McDonald's Nuggets: NBA's return, Gabe Wizniter, Mac McClung
Dan McDonald is back with his weekend primer, McDonald's Nuggets. This week’s column discusses how the NBA should return, the latest on Rivals150 big man Gabe Wiznitzer, and the top commitments of the week.
Three-Point Play: Moussa Cisse; two '21 guards to watch
2020 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Position
2022 Rankings: Top 75
WHAT'S ON MY MIND: Return of the NBA?
Like probably 99 percent of you, I’m ready for the NBA to come back in a big way. I need high-level basketball of some sort back in a hurry. The big question though remains exactly what it would look like to bring back the NBA.
Does the league go straight into the playoffs? Does it finish the regular season? Is there a play-in tournament? Or is there another format that works best?
I’ve put a lot of thought into this and my favorite idea I’ve seen is going to a World Cup soccer-style format with four five-team pods and the top two teams from each pod advancing to an eight-team bracket. From there, it’s best-of-seven series all the way through until a champion is crowned. Each pod is drawn randomly like the NBA Draft lottery with the four teams with the best records separated (Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors, and Los Angeles Clippers), followed by the next four (Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat and Utah Jazz), and on down the line. For example, you could end up with the Lakers and Celtics as the top two seeds in one of the pods.
If there was ever a year for anyone or any business to experiment with new ideas, it’s 2020. This would be wildly popular. The selection show for this would be absolutely fascinating. There would be urgency right away from every team as opposed to the usual playoffs where the top seeds can mostly coast through the first round and even the second round in some cases. This needs to happen.
RECRUITING NOTE: Update on under-the-radar 2021 big man
Gabe Wizniter, a 6-foot-11 center from Hargrave Military Academy (Va.), became a popular target in the past couple months with college coaches. Currently in the 2021 class, Wiznitzer had been pondering the possibility of finishing his high school career this year and going to college as a member of the 2020 class. With the current pandemic shutting down the opportunity for prospects to take visits, he’s decided to stick with the 2021 class so he can actually go through a typical recruiting process.
Since the start of April, he has added offers from Xavier, Iowa, Ole Miss, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest and Kansas State. Before that, Clemson, Nebraska and Providence had been heavily involved. Providence had him scheduled to come in for an official visit before the dead period. Some of the programs involved were pushing for a 2020 commitment out of him, but at this point, it looks like he’ll be sticking with 2021. Along with the Friars, keep an eye on Iowa, Virginia Tech and the new staff at Wake Forest in his recruitment.
COMMITS OF THE WEEK: Arizona adds twin brothers from Lithuania
Sean Miller and his staff have made an interesting shift in recruiting strategy in recent years to go heavy on foreign prospects. Lauri Markkanen was the first high-profile foreign prospect to pick Arizona out of Finland, and now the Wildcats have gone back to Europe to get a pair of twins out of Lithuania, Azuolas and Tautvilas Tubelis.
Azuolas is considered by many to be the top European prospect coming to play college basketball in 2020-21. After watching several highlight reels, he looks like an instant impact player. At 6-foot-9, he appears to be a good athlete and versatile, which are two great traits to have in college hoops.
TOP TRANSFER OF THE WEEK: Mac McClung to Texas Tech
Last week, Jaylon Tyson was the top 2021 commit of the week. This week, Texas Tech has added the top transfer of the week with former Georgetown star Mac McClung making the call to Chris Beard. Arkansas, Auburn, BYU, Memphis, USC and Wake Forest were the other schools in the mix.
McClung will have two years of eligibility left for the Red Raiders and will certainly appeal to play right away. The high-flying 6-foot-2 combo guard averaged 15.7 points per game as a sophomore after averaging 13.1 points per game as a freshman. He is aggressive off the dribble and has an attack mentality that should be very welcomed in Lubbock.