The 2025 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament Recap

The 2025 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament is in the books! Maxwell covers which prospects he feels NBA Front Offices should be targeting following the event!

The 2024 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament is now in the books. Every year, NBA hopefuls who (in most cases) have exhausted their college eligibility enter the PIT in hopes of boosting their draft stock. Before we dive into the happenings of this year’s event and their ramifications, it’s important to give context to what the PIT is and what it produces. Last year, the PIT produced 14 players who signed what I refer to as a “substantive NBA contract.” That group includes players who signed either a standard, two-way, or 10-day contract with a team at some point during the NBA calendar year.

2024 Contract Earners:

-Branden Carlson
-Jamison Battle
-Isaac Jones
-Isaiah Crawford
-Riley Minix
-Alex Ducas
-Jesse Edwards
-Malevy Leons
-Enrique Freeman
-RayJ Dennis
-Daniss Jenkins
-Tolu Smith
-Jahmir Young
-Quincy Olivari

Based on that number, I will be giving you the 14 players I would be targeting if I were in a front office coming out of this past week’s Portsmouth Invitational. Read that carefully—this is not a power ranking of how players performed in the event. Instead, it’s how I would personally rank them given their prior track record and their performance at the event. Before we dive in, follow me on Twitter/X!

TIER ONE: Draftable Consideration

Viktor Lakhin

Viktor Lakhin looked a cut above in Portsmouth. Defensively, his disruption was on full display. He did a great job of getting into passing lanes and deflecting post entries. His ability to track the ball around the basket was stellar, as he managed to accrue blocks while still demonstrating a necessary degree of discipline. Lakhin’s timing and instincts had him in the right position consistently, making it difficult for opponents to get anything inside. His second jump looked good. When he had to guard out on the perimeter, he looked comfortable and slid his feet well. He gave evaluators everything they could have asked for on defense.

He was great offensively, too. Lakhin was ready to let the three-ball fly off the catch when he got an open look. He also starred as an offensive up at the top of the key, slinging impressive passes through tight windows. Lakhin scores on the interior, too, with both hook shots and dunks. Best of all, though, was how Lakhin married all of these skills together. He took opposing bigs off the bounce and made solid passing reads on the go. It’s not just that he’s an inside-out threat—it’s that he’s an in-between threat, too.

What makes me so confident in Lakhin is that his strong performance in Portsmouth resembles his production at Clemson. His defensive disruption this week goes hand-in-hand with his 2.7 STL% and 7.3 BLK% this past year. The jumper wasn’t a fluke, either—he hit 37.5% of his threes on good volume for a big last season. He’s been a great passer for the last two years, which is extremely encouraging when you consider that he barely passed at all during his first two college seasons. In summary, we’ve got a guy who is comfortable going five-out on both ends of the floor. Lakhin is my favorite type of upperclassman bet, as he’s a proven producer who has continued to get better while boasting a skill set that has modern NBA utility. I think he’s earned a Top 60 spot at this stage in the process.

Jonathan Pierre

I’d singled out Jonathan Pierre as a name to watch this week, but if I’m being completely honest, I’ve long been a bit skeptical about his NBA translation. The 6’9” wing is renowned for his guard skills, but I’d been frustrated by elements of his game. Namely, Pierre can be averse to contact inside. He has a low free-throw rate, and he only made 47.7% of his halfcourt rim attempts this season. However, while I’d bogged myself down in what Pierre struggled with, I’d undervalued the important things that he does really well.

Pierre is a tremendous shooter. His 36.9% from deep last season sounds more solid than great, but he took over 12 attempts per 100 possessions. He has deep range and a pretty shot that he can drill off the dribble or off the catch. He’s also a great playmaker for a dude his size. He had a 23.1 AST% last season. That’s great, but sometimes, a high assist rate can be the product of a player dribbling the air out of the ball. In Portsmouth, Pierre racked up assists within the flow of the offense. He moved the ball quickly when needed, but still threw some advanced dimes, like a cross-court hook pass to the weakside corner. His ability to scale both up and down in terms of how he weaponizes his passing is intriguing. He looked good defensively, too. Pierre got into passing lanes and had an excellent hard closeout that allowed him to nab a block on a three. Lastly, he measured well. Pierre came in at 6’9.25” in shoes with an 8’10.5” standing reach and a 7’0.5” wingspan.

Jonathan Pierre has NBA length. He can drill tough threes in a variety of ways. His feel for the game enables him to thrive as a decision maker, both in “.5” situations and when he has to take on more. He can make an impact on defense when he keys in. In total, this is the modern three-and-D archetype that front offices crave. If you want to get hung up on his rim finishing and defensive rate stats, I get it. But I also just saw Jaylen Wells struggle in those respects prior to succeeding in the NBA. There are certainly little things to quibble with here, but Jonathan Pierre is great at the big picture things that lead to long NBA careers.

Igor Milicic Jr.

I can’t quit Igor Milicic Jr. I was extremely bullish on the Tennessee prospect coming into the season. The idea here is awesome—he’s 6’10”, he’s a willing shooter who can hit threes off movement (career 34.5% from three on 9.4 attempts per 100 possessions), move the ball, guard a few positions, and rebound. On paper, that’s a guy you want on your team.

In actuality, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Milicic can be maddeningly inconsistent. Portsmouth was no exception. He made some great passes that weren’t rewarded with assists. His rim help instincts were sharp, he used his length well at the point of attack, and he displayed solid recovery tools when he got behind the play. He played with tenacity on the glass and set good screens. Milicic also got his shot off fast and displayed his ability to attack closeouts. Still, at times, it feels like he shrinks. He settles for touch finishes inside instead of ramming it home, gets too passive, and hit a cold stretch from distance.

I’m trying to weigh the output we’ve seen from Milicic against the idea of what he could be. At times, it feels like he fades into the background more than he should. Still, he has so many traits that I value—touch, toughness, length, shooting, and selflessness. Maybe I’m falling victim to anchoring bias, as I loved him coming into the year. But I think it’s important to stay true to what I value, and what the NBA values in a prospect. Long dudes with requisite feel who stuff the stat sheet and get up threes are a good value proposition. I’d rather swing and miss on Milicic than take a guy who will likely never achieve more than “league minimum contract status” even if it all comes together. Those guys are easy to acquire. If Milicic clicks, his game will come at a premium. For that reason, Milicic is still going to be in Top 60 range when it’s all said and done for me.

Kobe Sanders

Kobe Sanders was one of my favorite prospects in the field going into the event, but he still managed to have a week so good that it lands in “pleasant surprise territory.” The stuff that made Kobe Sanders so interesting in the first place carried over, which is great. He’s a tremendous playmaker for a guy who is 6’8”. A lot of tall guys like to say they are guards, but Kobe Sanders is a tall guy who you can actually play at a guard position. He’s super fluid and composed with the ball, changing speeds well and mixing in counter moves to put defenders on skates. He made some great passes on the go and hit some pull-up jumpers (including a step-back three), demonstrating his vision and ability to keep defenses honest if they give him space. His three off the catch looked good, too, as he gets the ball out of his hands quickly.

Similar to the concept with Lakhin, the sell here is that what we saw Sanders do in Portsmouth is what we saw him do at Nevada, but against better competition. He’s a proven playmaker (29.9 AST%) and a solid shooter (34.2% from three on 7.1 attempts per 100 possessions). My concern with Sanders was whether or not he was athletic enough for that to matter. From that standpoint, I thought Sanders looked tremendous. His body looked leaner, and his defensive footwork was much better. He was moving with fluidity, reacted quickly, and displayed much better balance than we saw from him during the college season. He appears to have put in the work where he needed to, and that’s enough to move the needle for me.

My one gripe with Sanders this week was his shot diet. He tends to be a little too in love with pull-up jumpers in the mid-range. He’s good at them, as he made 46.3% of them last season per Synergy. But he’s way too content to settle for tough shots. When he gets to the NBA and he has to scale down in role, he’ll have to part ways with that tendency. Additionally, his 6’8.5” wingspan was a bit of a letdown. Still, the framework is there. He has NBA size, he can shoot, he’s a great decision maker, and now, I think he’s got a real chance to hang on the defensive end. That’s worth considering in the Top 60.

TIER TWO: Not Quite Tier One, But Comfortably Ahead of Tier Three

Hey, how about that eloquent name for this tier? Basically, I’m not at a point where I would draft either of these guys yet. They would be priority undrafted targets for me, though, whether that be on a two-way or Exhibit-10.

Cameron Matthews

Let’s get the negative stuff out of the way first. I really, really worry about Cameron Matthews’s ability to put the ball in the basket. He scored 7.1 PPG this past season on 53.0 TS%. To be blunt, those are brutal indicators for an NBA forward prospect. He’s not the most functional vertical athlete, so he’s not constantly fetching lobs. His touch isn’t there, either. He only made 55.6% of his free throws and 20% of his threes over the course of his college career. At 6’5.75” in shoes, that’s a terrifying proposition, and I’d be leery of expending draft capital on a prospect with that profile.

What Cameron Matthews does have, though, is an easily definable, clear-cut, valuable NBA skill in his defense. At 235 pounds with a 6’11” wingspan, he has a mesmerizing blend of power and feel. His 4.7 STL% and 2.9 BLK% this past season are outstanding indicators. It carried over in Portsmouth, too. He has a stellar nose for the ball. He’s great at rotating in around the basket and getting in low on the ball for strips. Matthews has an unteachable sense of where to be off the ball on defense. His discipline, footwork, and strength make his point-of-attack defense nearly impenetrable. He’ll also hustle and dive for loose balls. He’s not devoid of offensive skill, either. He’s really comfortable in grab-and-go settings, and he sees the floor well as a passer. Sure, he gets too much dip on his chip at times, but his live dribble passing is the type of skill that tends to scale into a smaller role well.

Cameron Matthews definitely presents a degree of risk. From a scoring standpoint, he’s going to be firmly behind the curve. Still, on the margins, I vastly prefer prospects who have something I can point to as an NBA-ready skill. For Cameron Matthews, that’s his defense—and he meets the physical requirements for it to scale up. I can’t quite get him Top 60 yet, but I’d love to grab him on a two-way and see where he can go in a different context after five years at Mississippi State.

Sean Pedulla

Long-time readers know that I’m a small guard skeptic. But they also know that I’ve pointed to Sean Pedulla throughout the year as a dude who checks the boxes required of small guards who end up making it work at the NBA level. He’s a reliable, steady playmaker who can keep defenses honest from beyond the arc. Even when he was matched up with defensive specialist Jahmai Mashack, Pedulla still found ways to get inside and collapse defenses. Despite a stubby 6’2” wingspan, he used his physicality well to contain the ball and prevent opponents from bullying him. Players this size will always have an uphill battle, but Pedulla was consistently the best player on the floor this weekend, and that means something. He might not be the juiciest upside proposition, but there’s a Collin Gillespie outcome on the table for him.

Tamar Bates

Tamar Bates checks a few major boxes. He’s a good shooter with a beautiful stroke who sank 39.7% of his threes on good volume last year. That carried over to Portsmouth, where his NBA range was on full display. In the NBA, shooters don’t often get easy looks. While tough shot making can often be indicative of a player’s inability to generate clean looks, the bottom line is that NBA shooters don’t often get handed easy shots by NBA defenses. Bates’ knack for hitting deep, contested shots off movement bodes well for him. Plus, when he’s chased off the line, he has the bounce to finish above the rim. He’s tough through contact. Defensively, he’s a solid disruptor (2.9 STL%, 0.6 BLK%). His activity and rotations were on point. The fact that he came in with a 6’10” wingspan helps, too.

What I’d worried about with Bates was in terms of his passing feel. He posted paltry assist rates and had a negative assist-to-turnover ratio last year. For older prospects who are under 6’8”, that’s usually a disqualifier (or at least a red flag). In Portsmouth, Bates looked like a different dude. He threw multiple accurate lob passes on the go and dishes out some slick deliveries to big men through the pocket in ball screens. Bates had seven assists in the week’s third game. For whatever reason, he seemed way more comfortable and in control this week. I’m hesitant to get too excited given the vast sample of prior performances, but if Bates can play like that all the time, there will be something real to work with. Shooting, defense, and ball movement are important skills. Bates certainly possesses the first two, and the possibility of the third feels more on the table than it did a week ago.

Moussa Cisse

Here’s a tricky one. Coming into the week, I was pretty down on Moussa Cisse. He’s a poor decision maker (career 4.5 AST% vs. 17.4 TOV%) and inefficient scorer (career 53.8 TS%). He’s not a guy you want to have the ball for too long, and the modern NBA requires big men to do more with the rock than ever before. This shouldn’t go overlooked. With that being said, my goodness, this man was a force in Portsmouth. At 6’11.25” with a 7’5.5” wingspan, Cisse measured well, and he did great in the athletic testing, too. Still, basketball games are played on a basketball court. Cisse did great in that respect, too. His ground coverage was absurd. He’ll fly off the floor and swat shots despite being firmly out of the frame moments before. Those “jump scare” blocks were a consistent theme for him throughout the tournament, and they track with his career 9.8 BLK%. He was blocking everything in sight, and he managed to stay efficient on offense.

The flaws here are real. If he has to hold the ball for a while, things get awkward. He’s a bad free-throw shooter. It’s really easy to get him off his feet. But from a physical standpoint, he moves like a higher-level athlete even by NBA standards. Add in a high motor on the glass and a great nose for the ball on defense, and that counts for something. It’s tough to imagine an outcome beyond “bench big,” but Cisse is absolutely up to doing the dirty work when called upon.

TIER THREE: My Preferred Swings/Exhibit-10 Targets

To be perfectly clear, I’m not as married to these prospects. I’m married to a very beautiful woman who allows me to watch way too much basketball. But if you were to ask me which other Portsmouth prospects I would prioritize from an NBA front office standpoint, it would be these guys. The margins between these players and my honorable mentions are razor-thin, so please keep that in mind before yelling at me. Additionally, I tend to be more immediate in my thinking with these types of players. Back-end roster spots tend to be transient, so I’m looking for guys who could either develop into something really valuable or potentially provide something in the near term.

Matthew Cleveland

Matthew Cleveland has been on the cusp forever. That didn’t really change this weekend. There were ups and downs. His defensive activity was great, he looked ahead of the pack athletically, and he made more good decisions than bad ones. Still, he struggled with his deep ball, and I’ve long been concerned about the legitimacy of his shot. He also measured at 6’5.25” in shoes. His 6’11.5” wingspan helps, to be fair, but he’s smaller than expected. Ultimately, Cleveland still projects to be a solid swing. He’s a high usage scale down bet who scored efficiently, dunked a lot, and produced on defense last year. He left me wanting more, but I still like him better than most of the field.

Curtis Jones

Curtis Jones gets buckets, plain and simple. He has deep range off the catch and a herky-jerky self-creation game. He still sees the floor pretty well, too, and operates with a requisite level of selflessness. He’s always been an active defender, too. At 6’3.5” with a 6’8” wingspan, he measured in alright, but his 183-pound frame puts him firmly on the slender size. His lateral agility is suboptimal, and he can struggle to contain the ball at times. I do worry if he’s going to be able to overcome his defensive shortcomings, given his physical shortcomings. Still, it feels like he’s always ready to take over a game at a moment’s notice. His ability to score on and off the ball makes him an intriguing prospect.

Wooga Poplar

Wooga Poplar is a knockdown shooter. He routinely shot the ball well throughout his college career, and he did the same thing in Portsmouth this weekend. What differentiates him from most shooting specialists, though, is his athleticism. Poplar is a slick mover who plays with real bend, enabling him to shake defenders and get to his spots inside. From there, his vertical athleticism enables him to finish above the rim. Plus, he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. He posted good steal and block rates this past year, and he grabbed 10 rebounds in his final game of the weekend. He’s not perfect. He can be frustratingly turnover-prone, and his defensive engagement comes and goes. But he was one of the better players in the tournament; he has solid physical tools, and shooting will always carry value.

Obinna Anochili-Killen

Obinna Anochili-Killen is definitely behind the curve on offense. He shot 32.8% from three last year, and he had a negative assist-to-turnover ratio. Still, his physical tools and defensive aggressiveness are too much to pass up. He blocked 3.2 shots per game last year, and his shot swatting was on full display at the PIT. Though an injury saw him miss his final game, he registered eight blocks in his first two outings. He also wasn’t shy about getting up his three, going 2-for-6 from deep. At a certain point, I’m willing to bet on a guy who does one thing really well, and that’s Anochili-Killen. Plus, his 7’4” wingspan certainly doesn’t hurt.

Jahmai Mashack

Jahmai Mashack falls into a similar boat as Obinna Anochili-Killen. The key distinction between the two is that while they’re both excellent defenders, Mashack is much smaller at 6’3.75” with a 6’8” wingspan. He was a fine decision maker and shooter last year, but he played a microscopic offensive role compared to what most guys in the NBA churn out prior to their pro careers. His 11.6 USG% is a colossal red flag. Still, the rule of, “give me one thing you can do at an NBA level” firmly applies here. He is a suffocating point-of-attack defender who forces opponents to collect themselves while seconds drain off the shot clock time and time again. He creates a lot of turnovers, but there are possessions that don’t show up on the stat sheet where he completely derails the opposing offense. Again, I’m skeptical of what value he can bring on offense. But I can at least confidently point to the defense and say, “that’s NBA stuff right there.”

RJ Felton

If you think I missed RJ Felton during my preview column, you’re right! That’s because he was a last-second injury replacement. To say Felton made the most of this opportunity would be an understatement. At 6’3.5” with a 6’9.5” wingspan and a chiseled 208-pound frame, Felton looks the part from a physical standpoint. Defensively, he can body guys up and consistently gets in on the ball with his active hands. He’s an awesome rebounder for a guard, too. On the offensive end, Felton’s comfort level off the ball was on full display. He has a pretty, quick jumper off the catch, and he was drilling catch-and-shoot bombs all week. While he was dominant this week, his priors have shown some flaws. He’s an iffy finisher who needs to see the floor better in order to play point guard at the NBA level. Still, I think his vision is something that might be repped into shape in the G League. It’s important to exercise caution with a three-game sample, but his dominance this weekend likely means something.

Honorable Mentions:

-C.J. Huntley
-Nate Santos
-Chance McMillian
-Johnell Davis
-Julian Reese
-Samson Johnson
-Saint Thomas
-Cameron Carter
-Nelly Junior Joseph