Category: NBA

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The Cleveland Cavaliers are counting on one of their younger prospects to take another step forward this summer. Whether it’s Jaylon Tyson, Tyrese Proctor, or their upcoming first-round pick, it’s important that one of them turns into a hit.

Earlier this week, asked you, the fans, who is the most important prospect out of that bunch. Here are the results.

An overwhelming majority chose Tyson. That might not be much of a surprise.

Tyson became a fan favorite last season through his hustle on the court. Bringing heart and toughness to this Cavalier team is the quickest way to win over the city.

But Tyson was more than just a junkyard dog. He took a huge leap forward as a three-point shooter and showed some skills in the pick-and-roll that make him an intriguing offensive prospect. The Cavs would love to see him continue to improve as a shooter while fleshing out the rest of his offensive game. His playmaking in the short roll, for example, leaves endless opportunities.

On paper, Tyson can be a highly valuable complementary piece moving forward. The fans seem to have taken notice.

Proctor is a distant second. But make no mistake, he’s someone whom I’d feel just as excited about. Proctor has good size and defensive instincts for his position. I trust his jumper is legit, and the more he can do on-ball, the more helpful he can be. I think there’s a chance Proctor can earn backup point guard minutes in his sophomore season.

Finally, the 29th pick in this year’s draft comes in last place. That’s because there’s simply no telling what to expect from a late first-round pick. None of us assumes that this pick will translate to anything tangible in the immediate future. Though it’s still important that whoever they select can develop into someone useful down the line.

Cleveland currently holds the 11th highest odds to win the title next season. They won’t get any higher if they strike out on all three of these prospects.

Thomas Haugh‘s decision to return to Florida after a breakout sophomore season sent shockwaves that reverberated throughout not only college basketball but the NBA as well. The consensus All-American forward announced his return to Gainesville in mid-April despite most projections listing the 6-foot-9 Haugh as a potential lottery pick in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft.

And it turns out the NBA has one of its own to thank for that decision. Golden State Warriors veteran big man Draymond Green confirmed he advised Haugh to go back to Florida after learning what he could make in NIL. According to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, Haugh could exceed $10 million in NIL during the 2026-27 season, with roughly $8 million coming courtesy of the team’s NIL collective, Florida Victorious.

[ $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ]

Haugh first revealed his conversation with Green last week after the Gators started summer workouts. It was an in-depth consultation with the four-time NBA champion, courtesy of their mutual friend, Warriors rookie Will Richard, who won the 2025 national title with the Gators.

“I was just like really up in the air about it,” Haugh told reporters, per GatorsOnline‘s Zach Abolverdi. “I kind of wanted to get like a perspective from like a player. And so, I called Will (for advice) … and then he’s like, ‘I’m actually going to add Draymond right now.’ And then we talked for like 45 minutes. It was pretty sick.”

Green revealed his side of the conversation with Haugh earlier this week on his podcast, The Draymond Green Show, citing the multitude of reasons a return to Gainesville was ultimately the right decision. And while the NIL money was an important factor, Green pointed to the potential legacy Haugh could establish by going back and potentially winning a second national championship at Florida.

Draymond on helping Thomas Haugh with his NBA Draft Decision

“When he (Will Richard) told me the number in millions that he'd make if he stayed at Florida, I was like "oh no question he should go back", once we got on the phone with Thomas the number was actually higher than… pic.twitter.com/aKkL5Gly30

— The Draymond Green Show (@DraymondShow) June 19, 2026

“We start talking about the number (Haugh) could possibly get if he went back, and when (Richard) told me the number in the millions that he’d make if he stayed at Florida, I was like, ‘Oh, no question he should go back,’” Green recalled this week. “When we got on the phone with Thomas, the number was actually higher then (what) Will had thought or had told me it was. But No. 1, Thomas grew up a Florida Gator fan, family are big time Gators fans, so Florida is his dream school. He’s won a national championship there, gonna come back next year and have an opportunity to win a second national championship possibly, and compete for national player of the year, and (then enter) a much weaker draft (in 2028).

“And he’s going to make really good money; that’s 1099 income as opposed to W2 income that NBA players make,” Green added. “And he’s going to solidify himself as one of the greatest Gators ever. I just don’t know how it gets much better than that.”

Of course, Green’s advice for Haugh didn’t stop there.

“One thing I told him, ‘Alright, but you’ve got to go do the work. You have to come back (to the NBA) next year better than you are right now. So you gotta go do the work, but I think it’s the right decision to go back to school,'” Green added. “I hope he has a great year, I’m praying for his health, and build that draft stock up even higher. Because I think he’s more than capable of doing that.”

Haugh’s return coincided with similar draft decisions from fellow juniors Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu. That has Florida among the leading favorites to win the 2027 national championship.

A big shift that has occurred in the six years that Leon Rose has been in charge of basketball operations is one that naturally occurs when a team begins to compete. The priority shifts from development to winning now.

The year that Rose and company fully shifted from the youth movement to a veteran-ladened roster was 2023-24. Obi Toppin was traded to Indiana, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley went to Toronto, Quentin Grimes went to Detroit. Four guys that seemed like key parts of the team’s future two years prior were out the door to supplement a core around Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle (later, Karl-Anthony Towns).

With draft assets being tossed around in these trades and others (particularly to get Mikal Bridges), the youth pipeline was completely shut off. All that was left was the occasional late first and a few seconds every so often.

You see them filling out the back end of these rosters with lottery tickets in these spots. The Tyler Kolek’s and Ariel Hukporti’s of the world. But with their most recent pick, No. 51 in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Knicks made their biggest upside play, and hope that they might’ve found a diamond in the rough for the future.

Mohamed Diawara was born on April 29, 2005, in Paris, France. Basketball wasn’t his first love; soccer was, but a growth spurt, coupled with watching his sister play as a little kid, instilled a love for the game in him, resulting in him joining La Domremy Basket at the age of 13 and later joining the Saint-Charles Charenton youth team alongside Pacǒme Dadiet in 2020.

He made his senior debut with Paris Basketball in 2021 at the age of 16, but his minutes were sporadic over the next few years across both continental and LNB Pro A. As he continued to mature as a man and a basketball player, he had a hard time finding a role, eventually being loaned down to second-division Poitiers Basket 86 in December.

That summer, he left Paris to play full-time in LNB Élite, signing with Cholet Basket for the 2024-25 season to get a bigger role ahead of his draft eligibility year. NBA scouts had long noticed his talent, naming him the best player at a 2022 Basketball Without Borders event in Milan, but he needed to find out how to best put his skills on display. That summer, he won a gold medal with France’s U20 team at FIBA EuroBasket in Poland.

At Cholet Basket, he played 20 minutes a game, by far a career high, but he was limited to just 5.8 points and 3.1 rebounds a game on mediocre efficiency. He looked the part of a raw prospect, but he still decided to enter the 2025 NBA Draft, banking on his elite measureables to convince an NBA team to take a flier on him with their ever-growing addiction to drafting for traits over production.

The Knicks were scheduled to make their only draft selection at No. 50, but traded back one pick to allow the Clippers to come up and take Kobe Sanders. With the 51st pick, Diawara heard his name called, joining his old French teammate Dadiet in New York.

It was a relative surprise to see that this late-second round selection wasn’t a Eurostash and planned to compete for a roster spot. He showed some flashes on both ends in an overall forgettable Summer League for the Knicks and benefited from Brock Aller needing to dance around the second apron, which allowed him to get into training camp with an inside track at a guaranteed contract.

There, he impressed the coaching staff right away and earned his way onto the Opening Night roster after initially only signing an Exhibit 10 deal. He was very far down the depth chart, as you might expect, but with Mike Brown now in charge, maybe he’d get a chance other recent rookies didn’t?

It took until late November for him to get meaningful minutes, where he struggled against Orlando in a very sad game overall. A month later, in the NBA Cup hangover game in Indiana, he got his first career start with five regular rotation players ruled out.

Slowly, he was gaining more reps, even if the impact wasn’t there yet. Something seemed to click for him when he got a quick 3:40 stint on Christmas Day against Cleveland, which turned into his most impactful week of the season. He earned starts against Atlanta and New Orleans on the upcoming road trip with Josh Hart injured, with his 18-point performance against the Pelicans serving as the best game of his rookie year.

There were things holding him back, though. Despite tantalizing sequences with his defensive abilities, the team was struggling to defend anything during this time, killing his lineups. In the New Year’s Eve clash with the Spurs, Diawara earned the start but was limited to just six minutes. Why? Teams had enough film on him to start dissecting his weaknesses.

While he was a 40% shooter and a deadeye corner sniper in limited reps, there was some hesitancy with his shot. He also hadn’t shown an ability to attack driving lanes and make plays the way Hart does, so teams started utilizing ghost coverage, which played him off the court.

As a result, January was a month that saw him sink back into a deep reserve role as the team got healthier. He’d occasionally re-emerge when guys were banged up, but he seemed unprepared to attack the new way he was being defended.

He started getting more comfortable when he was called upon in early February. He played 15 critical minutes in a double-overtime win against the Nuggets, he started for a shorthanded Knicks squad in Detroit against the Pistons, and he looked great in a season-high 27 minutes against the Celtics just after the trade deadline.

Mohammed Diawara

2/8/2026

10 PTS | 3 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 100 FG%

The Knicks rookie gave fans reasons for excitement many times throughout the season including elite defense against Jaylen Brown and the Celtics along with perfect shooting pic.twitter.com/R9G2Vqgmr1

— KATWrld (@kat_wrld) June 15, 2026

His most memorable game might’ve been his March 1 game against the same Spurs team that revealed the book on how to play him off the court. When called upon against Mitch Johnson’s ghost coverage, he attempted a staggering 13 three-pointers in 15 minutes and was a plus-18 in a blowout win.

By late March, the team had gotten fully healthy and, despite showing some real flashes, he was outside the 9 or 10-man circle of trust that Brown had heading into the playoffs. He didn’t play a single meaningful minute in the playoffs, even when OG Anunoby missed two games with injury.

The overall numbers don’t say anything special, but for a player who barely managed to sneak into the end of the second round, he had an impressive rookie season. Maybe he could’ve contributed to this championship run. Maybe the Knicks didn’t want to simultaneously risk rookie mistakes or buffing up the complicated contract situation that will result in him being a restricted free agent at the end of the month.

Regardless, Diawara is a champion. He joined an exclusive group of Muslim NBA players who would win a championship, and even managed to be featured alongside Mayor Mamdani in an article during Ramadan. If cap mechanisms can manage to keep him in New York going forward, he’s an exciting piece for when we’ll have to start thinking beyond this core of players.

Congrats, Mo!

Mohamed Diawara season tape pic.twitter.com/7yJgPO75GC

— Teg🚨 (@IQfor3) March 13, 2026

–

(P&T will be doing player-by-player article tributes over the next few weeks to commemorate the special team that ended our long, half-century nightmare)

With the NBA offseason ongoing, it appears the Warriors are committed to acquiring another star to play alongside Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler.

The Warriors have expressed significant interest in acquiring Kawhi Leonard and have viewed Trey Murphy as another option, ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported.

The interest in Leonard dates back to last season’s trade deadline, when a source confirmed to Slater that the Warriors attempted to trade for Leonard but were eventually told “no” by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.

The reports of the Warriors’ interest in Leonard were doubled down on Friday morning as Sam Amick of The Athletic reported that the Warriors have Leonard in their “Plan A” list as they appear to be very interested in acquiring the two-time Finals MVP. But Amick noted that nobody in the NBA knows if Leonard is available.

As it remains unknown if Leonard is available, it appears more likely that Golden State could look into a trade with the Pelicans for Murphy. Golden State holds the 11th pick of the NBA draft, and reports have indicated the Pelicans are looking to move him for a pick in the top 20.

At 26 years old, Murphy is starting to come into his own as a young and promising forward after having a career high in average (21 points), with 5.7 total rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.

Murphy has been mentioned in other trade talk this summer; rumors have included him in a potential three-way trade between the Bucks and Celtics that is headlined by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and former Finals MVP Jaylen Brown.

With the possibility of acquiring Murphy, Kevin O’Connor of “The Kevin O’Connor Show” reported that Golden State is more interested in acquiring Leonard.

“I do still think the Warriors still want Kawhi Leonard,” O’Connor said. “… Trey Murphy, as Anthony Slater says, seems to be just the more obtainable guy, but I don’t think this Warriors’ love for Kawhi Leonard has declined at all.”

At 34 years old last season, Leonard showed he can still play at a high level, averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.

Just when we thought everything was rosy and the Knicks were on their way to never dealing with a loss for the remainder of eternity, things went south, or at least a bit southwest.

First, it was James Dolan who dropped the bomb right before a historic ticker-tape parade took place in the Canyon of Heroes, making it very clear—albeit we’re still debating whether or not he knows what he’s talking about—he’s not interested in pushing his franchise into the second apron for the 2026-27 season.

That, of course, comes with the consequence of, inevitably, losing one—if not both—of unrestricted free agents Mitchell Robinson and Jose Alvarado.

And hey, the Boricua is reasonably and completely understandably saying what we would all say as he approaches free agency, having a player option in his deal worth $4.5 million, but likely having suitors with more dough waiting on the wings.

Alvarado appeared on The Breakfast Club and revealed his early-offseason plans, as well as discussing many other interesting stuff. This is what he said when asked if, after winning the championship, he still has the chip on his shoulder and how he’s getting ready to get his first big contract.

“Hell yeah, I got it. First of all, I got to go get paid. Hopefully, God willing (I’ll get the big deal). I want to be in this for a long time. I love this life, I love the NBA life. It feeds my family and it puts me in rooms where I can never be at. I’m here with y’all, you know what I’m saying? So, I got to work.

“I always made my way. So, it was always like, ‘Yo, every time I got to come here, I got to prove to myself.’ And that’s what my life is about, and that’s fine with me, though.”

Did Alvarado say he’s leaving? Nope. Did Dolan hint at not paying him, not at least as much as he might deserve and want? You bet.

So, there’s that. What do you think about the free-agency situation? Will Dolan relent and let Leon Rose cook his way? Will he put the clamps on the FO and limit their operation, bringing a sudden-and-sad end to the Knicks’ winning team? Let us know in the comments section below!

LeBron James should go to the Warriors. 

Hear me out. 

Yes, his family is rooted in Los Angeles. He’d be able to earn more money with the Lakers than with Golden State or Cleveland. And if he remained with the purple and gold, he’d finish his career with the franchise for which he played the most consecutive seasons and carried to its first championship in 10 years in 2020. 

But if you listen to James’ words, he has made it clear he’s only going to keep playing if he remains excited to show up to arenas five hours before games. If he’s still committed to putting in the type of work that has allowed him to remain a superstar into his 40s. 

What would excite him more than joining forces with Steph Curry and Draymond Green? 

James going to the Warriors feels so wrong that it feels right. 

He faced them in four straight Finals when he was with the Cavaliers. They were the mountain he had to climb to overcome a 3-1 series deficit before leading the Cavaliers to their first championship in 2016. Curry and Green commanded his respect more than anyone in the modern NBA. They were his nemeses. 

They’ve since become something else to him. 

In an episode of “The Shop” in 2022, James said if he could play alongside anyone in the league it would be Curry. 

As for Green, James recently told the California Post that he’s his “brother.” When Green was asked if he ever dreamed of joining forces with James, he told this publication, “I’ve always wanted to.”

The thought of James playing alongside Curry and Green would be thrilling. It would be the revenge of the old men who refuse to age. 

Curry can still shoot the lights out. James can still single-handedly carry a team in a playoff series, as we witnessed in the first round against Houston in April. Green would give Victor Wembanyama a run for his money as the best defender in the league if he truly believed he had another shot at winning a championship. (Just look at what Green did against Kawhi Leonard in the Warriors’ play-in game against the Clippers in April.)

That trio would be exciting. It would be fascinating. It would infuse all of their careers with a newfound sense of purpose. 

There’s something that feels stale about James returning to the Lakers.

He watched the purple and gold become Luka Doncic’s team after they acquired him in a blockbuster trade in Feb. 2025. He slipped to being the third offensive option this season, behind Doncic and Austin Reaves. 

Did he make it work? Of course. The Lakers went 16-2 last spring.

But there’s something unnatural about watching someone who has been a circle all his life jam himself into a square peg, even if he’s good enough to shape shift. 

While Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss have both said they’d love for James to finish his career in Los Angeles, it’s obvious they’re looking forward. It’s equally obvious that James has felt disrespected at times. 

Things would be different in Golden State. 

Instead of placing their hopes on a young hotshot, they’re still looking at the rearview mirror. They’re trying to make that view relevant again. They’re celebrating it. 

They’re trying to extend Curry’s championship window. They’ve made it clear they still believe in Green. If James joined the Warriors, he’d still get the respect of being arguably the greatest player of all-time, instead of being reduced to taking a supporting role. 

He’d still be him. He’d be playing alongside the greatest shooter of all-time. Neither of them would have an ego when it comes to one another. Just look at the 2024 Olympic team, when James won MVP but Curry played hero. It just worked. They genuinely celebrated each other. They won gold together. 

If James remains in LA, things are going to get muddy. 

There’s no way the Lakers are going to offer James (who made $52.6 million last season) a maximum contract extension. The problem is he’s still playing like a maximum contract player. 

The Lakers would likely offer James something in the $20 to $30 million range, while trying to retain Austin Reaves and building out their roster around Doncic. That would be a tough pill to swallow for a player who resuscitated the franchise after it missed the playoffs six straight seasons. 

The Warriors currently have even less money to offer James: The $15.1 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception. But somehow that feels like less of a slight. There’s no history there. James would be choosing a massive salary cut instead of begrudgingly accepting one from a team he poured himself into over the last decade. 

Sure, James would be leaving a lot of money on the table, an anathema for a guy who has been famously opposed to doing that sort of thing in the past. 

But it would also mean a fresh start. A new challenge. A new purpose. 

The four-time champion would join forces with players who have won four championships. James, Curry and Green have some of the sharpest basketball minds in the league. They’d form a supercharged think tank together with unknown capabilities. 

It would be the geriatrics against the young bucks. It would be must-watch television. The three of them would deeply have something to prove. 

There would hardly be an adjustment period. 

James has studied Curry’s and Green’s games over four championship rounds. They’ve earned their PhDs on him. They probably know each other better than any of their current teammates.

James has earned the right to do whatever the heck he wants. He has shattered nearly every record in the books. He has arguably had the greatest career of any athlete ever. His longevity is unprecedented. 

On paper, returning to the Lakers makes the most sense. 

But now’s not the time to play it safe. If he doesn’t retire, this will be his final hurrah. Why not put everything on the line? Why not do something that will light a fire under him? Why not go after what could be most fun?

James’ goal was to become the first player in NBA history to play alongside his son, Bronny. He accomplished that. It’s time for Bronny to spread his wings. And it’s time for James to try and soar one last time. 

James going to the Warriors would be the ultimate candy for a fanbase that wants to see the faces of the league thrive before the league moves on. It would be a defibrillator for James’ mind.

It would be a new final chapter. 

Instead of the same tired story, it would be a must read.

---

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After three straight years, it’s becoming a norm for a UConn player to be picked in the first round of the NBA Draft. The only other schools with that distinction in the last three years? Duke and Baylor, a couple of five-star daycares with questionable methods.

I still remember the delight of hearing James Bouknight’s name called. 

But for the streak to continue, they’ll need teams to fall in love with Tarris Reed Jr or Alex Karaban. Both have been projected as fringe first-rounders, but as we saw with Liam McNeeley last year, draft night comes with a lot of uncertainty. 

Since NBA front offices are obviously reading The UConn Blog Dot Com, here is my sales pitch for Reed. You can read Karaban’s here. Maybe this can push them solidly into the first round.

It Pays to Be Big

I found five comparisons based on combine measurements and play style, three from the current generation and two slightly older ones. Combined, they all reflect a sort of best-case, best-floor comparison.

Pace and space is still a thing in the NBA, but some are bucking the trend. Jumbo lineups — like what Michigan did to UConn in the title game — are starting to enter the picture. If you’re trying to stay ahead of the jumbo curve, may I interest you in a 6 ’10 (barefoot), 260 lb. center with ballerina feet, a 7′ 5 ” wingspan, and feathery touch around the rim?

What if he has above-average passing skills, exceptional switchability, and shot mechanics that indicate potential shooting range later in his career?

With the first comparison, let’s aim high.

The Detroit Pistons were the no. 1 seed in the East in part due to Jalen Duren’s emergence as a space-eating low-post anchor with two-way athleticism. 

That’s the almost unrealistic, peak comparison for Reed Jr. out there right now; he comes into the league and picks up right where he left off in April. His rebounding translates, his defense continues to tighten up, the motor is revving, and he shows he can score over NBA size consistently. That’s a lot of “ifs” but that’s also Jalen Duren-lite.

Duren was a one-and-done at Memphis, and came in with more of a pedigree after reclassing into the 2022 recruiting class as the no. 1 player overall. He was 18 years old when drafted, a mammoth project with unlimited tools. 

Reed’s path was a little longer, featuring a change of scenery and a little senioritis needed to unlock the full potential. After an inconsistent run as a Husky, something clicked for him this past March. All that enticing potential was realized and the staff’s vision was fulfilled. 

It doesn’t matter when the light comes on, as long as they turn on. 

Here are the combine measurements for comparison:

Tarris Reed Jr

Height (Barefoot): 6’9.75”

Weight: 263.6 lbs

Wingspan: 7’4.25”

Standing Reach: 9’2”

Standing Vertical: 29.5”

Jalen Duren

Height (without shoes): 6’9.5″ 

Weight: 250 lbs

Wingspan: 7’5″

Standing Reach: 9’1″

Standing Vertical: 37”

Duren’s age and explosiveness make him even more of a freak than Reed Jr, but that’s why he was the 13th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. He was a baby then, and is Tarris’ age now. Duren improved his statistical profile in his first four years, averaging 19.7 ppg and 10.5 rpg last year, earning his first All-Star berth, third-team All-NBA, and defensive player of the year votes.

A team taking Reed isn’t automatically getting the next Jalen Duren. But maybe they’re getting a more NBA-ready, albeit less athletic Jalen Duren. Less ceiling, more polish. Backup big men don’t just fall out of the sky.

Duren is the pie in the sky. Back on earth, can I interest you in a Day’Ron Sharpe comparison?

Sharpe opted out of the combine measurements back in 2021, but the Nets list him at 6 ’10 265, pretty close to Tarris’ measurements. Sharpe was a one-and-done out of North Carolina that fell to Phoenix at pick 29, and promptly traded to the Brooklyn Nets on draft day. He’s been there as a reserve big man, averaging 7 ppg and 6 rpg in 15.5 mpg.

The way Sharpe seals and uses his body is very reminiscent of Reed, except the latter’s post moves are more polished because he’s older. This is probably what scouts see, with Reed’s upside coming from his bullish trajectory and potential to expand his game.

Former Georgetown Hoya Thomas Sorber is another match.

Thomas Sorber 

Height: 6’9.25″

Weight: 262.8 lbs

Wingspan: 7’6.00″

Standing Reach: 9’1.00″

Vertical: 42 inches

Reed is taller, but Sorber is younger and more explosive. He put up nine points and 10 rebounds against UConn in 2025, a game in which Reed played 12 minutes and scored three points.

Sorber tore his ACL in September and never saw the court for Oklahoma City, but if you watched the Spurs take down the Thunder last month, you know his skillset is sorely needed.

Now for the throwbacks. Walk with me down memory lane, fellow millennials.

Al Jefferson

Height (without shoes): 6’8.25”

Weight: 289 lbs

Wingspan: 7’2.5”

Standing Reach: 9’2”

Big Al came into the league smaller but heavier than Reed. Before the one-and-done era, he was a highly-ranked prospect in high school (noticing the trend?). Big Al and Tarris have the below-the-rim post game with an array of moves in their bag. 

Pace-and-space left Big Al behind, but look at some of this footwork.

Awfully reminiscent of Reed this past March, except Reed has flashed the mobility to adapt to today’s game. Big Al played 14 years in the league and finished with career averages of 15.7 ppg and 8.4 rpg. He averaged 23 and 11 in 2008-2009 for the Timberwolves, and was third-team All-NBA in 2013-2014.

I also saw some Derrick Favors comparisons floating around out there on the internet. 

Here are his measurements from the 2010 combine:

Derrick Favors

Height: 6’8.75”

Weight: 245.2 lbs

Wingspan: 7’4”

Standing Reach: 9’2”

Standing Vertical: 31.5 inches

Similar to Duren, Sharpe, Sorber, and Jefferson, Favors was a blue-chip, one-and-done freakazoid prospect. Except he never really ascended to Duren’s heights, or Jefferson’s. Favors played 12 seasons in the NBA, finishing with career averages of 10 ppg and 7 rpg. He was a solid rim-runner who protected the rim well with Rudy Gobert.

Reed is taller by an inch, but Favors was more explosive and younger coming out (the youngest player drafted by the Nets ever). 

Breaking it Down

Five players with very different ceilings. Duren is a franchise cornerstone. Big Al was on his way to being one, until his knees gave out. Favors never ascended, but career earnings of $130 million (Jefferson made $137 mil) is far from a bust. Sharpe looks like he’ll carve out a reserve role for the next decade. The jury’s out on Sorber due to injury.

It sounds silly to rattle off these highly successful comparisons for a player like Reed that’s barely projected to go in the first round. As I said before, there are a lot of Ifs, and that’s why he’s a fringe first-rounder. But it’s hard to ignore the success of these players with similar physical measurements, combined with the switch that Reed flipped in March.

That’s not to say big men of his stature are automatic. In the last decade, James Wiseman Jr and Marvin Bagley had roughly similar measurements and didn’t pan out. However, when you really broke them down, the comparisons didn’t entirely add up; Reed is heavier than both and a different type of player.

Age is Just a Number

There are a lot of factors working against Tarris. His age, the potentially historic draft class, career inconsistency, and overall game trends can all be docked against him. After all these optimistic comparisons, the downsides need to be addressed.

College players at 6 ’10, 260 lbs. are usually one-and-done material. Even if they’re projects, most of the time they’ve been developed in an NBA organization, not the program. All of the comparisons above were five stars, making Reed’s Top 40 four-star ranking out of high school look pedestrian.

Reed represents a different path because he’s three years older. But let’s investigate that a little further.

First, the Juwan Howard factor. How would any of the above players have succeeded under a Howard regime? Second, the NIL landscape informs a lot of ‘stay or go ’ decisions now.

With no NIL around, maybe 15 years ago, Tarris heads to the NBA a year or two earlier with that coveted ‘raw potential’ label. Would Al Jefferson stay another year in college if a school offered more money than he’d make in the late lottery, which was where he fell? And if he somehow didn’t perform, every year in college would tank the sense of his potential, even though he eventually became a force inside.

What would Da’Ron Sharpe’s numbers look like if he stayed three more years? Would he average 19.5 ppg, 13.2 rpg, and 1.5 blocks per game in the NCAA tournament?

For a variety of reasons, Tarris took a little more time to cook. That’s okay! He’s not a senior citizen though; he’ll only be 23 next season. I understand the financial advantages a GM gets from a 19-year-old’s contract vs. a 23-year-old’s. But there are still risks.

A savvy GM should look at the March emergence and see an NBA-ready guy. Given how suddenly he flipped the switch, maybe there’s still more left to unlock. 

His measurements have a pretty good track record at the next level. There are more success stories for guys with Tarris’ combination of size and skill out there than cautionary tales. The college game is more like the G-League than ever before, so age shouldn’t be as big a knock on a player’s draft stock. This applies to Karaban as well, who surely would have gone to the NBA earlier without the benefits of NIL.

Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens threw Boston’s hat in the ring amid this offseason’s Giannis Antetokounmpo trade sweepstakes. But Stevens could already be cooking up a backup plan in case his pursuit of the Greek Freak topples over.

The Athletic’s Sam Amick reported Friday morning that Boston could shift its interest from Antetokounmpo to Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III following the 26-year-old’s breakout season with New Orleans.

Murphy averaged 21.5 points through 66 games logged with the Pelicans last season, while setting career-highs with 5.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and a 47 percent shooting clip from the field. Still, while Murphy stands out as an intriguing fit for the Celtics, the interest he’s generating from Stevens and company remains predicated solely on how Giannis’ market plays out.

For the past week, Boston has led the race alongside the Heat as the primary frontrunners, according to the league’s rumor mill, while the Bucks desperately seek a way to sever ties with Antetokounmpo once and for all. So far, it’s been a lot of hearsay more than anything else, with the expectation that Giannis becomes the first major domino to fall this offseason.

Stevens, during his end-of-the-season press conference less than a week after Boston’s first-round playoff elimination, insinuated changes were on the horizon. He highlighted rim protection, prioritized easy looks at the rim, and acknowledged the increased difficulty of winning a championship with teams rapidly improving and fewer organizations tanking with intention, unlike this past year.

Murphy, as a target, checks a lot of boxes for the Celtics and their scheme to remain contenders in the Eastern Conference.

For starters, landing Murphy — unlike Giannis — could help Boston keep the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown duo intact. Murphy is under a four-year, $112 million contract signed with New Orleans, with three years left. He’s earning roughly $28 million in annual salary, posing a much easier avenue for Stevens to work with, compared to Antetokounmpo’s pending forced exit from Milwaukee, giving the Bucks zero leverage.

Murphy shot a career-best 37.9 percent from three last season and is among the league’s elite rising two-way wings. At 6-foot-8, Murphy has shown an ability to score off-ball, defend with versatility, and attack the rim with explosive athleticism. Plus, unlike Giannis, Stevens could strike a simple, easy one-for-one swap with New Orleans without having to search for a third team to facilitate a Murphy-to-Boston trade.

The Celtics have a trade exception large enough ($27.7 million) to make Murphy’s contract work, plus a price tag that isn’t nearly as high as Giannis’ presumed asking price either.

Boston also has a handful of future first-round picks — including the 27th overall selection in next Tuesday’s 2026 NBA Draft — to work with in assembling a trade package for Murphy if Stevens and the front office pursue that course of action.

Speaking of Plan Bs, Amick also reported that there’s interest in Derrick White. After consecutive Western Conference Finals exits and a second-round ousting this season, the Minnesota Timberwolves could again reshape their roster and have shown interest in trading for White. Salary-wise, Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle make sense as straight-up trade candidates and do make some sense for a Boston team needing frontcourt help, but dealing the All-Defensive First Teamer might be a bridge too far for Stevens.

There’s no doubt the 2025-2026 Michigan Wolverines had a successful season. For some, what feels like the bow on top of the story is watching the former players realize their dreams and get drafted into the NBA.

Michigan has three players who are likely do be drafted in the lottery of next week’s NBA Draft. What team would you like to see draft Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr.?

Your author is a Detroit Pistons fan who would gladly take any of the three. However, with Detroit picking at No. 21, it’s unlikely any of them will become available barring a trade. Most mock drafts have all three players in the top half of the first round, but the Pistons could certainly use any of them.

Lendeborg would provide a scoring punch to complement Cade Cunningham while not needing to be ball dominant. Johnson could replace Tobias Harris in time and grow into the starting 4 for the team. Even Mara would provide excellent insurance should Detroit not retain Jalen Duren or trade away Isaiah Stewart.

If we take the home team out of the equation, there are still several excellent spots the former Wolverines could end up in.

Mara is one of the best passing center prospects the NBA has seen in years. It would be fun to watch him in Steve Kerr’s offense in Golden State. Similarly, Mara would be an excellent bench option for the Denver Nuggets. While he’s certainly no Jokic, Denver’s entire scheme revolves around its big men being able to pass the ball. Even a team such as the Memphis Grizzlies would be an intriguing fit for Mara since they have slashers up and down their roster.

For Johnson, the San Antonio Spurs would be the dream scenario in my eyes. He could be the bruising, rebound-first big man who could help keep Victor Wembanyama clean. Johnson also screams “Miami Heat culture” to me when it comes to the intangibles.

Lendeborg has become a bit of a lightning rod in NBA Draft circles. His stock has slipped slightly thanks to a nagging injury, as well as his age. He is one of the most “plug-and-play” prospects in this draft, but the NBA loves upside. Lendeborg is likely closer to his ceiling already than many of the other projected lottery picks. However, I would love to see him be taken by a team like the Spurs as well.

The most common location for Lendeborg in NBA mocks drafts, by far, is the Oklahoma City Thunder. As a team in win-now mode, taking an experienced, high-floor player like Lendeborg makes a ton of sense. However, as a fan, I don’t want to see him be corrupted by the Thunder players and their flopping factory.

Where do you want to see Mara, Johnson and Lendeborg get drafted? Which do you think will go off the board first? Is there a chance any slip to Detroit at No. 21? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Many years ago, I got jumped. Didn’t end well. Concussion. Contusions. Fractured wrist. A thumbprint on my neck, where one of them choked me.

I’ve revisited the scene since. The first time I got all tingly and jumpy. Less and less ever since. It doesn’t hit the way it used to. Sometimes you can measure how from you’ve healed from a trauma by returning to the scene of the crime.

The New York Knicks are 2026 NBA champions, something that would’ve sounded unbelievable as recently as two or three years ago because of where the Knicks were two to three years to five to 10 to 15 before then. I continue to struggle to find words that can capture the feelings I’m feeling this glorious spring. So how about some numbers? Maybe that’s the best way to measure just how far the Knicks came to get where they stand today, as champions of the world (whose owner already promised to pull the plug on the roster. You can lead a horse’s ass to the sparkling waters of the promised land, but you can’t stop him from assing).

First of all, to appreciate just how good the Knicks are now, some context about before. (And if you’re interested, we did run a mailbag yesterday. But between the Knick parade and the capitalist illogic that demands every writer here published eight pieces a day, a lotta good tracks get lost in the shuffle. So click here if you missed it)

RELATIVE RATINGS

The Knicks have rarely been good, historically. Even being 76 games over .500 the past five seasons, the franchise is still 113 games under, all-time. In 1950-51, the first year the NBA tracked relative offensive and defensive rating, the Knicks, led by Vince Boryla, Harry Gallatin and Dick McGuire, finished second in relative offensive rating at 2.9. The only team ahead of them: the then-champion Rochester Royals, led by Bob Davies and a young point guard — name of William “Red” Holzman.

That 2.9 was a level no Knick team could pass until 1989, Rick Pitino’s Bomb Squad. The highest relative offensive rating for any Knick team, ever? The 2013 anomaly, at 5.2. And that’s more of an anomaly than you may think: other than 2013, no Knick team from 1951 to 2024 ever reached the 4-point mark. In 2025, they did it again. In 2026, they did it again.

Rarer still than the Knicks being good anywhere has been the Knicks being good on both ends. Go back to 1952-53 for another mark that stood the test of time: that season ,the Knicks had an offensive rating of 3.0 and a defensive rating of -2.5 (the lower the defensive rating, the better). Guess what? From 1954 to 2025, the Knicks never again put up such strong ratings on both sides of the ball. In 2026, those numbers were 4.0 and -2.5 — greatest in club history.

WINS

Willis Reed retired in 1974, marking the official end of the Knick Golden Age. Patrick Ewing led what I suppose must now be called the Bronze Age, with the Brunson years the new Silver Age. Ewing’s dominant decade-plus drove the Knicks’ longest continuous run of contention. Interestingly, if you subtract the Ewing years from the post-Reed years, that leaves 33 seasons (Brunson’s draft number, Ewing’s jersey number and Dillon Jones’, too). In the first 29 of those seasons, the Knicks won 47-plus games four times. In each of Brunson’s four years in New York, they’ve won at least 47 games.

How big a jump is that? A quick rundown of some of the tripe ball we were forced to swallow over the last 20 years:

• The 2006 Knicks began the season losing their first five games. That year they had two five-game losing streaks, two six-game losing streaks, a seven-, a nine- and a 10-game losing streak. Their 23-59 record was their worst in 20 seasons.
• Two years later, the Knicks lost five straight three times, plus seven and eight games twice each, tying the ’06 squad with 23 wins. The last time a Knick team won fewer, Willis Reed was a phys. ed. major at Grambling State.
• Ahh, 2015 — the first year I covered the Knicks all season. And what a season! Would you believe opening 4-10 with a seven-game losing streak was the high point of the campaign?? It was! That’s what happens in a season a team has separate losing streaks of five, seven, eight, nine, 10 and 16 games. New York dropped 26 of 27 at one point; in a totally separate part of the season, they lost 16 of 18. How bad were those Knicks? You could remove the 1-26 and 2-16 stretches and they’d STILL have a losing record. That’s one way to finish 17-65, setting a new franchise low for wins.
• The 2016 Knicks were 22-22 and dreaming of a playoff spot. Losing 12 of 13 en route to a 10-28 finish sunk those dreams.
• The 2017 Knicks began the year 16-13. They then lost nine of ten games and 33 of 44.
• The 2018 Knicks also started 16-13. They went on to lose 32 of their last 40 contests.
• The 2019 Knicks tied the 2015 squad as the worst ever, thanks to a pair of five-game losing streaks, a pair of sixes, a pair of eights and an 18-game losing streak I admit I somehow do not remember. Even though I probably recapped most of those games.
• In 2020, David Fizdale had the Knicks on pace for an even worse finish, before he was canned and replaced by Mike Miller. Weekend Dad brought the stability Absent Father never could: in the COVID-shortened season, the Knicks played 66 games, going 4-18 until Fiz got sacked, 8-14 in Miller’s first 22 games and 9-13 after. That’s still a 50-loss pace under Miller, but after Fizdale had them on a 15-67 track, 50 Ls woulda been a stone groove.

TODAY’S TEAM

More good news.

The Knicks are good. Really good. Quite good, actually. I mean, you already knew that. From the championship, natch. From winning 15 of their last 16, or tearing through the playoffs at a 70-win pace. From this team being so lovable that not even the owner’s third turd in the punch bowl in less than two weeks has killed the buzz (1) inconveniencing millions of people to force President Pedo on the masses, in a very “forceful” gesture by a man whose BFFs all seem to be sex criminals and who has himself been charged with rape and convicted of sexual harassment; 2) complaining about the mayor and the NYPD restricting watch parties around MSG as an inconvenience to the fans, the same fans he didn’t give a shit about when President Pedo did the same 48 hours earlier; 3) waiting for the literal DAY OF THE FUCKING CHAMPIONSHIP PARADE to announce the hundreds of millions in property tax exemptions he’s enjoyed the past 25 years won’t compel him to raise the payroll for a title defense AND that he’s dragging the team to President Pedo’s White House, somewhere no NBA team has gone before).

I could give you numbers that show how awesome the Knicks have become. Here, lemme share one that’s kinda my fave.

18 current players have scored 60-plus points in an NBA game. Two of them are Knicks, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Only three other teams have two players who’ve scored that many: the Cavs (Donovan Mitchell, James Harden), the Mavs (Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson) and the Lakers (Luka, LeBron; if LeBron and Austin Reaves re-sign, the Lakers would be the only team with three players who’ve scored 50-plus). I can tell without looking it up that no Knick ever scored 40 points in a game alongside Patrick Ewing (I know John Starks’ career-high was 39). But wait! There’s more.

All five Knick starters have scored 40-plus in a game, with four doing so as Knicks (Josh Hart’s career-high 44 came for Portland back in 2022). Know how many other teams can say that? None — with some asterisks.

The Heat, oddly, are close, and would qualify if Jamie Jaquez Jr. were their fifth starter. But Davion Mitchell is, so no dice. Four Cavs starters can count to cuarenta, but not Max Strus. Wanna real wild horsie? The Kings’ five most frequent starters last year don’t make the grade, but their top-5 in minutes per game do: Keegan Murray, Zach LaVine, Demar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis and Russell Westbrook.

But the Heat suck. The Cavs are posers. The Kings, long the Knicks’ closest reflection, are now blessedly a funhouse mirror distortion of the truth, and no more. The Knicks are really, really good. You already knew that. But maybe now you know better just how really, really good they really are.

The Detroit Pistons have made clear that their shopping list this season involves shooting, self-creation, and ball-handling. They are viewed as critical ingredients as the team looks at a hopeful long-term future around a core of Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, and Jalen Duren.

Knowing what you need is one thing. Obtaining what you need is several orders of magnitude more difficult. However, one of the biggest potential deals on the horizon could net the Pistons exactly what they are looking for, if you choose to believe recent reports.

The Pistons are rumored to be a potential third team in any deal that sends Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Miami Heat, with Detroit getting Tyler Herro in return, according to the plugged-in Marc Stein.

Stein also writes of potential alternatives and additions that are piquing Detroit’s interest:

The Pistons, I’m told, should be monitored as a potential third-team facilitator in a Giannis Antetokounmpo-to-Miami trade … with Tyler Herro ultimately landing in Detroit.

The Eastern Conference’s lone 60-win team this season is known to be eager to add shooting around Cade Cunningham and is believed to be aggressively exploring its options in the marketplace beyond two oft-cited trade targets who would be much harder to acquire than Herro: Dallas’ Kyrie Irving and New Orleans’ Trey Murphy III.

Other players regarded as potentially available and said to interest Detroit include Charlotte’s Coby White, Oklahoma City’s Isaiah Joe and possibly even Sacramento’s Zach LaVine now that LaVine is heading into the final year of a massive contract with a $49 million player option that carries a June 29 deadline to be activated.

Herro has some limitations, but he checks every box Detroit is looking for offensively.

Tyler Herro the Playmaker

He’s just 26 years old and stands at 6-foot-5, fitting neatly into Detroit’s preference for a bigger lineup on a timeline that matches Cunningham.

He’s graduated to a 60% true shooting percentage the past two seasons, and it’s not because he’s limited to catch-and-shoot opportunities.

In his All-Star season of 2024-25, he got to the line nearly 24% of the time, had a usage rate of 28%, shot 56% on twos, and 37.5% on threes. He was in the top quarter of the league as a scorer off of handoffs, cuts, off screens, spot-ups, and on putbacks. He can function as a high-volume movement shooter. He has also averaged better than 4 assists per season for his career, including a career-high 5.5 in his All-Star season.

Tyler Herro’s Defensive Limitations

Those limitations, though, should be seriously considered. He’s missed 89 games the past three seasons, including playing in just 11 of Miami’s first 56 games in his most recent campaign. He’s physically limited as a defender, and in the playoffs an opposing team would certainly look to attack that weakness.

The Pistons need to weigh any defensive limitations against the offense the team is so clearly lacking. The fact that the team is also reportedly interested in Coby White, Isaiah Joe and especially Zach LaVine as options tells you everything about how much they are willing to add a minus defender in a hope to turbo charge its offense.

The Cost of Tyler Herro

The hardest question to answer is what it would cost for Detroit to insert themselves into any three-team trade for Antetokounmpo. It’s widely assumed players like Herro, Ka’lel Ware and Nikola Jovic would be sent out in the deal.

Being the third team lowers the cost for Detroit a bit because the two primary teams are obviously motivated to get a deal done. The Milwaukee Bucks are looking to rebuild, so what would they want with a Tyler Herro anyway?

Well, the new lottery odds might complicate those matters a little bit. With extremely flat lottery odds plus an incentive not to be one of the three worst teams in the league means Milwaukee doesn’t need to strip down the entire roster for parts. They don’t need Herro, but they could keep him around, make him the No. 1 option and try to flip him at the deadline.

If Detroit wants him, they will have to surrender some real value for him. Recall the cost the Cleveland Cavaliers paid to poach Jarrett Allen from the Brooklyn Nets in the three-team deal with the Rockets as part of the James Harden trade. Cleveland sent first-round and second-round picks in the deal along with Dante Exum to get Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince and the rights to a never NBA player. At the time, Allen was just 22 years old and had never made an All-Star team.

It feels like a deal that nets Detroit Herro would start at some combination of Caris LeVert AND Duncan Robinson OR Isaiah Stewart, plus a first-round pick.

How that stacks to comparative costs for a better player such as Trey Murphy or a worse, more affordable player like Zach LaVine, is the prism we need to eye these trades in.

It seems clear, though, that the Pistons have their sights set on a very particular set of skills, and they are the ones the fan base agrees Detroit is lacking. Should be an interesting offseason.

Which player would you most want to add considering roster impact and cost?

While there has been much debate about what the future holds for LeBron James, the reality is that there have been only a few viable options.

It never felt realistic that he would move across the country for a likely retirement tour. Cleveland would need to do an immense amount of cap gymnastics to offer him anything more than a minimum contract. Ultimately, that leaves the Lakers and Warriors as the legitimate options.

And wouldn’t you know it, as free agency nears, it appears those are the top two options. On Thursday, Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported on a number of things about the Lakers, including where LeBron’s free agency stands just weeks away.

Still, the prevailing sentiment, according to more than half a dozen sources around the league, is that James will likely return to the Lakers if he comes back, with the Golden State Warriors presenting a realistic second option.

This comes on the heels of a different ESPN reporter, Marc Spears, reporting that LeBron was likely to return to the Lakers. Even if one-third of the league is supposedly tampering to ask about LeBron, there’s been basically no indication he’s going to leave LA. In fact, the opposite is true.

What’s also true, though, is that the Warriors not only keep coming up, but no one is denying they’re an option, either. They will, however, be limited in the contract they can offer LeBron, as McMenamin explained.

The most the Warriors, as currently constructed, would be able to offer James is the $15.1 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception, $37 million less than what he made last season.

The Lakers technically could offer James a maximum of three years and $182 million to stay, but nobody around the league expects the team to offer James anywhere close to that.

However, L.A. could beat the Warriors’ offer with a deal in the $20 million to $30 million range, still re-sign Reaves and have money remaining to build out the rest of the roster.

The main selling point for the Warriors is the opportunity to play with Steph Curry and Draymond Green and that’s about it. Jimmy Butler will be out half the season and while that core is fun on paper, they’re not going to be competitive, and certainly not as compeitive as the Lakers with Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves.

Is that really a compelling enough situation for LeBron to go to in lieu of the Lakers? Was the 2024 Olympics not a good enough final ride for LeBron and Steph?

All of this is working under the assumption we know LeBron’s thinking, which we don’t. But it really does feel like LeBron and the Lakers reuniting one more time is the likeliest outcome.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

For the next month before the 2026 NBA Draft, we’ll take an in-depth look at different prospects here at Liberty Ballers and try to figure out which players would be the best fit for the Sixers at No. 22. Next up in this series is St Johns’ Zuby Ejiofor.

Ejiofor quietly put together one of the more impressive senior seasons in the country at St. John’s, emerging as one of the better defensive anchors in college basketball and a legitimate NBA prospect in the process. He was not a household name heading into the year, but his combination of length, motor and playmaking ability for a big made him impossible to ignore by the end of it. Most mocks have him going somewhere in the late first to early second round, but for a Sixers team that needs physicality, rebounding and energy off the bench, he is worth keeping a close eye on as the draft approaches.

Profile

2023-24 Stats: 37 games, 30 minutes, 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.2 steals, 2.1 blocks, 53.6% FG, 30.5% 3P, 71.8% FT

Team: St Johns

Year: Senior

Position: PF/C

Height & Weight: 6’7.5” | 245 lbs

Born: April 20, 2004 (22 years old)

Hometown: Garland, Texas

Strengths

Ejiofor’s calling card is his defense, and it is not close. His combination of lateral quickness and a 7’2″ wingspan allows him to credibly guard one through five, switching onto guards on the perimeter without getting eaten alive and protecting the rim against bigger bodies. That kind of positional versatility is exactly what modern NBA rosters are built around. He anchored the St. John’s defense this past season, averaging 2.1 blocks per game and posting a 4.9 Defensive Box Plus/Minus, numbers that reflect just how disruptive he is as a rotational shot-alterer on and off the ball.

His rebounding is equally impressive. He crashes the glass with an elite offensive rebounding rate driven by instincts, motor and length rather than size alone. The effort and instincts are there regardless of the matchup.

Despite boasting impressive defensive intangibles, his playmaking ability is what really sets Ejiofor apart from other athletic, high-energy bigs. His comfort putting the ball on the floor and finding open teammates is a genuine differentiator. He averaged a career-best 3.5 assists per game as a senior, functioning well in dribble-handoff actions and short-roll situations, reading the floor and finding cutters reliably. Most players in his archetype are catch-and-finish guys. Ejiofor has shown flashes of something more, even leading St. John’s in assists for the season.

As a finisher, he is efficient and decisive. He converts around 54% of his field goals overall, operates at 97% accuracy on dunks, and finishes close-range attempts at a 59% clip. He does not need plays drawn up for him to be productive.

His combine showing in Chicago helped his cause. He shot the ball well enough to plant a seed of doubt in scouts who had written off his offensive range, and his athletic testing backed up everything the tape suggested about his mobility and explosiveness.

Weaknesses

At 6’7.5″ barefoot, Ejiofor lives in the tweener space that might make NBA teams nervous. He is not a true center against physical fives, and his wingspan only covers so much ground when a bigger body has established post position. That size gap shows up most in heavy traffic rebounding situations where length alone cannot compensate.

As a four, the questions shift to whether he can consistently guard faster perimeter players away from the basket without losing his defensive edge. His versatility is his calling card, but tweener bigs can be exposed quickly at the NBA level when matchups get uncomfortable or a team runs a switch-heavy scheme. That said, the league has been trending bigger and longer for years now, which makes the tweener label at least somewhat subjective depending on who you ask.

One of the bigger focal points offensively is his lack of floor spacing. He shot around 31% from three on low volume in college, making him a reluctant shooter that defenses can afford to sag off. Without that perimeter threat, his presence in the half-court can tighten the paint for teammates and limit offensive flow around him when the ball isn’t in his hands.

He is best used as a finisher off rolls, cuts, and put-backs rather than someone you can run plays for when things slow down. He tends to back defenders down and work out of the post rather than operating as a vertical threat, which means longer and more athletic rim protectors can give him trouble when he is trying to generate his own look. That is a fine role, but it puts a ceiling on how much he can be asked to do. Teams drafting Ejiofor need to be clear-eyed about what they are getting: a high-floor, ready-now backup big who can impact winning immediately, but likely within a defined lane.

Positional Fit

Ejiofor projects most naturally as a backup center or small-ball five, though his tweener size ensures the positional conversation will follow him into draft night. The jumper is ultimately the variable that determines how the position question gets answered. If it develops into even a passable perimeter threat, defenses have to respect him on the floor and the positional limitations become far less relevant. If it does not, he risks getting squeezed out of the four by more switchable wings and out of the five by bigger, more physical bodies. How his skills translate are a real question, but his physical tools, athleticism and motor might make up for a lot of his deficiencies early on. In the right system, Ejiofor can carve out a role from day one with room to grow.

Draft Projection

Ejiofor’s draft projection ranges quite a bit, with the higher end sitting in the mid-to-late first round, putting him right in line with where the Sixers are selecting at 22. Most mock drafts have him going in the late first round to a handful of contenders such as the Celtics, Cavaliers, Timberwolves and Nuggets. Ejiofor would slot in nicely with any of these teams, who are all in need of a versatile defensive big alongside their established talent.