21. Dallas Mavericks – Tyus Jones, PG, Duke If you watched any of Duke’s tournament games, you could see how big of an impact Jones had as a true freshman. Jones is a throwback PG that creates great scoring opportunities for his teammates, but he also has the ability to hit the big shot or convert when he’s open, sort of like Chris Paul. While Jones is not big, he has tons of heart and is a true leader. In a point guard-driven league, especially
11. Indiana Pacers – Kelly Oubre, SF, Kansas Like many Jayhawks prospects, Oubre should be even better in an NBA system where he’ll have more scoring opportunities. As a rookie, Oubre should be able to hit open jumpers, and if he develops his ball-handling skills to create his own scoring opportunities, he could be very good. He averaged 9.3 points and 5 rebounds in just 21 minutes per game for Kansas, and went 15-for-19 from the foul line in a late-season victory over
The conference finals should be fantastic. We can all agree on that. But what are fans in New York and Los Angeles looking forward to most? The Draft Lottery on Tuesday night as the lead-in to Game 1 of the Western Conference matchup between Golden State and Houston. First, let me get one thing out of the way: I do not believe the lottery is fixed. But I do believe the 1985 lottery may have been fixed in order to land the
The NBA Draft Combine is complete, and with it player movement up and down draft boards has begun. This year, live scrimmages were added to the Combine to give scouts and GMs more of a sample to use for evaluating these prospects. While the measurements, interviews, and testing still are the focal point for teams, the live scrimmages have given teams the chance to see how players respond to coaching and the type of competitive juices they have. One major takeaway from
The NBA draft lottery is next week, and hopefully there won’t be a scandal involving deflated ping-pong balls. For a franchise in the lottery, it is a chance to hit the jackpot and find a player who can help the team become a playoff contender immediately and a title contender down the road. According to several league executives, Texas center Myles Turner has the potential to be that type of player. “He’s probably a late lottery pick with big-time upside now,” one general
The NBA Combine begins next week and is the official kickoff of the NBA Draft season. With prospects from all over the world arriving in Chicago to be measured, interviewed, and run through drills and scrimmages, there should be more movement coming on teams’ draft boards. As has been the case in the past few years, some top prospects will skip the combine. Of my Top 10 listed below, five are skipping the combine. Here is the full list of attendees: Historically, the team
With the NBA Playoffs in full swing, it’s time to start looking ahead to the NBA Draft. As the NBA Combine approaches and the memories of the NCAA Tournament fade, 60 players with contrasting resumes built all over the world will hope to have their names called and join the NBA. Unlike a year ago when the draft was top-heavy, featuring elite prospects such as Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, and Joel Embiid, this year lacks the sizzling star power at the
Like most fans, I found this season’s Final Four to be really good. I guess college basketball isn’t being ruined by “one-and-done” after all. While we saw a one-and-done factory (Duke) win it all, we also had a sighting of a dodo bird. That creature thought to be extinct, known as a senior star. Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan prides himself on building from within and having well-coached teams. He develops players and teams over time by having rosters dominated by kids from