Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Instead of playing college hoops, HS senior Daishen Nix signs with G League

High school senior Daishen Nix has signed to play in the NBA G League next season, it was announced today by NBA G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Nix is ranked by ESPN as the top player in Nevada and No. 20 in the nation in the Class of 2020.

Nix comes to the NBA G League from Trinity International School in Las Vegas, Nev., where he was named a 2020 McDonald’s All-American. He joins fellow consensus five-star recruits Jalen Green and Isaiah Todd in signing to play in the NBA G League for the 2020-21 season.

Per ESPN.com, “Nix is the third player to join the G League from the 2020 class, following No. 1 prospect Jalen Green and five-star forward Isaiah Todd, both of whom made the decision earlier this month. Nix is the first player to renege on a signed letter of intent to join the G League.”

And per the Los Angeles Times, regarding the G League, “the league offers high school graduates the opportunity to essentially have a year-long paid apprenticeship in a professional environment, complete with access to facilities, coaches, trainers and player development experts. One of the sites being considered as home base for the select team is the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks.”

In the G League, Nix will have the opportunity to accelerate his on-court development as he learns NBA-style basketball while also focusing heavily on life skills development for his professional career.

Details of the new team Nix, Green and Todd will play for, which will be unaffiliated with any existing NBA G League franchise or NBA team, are forthcoming.

Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon now fully healed

There’s no pro basketball about to be played anytime soon, but here’s some good news on the Pacers front from the Indianapolis Star:

Malcolm Brogdon is ready to go if the NBA season resumes. Saturday, the Indiana Pacers posted a video from their starting point guard on their social media accounts that he’s fully healed from a hip/thigh injury that kept him out the last three games before the hiatus because of COVID-19.

“I’m doing great. I’ve been doing as much as I can under this quarantine but I’m 100%,” Brogdon said in the video. “I’ve been on my Peleton bike and I’ve been running hills in my backyard.”

The Pacers were 39-26 when league play was put on hold in mid March.

Paul Eboua reportedly entering the 2020 NBA draft

Here’s ESPN.com reporting on an international draft prospect who feels he’s ready to make the leap:

Cameroonian power forward Paul Eboua has submitted paperwork to the league office to make himself eligible for the 2020 NBA draft, he told ESPN on Saturday…

Eboua, the No. 53 prospect in the ESPN Top 100, had a productive season in the Italian first division with Pesaro, averaging 7.4 points and 5.3 rebounds in 22 minutes per game…

Standing 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-3 wingspan, Eboua has ideal physical tools for a power forward prospect.

Eboua’s stats are pretty modest for a player looking to enter the NBA. But stats never tell the whole story, and that’s especially true of overseas prospects.

The 2020 draft is scheduled for June 25, but due to the global coronavirus pandemic, any and all scheduled dates for just about anything, in and out of sports, are subject to change.

Makur Maker reportedly entering the 2020 NBA draft

Lately, with pro sports on hold, most NBA news has focused on learning which players will be putting their names into the 2020 draft. Here’s ESPN.com with a Saturday report:

Makur Maker — a 6-foot-11 Kenyan-born Australian living in the United States — is entering the 2020 NBA draft, sources told ESPN on Saturday…

Maker, the No. 75 prospect in the ESPN Top 100, has taken a circuitous route to the NBA draft. He was born in Kenya to South Sudanese parents, emigrated to Perth, Australia, in 2001 and moved to California in 2015. He joined his cousins (Detroit Pistons forward) Thon and Matur Maker in Ontario, and was home-schooled from 2016 to 2018 while attending showcases in the United States.

A lawsuit has reportedly been filed against SeatGeek

Here’s the New York Post reporting on a sports-related ticketing service lawsuit:

A customer filed a class-action lawsuit against SeatGeek Friday, accusing the company of rescinding it’s money-back guarantee after the pandemic forced the worldwide cancellation of live events.

William Trader alleges that the company — which sells tickets to concerts, the theater and sports — modified its ‘buyer guarantee’ that had promised customers a full cash refund if an event is canceled and not rescheduled. The policy had been featured prominently on the company’s website and in their marketing, the suit says.

Aleksej Pokusevski to enter the 2020 NBA draft

With league play on hold, the main news in basketball these days revolves around the draft, scheduled for late June. Here’s ESPN.com reporting on an overseas talent:

Serbian forward Aleksej Pokusevski has submitted paperwork to the league office to make himself eligible for the 2020 NBA draft, his agent Alexander Raskovic told ESPN.

Pokusevski, the No. 27 prospect in the ESPN Top 100, had a productive season in the Greek second division with Olympiacos, averaging 10.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 blocks in 23 minutes per game. He led the U18 European Championship in blocks this summer with 4 per game, while finishing in the top 10 in rebounds, steals and assists.

Memphis forward Precious Achiuwa to enter 2020 NBA draft

Here’s ESPN.com reporting on a top prospect for the next NBA draft:

Memphis freshman forward Precious Achiuwa is entering the 2020 NBA draft, he told ESPN on Friday…

Achiuwa, the No. 12 prospect in the ESPN Top 100, emerged as one of the most productive freshmen in college basketball, winning American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors.

He averaged 15.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.1 steals for the Tigers, establishing himself as one of the most versatile defenders in the country.

Achiuwa is listed at 6-foot-9, 225 lbs, and was born in Queens, New York.

The draft is scheduled for its usual time — late June — though the NBA may issue some scheduling updates in May that could change just about anything as far as 2020 events are concerned.

Kobe Bryant’s final NBA season was documented by a film crew

It sounds like we’ll eventually get some really good behind-the-scenes Kobe Bryant footage someday. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

And just as the camera crew had unprecedented access to chronicle every moment of Jordan’s final season with the Bulls, the same holds true for Bryant’s final NBA season. The crew expanded in size during his last campaign, and as many as six personal camera crews were present during his 60-point finale.

Bryant’s camera crew, several Lakers staffers from that season said, had unparalleled access in locker rooms both at home and on the road, in the training room, throughout the team’s practice facility and even on the team’s charter plane…

There were key differences, of course — the biggest being that Jordan’s Bulls were pushing for their sixth title in eight seasons while Bryant’s team ultimately posted a 17-65 season, the worst record in franchise history.

“It was interesting because, obviously, we weren’t winning, so that was frustrating. And the [cameras were always] in your face so, I don’t know, it was hard,” said Robert Sacre, a reserve center for the Lakers that season. “It didn’t feel real as a season.”

Considering the state of the Lakers in Kobe’s last season, the documentary would presumably focus more on Kobe’s personality and basketball life as an individual, rather than centering around the team. But with the tragic loss of Kobe in a horrible helicopter crash earlier this year, such footage would be more than welcome.

Kings coach Luke Walton has watched every episode of Tiger King on Netflix

Here’s the Sacramento Bee answering the question you’ve all been asking: how much of the Netflix show “Tiger King” has Sacramento Kings head coach Luke Walton watched?

During a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Walton offered his thoughts on social distancing, homeschooling, the threat of COVID-19 and two documentary series that are keeping America entertained: ESPN’s “The Last Dance” and Netflix’s “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.”

“I have watched every episode of ‘Tiger King,’” Walton said. “I had no idea what it was about, but it hooked me.”

Walton said he is sheltering in place with his family at their Sacramento-area home, where they are adhering to recommendations and orders from health officials. In his first press briefing since the NBA postponed the season March 11, Walton quipped that he was speaking to reporters from his car outside the house “because it’s the only place I can get any quiet in the quarantine life.”

Now you know.

I haven’t actually seen it yet. Because it’s been described as a car crash that people can’t look away from. Which isn’t exactly the best advertisement for a series. But like most of you, and like Walton, I’m sure at some point I’ll hit that Play button and struggle to look away.

Michael Jordan could have played for the Oakland A’s, says former GM

Here’s NBC Sports Chicago reporting on some interesting insight into a turn Michael Jordan’s brief pro baseball career could have taken:

Michael Jordan’s departure from his life as the greatest basketball player in the world to play minor league baseball with the White Sox is the stuff of Chicago legend.

But it might have gone quite differently. And with a different organization altogether.

Former Oakland Athletics general manager Sandy Alderson told ESPN’s Buster Olney on a recent edition of the Baseball Tonight podcast that he offered Jordan a spot on his major league roster in 1994.

“You recall when Jordan stopped playing basketball and decided to try baseball, and ultimately went down to the Birmingham Barons — the Chicago White Sox affiliate,” Alderson said. “When I heard that was happening, or about to happen, I called his agent right away and said, ‘Hey look, I understand he may be going to Double-A. I don’t even know who the 25th man is on our major league team right now, I will sign him and put him on the major league roster. He’ll be part of our 25-man team. Tomorrow.'”

Just speculating here, but unless Jordan had somehow magically been better at the major league level than he was in the minors, he’d still probably have wound up back in the NBA around the same time as he did. But this could have potentially been an even more fascinating detour.