Basketball Wiretap

Forward A.J. Dybantsa led Team USA to the title in the FIBA U19 World Cup over the weekend. Dybantsa was named MVP of the tournament, which the United States capped off with a 109-76 victory over Germany in the final.

Dybantsa is headed to BYU this fall. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals in 20 minutes per game for Team USA.

Louisville-bound guard Mikel Brown also had a strong tournament for the United States. Brown was the team's leader in scoring at 14.9 points and passing at 6.1 assists per game.

Dybantsa and Brown are part of a strong group at the top of the 2026 NBA Draft class. Those two are joined by Darryn Peterson (Kansas), Cameron Boozer (Duke) and Nate Ament (Tennessee) at the top of the earlier pre-draft rankings.

Ace Bailey hasn't reported yet to the Utah Jazz, but he plans to do so before the start of Summer League training camp beginning on Monday. Bailey had reportedly preferred to be selected by the Washington Wizards at No. 6 and tried to avoid the Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets and the Jazz ahead of them.

Bailey's new representative cleared the air on his status amid speculation he may not report to the Jazz.

“He’s thrilled to be going to Utah,” Andrew Witlieb of GSE Worldwide told Front Office Sports. “Obviously, it’s an honor to be selected in the top five of the NBA Draft.

“We think he can do a lot of great things out there. He certainly should get a ton of playing time, and he’ll have a lot of chances to show what he can do. So we think it’s a great situation for him basketball wise.”

Bailey was represented in the pre-draft process by Omar Copper, who tried to direct him to the Wizards.

“This was led by his longtime manager Omar Cooper, who we’re partnering with on this,” Witlieb said.

“And Omar really focused more on fit, rather than going third in the draft. He wanted somewhere where Ace could have the best possible basketball fit for his game and we think Utah is one of the best places he could’ve gone.”

The Jazz also confirmed Bailey's intent to report to the team ahead of Summer League.

"We've had good communication with Ace Bailey and his representatives," the Jazz told ESPN. "We feel good about everything. Ace and his family are coming to Utah tomorrow. We'll have a press conference Sunday, and a practice Monday."

The first round of the 2025 NBA Draft averaged 3.77 million viewers across ABC and ESPN.

The number is down 14% from from last year's 4.41 million viewers. Viewership was also down 24% from the 2023 draft.

Though the viewership was down overall, the first half-hour represented a 4% increase over last year with 5.05 million viewers.

Viewership peaked at 5.16 million during the 8:15 PM ET quarter-hour. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Tyrese Proctor with the No. 49 pick and will sign him to a multi-year deal.

Proctor averaged 12.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists while shooting 40.5 percent on three-pointers during his junior season at Duke.

Proctor was an ACC All-Third Team selection last season.

The 2025 NBA draft telecast on ESPN and ABC combined to average 3.77 million viewers for the first round on Wednesday. The draft was headlined by Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper. The 2024 draft averaged 4.41 million viewers, which means this year's telecast had a 14.5 percent decline.

The first half-hour of the telecast was up four percent compared to 2024.

The first round of the 2023 draft averaged 4.93 million viewers when Victor Wembanyama was selected first overall.

The Oklahoma City Thunder used the No. 44 pick on Brooks Barnhizer out of Northwestern and will sign him to a Two-Way contract.

Last season, the Thunder had Branden Carlson, Alex Ducas and Adam Flagler on Two-Way contracts.

The Orlando Magic acquired the No. 32 pick from the Boston Celtics for Nos. 46 and 56 along with a 2026 second rounder and a 2027 second rounder. The Magic used the selection on Noah Penda out of France.

The Magic plan to sign Penda to a standard NBA contract for the 2025-26 season. Some teams were hoping to draft and stash Penda, which he wasn't interested in.

Orlando will send the most favorable second rounder in 2026 out of the Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks and Magic, as well as the most favorable 2027 second rounder between the Magic and Celtics.

The Magic still own four first rounder picks and nine second rounders over the next seven seasons.

The Phoenix Suns acquired the No. 31 overall pick and selected Rasheer Fleming out of Saint Joseph's to begin the second round of the 2025 NBA draft.

2025 NBA Draft, Round 1 Results
31. Phoenix Suns: Rasheer Fleming, F, Saint Joseph's
32. Orlando Magic: Noah Penda, F, France
33. Charlotte Hornets: Sion James, SF, Duke
34. Charlotte Hornets: Ryan Kalkbrenner, C, Creighton
35. Philadelphia 76ers: Johni Broome, C, Auburn
36. Los Angeles Lakers: Adou Thiero, PF, Arkansas
37. Detroit Pistons: Chaz Lanier, SG, Tennessee
38. Indiana Pacers: Kam Jones, PG/SG, Marquette
39. Toronto Raptors: Alijah Martin, SG, Florida
40. New Orleans Pelicans: Micah Peavy, SG/SF, Georgetown
41. Phoenix Suns: Koby Brea, SG/SF, Kentucky
42. Sacramento Kings: Maxime Raynaud, C, Stanford
43. Washington Wizards: Jamir Watkins, SG/SF, Florida State
44. Oklahoma City Thunder: Brooks Barnhizer, SF, Northwestern
45. Minnesota Timberwolves: Rocco Zikarsky, C, Brisbane
46. Boston Celtics: Amari Williams, C, Kentucky
47. Milwaukee Bucks: Bogoljub Markovic, PF/C, Mega Superbet 
48. Memphis Grizzlies: Javon Small, PG, West Virginia
49. Cleveland Cavaliers: Tyrese Proctor, G, Duke
50. LA Clippers: Kobe Sanders, SG/SF, Nevada
51. New York Knicks: Mohamed Diawara, F, France
52. Golden State Warriors: Alex Toohey, SF/PF, Sydney
53. Utah Jazz: John Tonje, SF, Wisconsin
54. Indiana Pacers: Taelon Peter, G, Liberty
55. Chicago Bulls: Lachlan Olbrich, PF/C, Illawarra
56. Golden State Warriors: Will Richard, SG, Florida
57. Boston Celtics: Max Shulga, G, VCU
58. Cleveland Cavaliers: Saliou Niang, SG/SF, Trento 
59. Houston Rockets: Jahmai Mashack, G, Tennessee

The Phoenix Suns have acquired the No. 31 pick from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for No. 36 and two future second round picks. The Suns are expected to select Rasheer Fleming out of St. Joseph's, who is represented by Lucas Newton and Rich Paul.

The Suns also acquired No. 41 via the Golden State Warriors. The Suns have moved up to No. 31 and No. 41 by sending out No. 36, 52, 59 and two future second rounders.

Fleming averaged 14.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.5 blocks in 31.3 minutes as a junior at St. Joseph's. 

The Wolves will acquire the lesser of 2026 second picks of either the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors, along with the better of 2032 second rounders between the Suns and Houston Rockets.

The Utah Jazz selected Rutgers wing Ace Bailey with the fifth overall pick despite his representatives informing at least one top-five team he wouldn't report if drafted, according to ESPN sources. The Utah Jazz selected Bailey fifth overall despite his refusal to work out for the team. Bailey's pre-draft strategy created significant intrigue in the run up to the first round of the 2025 NBA draft on Wednesday.

"I can control what I can control," Bailey said when asked about critics questioning his happiness with Utah. "They feel how they feel."

Agent Omar Cooper defended Bailey's pre-draft approach as standard business practice. Cooper noted that Bailey completed 18 team interviews and participated in a Chicago workout attended by all NBA franchises.

"Every NBA team watched him work out in Chicago. Everyone got his medical. They watched him run and jump. They got his measurements," Cooper told ESPN.

Rival teams believed Bailey's camp preferred the Washington Wizards, who held the sixth overall pick. Washington successfully drafted Alex Sarr second overall in 2024 after he avoided workouts with the Atlanta Hawks, who were selecting at No. 1.

The Wizards possessed an ideal roster fit for Bailey's wing skills and scoring ability. However, Utah's secretive draft plans under new president Austin Ainge caught rival teams off-guard.

Utah finished with the league's worst record but fell to fifth in the draft lottery. The Jazz capitalized on Bailey's availability at a position where he wasn't expected to remain.

"He's great. We were able to speak with him. He was super excited. We're super excited," Ainge said Wednesday night. "His scoring gets a lot of attention, deservedly so. He's very skilled for his size."

Cooper declined to address specific questions regarding Bailey's future relationship with the Jazz organization.