Nick Mayo’s longshot pursuit of being selected in this year’s National Basketball Association draft went unrewarded Thursday night, as the Oakland resident and former standout at Eastern Kentucky University was not among the 60 players selected.
But plenty of opportunities still await the 6-foot-9, 250-pound forward, who was back in his hometown to watch the televised draft with family and friends.
Mayo, who worked out for nine NBA teams before the draft as well as participating at the Portsmouth (Virginia) Invitational Tournament and at an NBA pro day in Las Vegas, has been invited to join the Miami Heat’s NBA Summer League team, as first reported on CentralMaine.com.
The Heat’s summer league team will begin play July 1-3 at a four-team tournament in Sacramento, California, that also will include squads representing the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers.
That event will precede the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League, set for July 5-15 in Las Vegas. All 30 NBA teams will be represented in this event along with the Chinese and Croatian national teams.
Each team will play four games leading up to an eight-team championship round.
Strong play in those events ultimately could help Mayo gain an invitation to an NBA preseason camp this fall or lead to opportunities to play in the G League or professionally overseas.
Mayo was the 2015 Maine Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year and a first-team Bangor Daily News All-Maine honoree after his senior season at Messalonskee High School, then became a four-time All-Ohio Valley Conference first-team choice and EKU’s career scoring leader while at the Richmond, Kentucky, college.
Two other Ohio Valley Conference players were selected in the first round of this year’s NBA draft. Sophomore guard Ja Morant of Murray (Kentucky) State was drafted second overall by Memphis, while senior forward Dylan Windler of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, was picked 26th by Cleveland.
