Indiana small forward OG Anunoby is set to enter the 2017 NBA draft, a source tells Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports. According to Rothstein, who notes that an official announcement should come soon, Anunoby will hire an agent, forgoing his remaining NCAA eligibility.
Anunoby’s sophomore season with the Hoosiers was cut short when he suffered a season-ending knee injury in January. However, the injury doesn’t appear to have significantly affected Anunoby’s draft stock. He still ranks 14th overall on DraftExpress’ big board, and 15th on ESPN’s top 100 list.
Before he went down in January, the 19-year-old forward was averaging 11.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.3 BPG, and 1.3 SPG in 16 games for Indiana. Although he was shooting an impressive 55.7% from the field, Anunoby’s overall shooting percentage was dragged down by a 3PT% of just .311. Still, he’s a very strong defender who is capable of contributing in a number of different ways on the court.
According to ESPN’s Chad Ford, Anunoby projects as a probable mid-first-rounder in June if NBA teams are comfortable about how his knee is recovering. If it looks like he may miss a significant chunk of his rookie season, Anunoby could slip a little further, but Ford still expects him to be a first-round pick, noting that his “talent level as a two-way player is off the charts.” Ford had the Indiana sophomore going 15th overall to the Pacers in his latest mock draft.
I knew it was going to happen but I was still hoping it wouldn’t.