2017 NBA Draft Early Entrants List

With the college basketball season over for 2016/17, the top American early-entry candidates for the NBA draft faced decisions about whether to turn pro. As was the case a year ago, NCAA rules changes allow underclassmen to “test the waters” before officially committing to the 2017 NBA draft.

Players were able to declare for the draft until April 24, and can now withdraw at any time up until May 24 while maintaining their NCAA eligibility, as long as they don’t hire agents. That means that prospects testing the waters can take part in the NBA draft combine from May 9-14 – if invited – and can work out for individual teams starting in late April. Meanwhile, international early entrants have until June 12 to decide whether or not to remain in the draft.

A year ago, a whopping 162 NCAA and international players declared their intent to enter the draft early, but 91 of those players eventually withdrew, per ESPN’s Chad Ford. This year, the NBA’s list of early entrants including a record 182 names, but once again, many of those players figure to withdraw before the May and June deadlines. The final draft list will be set after the early entrant withdrawal deadline for international and other non-NCAA players passes on June 12.

In the meantime, we’ll use this post to keep track of reports and announcements on early entrant prospects and their decisions. We’ll archive them all in a running list here, which will be accessible anytime under “Hoops Rumors Features” on the right sidebar.

The players below are listed in alphabetical order. For an idea of how they stack up against one another, check out the lists of the top prospects on DraftExpress and ESPN.com. If you have any corrections or omissions, please contact us.

Last updated 6-14-17 (8:37am CT)

College Underclassmen:

Hiring agent and staying in draft:

Withdrawing from draft after testing waters:

International early entrants:

Staying in draft:

  • Simon Birgander, F/C (born 1997)
  • Luka Bozic, SF (born 1996)
  • Vlatko Cancar, SF (born 1997)
  • Wesley Alves da Silva, SF (born 1996)
  • George de Paula, PG (born 1996)
  • Isaiah Hartenstein, PF (born 1998)
  • Jonathan Jeanne, C (born 1997)
  • Alpha Kaba, F/C (born 1996)
  • Tidjane Keita, SF (born 1996)
  • Frank Ntilikina, PG (born 1998)

Withdrawing from draft after testing waters:

  • Ege Arar, F/C (born 1996)
  • Laurynas Beliauskas, G (born 1997)
  • Terrence Bieshaar, C (born 1997)
  • Laurynas Birutis, C (born 1997)
  • Leo Cizmic, SF (born 1998)
  • Berkan Durmaz, PF (born 1997)
  • Martynas Echodas, F/C (born 1997)
  • Cyrille Eliezer-Vanerot, SF (born 1996)
  • Aquiles Ferreira, F (born 1998)
  • Diego Flaccadori, SG (born 1996)
  • Tolga Gecim, SF (born 1996)
  • Yoan Granvorka, SF (born 1997)
  • Egemen Guven, F/C (born 1996)
  • Karlis Helmanis, F/C (born 1998)
  • Aleksa Ilic, PF (born 1996)
  • Verners Kohs, SF (born 1997)
  • Antonios Koniaris, PG (born 1997)
  • Arnoldas Kulboka, SF (born 1998)
  • Rodions Kurucs, SF (born 1998)
  • Axel Louissaint, SF (born 1996)
  • Michalis Lountzis, G (born 1998)
  • Gytis Masiulis, PF (born 1998)
  • Lovro Mazalin, SF (born 1997)
  • Regimantas Miniotas, C (born 1996)
  • Kostja Mushidi, SG (born 1998)
  • Margiris Normantas, G (born 1996)
  • Elie Okobo, PG (born 1997)
  • Viny Okouo, C (born 1997)
  • Ayberk Olmaz, F/C (born 1996)
  • Lucas Pereira, C (born 1998)
  • Martynas Sajus, C (born 1996)
  • Borisa Simanic, PF (born 1998)
  • Nik Slavica, SF (born 1997)
  • Berk Ugurlu, PG (born 1996)
  • Zou Yuchen, F/C (born 1996)
  • Kristupas Zemaitis, G (born 1996)

The following players were reported to have declared for the draft prior to April 24, but weren’t named on the NBA’s official list of early entrants:

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