Baylor forward Matthew Mayer, who had been set to attend the draft combine in Chicago this week, is withdrawing from both the combine and the draft, a source tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
Mayer, ranked as this year’s No. 63 overall prospect by ESPN, was a candidate to be selected in the second round and almost certainly would’ve received a two-way deal or a training camp invite if he went undrafted. However, the 6’9″ junior has decided to return to the national-champion Bears for another year.
Givony expects another college season to boost Mayer’s draft stock, since he should be in line for a larger role at Baylor. The forward could be a Big 12 Player of the Year candidate and a potential 2022 first-round pick, says Givony.
Here’s more on the 2021 NBA draft:
- Potential first-round pick Trey Murphy III has decided to hire an agent, he told Givony. Murphy will remain in the draft and forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility after averaging 11.3 PPG on .503/.433/.927 shooting in 25 games (29.6 MPG) at Virginia as a junior.
- Oregon’s Chris Duarte and Gonzaga’s Joel Ayayi were among the players who turned down combine invites, according to Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. Wasserman hears that Duarte may not have wanted to give up a week of working with his personal trainer, while Ayayi’s camp is confident in his draft outlook without the combine, though there are no indications he has received a promise.
- Cameron Thomas of LSU and Isaiah Jackson of Kentucky are withdrawing from this week’s combine, tweets Jeremy Woo of SI.com. Both players are projected first-round picks.
- In his preview of the draft combine, Givony (Insider link) identifies Alabama guard Josh Primo, Arizona State forward Marcus Bagley, West Virginia guard Miles McBride, and Texas Tech wing Terrence Shannon as some of the players with the most at stake this week. They all rank between Nos. 32 and 41 on ESPN’s big board and will be looking to establish themselves as first-rounders.
Isaiah Jackson is a nice big. Very active more a a long PF who can play small ball center. Hoping Knicks would look at him with our second pick. He’s been projected in late 1st early 2nd. He’s pulling out it means he’s got a guarantee from a team in first rd. Hope it’s us NYK. We will loose Noel. He would be a solid replacement. Him or Bassey from W Kentucky.
Jackson would be a nice pickup for us. Im hoping NYK draft a promising PG and a backup 5, but i really think that we are not adding more than one rookie this season
I agree but losing Noel means we gotta get a big. It’s best way thru draft. I’m really leaning to Knicks trading up for player. Toppin and Quickly, pick could all be involved. Top ten is a starter for us. SF from Duke Johnson or PG Mitchell a good 2way player. I’ll go nuts if we trade up for Kuminga. If only.
I would love Mitchell with us. Not a huge fan of Jalen Johnson. Imo Keon Johnson would be a better fit. If we stay put, wouldnt mind Auburn Cooper at all
No NBA team was going to take Mayer seriously with that awful mullet anyway…
Remember Adam Morrison?
Mayer did not start and came in looking to shoot. Be nice to see him play normal as the captain type. And big man on campus
Knicks’ picks are at a spot in this draft where getting immediate rotation pieces will be challenging. The FO hit on Quickley last year later in the draft, but the open rotation spots this year figure to be harder to fill down here. Trading up is good, and word is they are exploring it vigorously. But I don’t see any team trading out of the top 5 for anything we could offer. Top 10 is unlikely too, unless they’re willing to throw in future picks (I wouldn’t, other than Dallas’ 2023 and only for the right player) and/or Toppin (I would if Randle is lined up for an extension, getting a grip on that has to be their pre-draft job 1). Or even cap space.
In the 10-20 area, I’d stay away from PG. We need to get an immediate starter there, and I don’t want to further stockpile backup PGs, even with starter potential because we don’t have the minutes to develop it. Rookie bigs almost never grade out defensively above the level of horrible, so if we take one in the 1st round, Thibs has to be comfortable with him (meaning he has to think they guy will be able to PLAY significant minutes at the big spot that Mitch, Noel and Gibson played last year BY MIDSEASON at the latest). If they can’t get guys for the 2 deep, consider trading a 1st in this draft for a future 1st.
This will be a real test, whether they trade up or not. It’s a critical off season, and it really starts on draft night.