The typical All-Star Saturday Night festivities will take place on Sunday, March 7th along with the All-Star Game. The Skills Competition and Three Point Competition will happen prior to the game and the Slam Dunk Contest will be at halftime, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Derrick Jones Jr., who represented the Heat in 2020 and is now with the Blazers, is the reigning Dunk Contest champion, after beating Aaron Gordon in the finals last year. It remains to be seen if either player returns to the Dunk Contest – but a few members of the 2020 rookie class have shown plenty of bounce and intrigue to put on a show come halftime on March 7th.
Every year, the winners of the draft are the teams who find the hidden gems that are able to exceed expectations of where they were picked.
Every year, the winners of the draft are the teams who find the hidden gems that are able to exceed expectations of where they were picked.
Due to the ongoing global pandemic, many prospects struggled to separate themselves the way they would have in a typical pre-draft process. Drafting is never an exact science but this year, specifically, it would not be a surprise if one of the players who has the best career was not selected in the lottery.
Below are the top three prospects who we feel were especially good value picks and could end up being considered draft-day steals when it’s all said and done.
After selecting Kira Lewis with the No. 13 pick in Wednesday’s NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans opted to trade their No. 24 pick to the Denver Nuggets and will receive a future pick in the deal,
After selecting Kira Lewis with the No. 13 pick in Wednesday’s NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans opted to trade their No. 24 pick to the Denver Nuggets and will receive a future pick in the deal, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. On behalf of the Nuggets, the Pelicans drafted RJ Hampton.
New Orleans netted the draft pick as part of the trade that sent Jrue Holiday to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday. The pick originally belonged to the Indiana Pacers before being sent to the Bucks as part of the Malcolm Brogdon sign-and-trade.
Interestingly, Hampton has a connection with LaMelo Ball, who went No. 3 to the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday. Both players made the landmark decision to skip college and go to the NBL, Ball landing with the Illawarra Hawks and Hampton with the New Zealand Breakers. While Ball flourished in the league and earned Rookie of the Year honors, Hampton struggled in a smaller role.
After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.
After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.
Originally scheduled for June, the ongoing pandemic pushed the big night back by five months. While this may cause some teams to overthink their decisions, it gave analysts plenty of time to study all of the top prospects eligible in this class.
This year, players had to participate in a mostly virtual pre-draft process. On the bright side, this meant that teams had the opportunity to interview more candidates than ever before.
However, the number of in-person visits were incredibly limited due to the restrictive parameters set by the league. Similarly, the NBA draft combine was conducted without the typical scrimmages where players can separate themselves from the others with impressive on-court performances.
Overall, the players that stood out in this pre-draft process had a different path to recognition than any other year. College basketball players did not have the opportunity to showcase themselves during March Madness. The nation’s top seniors did not get to participate in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.
As such, executives will rely mostly on the existing game footage as well as the intel they gathered during their conversations with the prospects. We also depended on similar strategies, getting access to one-on-one interviews with more than three dozen prospects and exchanging our thoughts with various scouts across the league.
This helped us put together our final big board, looking at the Top 100 players ranked on their potential to make a difference for teams in the NBA.
Relevant statistics were pulled from Synergy Sports Tech, Bart-Torvik, KenPom, Open Look Analytics and RealGM. Note that the age listed for each player references how old they will be on the night of the draft.
Top 2020 NBA draft prospect RJ Hampton shared his workout with the Celtics went well, confirming earlier reports of a planned meeting.
Earlier this month, the Celtics Wire reported on former New Zealand Breakers point guard R.J. Hampton was rumored to be one of the Boston Celtics 10 in-person workouts permitted to teams under the NBA’s pandemic restriction protocol.
And on Wednesday of this week during his pre-draft media availability session, the Texas floor general confirmed he’d met with the team.
A 6-foot-5 point guard who saw his stock slip a bit after his time in Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL), Hampton has since teamed up with legendary sharpshooter Mike Miller to work on his shot ahead of the November 18th draft.
Asked who he’d met with during his workout with Boston, and how the meeting went more generally, Hampton was open and positive about his meeting.
“I think Austin Ainge was there, Danny Ainge was there, and coach Brad Stevens,” he revealed. “I think the conversations went well. I worked out for them — I felt like the Celtics are a great team, a great organization.”
RJ Hampton has worked out for the Brooklyn Nets and spoken with general manager Sean Marks.
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RJ Hampton, perhaps more than any other potential 2020 NBA selection, has been linked to the Brooklyn Nets quite a bit throughout the build-up to this year’s draft.
On Wednesday, over a Zoom call with the media, Hampton confirmed has worked out for the Nets ahead of the draft — along with the Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards, Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets. Among those in attendance for Hampton’s workout was Nets general manager Sean Marks — who Hampton had spoken with on the phone previously, as well.
Now, Hampton’s analysis of himself leads one to think he feels he shouldn’t slip to the Nets at No. 19, but the guard made clear he has no problem with the idea of playing in Brooklyn and learning from some experienced basketball minds.
“The thing I like about that fit: I can play off those guys,” Hampton said. “Those guys are superstars in this league, Kevin Durant and Kyrie [Irving]. You have Caris LeVert, an up-and-coming star, with a Hall of Fame coach, Steve Nash.
“Those guys giving me the wisdom every single day, just coming in ready to work. I feel like that’s a very good team — a very great organization to play for. So, I think that fit would be good.”
One of the most compelling ways to quickly study any draft class is to look at the NBA comparisons for all of the prospects available.
One of the most compelling ways to quickly study any draft class is to look at the NBA comparisons for all of the prospects available.
Now that the 2020 NBA draft is less than two weeks ago, all of the folks looking for a crash course in learning more about the players that will be available for selection can use this as a guide for the potential outlook of each projected first-round draft pick.
This exercise is far from foolproof, of course, considering that outcomes for each prospect will depend heavily on the teams that draft them as well as the roles they are given and the development process that surrounds them.
But this does give a sense of the archetype that each top prospect fits in so casual fans can get a more succinct view of the next generation entering the league.
While our own opinion was also included, we also studied comparison models and surveyed other experts, including conversations with NBA scouts around the league, to give the best context available. The results included were the most common responses.
NOTE: All comparisons pulled from NBADraftcomp.herokuapp.com are based on statistics per 40 minutes.
After RJ Hampton spent a year overseas in New Zealand, it’s looking more and more likely that Brooklyn will be his next home.
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RJ Hampton’s speed and all-around athletic ability make him an appealing option for multiple teams in the 2020 NBA draft, especially those who fall just outside the lottery this year — which is around when the guard is expected to be picked.
But there are concerns with Hampton’s game. After all, before he went to play overseas, the guard was projected as a top-five pick in this year’s draft.
Shooting is the major concern with Hampton 0– the 19-year-old shot 41.7% from the floor over 17 games for the New Zealand Breakers.
More importantly, Hampton only shot 29.4% from deep in his first season of professional basketball. But, Hampton is doing something to fix that problem.
According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, Hampton has been working out with Penny Hardaway and Mike Miller in Memphis — who’ve “done wonders” on the prospects ballhandling and shot.
Additionally, Berman reports the Nets worked out Hampton “within the last two weeks.” Brooklyn as the No. 19 pick in this year’s draft, via the Philadelphia 76ers.
RJ Hampton has a lot of confidence in his ability to make the transition to the NBA and make an impact.
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Although RJ Hampton’s draft stock diminished after his season with the New Zealand Breakers in the Australian National Basketball League, the guard continues to exude confidence ahead of the 2020 NBA draft — in which, some expected he’ll be available for the Brooklyn Nets at No. 19.
Self-described as a prospect who can be a “franchise changer,” Hampton expressed his belief that there’s no one faster than him in the NBA right now while discussing his weaknesses and strengths on The Hoops Hype Podcast with USA TODAY SMG’s Michael Scotto:
“I think a lot of my weaknesses are just defensive schemes and learning where to be at all times on defense, locking in full-time on the defensive end. I feel like I’m athletic enough to be a great defender, so just locking in on that. I think a weakness was shooting, but I’ve been in the gym the past seven months with one of the best shooters all-time, so I’m getting that down pact. I think probably my biggest strengths are attacking downhill, making plays for other guys, getting to the basket. I think I’m the most athletic guard in the draft, but I think I’m the fastest person in maybe the NBA when I get there next year.”
Kansas Jayhawks guard Devon Dotson is considered the fastest end-to-end prospect in the 2020 NBA draft class. The numbers are showing why.
Kansas Jayhawks guard Devon Dotson is considered the fastest end-to-end prospect in the 2020 NBA draft class. The numbers are showing why.
Dotson, 21, also participated in the 2019 NBA draft combine when he was testing the waters last offseason. Since then, he has added 6.6 pounds while lowering his body fat percentage from 5.9 percent to 4.6 percent.
The following information, which was also sent to NBA teams, was obtained by USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s Bryan Kalbrosky.
ANTHROPOMETRY
There are some concerns about the consistency of measurements as it is unlikely that his hands have grown 0.5 inches wider or his wingspan has shrunk by 0.25 inches. But these are the official measurements that teams have received on Dotson in 2020.
Height (w/o shoes): 6’0.5″
Height (w/ shoes): 6’1.75″
Wingspan: 6’3″
Weight: 185.2 pounds
Body Fat: 4.6 percent
Hand Width: 10″
Hand Length: 8.25″
STRENGTH AND AGILITY:
Dotson improved his standing vertical (1.5″), max vertical (2.0″), lane agility (0.19s) and 3/4 sprint (0.2s) since last season. Dotson’s three-quarter sprint was the second-fastest time at the combine in the last decade, according to Draft Express.
Standing vertical: 31.5″
Max vertical: 40.5″
Lane agility: 10.44s
Shuttle (Left): 2.22s
Shuttle (Right): 2.39
3/4 sprint: 3.02s
NOTES ON SHUTTLE RUN
(via NBA.com/stats)
The shuttle time is particularly wild, though, considering the difference (0.58s) from last offseason. As noted by The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie, the “lack of singularly consistent entity” doing the measurements has produced some incredibly wonky results.
It is worth mentioning that Stanford’s Tyrell Terry (2.59s) and Grant Riller (2.45s) both would have also broken the record for the best score since the shuttle run was first recorded in 2013-14.
According to someone with knowledge of the situation who spoke to USA TODAY Sports Media Group on the condition of anonymity, RJ Hampton is also believed to have broken that record as well.
It is unlikely that the four fastest shuttle times in history all would have been from the same draft class, especially considering we have numbers from last year to compare for Dotson. It is also possible the shuttle run was measured in a different way this offseason.
Regardless, it is undeniable when watching his game film that Dotson has electrifying speed. NBA teams know that he is an incredibly speedy guard and that was confirmed long before the combine.
We ran the numbers for his measurements through the incredible database at NBAthlete.com, which helps compare and contextualize these numbers.
The two players with the highest similarities scores were Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard and Charlotte Hornets guard Devonte’ Graham.
Lillard, of course, is a five-time NBA All-Star who won the league’s Rookie of the Year in 2013. Graham, who plays for Dotson’s hometown team, was a finalist for NBA’s Most Improved Player of the Year in 2019-20.
