An interesting development took place on Friday when D’Angelo Russell reportedly canceled his workout with the Philadelphia 76ers, who hold the third pick in the draft. That could mean that the Lakers have promised him that he won’t slip past the second overall pick. New rumors have circled that Jahlil Okafor’s agent, Bill Duffy, is concerned that the Lakers could pass on the Duke big in favor of Russell, leaving Okafor to fall into the laps of the 76ers. Despite selecting
With the NBA Finals approaching, every franchise except Cleveland and Golden State is wholly focused on the NBA Draft. The Minnesota Timberwolves, holding the top pick and with a nucleus of Andrew Wiggins, Ricky Rubio and Shabazz Muhammad, should be one of the brightest young teams in the NBA next season and for years to come.For larger market teams such as the Lakers, 76ers and Knicks, they hope to turn around their clubs quickly by finding a promising young prospect. There are some good
The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are preparing for the start of the NBA Finals, but 28 other teams already are evaluating their ever-changing draft boards. Sheridan Hoops has done three mock drafts thus far and probably will do at least three more. Why? Because players can help or hurt themselves with their performances at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago and in team workouts. Four players who have improved their stock considerably are Richaun Holmes, Rakeem Christmas, Jordan Mickey and
Throughout March Madness, fans and NBA personnel have been gushing over the top NCAA prospects and how they project in the upcoming draft. Now that college basketball is long behind us and the Euroleague season over with Real Madrid the new champion, European basketball has thrust itself into domestic playoff mode, with NBA executives getting a chance to see some of the top overseas prospects compete at the highest level outside the NBA. While most teams’ draft boards in April and May are
Based on conversations I had with multiple people around the league at last week’s combine in Chicago, this draft sounds like it will be known as the Karl-Anthony Towns draft– and the Minnesota Timberwolves are going to get him. Barring an injury issue similar to what Joel Embiid had last year, Towns is all but certain to be the first player to shake hands with Adam Silver on draft night and become the third straight No. 1 pick to wear a Minnesota
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 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
The Bulls are continuing to win playoff games, yet the behind-the-scenes drama involving the front office and head coach Tom Thibodeau continues to escalate. In an Adrian Wojnarowski column filed after Chicago’s Game 1 win in Cleveland, the Yahoo! reporter says management still “can’t wait to rid itself” of Thibodeau. Furthermore, Wojnarowski cited some fairly disturbing examples of the lengths to which the relationship between the coaching staff and front office has been broken. In one such case, an assistant coach actually feared his