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.