NBA News and Rumor Roundup 6/5/2024
Draft rumors, free agency news, and the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Aaaaand we’re back!
Not only are we back, but we are here! The NBA Finals will officially be underway tomorrow night, bringing this season to its epic finale.
This past week’s gap in basketball means we don’t have any in-game news to talk about, but there’s been quite the swath of draft rumors, free agency murmurings, and news about the rosters for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying tourneys. Plus, some good ol’ coaching/executive rumors for some of the league’s most in-flux squads round out this week’s roundup. It’s a little bit of a shorter roundup than normal due to the lack of actual basketball going on, but it’s jam-packed nonetheless — let’s get right into it.
Draft Takes (and Rumors) Are Flying
It’s that time of year. Usually, as the draft comes ever closer, we start to see the trickling out of multiple draft takes/rumors. These often fall under three categories:
Draft trade rumors
Overreactionary prospect comparisons
Reported workouts/interviews (and how they went)
And guess what? We’ve had all three over the past week! Let’s take a look at each category…
Draft Trade Rumors
One of the more curious and volatile cases at the top of the draft can be found in Houston. Despite a top-3 selection, H-Town looks firmly in win-now mode due to both its current core and improved performance this past season. According to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, the Rockets continue to field offers for the #3 overall pick and will do so up until draft night. Scotto mentions that the pick could be used within a collection of the Rockets’ five potential first-rounders in order to grab a star, but nothing is set in stone yet. It’s possible that Houston looks to simply trade back in the draft (could a team like the Raptors look to trade up?), but the star-chasing narrative appears to be a real one in Space City.
In Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo’s latest mock draft, one of the more interesting notes is that the Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Chicago Bulls may all look to trade up in the draft in order to snatch UConn center Donovan Clingan. Based on his skyrocketing value, it’s likely that it would have to be a team in the top 5, which presents some interesting options. Houston would obviously be a candidate for a trade, but could a team like the Spurs swap out its 4th overall pick for a pair of lottery picks from Portland? It’s not out of the question, but with this year’s draft picks not presenting as much trade value as previous years, I wouldn’t hold your breath.
Lastly, according to one report via The Philadelphia Inquirer, the 76ers may look to package its 16th overall selection as well as future picks to acquire a key player who could slot alongside Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid. No names have been thrown out yet, but don’t be surprised to see some decently high-end players linked to Philly over the next few weeks.
Overreactionary Prospect Comparisons
Now, before we get into this, player comparisons are a good way to gauge prospects’ game style in theory but often translate to poor assumptions. For example, if I were to briefly compare a prospect to Nikola Jokic, your first thought would be, “Wow, this guy is good!” In reality, I’m just trying to say that this big, slow dude can pass well — see the difference? With that in mind, I don’t blame the following writer for his comparisons, but they seem funny/outrageous anyway.
ESPN’s Jeremy Woo recently wrote a player comparison list for the draft’s projected top 14 selections, with high-end and low-end comparisons in an attempt to cover his bases. Most of them are pretty standard and not too outlandish. Here are some good examples:
Rob Dillingham
High-End: Darius Garland
Low-End: Bones Hyland
Donovan Clingan
High-End: Rudy Gobert or late-career Brook Lopez
Low-End: Walker Kessler
Stephon Castle
High-End: Andre Iguodala (Golden State version)
Low-End: Justice Winslow
While I do think Stephon Castle’s comparison is underselling him a bit, these are somewhat reasonable on multiple levels. Then there’s this:
Reed Sheppard
High-End: Steve Nash
Low-End: Payton Pritchard
The Payton Pritchard low-end comp is about right — but Steve Nash? Do you mean the Steve Nash who was an 8-time NBA All-Star and 7-time All-NBA selection? The 2-time MVP Steve Nash? That Steve Nash?
Look, I understand the game style comparison and I understand these aren’t really that clear-cut. I’m not saying Reed Sheppard won’t get to that level definitively, as nobody can predict it. But, I’m also not not saying that, if you know what I mean.
For what it’s worth, I agree with pretty much every other comparison on Woo’s list, though he doesn’t need my support. I do think this Cody Williams comparison is way underselling him on the high-end, though:
Cody Williams
High-End: Otto Porter Jr.
Low-End: Troy Brown Jr.
Regardless, it’s fun to look at player comparisons this time of year — sometimes you’ll get a random playmaking white guy compared to another playmaking white guy who just so happens to be a Hall of Famer. Joy.
Reported Workouts/Interviews (And How They Went)
This is where the real risers and fallers of the draft start to manifest. If a player does well in their workout and/or interview, they could go from a fringe second-rounder to a top-25 selection just like that — and the opposite is true too.
Right now, the workout/interview process is just getting started, but we do have reports of which players and teams are involved. Here are some highlights for the sake of brevity:
The Raptors are reportedly working out Purdue big man Zach Edey. Due to his increased mobility and sheer dominance at the college level, he looks like a true top-20 selection now.
The Los Angeles Lakers are going to work out possible second-rounder Armando Bacot. Bacot was a super senior at UNC and could be worth a shot in the second round or as an undrafted free agent.
The Golden State Warriors have reportedly already worked out Duke’s Jared McCain, Weber State’s Dillon Jones, Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves, Illinois’ Coleman Hawkins, and Iowa’s Payton Sandford, among others. Working out projected first-rounders like Jared McCain is intriguing, as Golden State doesn’t have a first-rounder to work with unless they trade for one.
The Indiana Pacers just worked out Houston standout Jamal Shead. Shead will likely be a second-rounder and excels on defense and as a playmaker, though his 6-foot frame will give a lot of scouts pause about his ceiling.
FIBA Olympic Qualifying Rosters Trickle Out
Unless you did well at the most recent FIBA World Cups, it’s likely you have to go through the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament(s). The teams that have already qualified for the Olympics are as follows:
Australia
Canada
France
Germany
Japan
Serbia
South Sudan
United States
There are still four spots left, which means each team has to bring out whatever big guns they have to sneak in this July. Some of the countries’ rosters have been announced already, so here are some highlights:
Giannis Antetokoumpo will be joining Greece to make a run at the Olympics after missing last summer’s World Cup due to knee surgery. While Greece has good players, getting to the Olympics would seem like a major success in and of itself.
Danilo Gallinari is included on Italy’s roster alongside former NBA guys like Nicolo Melli and Nico Mannion in an effort to claw their way to the Olympics. While not a star-studded team, it’s relatively well-balanced.
Lithuania looks like they could have a really solid roster. Domantas Sabonis will be joining forces with Jonas Valanciunas to create arguably the best international duo in the qualifying rounds and will be flanked by current Detroit Piston Deividas Sirvydis, among others.
Latvia will bring in Kristaps Porzingis, Davis Bertans, Rodions Kurucs, and more for what looks like a potential qualifying powerhouse of a team. As long as Porzingis is healthy by July, this could be one of the teams to beat in the qualies.
The Olympic qualifying tournaments will take place between July 2nd and July 7th, before the Olympics start in full on July 27th.
Other News, Rumors, and Fun Facts
Lots of free agency rumors recently — here’s a little collection:
Royce O’Neal will re-sign with the Phoenix Suns, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN. O’Neal arrived in Phoenix at the trade deadline via Brooklyn and still looks productive at 30 years of age.
According to multiple reports, Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein could command over $100 million on the open market as an unrestricted free agent. Due to the way the salary cap rules work and the Knicks not owning his Full Bird rights, they can only give Hartestein 175% of his previous contract, which would only be $72.5 million over four years. Unless he gives New York a discount, don’t be surprised to see him go elsewhere.
Nic Claxton — one of the premier young centers on the market — looks increasingly likely to get the Brinks truck backed up for him to stay in Brooklyn. The Nets say he’s their #1 priority and he could get between $80-100 million in free agency.
In a pre-Finals move, the Dallas Mavericks have signed GM Nico Harrison to a contract extension. The terms aren’t disclosed, but Harrison likely sealed the deal via the PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford trades from this year’s trade deadline, both of which have proved to be extremely impactful.
According to one report, the Pelicans are looking to “aggressively pursue upgrades” during the offseason in an effort to retool their way to contention. While details are sparse, this could involve trading one of either Brandon Ingram or Zion Williamson — the former seems more likely — for an established star, potentially a point guard.
After being fired by the Lakers, Darvin Ham was reportedly offered a job on newly-minted Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer’s staff — and he declined. Ham may believe there will be better opportunities or he could simply look to take a break after a tumultuous season with LA. Regardless, no Ham for Phoenix.
Piggy backing off of Ham’s departure, it appears that the Lakers are “zeroing in” on former NBA sharpshooter (and current ESPN commentator) JJ Redick as their next head coach. This is where I enter the following GIF:
In a piece of pretty unsurprising news, the Detroit Pistons parted ways with GM Troy Weaver a few days ago after one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history. He will be replaced by the new President of Basketball Operations, Trajan Langdon, who was the GM of the Pelicans from 2019-2024.
Dwight Howard has become the embodiment of the “Get ready to learn Chinese, buddy,” meme by becoming part-owner of the Taiwan Mustangs. In fact, it might be time to, “Get ready to learn Taiwanese, buddy,” instead.
On this day in NBA history in 1977, it feels fitting to mention the efforts of the late Bill Walton. The phenomenon known as Blazermania reached a peak as Walton blocked eight shots, a then-record for an NBA Finals game (since tied by three players), and Portland beat Philadelphia 109-107 in Game 6 to win its only NBA championship.
My Favorite Reads This Week
Honestly, I’d forgotten about Kevin McCullar Jr. as a quality 2024 draft prospect, which is exactly what
advises us against in one of his latest pieces. Check out his breakdown of McCullar circa June 2024 and what it means for his draft stock here.- put out a ridiculously detailed and high-quality scouting report for Cam Christie, who is both a talented draft prospect this year and the brother of Lakers’ player Max Christie. Go check that out here.
- just wrote a great piece on the sheer volume of the Mavericks’ alley-oops, which I suppose is what happens when you have Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in your backcourt. Go read his piece right here.
- always puts out fun, research-backed pieces about sports, and his most recent one is no less interesting. Andrew covers the way sports is changing, both on a league level and economically. Here’s that piece.
- just showed off a fancy set of metrics explaining Boston’s Finals run, along with how it would match up historically to other teams who have won a lot of games but not won a title in this current era. Go check it out.
That’s it for this week’s roundup, but there’s lots of content on the way! With the Finals about to start in full, expect a lot of in-game analysis and whatnot with a bit of draft news sprinkled in.
Till next time!