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octothorp · 04-12-2013, 01:33 PM

A few updates:

NBA News:
Kris Joseph was on 10-day tryout with the Nets, and while he hasn't seen a lot of playing time, apparently everyone in the organization absolutely loves how hard he's worked since coming up, and today he was awarded a contract for the remainder of the season (four games plus playoffs). I definitely think he's NBA-calibre talent (although as a bench/rotation player).

If you haven't been following the Spurs, Cory Joseph has really stepped up during Parker's injuries. Definitely part of their plans for the future.

Thompson and Nicholson are both doing well, Thompson had a monster 29/17 game last week, while Nicholson hasn't been getting consistent minutes, but was averaging 11/5 over March when he was getting good minutes. Decent numbers for a rookie.

NCAA News:

Kabongo announced today that he's going to enter the draft. Hard to tell if that's the right decision or not. The stats he posted late-season after serving his suspension were great, and combined with his original hype, may be enough to make him a late first round pick. Might come down to his workouts, but my feeling right now is that he'll go late first. DraftExpress has him 41st overall, but I'd be shocked if he dropped that much.

Justin Edwards had a great sophomore season with the University of Maine (17 ppg), and has announced his intent to transfer, so we'll see where he ends up, but he'll definitely be in a more high-profile situation. I believe he'll need to sit out for one year after transferring.

Pretty mixed NCAA tournament for the Canadians, with Cadougan and Stauskas the only two to play a role in any significant runs. Olynyk seemed to get generally positive reviews despite Gonzaga's early exit and still looks like he's got a shot at a late lottery spot, or at least early 20s. Bennett was a disappointment in UCLA's early loss, though I thought Birch played extremely well that game. Birch is being projected as a late first round pick in 2014 in some mocks, which is nice to see after he completely disappeared off the radar after his transfer from Pitt. Rivard for Harvard and Ejim for Iowa State were a couple other guys who I thought played well in the tournament.
Heslip, who helped Baylor's elite 8 run last year, had a couple big games (and a couple invisible games) in helping Baylor to a NIT tournament title. Still almost exclusively a 3-point shooter though.

Keanau Post was named a Junior-College All-American. As I mentioned earlier, he'll play for Missouri next year (joining fellow Canadians Negus Webster-Chan and Stephan Jankovic). I believe he's made his academic qualifications that will allow him to play next year rather than sit out one year.

So it's shaping up right now to be two or three Canadians in the first round: Bennett, Olynyk, and Kabongo. Could be more if either Powell or Birch declare, but I think both will stay in college for next season.

High-school news:

High-school SF Marial Shayok made the ESPN top 60 for the class of 2014 (joining top PF prospect Trey Lyles). Also starting to get attention is Justin Jackson, who's class of 2016 (and not to be confused with the 2014 Texas prospect of the same name) and is an elite passer with SF size at 6'7".

6'4 PG Jamal Murray got an invite to the Jordan Brand Classic this weekend in Brooklyn, joining Wiggins and Ennis. He's class of 2016, and if he grows a bit more, he'll probably end up as an SG or combo guard. Chris Egi is another high school prospect to keep an eye on: PF who's listed by scouts.com as the 48th-best player in the 2015 class, though that far out the rankings really start to lose value. Still, add him to Montaque Gill-Caesar as players to watch in the 2015 class.

Tyler Ennis had some good news, in that Carter-Williams declared for the draft, opening up a lot of playing time for Ennis at Syracuse next year.

The Nike Elite Youth Basketball series begins next weekend, and runs through April and May. Most of these young Canadians will play together on the CIA Bounce team, which has been one of the top teams in each of the recent years.

04-12-2013, 01:33 PM	#50
octothorp Franchise Player Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: not lurking Exp:	A few updates: NBA News: Kris Joseph was on 10-day tryout with the Nets, and while he hasn't seen a lot of playing time, apparently everyone in the organization absolutely loves how hard he's worked since coming up, and today he was awarded a contract for the remainder of the season (four games plus playoffs). I definitely think he's NBA-calibre talent (although as a bench/rotation player). If you haven't been following the Spurs, Cory Joseph has really stepped up during Parker's injuries. Definitely part of their plans for the future. Thompson and Nicholson are both doing well, Thompson had a monster 29/17 game last week, while Nicholson hasn't been getting consistent minutes, but was averaging 11/5 over March when he was getting good minutes. Decent numbers for a rookie. NCAA News: Kabongo announced today that he's going to enter the draft. Hard to tell if that's the right decision or not. The stats he posted late-season after serving his suspension were great, and combined with his original hype, may be enough to make him a late first round pick. Might come down to his workouts, but my feeling right now is that he'll go late first. DraftExpress has him 41st overall, but I'd be shocked if he dropped that much. Justin Edwards had a great sophomore season with the University of Maine (17 ppg), and has announced his intent to transfer, so we'll see where he ends up, but he'll definitely be in a more high-profile situation. I believe he'll need to sit out for one year after transferring. Pretty mixed NCAA tournament for the Canadians, with Cadougan and Stauskas the only two to play a role in any significant runs. Olynyk seemed to get generally positive reviews despite Gonzaga's early exit and still looks like he's got a shot at a late lottery spot, or at least early 20s. Bennett was a disappointment in UCLA's early loss, though I thought Birch played extremely well that game. Birch is being projected as a late first round pick in 2014 in some mocks, which is nice to see after he completely disappeared off the radar after his transfer from Pitt. Rivard for Harvard and Ejim for Iowa State were a couple other guys who I thought played well in the tournament. Heslip, who helped Baylor's elite 8 run last year, had a couple big games (and a couple invisible games) in helping Baylor to a NIT tournament title. Still almost exclusively a 3-point shooter though. Keanau Post was named a Junior-College All-American. As I mentioned earlier, he'll play for Missouri next year (joining fellow Canadians Negus Webster-Chan and Stephan Jankovic). I believe he's made his academic qualifications that will allow him to play next year rather than sit out one year. So it's shaping up right now to be two or three Canadians in the first round: Bennett, Olynyk, and Kabongo. Could be more if either Powell or Birch declare, but I think both will stay in college for next season. High-school news: High-school SF Marial Shayok made the ESPN top 60 for the class of 2014 (joining top PF prospect Trey Lyles). Also starting to get attention is Justin Jackson, who's class of 2016 (and not to be confused with the 2014 Texas prospect of the same name) and is an elite passer with SF size at 6'7". 6'4 PG Jamal Murray got an invite to the Jordan Brand Classic this weekend in Brooklyn, joining Wiggins and Ennis. He's class of 2016, and if he grows a bit more, he'll probably end up as an SG or combo guard. Chris Egi is another high school prospect to keep an eye on: PF who's listed by scouts.com as the 48th-best player in the 2015 class, though that far out the rankings really start to lose value. Still, add him to Montaque Gill-Caesar as players to watch in the 2015 class. Tyler Ennis had some good news, in that Carter-Williams declared for the draft, opening up a lot of playing time for Ennis at Syracuse next year. The Nike Elite Youth Basketball series begins next weekend, and runs through April and May. Most of these young Canadians will play together on the CIA Bounce team, which has been one of the top teams in each of the recent years. Last edited by octothorp; 04-12-2013 at 01:40 PM.