USC Basketball: 3 NBA Teams' Scouts Went To Overseas Trojans Exhibition Games
Your USC Trojans enjoyed a 3-0 run through their European exhibition tour earlier this month, which saw the team run roughshod through its pro competition despite the absences of freshman guard Bronny James, who continues to investigate the root cause of his July 24th cardiac arrest, and sophomore center Vincent Iwuchukwu.
Beyond a skeleton NBA TV broadcast crew and local fans, there were a few interesting figures in the crowd for a preseason tour that the Cardinal and Gold from Greece to Croatia.
Per Shotgun Spratling of 247Sports, scouts from three NBA clubs were on hand to assess the team's talent: the New York Knicks, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Atlanta Hawks.
Of the current Trojans, freshman guard Isaiah Collier is considered the most NBA-ready prospect on the roster, a projected top-five draft pick. Granted, neither the Knicks, Clips or Hawks seem likely to sink into the upper echelons of the draft lottery next season, but perhaps they were just doing their due dilligence.
Or perhaps they had actually booked their tickets for the trip far ahead of time to see James, who prior to his heart incident was expected to be a mid-to-late first round (i.e. non-lottery) draft pick.
Two returning USC underclassmen are seen on some draft boards as being potential draft picks as early as next year: guard Boogie Ellis, considered a late first round or early second round pick, and swingman Kobe Johnson, seen as a potential fringe second round selection (I wonder if he'll linger through his senior year in 2024-25 for a bit more marinating).
