NBA to allow scouting of top prospects in Vegas - ESPN

The NBA will allow scouts to watch Cooper Flagg and other elite high school prospects during the In-Season Tournament in Las Vegas, according to a memo to teams obtained by ESPN.

As part of a growing partnership with Nike, NBA teams will be permitted to attend five Nike EYBL Scholastic Showcase Games on Dec. 8-9, including a Dec. 8 game at T-Mobile Arena between Montverde Academy and Link Academy, which will be broadcast on ESPNU (8 p.m. PT). Flagg, the No. 1 prospect in high school basketball — committed to Duke — will match up with Texas-commit Tre Johnson, who is ranked No. 4 in the 2024 class by ESPN.

The NBA In-Season tournament will be conducted at T-Mobile on Dec. 7 and 9, so NBA teams will already be in Las Vegas.

This is one of several high school events certified by the NBA in a memo sent to teams Nov. 20, which includes the Sunshine Prep Showcase at IMG Academy (Dec. 14-17 in Bradenton, Florida), the Tarkanian Classic (Dec. 15-21 in Las Vegas), the City of Palms Classic (Dec. 18-23 in Fort Myers, Florida), the HoopHall Classic (Jan. 11-15, Springfield, Massachusetts), the Throne National Championship (March 28-31 in New York), and the High School Boys Basketball Nationals (April 4-6, Brownsburg, Indiana), formerly known as the Geico Nationals.

NBA front offices have long pushed the NBA league office to allow increased access to evaluate elite prospects before they enter college.

In the past, NBA teams were not allowed to attend any high school team events because of the «no-contact» rules, which were put in place in the David Stern era to keep NBA scouts out of high school gyms.

«It sends the wrong message for them to be there,» Stern said in 2005. «Where does it stop?»

Those rules are gradually being