Tag: NBA Draft

LeBron James and Bronny are finally playing together, but we have important questions about how it’ll work

“Pass the ball, 23!!!” — Bronny James, probably

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Goooood morning, folks! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Happy Friday! Can you believe July 4th is next week? What in the world? It was just March. Thanks so much for reading the newsletter today.

From the very beginning, it has always been an inevitability that Bronny James would join his dad, LeBron James, with the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron has always made it clear this was his intention, even if some strings needed to be pulled to get it done.

Regardless, it’s done now. And LeBron certainly seems happy that it’s finally happened. But, of course, there’s been a backlash to it because there’s a backlash to almost everything LeBron does these days.

Some fans were here for it. Others? They complained about nepotism and LeBron manipulating the Lakers to make this happen. That’s probably what you’re expecting this column today to be about. The whole Adrian Wojnarowski weird nepotism rant of it all, right?

Well, sure. I do have thoughts on that and the state of the Lakers organization as a whole. And maybe one day soon I’ll share those thoughts with you.

But the questions I have today are a bit more, uh, let’s call them granular.

I want to know how this whole arrangement between Bronny and Bron is going to work. Like, what does this look like? In fact, I have five specific questions I need answers to.

  1. What on Earth does Bronny call LeBron now? I’ve never worked with my dad, but I can’t imagine that if I did work with him, I’d call him “dad” at work. That’s weird. He can’t call him that, right? But … are they on a first-name basis as parent and child? Does Bronny just call him two three?  I don’t know, man. Again: This is weird.
  2. What happens on the road? I’m not saying LeBron is out here acting a fool on the road, but I’m not not saying that either. Bronny is also 19 years old on an NBA team. He’s for sure going to act a fool on the road. Do they avoid each other like the plague then? Who tells Savannah somebody was acting out first?
  3. What happens when one of them messes up? What if Bronny mistimes a cut or bricks a wide-open 3-pointer off a pass from his dad? Savannah is definitely going to hear about that one.
  4. Do they room together? There’s no way they room together. They can’t room together, right?!? There’s no way. Bronny, I hate this for you, brother.
  5. Which teammate does LeBron make passive-aggressive tweets about to get Bronny more playing time? This is happening. It’s definitely happening. My vote is on D’Lo.

This season is going to be so weird for you, Lakers fans. Good luck.

Welp. USMNT is still USMNT

Folks got their hopes up for the U.S. Men’s National soccer team after it played Brazil to a tough draw a few weeks ago. They thought this team might actually be serious for once.

As it turns out, it is still a completely unserious team that we should never have taken seriously in the first place.

The USMNT lost to Panama on Thursday, 2-1, after a late goal in the 88th minute basically ended the match. Now, the USMNT’s path to the quarterfinals of the Copa América is in deep question.

It wasn’t that 88th-minute goal that lost the U.S. the match — it was this silly red card from Tim Weah. He clocks a guy in the back of the head and gets ejected. USMNT essentially played the entire match down a man.

Weah will also be suspended for the next match against Uruguay, which USMNT will probably need to win to advance to the quarterfinals.

What a shame, man. What a shame.

Is … is Novak Djokovic actually going to play at Wimbledon?!?!?

(Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)

Novak Djokovic tore his meniscus just a few weeks ago at the French Open. He had surgery on his knee to repair it on June 6. It felt pretty safe to assume he might be down for a minute.

I mean, at 37 years old, recovering from a torn meniscus can’t be the easiest thing in the world, right? I thought we might actually be seeing Djokovic hit the beginning of the end here.

Yet, here we are, just three weeks later, and Djokovic is not only practicing against world No. 1 Janik Sinner but is also giving the thumbs-up to be included in the Wimbledon draw.

He’s playing, folks. Novak Djokovic has somehow made it to Wimbledon.

Depending on the draw, he’ll likely have a match on Monday or Tuesday. As the No. 2 ranked ATP player in the world, Djokovic can’t see Sinner until the final. But he could still match up against reigning champ Carlos Alcaraz a bit sooner, who is currently ranked No. 3.

That doesn’t even really matter, though. Djokovic feeling well enough to play in this tournament is quite the achievement alone.

Hopefully, he holds up.

Photo Friday: Lord Stanley in all its glory

Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

I just love pictures with the Stanley Cup. Here’s Aleksander Barkov celebrating with it as fireworks explode in the background. What a pic.

Quick hits: Jewell Loyd is TOUGH … NBA Draft grades … and more

— Jewell Loyd dropped 34 points on the Fever with one eye closed. Yes, that happened. Meg Hall has more.

— Charles Curtis has draft grades for every team in the NBA 

— Caitlin Clark made a little WNBA history through 19 games. Here’s Charles again with more.

— Meet Macklin Celebrini, the No. 1 prospect in the NHL Draft. Cory has more here.

— Here are 8 NHL vets with sons currently in the draft. Wow, we’re old. Blake Schuster has more.

— Prince Grimes asks if Bronny James will play for the South Bay Lakers. He probably should.

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading. Have a fantastic weekend. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

Will USC forward DJ Rodman get signed after NBA draft snub?

DJ Rodman waits for his NBA opportunity. Will a team give him a two-way or Exhibit 10 contract?

Will USC’s DJ Rodman, the son of NBA legend Dennis Rodman, get signed as an undrafted free agent? Rodman played four seasons at Washington State before transferring to USC last season. Rodman averaged 8.4 points and 5 rebounds per contest with the Trojans. He was not picked in the 2024 NBA draft and is trying to get a contract with a team which will give him an opportunity to stick on an NBA roster.

He started only 12 games his first three years, averaging 3.9 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 32.7 percent from deep. In his final two years Rodman started 58 of 63 games and averaged 29.5 minutes, 9 points, 5.4 rebounds, and made 37.2 percent of his threes. He mostly played as an undersized four because of his toughness and improvements as a rebounder.

Rodman on his dad Dennis: “It’s cool just looking back at those memories when I was little and watching those clips and having that be something that I studied almost every single day. Almost every single day they’d play one of those games. Rebounding, that’s where I got it from – from those videos, from those games.”

DJ had workouts with the Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks before the draft.

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Report: Warriors agree to two-way NBA deal with Virginia’s Reece Beekman

The two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year averaged 14.3 points on 44.3% shooting from the field last season at Virginia.

After drafting Boston Colleges’s Quinten Post in the second round on Thursday with their only pick in the 2024 edition of the NBA, the Golden State Warriors quickly got down to business with undrafted free agents.

Following the draft, the Warriors reportedly added a player to a two-way contract. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Virginia guard Reexe Beekman agreed to a two-way NBA contract with Golden State.

Via @ShamsCharania on Twitter:

Beekman played four seasons under Tony Bennett at Virginia, earning All-ACC honors twice and ACC All-Defensive team honors three times. On a team known for their defense that included Phoenix Suns first-rounder Ryan Dunn, Beekman was selected as the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and 2024.

The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 14.3 points on 44.3% shooting from the field and 31% from deep to go along with 6.2 assists, 3.6 rebounds and two steals in 32.8 minutes per game for Virginia last season.

This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

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Sacramento Kings sign former USC guard Boogie Ellis after NBA draft

Boogie Ellis gets his big NBA chance with the Kings after going undrafted.

USC guard Boogie Ellis went untaken in the 2024 NBA draft, but was signed by the Sacramento Kings after the draft ended.

“Only if y’all knew how much I been through these last 5 years I just want to thank GOD for putting me in this position been through every emotion but it made me and built me for any situation that comes nothings been given to me earned every opportunity ready for this next chapter it’s all apart of the story let’s work!”, Ellis posted Thursday on Instagram.

Ellis played high school basketball at Mission Bay High School in San Diego, where he was a four-star prospect ranked as the No. 38 overall recruit and No. 7 in the 2019 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.

Originally a Memphis commit, Ellis spent two seasons at Memphis. He averaged 9.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists a game. As a sophomore, he was named AAC Sixth Man of the Year and helped lead the Tigers to an NIT championship.

Ellis transferred to USC following that season. As a Trojan, he averaged 15.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists in three seasons with the program.

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Jaylin Williams signs undrafted free agent contract with Denver Nuggets

Williams is ready to take the next step of his basketball career by earning an invite to Nuggets’ camp.

Auburn basketball can now add another member to its growing list of NBA talent.

[autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag], who played forward for the Tigers for five seasons, has signed an undrafted free-agent contract with the Denver Nuggets following the conclusion of the 2024 NBA draft.

According to Justin Hokanson of Auburn Live, Williams’ contract with Denver is an “exhibit 10” contract. Williams will have the chance to compete in the Nuggets’ training camp with the possibility of earning a two-way contract with the team. The contract serves a minimum of one season, with most of the contract not being guaranteed.

Williams is the first former Tiger to earn a chance to play at the professional level since [autotag]Jabari Smith[/autotag] and [autotag]Walker Kessler[/autotag], who were both drafted in the first round of the 2022 NBA draft.

He leaves Auburn as the program’s winningest player with 114 career wins since 2019. In five seasons, Williams averaged 9.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on  X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

Pac-12 players who are better than Bronny James did not get picked in NBA draft

Teams who were prevented from picking Bronny James could have picked better Pac-12 players, but didn’t.

The second round of the 2024 NBA draft took place on Thursday afternoon. Bronny James landed with the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 55 overall. This was predictable, but the process leading to the pick contained a measure of controversy. Meanwhile, however, other Pac-12 basketball stars who could have been picked were not selected.

On the matter of Bronny James, start with this point: According to ESPN’s Bob Myers, James’ agent Rich Paul (Klutch Sports) is told teams not to draft Bronny James, and that if they did pick him, he would have gone to Australia rather than sign.

“Right now, Rich Paul is calling teams, don’t take Bronny James. He’s telling them to not take him. Saying don’t take him, if you take him, he’s going to Australia. So he has a plan and he has a place,” Myers reported on ESPN

Bronny only worked out for two teams during the pre-draft process, the Lakers and Phoenix Suns. A lot of people didn’t like this series of events, as though Bronny didn’t deserve to be taken at No. 55. However, other teams made questionable draft selections. There were good Pac-12 players on the board — players better than Bronny — but NBA teams passed them up. Isaac Jones of Washington State is one such player. Keshad Johnson of Arizona is another such player. Don’t blame Rich Paul or Bronny for engineering the draft. Other teams had plenty of choices and might not have done the best job they could.

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CBS Sports grades Lakers’ Bronny James pick in NBA draft

Media outlets are handing out grades for the Lakers’ Bronny pick.

The Los Angeles Lakers have selected Bronny James, the eldest son of superstar LeBron James, with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA draft. The Lakers made the pick on Thursday. A CBS Sports panel offered a grade for the Lakers’ highly-scrutinized draft pick.

Bronny James is now poised to play alongside his father, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, where they could become the first father-son duo to play in the league at the same time.

Bronny James reacted to being drafted by the Lakers with a post on his Instagram story, saying, “Beyond blessed.”

LeBron has said numerous times that he wants to end his career playing alongside his son, and agent Rich Paul did everything he could to deter any other team from taking him.

Bronny is far from a finished product, but the skills he does have currently translate to the NBA. The CBS Sports HQ crew give its grade for the Lakers selecting Bronny James in the 2024 NBA draft.

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Dalton Knecht NBA draft tumble explains why USC’s Boogie Ellis didn’t get picked

Dalton Knecht’s draft slide was bad news for Boogie Ellis.

Boogie Ellis knew he would not be picked in the first round of the 2024 NBA draft on Wednesday. He was hoping he would be drafted on Thursday in the second round. However, if he was watching Wednesday’s first round, he had to have been unhappy that Dalton Knecht fell on the draft board to No. 17. Knecht was a projected top-10 pick for a lot of NBA draft experts, but he dropped nearly 10 slots from where he was expected to be picked. We should have known, right then, that Boogie Ellis’s chances of getting drafted were slim to none.

Why is this the case? Why can we say this with some degree of confidence? The reports on why Dalton Knecht dropped on the draft board were that he was 23 years old. He wasn’t a 19- or 20-year-old player. Therefore, NBA teams were afraid of getting an older player with a shorter shelf life. NBA teams fell in love with 19- and 20-year-old players whose bodies are in an earlier developmental stage and whose careers can extend even longer.

Yes, for anyone who is thinking what we’re thinking, we agree with you: It is absurd to be afraid to draft a 23-year-old athlete. Maybe the chances of that athlete having a 15-year career are worse than the odds of a 20-year-old playing 15 years in the pros. However, should that be the standard for drafting players? The 23-year-old player is much more ready to play on Day 1 and in his rookie season. If that 23-year-old provides seven solid pro seasons and the 20-year-old becomes a draft bust, which player — and pick — became more valuable? We agree with the idea that Dalton Knecht was worth a top-10 pick and that he had no business falling to 17. However, NBA teams and front offices didn’t see it that way.

Right or wrong, fair or foul, Boogie Ellis had to have known that if 23-year-old Dalton Knecht — a shooter-scorer — fell several spots on the draft board becuase of his age, the 23-year-old Ellis was going to encounter the same fate. He was not going to have a place on the draft board. This explains why Ellis did not get drafted.

It’s not fair, but no one ever said life — or the NBA draft — was fair.

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Rockets signing Oregon center N’Faly Dante to two-way contract

Undrafted Oregon center N’Faly Dante will join the Rockets for summer league and perhaps beyond on a two-way contract, according to media reports.

Undrafted center N’Faly Dante will join the Houston Rockets prior to summer league on a two-way contract, according to media reports after Thursday’s second round of the 2024 NBA draft.

Now 22 years old, Dante is a massive presence at 6-foot-11 and 260 pounds. In 31.5 minutes per game at Oregon, he averaged 17.0 points (69.5% FG), 9.2 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, and 1.7 steals.

“He made [most] of his shots, rarely shooting from the perimeter, but finishing aggressively around the rim in pick-and-roll or off offensive rebounds,” Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes.

Dante joins Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard, the No. 3 overall pick from Wednesday’s first round, as the initial two summer-league participants for the Rockets. Houston traded out of its second-round pick, flipping it to the Atlanta Hawks in a deal for AJ Griffin.

Summer-league play will open for Dante, Sheppard, and the rest of the Rockets on Friday, July 12 versus the Los Angeles Lakers. Tipoff from Las Vegas will be at 6:30 p.m. Central on ESPN.

Houston’s complete summer-league roster and schedule will be released in the coming days, with a mini-camp set for early July.

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Watch highlights from Warriors 2024 draft pick Quinten Post

The 7-foot stretch five earned second-team All-ACC honors with 17 points per game on 51..4% from the field and 43.1% from beyond the arc.

After initially trading out of the second round, the Golden State Warriors reportedly found a way to re-acquire the No. 52 overall selection on Thursday afternoon.

Hitting the clock for the first time in the 2024 edition of the draft, Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the Warriors front office selected Boston College center Quinten Post with the No. 52 overall pick.

Via @BCMBB on Twitter:

Coming from Amsterdam, Netherlands, Post the first two seasons of his college career with the Mississippi State Bulldogs before transferring to the ACC with Boston College. In his final two seasons with the Eagles, the seven-footer posted double-figure scoring numbers.

In the final year of his college campaign, Post earned All-ACC Second Team and ACC All-Defensive Team honors. Post recorded 17 points on 51.4% from the field and 43.1% from deep to go along with 8.1 boards and 2.9 assists in 31.9 minutes per game.

The seven-foot big man can shoot the long ball, hitting three of more triples in nine different games for the Eagles. Post knocked down five three-pointers in a career-high 31-point performance in the opening game of last season against Fairfield.

Watch all the highlights from the newest member of the Warriors via YouTube:

Via @BCMBB on Twitter:

Via @DraftExpress on Twitter:

This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

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