Injured Kentucky freshman center Nerlens Noel is a potential No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft, but neither he nor his school is in the NCAA tournament. Maryland center Alex Len is a Top 10 prospect, but he is playing in the National Invitation Tournament.

A good tournament would solidify Ben McLemore's draft standing. (AP Photo)Regardless, there are still a lot of NBA prospects who will be the focus of NBA talent evaluators when the NCAA tournament revs up Thursday. The following is a list of Yahoo! Sports’ Top 10 NBA prospects to watch during the NCAA tournament, based on conversations with NBA executives and scouts.

“The top five will evolve during the tournament,” an NBA assistant general manager said. “This is the first time I’ve said that this late in the year. I don’t know that anyone has established themselves from a pro prospective from the rest. It will come down to team likes and needs.”

1. SG Ben McLemore, Kansas, freshman (6-5, 195)
NBA scout: “He hasn’t been as consistent as you would have hoped. He struggled in the conference

Lil Wayne is like family to the Clippers' Chris Paul. (Getty Images)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Before he was released from Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, Lil Wayne got a visit from an NBA player who regards the rap star as a "big brother."

"I just went to make sure my friend was good," the Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Paul told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday after the team's a shootaround at Sleep Train Arena. "I don't really want to talk about what is going on [with Wayne's medical condition]. But as a friend, I just wanted to make sure he was OK."

Wayne was released Monday after being hospitalized for nearly a week, according to a tweet from rapper Mack Maine. The Associated Press reported that the Grammy award winner was hospitalized for a seizure. Paul was among several celebrities, including rappers Drake, Nicki Minaj and Birdman, who visited Wayne.

[Power Rankings: Epic run keeps Heat No. 1]

Paul and Wayne have been friends for nearly eight years after meeting at the 2005 Final Four in St. Louis. The two exchanged numbers and have been

Dwyane Wade, Shane Battier (31) and LeBron James (6) have plenty to be happy about. (USA Today)

With 23 consecutive victories, LeBron James and the Miami Heat remain atop the weekly Yahoo! Sports NBA rankings for the third straight week.

Miami has the second-longest winning streak in NBA history and is chasing the record of 33 consecutive wins by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers. The Heat play their next four games against some of the NBA’s worst teams – Cleveland, Detroit, Charlotte and Orlando – before facing the Chicago Bulls, possibly with Derrick Rose, on March 27. Miami now has more wins and a better winning percentage than the San Antonio Spurs.

Records are through Monday.

1. Miami Heat (52-14, previous ranking: first): LeBron James returns to his old stomping grounds Wednesday when the Heat face the Cavaliers in search of their 24th straight win. Struggling Cleveland has lost three straight.

2. San Antonio Spurs (51-16, previous ranking: second): Injured guard Tony Parker (elbow) is expected to return to action this weekend. If Miami continues to

Derrick Rose hasn't played in an NBA game since last season's playoff opener. (Reuters)

OAKLAND, Calif. – Derrick Rose's Chicago Bulls T-shirt was drenched in sweat after a 70-plus minute pregame workout at Oracle Arena last Friday night. He looked physically strong during the exercises.

"I'm feeling healthy, man," Rose told Yahoo! Sports afterward. "That's the only thing that matters."

But what matters now is Rose's mental confidence in his surgically repaired left knee, which is critical for Rose before he pushes for clearance to make his season debut.

When will that be? There isn't a target date, but Rose is "at the end of the tunnel" of his rehab, according to a source.

[Watch: Heat win 22nd straight]

Rose hasn't played since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the playoff opener against the Philadelphia 76ers on April 28. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau says the franchise is not pressuring Rose to return. A source close to Rose seconded that statement. The Bulls say there's no internal pressure on Derrick Rose to get back in the lineup ASAP. (Getty Images)

"This kid has done everything to come back," Thibodeau told Yahoo! Sports. "When he

Nuggets fans weren't hospitable to Carmelo Anthony on Wednesday night in Denver. (AP)

DENVER – Even in the snow, Denver Nuggets fan Vicki Ray has stood outside the old McNichols Sports Arena and the Pepsi Center in all but two home games over 20 years to welcome players with signs as they arrive. Ray loves her Nuggets, but on Wednesday night she held up a sign that read, "We still love Melo," as the New York Knicks' bus arrived.

She was in the minority of Nuggets fans that still love 'Melo in Denver.

The Knicks were blown out, 117-94, and the ex-Nuggets star was strongly booed from pregame on before bowing out to knee injury in his first return in over two years since receiving a demanded trade to New York, a move that still doesn't sit well with the locals not named Vicki Ray.

Anthony departed with a sore right knee in the third quarter and didn't return. The All-Star missed three straight games with the injury before playing at Golden State on Monday. He is returning to New York to get his knee drained and is uncertain when he will play again.

"It

DENVER – Carmelo Anthony isn't sentimental about his return to the Pepsi Center, a place that will be filled with loud jeers and muffled cheers on Wednesday when his New York Knicks play the Nuggets in Anthony's first visit to town since he was dealt in a blockbuster trade.

"I don't think it will be emotional," Anthony, who played for the Nuggets from 2003-2011, told Yahoo! Sports. "I think it will be crazy sitting on the other bench, sitting on the other side of the court, being in the visitors' locker room. But as far as being emotional, I don't think so."

While about two years and a month have passed, many Nuggets fans are still upset about Anthony's departure.

"Any time a city invests in a star player and there is a perception that a star player doesn't like them there is emotion," said ex-Nugget Scott Hastings, now a Nuggets color analyst and sports talk radio show host in Denver. "There was emotion and there probably still will be emotion. Time heals and it will

LeBron James' pregame dunks are just a sampling of what the Miami Heat offer. (USA Today Sports)

The Miami Heat are making history to stay atop the weekly Yahoo! Sports NBA rankings for the second consecutive week.

The Heat have won a franchise-record and NBA season-high 18 straight games. If Miami wins back-to-back games against the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, it becomes only the fourth NBA franchise to win 20 consecutive games. The Heat last lost Feb. 1 against the Indiana Pacers and now have a higher winning percentage than the San Antonio Spurs.

Records are through Monday.

1. Miami Heat (47-14, previous ranking: first): How many would the Heat have to win to match the NBA record for most consecutive victories? The Los Angeles Lakers won 33-straight during the 1971-72 season. Miami has 23 regular-season games remaining.

2. San Antonio Spurs (49-15, previous ranking: second): The Tony Parker-less Spurs took a two-game lead atop the Western Conference standings by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday. The

SAN FRANCISCO – Point guard Brandon Jennings, a soon-to-be restricted free agent, says if he signs a one-year qualifying offer with Milwaukee this offseason, expect his days with the Bucks to be limited to one season.

"If I take the qualifying offer and become an [unrestricted] free agent there is no way I am coming back," Jennings told Yahoo! Sports on Friday after practice. "There is no way."

Jennings considers Milwaukee a "great sports town" and has enjoyed his time there, but in order to keep him long term, Jennings said the Bucks' offer must be lucrative and there needs to be changes in the roster and the organization to make it championship caliber. Brandon Jennings expects a big contract and team improvements if the Bucks want to keep him. (USA Today Sports)

He turned down a four-year, $40 million deal prior to this season, a source told Yahoo! Sports. A one-year qualifying offer would be worth about $4.5 million for Jennings.

"It's not unfair to make that statement if he feels there is not a deal fair to him this summer," Bucks general manager John Hammond said of