Gonzaga’s Julian Strawther has declared for the 2023 NBA draft, he announced via Twitter. The junior wing didn’t say anything about maintaining his college eligibility, so we’re assuming he’s going to hire an agent and turn pro.
Strawther averaged 15.2 PPG and 6.2 RPG on .469/.408/.776 shooting in 37 games (31.2 MPG) this season for the Bulldogs. Gonzaga went 31-6, ultimately losing in the Elite Eight to UConn, the eventual champions.
Strawther, who turns 21 years old next week, is considered a potential second-round pick, as he’s ranked No. 50 on ESPN’s best available players list.
Here are some more draft related notes:
- Duke guard Jeremy Roach (Twitter link), Florida Atlantic guard Alijah Martin (Twitter link), and Northwestern guard Chase Audige (Twitter link) are all declaring for the draft while maintaining their eligibility. Roach and Martin are juniors, while Audige is a redshirt senior who has one year of eligibility left due to COVID-19. None of the three are on ESPN’s list, so they’re considered unlikely to be drafted.
- The Portsmouth Invitational tournament has released its rosters, as Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report relays (via Twitter). The Portsmouth tournament is often used a springboard for lesser-known prospects to try and get invites to the G League Elite Camp and then the NBA combine, Wasserman notes, with Tyrese Martin and Jared Rhoden among the players who successfully went down that path last year and played some NBA minutes in 2022/23.
- In case you missed it, we released an update on the projected lottery standings and tentative draft order for each of the league’s 30 teams, as well as which picks will and won’t change hands.
Victor Wembanyama Odds:
– Detroit 14.0%
– Houston 14.0%
– San Antonio 14.0%
– Charlotte 12.5%
– Portland 10.5%
– Orlando 9.0%
– Indiana 6.8%
– Washington 6.8%
– Utah 4.5%
– Dallas 3.0%L
Here we gooooooo ………
@ AL : Nicely done! So, let me get this straight
To AL and @ Luke: So there’s still a chance the MAVS don’t land in that top-10 spot, thus the pic goes to the knicks?? How so?
Yeah, if a team in the 11-14 range of the lottery standings jumps into the top four, the Mavs would get pushed down from No. 10 to No. 11 (or No. 12, if two teams in the 11-14 range move up). The Knicks would get the pick in that scenario. There’s about a 20% chance of it happening.
Great! Maybe it will work out to NY favor. If not, NY has no 1st or 2nd rd picks in this year’s draft, correct?
Sounds like Leon will be buying and/or swapping picks this year, cuz the 2024 draft class not as deep as this years.