Arizona’s Dalen Terry was invited as expected to next week’s NBA Combine, a sign that he is being considered for at least a second-round NBA Draft pick.
Terry joined former UA teammates Bennedict Mathurin and Christian Koloko among the 76 players on the NBA Combine list, which has not been officially released but was posted by the Athletic.
Mathurin and Koloko have left UA for certain, though Terry has been keeping open the option to return to school and the Combine could be a key barometer for his decision. Under NCAA rules, Terry will have until June 1 to withdraw from the NBA Draft if he wants to remain in college.
The NBA Combine is scheduled to be held May 16-22 in Chicago, just after the G League Elite Camp. Some of the top prospects in the G League Elite Camp will also be invited to the NBA Combine, in which many of the top invited players typically do not participate.
As a projected lottery pick, Mathurin is unlikely to participate in the NBA Combine and Koloko also may not as a potential first-round pick. As a projected second-round pick, however, Terry is expected to participate.
USA Today left Terry out of its latest mock NBA Draft, saying it expected him to elevate his status with a return to Arizona next season, while projecting Mathurin to be taken at No. 11 and Koloko at No. 49.
ESPN’s latest mock NBA Draft, however, has Terry going with the No. 43 overall pick, behind Koloko (36) and Mathurin (12).
— Bruce Pascoe
NHL
Rebuilding Coyotes to pick third in upcoming draft
It just wasn’t in the cards for the Arizona Coyotes to win the NHL Draft lottery Tuesday.
Not even the second overall pick, even though they finished with the second-worst point total in the regular season.
The Coyotes ended up with the third overall pick after the order of selection for lottery teams, 16 in total, was revealed Tuesday night in New Jersey. The team has picked third before, but never higher in their time in Arizona.
The Coyotes have chosen centers Kyle Turris (2007) and Dylan Strome (2015) with the third overall pick the previous times they’ve had it. Neither had or have had stellar NHL careers.
The team with the league’s lowest point total, the Montreal Canadiens, won the first pick with the New Jersey Devils bucking the odds to win the No. 2 pick. The draft will be held in July in Montreal.
— The Arizona Republic
After a difficult year away from the game hoping another team would call and offer him a chance, Patrick Marleau announced his retirement Tuesday, ending a career that featured a record 1,779 games, 566 goals, two Olympic gold medals and nearly every significant San Jose Sharks record.
“It’s been hard,” Marleau said about his first season away from the game he started playing as a 3-year-old in Saskatchewan. “I’ve played this game that much all my life and I love it. I’m getting a whole new respect for my wife and my family and all the things that they had to go through when I was gone, just the day to day. But that’s my new challenge, and that’s what I’m looking forward to doing now. I can’t wait to become the best father and husband I can be.”
Marleau said he kept in shape in case a team called but nothing materialized and he realized a few weeks ago that he was ready to announce his retirement.
He capped his retirement announcement the same way he did in a letter posted on the Players’ Tribune, saying simply: “Thank you, hockey.”
Marleau broke Gordie Howe’s all-time games played record late last season, the capper to a remarkable career that started as the No. 2 overall pick in the 1997 draft. Marleau retires ranked 23rd all-time with 566 goals and 50th with 1,197 points for San Jose, Toronto and Pittsburgh.
He also holds the Sharks records for games played (1,607), goals (522) and points (1,111) as he helped make the team into a perennial contender.
NBA
Morant has bone bruise, may not return
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis All-Star guard Ja Morant is doubtful for the remainder of the NBA postseason after an MRI and further evaluation revealed a bone bruise in his injured right knee.
The Grizzlies said they expect him to make a full recovery.
The NBA’s most improved player had been averaging 38.3 points a game in the Grizzlies’ Western Conference semifinal matchup with Golden State. But he sat out the 101-98 Game 4 loss on Monday with what the team said at the time was a sore knee.
The Grizzlies trail 3-1 in the series with Game 5 set for Wednesday night in Memphis.
Morant reinjured his knee on a play with the Warriors’ Jordan Poole that the teams debated during the Grizzlies’ 142-112 loss in Game 3.
Morant limped off with 6:19 remaining in the game after Poole grabbed at the knee on a play the Warriors guard said was simply an effort to strip the ball.
Afterward, Morant posted and later deleted a video of the play on his Twitter feed with the words “broke the code,” a reference that Warriors coach Steve Kerr had used five days earlier when Dillon Brooks’ hard foul in Game 2 sidelined Gary Payton II.
Kerr missed Game 4 after testing positive for COVID-19 and being placed in the league’s health and safety protocols. He remained at home in the Bay Area on Tuesday and did not travel to Memphis with the team. Associate head coach Mike Brown will coach Game 5 as planned.
Warriors spokesman Raymond Ridder said via text message Tuesday that the Warriors had no new cases of COVID-19.
