The Los Angeles Lakers hosted LiAngelo Ball for a workout this week as he goes through the draft process.
But the Lakers are not believed to have any intentions to add Ball to their program, even for the G League.
Ball is the younger brother of Lonzo Ball and played in Lithuania this season.
"The NBA executives I have spoken to about LiAngelo Ball have all said that they don’t feel he’s talented enough to play in the G-League," said Jeff Goodman.
The Boston Celtics are interested in moving up to select Mo Bamba, according to sources.
The Celtics would likely need to trade up to the No. 3 through No. 6 range in order to select Bamba.
The Celtics have a need for a defensive center and Bamba projects as a potential All-Defensive caliber player.
Boston owns the No. 27 overall pick and have multiple other assets available.
The NBA announced the 40 players who are expected to attend the NBA Global Camp 2018, a pre-Draft showcase from June 2-5 at La Ghirada Sports Center in Treviso, Italy, for top Draft-eligible prospects from outside the U.S.
The camp will include team interview sessions, five-on-five games, shooting drills, and strength and agility testing in front of representatives from all 30 NBA teams, all under the direction of NBA personnel.
The camp will also feature a series of scrimmages among prospects from NBA Academies, the league’s network of elite basketball training centers around the world for top male and female prospects from outside the U.S., along with a team from Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence and top international prospects. Since October 2016, NBA Academies have been launched in Canberra, Australia; Jinan, Urumqi and Zhuji, China; Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), India; Mexico City, Mexico; and Thies, Senegal.
Berke Atar, Bandirma Kirmizi (Turkey)
Trae Bell-Haynes, Vermont (Canada)
Etienne Ca, Chalon (France)
*Emanuel Cate, Prat (Spain)
*Vasileios Charalampopoulos, PAOK (Greece)
*Cyrille Eliezer-Vanerot, Paris Levallois (France)
Diego Flaccadori, Aquila Basket Trento (Italy)
*Gabriel Galvanini, Bauru (Brazil)
*Marc Garcia, FC Barcelona 2 (Spain)
*Stephane Gombauld, Lille Metropole (France)
Melvyn Govindy, Cholet (France)
Aleksa Ilic, KK Buducnost (Montenegro)
Karim Jallow, Bayern Munich (Germany)
Matas Jogela, Zalgiris II (Lithuania)
Kenan Karahodzic, Oviedo CB (Spain)
*Leon Kratzer, Wuerzburg (Germany)
*Arnoldas Kulboka, Capo d’Orlando (Italy)
*Aleksandar Lazic, KK Mega Bemax (Serbia)
*Xabier Lopez-Arostegui, Joventut Badalona (Spain)
*Matur Maker, CIBA (Canada)
*Vanja Marinkovic, Partizan (Serbia)
*William McDowell-White, Baunach (Germany)
MiKyle McIntosh, Oregon (Canada)
*Blaz Mesicek, Brindisi (Italy)
Adam Mokoka, Gravelines (France)
*Shekinah Munanga, Monaco (France)
Dzanan Musa, Cedevita (Croatia)
*Zoran Nikolic, KK Buducnost (Montenegro)
Andreas Obst, Gotha (Germany)
Viny Okouo, Unicaja (Spain)
Louis Olinde, Brose Baskets (Germany)
Erxhan Osmani, Bandirma Kirmizi (Turkey)
Jean-Marc Pansa, Nanterre (France)
Darel Poirier, Charleville (France)
*Marcel Ponitka, Asseco (Poland)
*Dusan Ristic, Arizona (Serbia)
Issuf Sanon, Olimpija (Slovenia)
Leonardo Tote, Verona (Italy)
*Michael Uchendu, Bauru (Brazil)
Yuta Watanabe, George Washington (Japan)
The Denver Nuggets continue to pursue a trade of Kenneth Faried, who has been out of their rotation for some time now.
"The Nuggets have been trying to get off of Kenneth Faried's contract for a year plus," said Wojnarowski. "They're a candidate to use that 14th pick to get off of that salary."
Faried has one more season at $13.8 million on his contract and moving that salary could help give the Nuggets cap flexibility.
Donte DiVincenzo has decided to remain in the 2018 NBA Draft and will hire an agent.
DiVincenzo had a strong showing at the NBA’s draft combine in Chicago and has performed well in team workouts.
DiVincenzo could be a first round pick in the draft.
“I’m more than just a shooter,” DiVincenzo told Yahoo Sports during the combine. “I want to show teams that I can do more. Playing point guard is one big thing that teams want to see — if I can control the tempo, get into the offense, get shots and pocket passes.
“Teams that I’ve spoken to, it’s been all positive and going in the right direction. I believe the range teams see me as is a late first-round pick, so if I can keep growing and keep rising, that’s perfect for me.”
Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and NBA Draft expert Sam Vecenie of The Athletic (@Sam_Vecenie) catch up on the draft process after the lottery and Combine.
They discuss Phoenix’s decision at #1, Luka Doncic’s expected value, the role of true centers, the future of NBA offense and much more.
Sponsored by Bear Mattress, BetDSI, Hims (http://forhims.com/real), TrueCar and the PodcastOne Sports Now podcast.
The Los Angeles Clippers are open to packaging their No. 12 and No. 13 picks to move up in the draft.
Michael Porter Jr. could be a possible target for the Clippers, according to a front office executive.
Steve Ballmer attended the media session as last week's combine and even paused his own interview with listen behind a media scrum around Porter.
Ballmer saw Porter play in high school.
“About my only real contribution [to the draft] is to say, ‘Hey, I saw some high school kid in Seattle and he looked really good.’ And it turns out it’s probably a kid who will be the no. 1 or no. 2 pick,” Ballmer said on The Bill Simmons Podcast in March 2017. “[Porter] plays in the same league as my son, so I have watched him play a few times. … And they say, ‘Thank you very much for your scouting. Go back to that mathy stuff.’”
The New York Knicks are targeting Trae Young with the ninth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, according to multiple sources.
Young is considered an ideal fit alongside Frank Ntilikina, who is more of a shooting guard and has limited range.
Young's father recently revealed that New York would be a desirable destination as a big market.
The Knicks interviewed Young on Friday.
There is a growing belief that both the Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks are prepared to pass on Luka Doncic if he is available to them at No. 2 and No. 3.
The Phoenix Suns are expected to take Deandre Ayton at No. 1.
Another team could conceivably trade up with the Kings or Hawks to select Doncic, but he could also slide to the Memphis Grizzlies at No. 4 or even the Dallas Mavericks at No. 5.
Doncic struggled at times in the Euroleague Final Four, which was attended by a host of scouts and NBA decision-makers.
Luka Doncic has been named MVP of the Euroleague for the 17-18 season.
Doncic averaged 16.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in Euroleague.
Doncic is expected to be one of the top selections in this June's draft.
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