Gerald Bourguet: Earlier today, the Valley Suns acquired Alex Schumacher from the Windy City Bulls for a 2025 international draft pick. The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 8.1 PPG and 3.0 APG in 24 games for Windy City this season
Draft Rumors
Jeanie Buss: What was happening with my brother and the general manager was that they had made the decision that — once Kobe [Bryant] was retired — they were going to let the team fall all the way down to the bottom and collect draft picks. Well, [our father] never ran the team that way. He didn’t want to do a rebuild. What I saw was our fan base beginning to erode, losing faith. My brother and I were butting heads on that. I kept saying, ‘I can’t raise ticket prices if we’re not winning.’ And we just went season after season after season. And I’m like, I’ve lost patience with this. I had to make the very tough decision to let my brother go.
In a rare mid-season move, Rip City Remix guard Isaac Nogués Gonzaléz is submitting paperwork this week to officially enter the 2025 NBA Draft, the 21-year-old Spaniard told me.
Just a month ago, Rick Pitino said it was “100%” that junior wing RJ Luis would leave St. John’s to turn pro after this season. Now the Naismith Hall of Fame coach says the 6-foot-7 Luis will test the NBA Draft waters and could return for his senior season, thus he won’t participate in Senior Day ceremonies on Saturday.
“Surprised? No. Not really,” Ron Harper said when asked about the fanfare surrounding Dylan Harper. “He has always played hard, he always believed in who he was, and I always talk to him about putting the time in. When you do, you’ll be as good as you’re going to be.” That relentless work ethic is evident, and Harper Sr. sees it paying off as Dylan continues to rise in the ranks of young basketball phenoms. “I told him when he was little, it’s about being consistent. If you show up every day and put in the work, people are going to notice. And now, they are.”
“I try not to compare him to anybody,” Harper said when asked if Dylan’s game mirrors that of Los Angeles Clippers star James Harden. “I always try to give him enough room and enough space to be the kind of player he wants to become.” That said, Harper does acknowledge some similarities but ultimately sees his son as more complete. “I could see some comparisons to James, but I compare him to a much better all-around player than what James Harden is. James Harden is known as a guy who can score the basketball, and I prefer Dylan to become an all-around player who can play two ends of the ball game.”
Outside of Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper, there are precious few prospects in this class without significant questions right now. NBA evaluators are not particularly enthused about what the back half of the lottery could bring, with that No. 6 to No. 20 range considered a massive jumble of players all in similar tiers. There are even questions about the value of Nos. 3, 4 and 5.
That, along with the rest of the class continuing to live down to relative expectations, has vaulted him to the clear No. 4 spot. But questions persist about his game. Scouts are very interested to see how he’ll measure in Chicago at the NBA Draft Combine. Listed at 6-foot-5, most evaluators have a degree of skepticism that he hits that mark. On top of that, most of Edgecombe’s consistent sources of success this year have come off the ball as opposed to being the primary playmaker.
NBA sources and sources close to Queen have told The Athletic that Queen has taken his nutrition extremely seriously at Maryland this year and has done a fantastic job of keeping his weight down. Entering Maryland, he was over 260 pounds. Now, he’s in the 240-pound range and continues to make good decisions regarding his food.
