With under two weeks to go until the 2020 NBA Draft finally — finally! — takes place, we’re slowly seeing the rumor mill start to churn as teams enter the home stretch and begin making their final assessments. And with restrictions relaxed on in-person interactions, we’re already ingesting a steady diet of more rumors leading up to Nov. 18. Clarity is coming as prospects settle into ranges, draft boards get finalized and team’s motives become more clear.
Who am I kidding? Motives remain murky as ever. The fun of draft season is trying to interpret motives with confidence, because they are rarely clear. Smoke screens have smoke screens by now, and even those smoke screens might have an extra layer of fog. The only thing that’s certain is that absolutely nothing is certain.
So that’s why we’re tracking all the latest buzz below: to try and make heads and tails of all the latest draft news and notes and get you caught up with everything you need (and maybe don’t need) to know.
LaMelo Ball could fall out of top three
With Minnesota, Golden State and Charlotte (the teams picking top three in the draft) all seemingly not in dire need of point guard help — and with LaMelo Ball’s pre-draft process apparently not going as expected — there appears to be some potential that the 6-foot-7 point guard may slip on draft night. The No. 1 prospect on the CBS Sports Big Board, Ball has struggled in workouts and interviews, according to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, who noted this week that league sources “believe he could fall out of the top three.”
I’d bet against it. He’s long been seen by most as a top three pick dating back months, so it’s hard to imagine an interview or workout, even if it’s not great, affecting teams’ view on him that much. But Ball falling could be a fascinating subplot on draft night, especially with point guard-needy teams like the Pistons and Knicks sitting in the back half of the top 10 lingering — and likely hoping — that indeed does happen.
LaMelo Ball meets with Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves, who own the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, met with potential No. 1 pick LaMelo Ball last week and is expected to meet soon with the Golden State Warriors, Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls, according to a report from ESPN. The four franchises all hold the top four picks in this year’s draft. The 6-foot-7 Ball is one of the most electric playmaking guards in this draft, though there is buzz of late suggesting he’s not performing well during interviews. It’s unclear how much of that is just news and how much is noise, but that a top five prospect is meeting with a team that holds the No. 1 pick is certainly newsworthy and worth monitoring.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
