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SPORTS
Draft Notes: Flemings, Anderson, Pelicans, Guide
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By Eli Cohen |
at June 16, 2026 8:59 pm

Houston point guard Kingston Flemings, widely projected to be a top-10 pick in next week’s draft, has only worked out for three teams so far, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman writes within his newest mock draft. Flemings has visited the Clippers, Bulls, and Mavericks.
The Bulls and Clippers have the fourth and fifth overall picks, respectively. The Mavs are lower in the lottery at No. 9 but the player they choose will have the added benefit of playing alongside a true franchise cornerstone in Cooper Flagg. While undersized, Flemings is a talented scorer who showed good off-ball ability playing in Houston’s talented program this season.
We have more notes on the draft:

Texas Tech point guard Christian Anderson is another prospect looking to separate himself from the other guards, despite generally being ranked slightly lower than the top guard group. He has worked out for multiple teams with top-10 picks so far this summer, Yahoo’s Kevin O’Connor reports in his own mock draft. Anderson is one of the better play-makers out of the pick-and-roll in the class and has a case for being the best shooter in the draft.
The Pelicans held a pre-draft workout on Tuesday featuring Maliq Brown (Duke), Malik Dia (Ole Miss), Xaivian Lee (Florida), JJ Starling (Syracuse), and Peter Suder (Miami, Ohio), Will Guillory reports for The Athletic (Twitter link). Of the six prospects, Brown is the highest ranked, coming in at No. 54 on Jeremy Woo’s big board for ESPN. The Pelicans control the 58th overall pick in the draft.
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic released his 2026 draft guide on Monday, featuring rankings of his top 100 prospects as well as 60 in-depth player breakdowns. Within the detailed guide, he writes that AJ Dybantsa could easily become a top-10 player in the NBA and refers to Cameron Boozer as close to a can’t-fail prospect, noting that the only thing keeping Boozer from a No. 1 ranking in the class is that he profiles better as an elite second star on a team, rather than the primary engine.



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SPORTS
Pacific Notes: Pelinka, Kings Workouts, Suns Workouts, Butler
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The playoff sweep by Oklahoma City convinced the Lakers that they need to add more talent and depth to their roster, Benjamin Royer of The Orange County Register writes in a subscriber-only piece. General manager Rob Pelinka was especially struck by the development of Ajay Mitchell, a second-round pick in 2024 who started his career on a two-way contract and averaged 22.5 PPG in the series against L.A.
“There’s ways to add to your roster if you commit to doing the hard work and commit to the process of adding the right pieces,” Pelinka said at his end-of-season press conference last week. “We’ll be doing that through the draft and free agency and through trades. We’ve got to find a way to have a roster that will compete with any team in the NBA.”
Pelinka added that the Lakers, who hold the 25th pick this year, plan to bring in more than 20 players for workouts with an emphasis on finding more depth, athleticism and youth. He stated that competitiveness and basketball IQ will also be prioritized, noting that player development has become more important than ever with the current salary structure.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:

The Kings were focused on their second-round picks at No. 34 and 45 when they held their first pre-draft workout on Friday, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (subscription required). Taking part were Houston shooting guard Emanuel Sharp, Duke center Maliq Brown, Auburn power forward Keyshawn Hall, Louisville shooting guard Isaac McKneely, Grand Canyon small forward Jaden Henley and Xavier power forward Tre Carroll, who are all projected to be taken the second round or go undrafted. Sharp talked to reporters about what he can offer an NBA team (Twitter video link from Michelle Dapper of KCRA).
Florida State point guard Robert McCray has worked out for the Suns, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). Louisville guard Ryan Conwell and St. John’s forward Bryce Hopkins are scheduled to visit Phoenix next week, Gambadoro adds (Twitter link).
The Warriors‘ Jimmy Butler may not return to the court until after midseason, but he was able to entertain at the BottleRock Napa Valley Music Festival on Friday (Instagram video), relays Kalan Hooks of ESPN. Butler, who underwent ACL reconstruction surgery in February, performed a few songs while jumping around the stage. “Don’t show this to (coach) Steve (Kerr); I got a torn ACL,” he told the crowd.



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SPORTS
NBA Announces 73 Invitees For 2026 Draft Combine
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The NBA announced today (via Twitter) that 73 prospects have been invited to attend this year’s draft combine, which will take place in Chicago from May 10-17.
In addition to those 73 players, a handful of standout players from the G League combine, 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 2026 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 27 if they wish to preserve that eligibility, while non-college players face a decision deadline of June 13. 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 2026 draft combine:
(Note: For players in international leagues, the country listed is where they had been playing, not necessarily where they’re from.)

Matt Able, G, North Carolina State (freshman)
Darius Acuff, G, Arkansas (freshman)
Amari Allen, F, Alabama (freshman)
Nate Ament, F, Tennessee (freshman)
Christian Anderson, G, Texas Tech (sophomore)
Tobe Awaka, F, Arizona (senior)
Flory Bidunga, F/C, Kansas (sophomore)
Tyler Bilodeau, F, UCLA (senior)
John Blackwell, G, Wisconsin (junior)
Cameron Boozer, F, Duke (freshman)
Kylan Boswell, G, Illinois (senior)
Nick Boyd, G, Wisconsin (senior)
Jaden Bradley, G, Arizona (senior)
Trevon Brazile, F, Arkansas (senior)
Maliq Brown, F, Duke (senior)
Mikel Brown Jr., G, Louisville (freshman)
Brayden Burries, G, Arizona (freshman)
Cameron Carr, G, Baylor (junior)
Chris Cenac, F/C, Houston (freshman)
Rueben Chinyelu, C, Florida (junior)
Ryan Conwell, G, Louisville (senior)
Sergio De Larrea, G, Spain (born 2005)
AJ Dybantsa, F, BYU (freshman)
Zuby Ejiofor, F, St. John’s (senior)
Isaiah Evans, G/F, Duke (sophomore)
Jeremy Fears, G, Michigan State (junior)
Kingston Flemings, G, Houston (freshman)
Ja’Kobi Gillespie, G, Tennessee (senior)
Allen Graves, F, Santa Clara (freshman)
Keyshawn Hall, G/F, Auburn (senior)
Juke Harris, G, Wake Forest (sophomore)
Joshua Jefferson, F, Iowa State (senior)
Morez Johnson, F/C, Michigan (sophomore)
Alex Karaban, F, UConn (senior)
Jack Kayil, G, Germany (born 2006)
Toibu Lawal, F, Virginia Tech (senior)
Yaxel Lendeborg, F, Michigan (senior)
Karim Lopez, F, Australia (born 2007)
Aday Mara, C, Michigan (junior)
Nick Martinelli, F, Northwestern (senior)
Baba Miller, F/C, Cincinnati (senior)
Dillon Mitchell, F, St. John’s (senior)
Milan Momcilovic, F, Iowa State (junior)
Malachi Moreno, C, Kentucky (freshman)
Izaiyah Nelson, F, South Florida (senior)
Tyler Nickel, F, Vanderbilt (senior)
Ebuka Okorie, G, Stanford (freshman)
Felix Okpara, C, Tennessee (senior)
Ugonna Onyenso, C, Virginia (senior)
Otega Oweh, G, Kentucky (senior)
Koa Peat, F, Arizona (freshman)
Darryn Peterson, G, Kansas (freshman)
Labaron Philon, G, Alabama (sophomore)
Jayden Quaintance, F/C, Kentucky (sophomore)
Tarris Reed, C, UConn (senior)
Billy Richmond, G/F, Arkansas (sophomore)
Richie Saunders, G, BYU (senior)
Emanuel Sharp, G, Houston (senior)
Braden Smith, G, Purdue (senior)
Hannes Steinbach, F, Washington (freshman)
Bennett Stirtz, G, Iowa (senior)
Andrej Stojakovic, G/F, Illinois (junior)
Peter Suder, G, Miami (OH) (senior)
Luigi Suigo, C, Serbia (born 2007)
Dailyn Swain, G/F, Texas (junior)
Tyler Tanner, G, Vanderbilt (sophomore)
Meleek Thomas, G, Arkansas (freshman)
Bruce Thornton, G, Ohio State (senior)
Milos Uzan, G, Houston (senior)
Henri Veesaar, C, North Carolina (junior)
Keaton Wagler, G, Illinois (freshman)
Caleb Wilson, F, North Carolina (freshman)
Tounde Yessoufou, G/F, Baylor (freshman)

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). That player would be required to complete combine activities at a later date.
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.



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