Southeast Draft Notes Holmgren Hornets Williams ONeal

Southeast Draft Notes: Holmgren, Hornets, Williams, O’Neal

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Chet Holmgren met with the magic‘s front office on Wednesday and Thursday, writes Matt Murschel of The Orlando Sentinel. Holmgren is No. 1 on ESPN’s big board, although his thin physique has caused some other talent evaluators to drop him a little lower.

One person familiar with the situation tells The Associated Press’s Tim Reynolds that the 20-year-old’s visit included “meetings, interviews and a dinner.” The Magic previously held a solo workout with Jabari Smithand Paolo Banchero According to Reynolds, “expect to meet” Orlando before the June 23 draft.

The big men are generally considered the top three picks in the draft, and the Magic hold the No. 1 pick overall, so it makes perfect sense that they’d meet up with all of them.

In 32 games (26.9 MPG) in his lone collegiate season with Gonzaga, Holmgren was a consensus All-American with averages of 14.1 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, and 3.7 BPG at .607/ .390/.717 shooting.

Here are a few more draft-related notes from the Southeast Division:

  • That hornetswho control picks #13, 15, and 45 in the 2022 draft are holding a group practice session on Friday (Twitter link) With Malaki Branham, Mar Jon Beauchamp, Kendall Brown, Bryce McGowens, Isaiah Whaley and Trevion Williams. Branham (No. 13) and Beauchamp (No. 23) are both prospective first-round picks, with McGowens (No. 33) and Brown (No. 38) considered early second-round picks. Williams also has a solid shot at being drafted by the ESPN rankings as he’s No. 56 on the board, but Whaley isn’t listed.
  • Mark Williams has a solo workout with the wizard on Friday, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Williams is a potential lottery pick, picked 14th on ESPN’s board of directors, and Washington controls the pick at 10th. The 7’0″ center averaged 11.2 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 2.8 BPG, while in 39 games (23.6 MPG) as the runner-up for Duke this season, he shot 72.1% from the floor and 72.7% from the free throw line and won ACC Defensive Player of the Year doing so.
  • Shareef O’Neal worked for them heat on Thursday, relay Robbins in another tweet. Averaging just 2.9 PPG and 2.1 RPG (9.2 MPG) in 14 games as a junior for LSU, O’Neal isn’t considered a strong draft candidate, but he might be an undrafted Summer League free agent audition. Miami currently controls number 27.