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Draft Notes: Lendeborg, Kings, Beringer, Knox, Mock

May 22nd, 2025 at 5:18pm CST by Rory Maher

Former UAB forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who reportedly has a lucrative offer on the table to transfer to Michigan if he opts to return to college, is among the prospects who will be working out for the Kings on Friday, tweets James Ham of TheKingsBeat.com.

Lendeborg comes in at No. 26 on ESPN’s best available prospects list, making him a possible late first-round pick. Interestingly, Sacramento currently only controls a second-rounder — No. 42 overall — in June’s draft.

While there have been no reports (that we’re aware of) to this point indicating the Kings are interested in acquiring an earlier selection, it also wouldn’t be surprising at all if they do — there are always teams on the hunt for young players on cost-controlled contracts. For what it’s worth, the Nets — who have a league-high five picks (all in the top 36) — are expected to be active in trade talks around the draft.

The other five prospects joining Lendeborg on Friday will be Zakai Zeigler (Tennessee), RJ Felton (East Carolina), Ben Henshall (Perth), Cameron Matthews (Mississippi State) and Jalon Moore (Oklahoma). Henshall (No. 63) and Moore (No. 73) also appear on ESPN’s big board, while the other players do not.

Here are a few more draft-related notes:

French center Joan Beringer, a late bloomer who is the third-youngest player in the 2025 class, is drawing late-lottery interest, sources tell Grant Afseth of RG.org. The 18-year-old big man comes in at No. 16 on ESPN’s board. According to Afseth, scouts have pegged the Hawks (No. 13) as a potential fit, since Clint Capela is an unrestricted free agent and the team could be looking for a younger option at backup center behind Onyeka Okongwu.
Guard Kobe Knox is withdrawing from the draft and will transfer to South Carolina for his senior season, reports Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Knox is the younger brother of Warriors forward Kevin Knox and the older brother of early entrant Karter Knox. The middle Knox brother averaged 10.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals on .463/.331/.767 shooting in 30 games in 2024/25 with South Florida (28.6 minutes per contest).
Cyro Asseo de Choch of HoopsHype recently released the website’s latest aggregate mock draft, which compiles 10 mock drafts from various outlets for a composite ranking. The aggregate mock also features a scouting report on each prospect in the first round.

NBA Announces 75 Invitees For 2025 Draft Combine

May 2nd, 2025 at 3:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA announced today (via Twitter) that 75 prospects have been invited to attend this year’s draft combine, which will take place in Chicago from May 11-18.

In addition to those 75 players, a handful of standout players from the G League Elite Camp, which is also held in Chicago just before the combine begins, are expected to receive invites to stick around for the main event.

Not all of the prospects invited to the combine will end up remaining in the 2025 draft pool, since many are early entrants who are testing the waters while retaining their NCAA eligibility.

College players must withdraw from the draft by the end of the day on May 28 if they wish to preserve that eligibility, while non-college players face a decision deadline of June 15. The feedback they receive from NBA teams at the combine may be a deciding factor for players who are on the fence.

Here’s the list of players who have been invited to the 2025 draft combine:

(Note: For players in international leagues, the country listed is where they had been playing, not necessarily where they’re from.)

Izan Almansa, F/C, Australia (born 2005)
Neoklis Avdalas, G/F, Greece (born 2006)
Ace Bailey, G/F, Rutgers (freshman)
Joan Beringer, C, Slovenia (born 2006)
Koby Brea, G, Kentucky (senior)
Johni Broome, F/C, Auburn (senior)
Carter Bryant, F, Arizona (freshman)
Miles Byrd, G, San Diego State (sophomore)
Walter Clayton Jr., G, Florida (senior)
Nique Clifford, G, Colorado State (senior)
Alex Condon, F/C, Florida (sophomore)
Cedric Coward, F, Washington State (senior)
Egor Demin, G, BYU (freshman)
Eric Dixon, F, Villanova (senior)
V.J. Edgecombe, G, Baylor (freshman)
Noa Essengue, F, Germany (born 2006)
Isaiah Evans, G/F, Duke (freshman)
Jeremiah Fears, G, Oklahoma (freshman)
Cooper Flagg, F, Duke (freshman)
Boogie Fland, G, Arkansas (freshman)
Rasheer Fleming, F/C, St. Joseph’s (junior)
Vladislav Goldin, C, Michigan (senior)
Hugo Gonzalez, F, Spain (born 2006)
PJ Haggerty, G, Memphis (sophomore)
Dylan Harper, G, Rutgers (freshman)
Ben Henshall, G/F, Australia (born 2004)
Kasparas Jakucionis, G, Illinois (freshman)
Sion James, G, Duke (senior)
Tre Johnson, G, Texas (freshman)
Kameron Jones, G, Marquette (senior)
Ryan Kalkbrenner, C, Creighton (senior)
Karter Knox, F, Arkansas (freshman)
Kon Knueppel, G/F, Duke (freshman)
Chaz Lanier, G, Tennessee (senior)
Yaxel Lendeborg, F, UAB (senior)
RJ Luis, F, St. John’s (junior)
Khaman Maluach, C, Duke (freshman)
Bogoljub Markovic, F/C, Serbia (born 2005)
Alijah Martin, G, Florida (senior)
Liam McNeeley, F, UConn (freshman)
Jalon Moore, F, Oklahoma (senior)
Collin Murray-Boyles, F, South Carolina (sophomore)
Grant Nelson, F, Alabama (senior)
Asa Newell, F, Georgia (freshman)
Otega Oweh, G, Kentucky (junior)
Dink Pate, G/F, Mexico City Capitanes (born 2006)
Micah Peavy, G/F, Georgetown (senior)
Noah Penda, F, France (born 2005)
Tahaad Pettiford, G, Auburn (freshman)
Labaron Philon, G, Alabama (freshman)
Drake Powell, G/F, UNC (freshman)
Tyrese Proctor, G, Duke (junior)
Derik Queen, C, Maryland (freshman)
Maxime Raynaud, F/C, Stanford (senior)
Jase Richardson, G, Michigan State (freshman)
Will Riley, F, Illinois (freshman)
Michael Ruzic, F, Spain (born 2006)
Hunter Sallis, G, Wake Forest (senior)
Kobe Sanders, G, Nevada (senior)
Ben Saraf, G, Germany (born 2006)
Mark Sears, G, Albama (senior)
Max Shulga, G, VCU (senior)
Javon Small, G, West Virginia (senior)
Thomas Sorber, F/C, Georgetown (freshman)
Adou Thiero, F, Arkansas (junior)
John Tonje, G, Wisconsin (senior)
Alex Toohey, F, Australia (born 2004)
Nolan Traore, G, France (born 2006)
Milos Uzan, G, Houston (junior)
Jamir Watkins, G/F, Florida State (senior)
Brice Williams, G/F, Nebraska (senior)
Darrion Williams, F, Texas Tech (junior)
Danny Wolf, F/C, Michigan (junior)
Hansen Yang, C, China (born 2005)
Rocco Zikarsky, C, Australia (born 2006)

It’s worth noting that the NBA and the NBPA agreed to several combine-related changes in their latest Collective Bargaining Agreement. Here are a few of those changes:

A player who is invited to the draft combine and declines to attend without an excused absence will be ineligible to be drafted. He would become eligible the following year by attending the combine. There will be exceptions made for a player whose FIBA season is ongoing, who is injured, or who is dealing with a family matter (such as a tragedy or the birth of a child).
Players who attend the draft combine will be required to undergo physical exams, share medical history, participate in strength, agility, and performance testing, take part in shooting drills, receive anthropometric measurements, and conduct interviews with teams and the media. Scrimmages won’t be mandatory.
Medical results from the combine will be distributed to select teams based on where the player is projected to be drafted. Only teams drafting in the top 10 would get access to medical info for the projected No. 1 pick; teams in the top 15 would receive medical info for players in the 2-6 range, while teams in the top 25 would get access to info for the players in the 7-10 range.

Mark Sears, Michael Ajayi Headline Latest NBA Draft Withdrawals

May 29th, 2024 at 7:48pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Alabama’s Mark Sears is withdrawing from the 2024 NBA draft and will return to play for the Crimson Tide after helping his team reach the Final Four this past season, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reports (Twitter link).

Coming in at No. 80 on ESPN’s best-available board, Sears was a second-team All-American and a first-team All-SEC selection in 2023/24. The 6’1″ guard averaged 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game while shooting 50.8% from the field, 43.6% from three and 85.7% from the free-throw line.

“I got good feedback from the NBA,” Sears said, per Givony. “But I can still get better in a few areas. I want to show I am a dog on defense next season, continue to bring vocal leadership, and work on my body and get into better shape. NIL has changed basketball and NBA teams told me that age isn’t a factor in today’s game, so I was comfortable coming back to try and bring home a national championship to Alabama.”

Michael Ajayi, who is transferring from Pepperdine to Gonzaga, also withdrew from the draft, according to Givony (Twitter link). The 6’7″ guard averaged 17.2 points and 9.9 rebounds while shooting 47.0% from beyond the arc. He made the All-WCC First Team in his first year with Pepperdine.

Ajayi is ranked No. 75 on ESPN’s big board and, according to Givony, he’ll be “closely monitored” as a senior after earning some fans during the pre-draft process.

Both Sears and Ajayi participated in the 2024 NBA Combine.

Here are more of the latest draft decisions from early entrants ahead of the tonight’s NCAA withdrawal deadline:

Withdrawing from the draft:

Ole Miss guard Matthew Murrell is returning to the Rebels for his super-senior season after averaging 16.2 points last season, per CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein (Twitter link). Murrell is No. 77 on ESPN’s board.
Wooga Poplar, who is transferring from Miami, is returning to school. He’s visiting Oregon next week, according to Rothstein (Twitter link). Poplar averaged 13.1 points and 4.8 rebounds in his junior season after helping Miami reach the Final Four in 2023.
Princeton guard Xaivian Lee is returning to school for his junior season, per Givony (Twitter link). Lee averaged 17.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game en route to a First-Team All-Ivy League nod.
Former Campbell guard Anthony Dell’Orso is transferring to Arizona for his junior season, according to Givony (Twitter link). He averaged 19.5 points per contest and shot 38.0% from three.
Malik Dia is transferring from Belmont to Ole Miss for his junior season (Twitter link via Rothstein). He averaged 16.9 points and 5.8 rebounds last season after starting his collegiate career at Vanderbilt.
Jalon Moore is returning to Oklahoma for his senior season (Twitter link via Rothstein). Moore began his career at Georgia Tech before joining the Sooners in his junior season.
In case you missed it, Arizona guard Caleb Love is withdrawing from the draft for his super-senior season with the Wildcats.

Princeton’s Xaivian Lee Among Players Entering Draft

April 6th, 2024 at 2:31pm CST by Rory Maher

Princeton sophomore guard Xaivian Lee is declaring for the 2024 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility, he told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Lee wasn’t highly recruited entering college — in fact he had no scholarship offers, according to Wojnarowski. But the Toronto-area native had a solid second season, averaging 17.1 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 3.7 APG and 1.0 SPG on .451/.338/.798 shooting in 29 games for the Tigers.

Butler’s Posh Alexander, a senior guard, is declaring for the draft (Twitter link) while maintaining his fifth and final year of college eligibility. Oklahoma’s Jalon Moore, a junior forward, is another draft early entrant (Twitter link), and while he didn’t say it outright, he suggested he would be maintaining the possibility of returning to Norman.

Evansville’s Yacine Toumi, a Tunisian-French forward, has also declared for the draft, he told Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter link). It’s unclear if Toumi will be testing the draft waters or forgoing his final season of eligibility.

South Florida’s Selton Miguel (Instagram link) is another player testing the draft waters while maintaining his eligibility, but he’s also entering the transfer portal. The 6’4″ guard has one season of eligibility left.

None of the players are listed on ESPN’s big board of the top-100 prospects in 2024, seemingly making it unlikely that any of them will hear their name called in June. They’ll be trying to impress NBA teams in pre-draft workouts and interviews to boost their stock.