Wednesday night is an off night when it comes to the NBA playoffs thanks to New York swiftly brooming Cleveland away in four games.
A critical deadline for next month’s NBA Draft nonetheless looms leaguewide at 11:59 PM ET. That’s the final buzzer for college underclassmen to decide whether or not to keep their names in this year’s draft pool in hopes of being selected with one of the NBA’s 1-to-60 picks.
Some clarity for front offices has already been achieved this week thanks to Santa Clara’s breakout freshman Allen Graves deciding Tuesday to keep his name in the draft. On the flip side, Kentucky big man Malachi Moreno opted to stay with the Wildcats.
Now the NBA’s scouting community is waiting to learn of the decisions made by notables such as Arizona freshman Koa Peat, Baylor freshman Tounde Yessoufou and Vanderbilt sophomore Tyler Tanner.
Let’s dive into the latest draft-related gems from my notebook as well as some Intel related to impending lottery reform, which will be voted on Thursday by the league’s 30 teams in a specially commissioned Board of Governors session:
Never before have so many players’ draft decisions been more about literal dollars and cents.
There was a conventional wisdom for years that applied to any player NBA scouts considered a first-round lock: They simply could not pass on two guaranteed seasons of money in the pros plus team options for Year 3 and 4. A dream come true. Fortune secured.
Things have changed in this ever-evolving world of NIL-funded college ball.
