Top Australian prospect Dante Exum is in the process of setting up meetings with several prominent agents, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. According to Wojnarowski, Exum, who is determining whether or not to enter 2014’s NBA draft, will host representatives from most major North American agencies in Sydney over the next several weeks.
Exum, 18, will have the option of enrolling at an NCAA school for next season or simply entering his name into the 2014 draft class. As we noted yesterday, he has yet to make up his mind, but figures to finalize a decision by February. According to Wojnarowski, several agents involved in the process believe Exum will go pro, and that he’ll come stateside in February to start working out in advance of the June draft. One major U.S. college coach who recruited Exum “hard” also told Woj that he believes the young guard will enter the draft.
Assuming he does submit his name for 2014, Exum looks like a good bet to be a top-five pick. ESPN.com’s Chad Ford currently has him ranked fourth overall, behind Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, and Jabari Parker, and when Ford polled scouts and execs about the top pick for 2014, a few even said they’d take Exum over all three of those guys. However, Ford cautions that not playing college or professional ball could negatively impact Exum’s stock, especially if the top NCAA prospects continue to shine.