Today marks the deadline for early entrants to declare for the NBA draft, and three overseas players have decided to wait another year, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Potential second-round picks Mario Nakic (Twitter link), Amar Sylla (Twitter link) and Carlos Alocen (Twitter link) will all bypass this year’s draft.
Nakic, 18, is a former MVP of the Adidas Next Generation Tournament. The 6’8″ wing played for Real Madrid this season, and Givony considers him a “breakout draft candidate” for 2021.
Sylla. a 6’9″ center from Senegal, played for the Belgian/BCL team Oostende this season. The 18-year-old could be a first round-pick next year, according to Givony.
Alocen is 6’5″ and is the starting point guard with Zaragoza in the Spanish ACB at age 19.
There are more draft decisions to pass along:
- LSU sophomore Emmitt Williams has declared for the draft, tweets Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports. Williams, who also tested the draft waters last year, made the announcement on his Instagram page. He averaged 13.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game this season.
- Northern Iowa’s AJ Green has decided to enter the draft while keeping his college eligibility, according to basketball analyst Jeff Goodman (Twitter link). Green was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year as a sophomore, averaging a league-best 19.7 PPG.
- Tennessee’s Yves Pons has also declared for the draft and will hold onto his eligibility, Goodman adds (Twitter link). The junior forward was Defensive Player of the Year in the SEC.
- Brazilian guard Caio Pacheco has opted to enter the draft, tweets Raúl Barrigón of HoopsHype. Pacheco averaged 19.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game this season with Bahía Blanca Basket in Argentina.