft pick.