Following his freshman year at Alabama, forward Amari Allen will test the NBA draft waters while maintaining his NCAA eligibility, he announced on Instagram.
Allen is viewed as a possible first-round pick — he currently ranks 29th on ESPN’s big board, while Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report had him all the way up at No. 18 in his post-NCAA tournament mock draft. The 6’8″ wing is said to have good positional size and versatility and is considered a solid passer and shooter. Although he made just 1-of-16 three-pointers during SEC and NCAA tournaments, he had made 37.7% of 4.4 tries per game in 28 regular season outings before that.
In 32 total games, including 24 starts, Allen averaged 11.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 28.2 minutes per contest, earning a spot on the All-SEC Freshman team.
Here are a few more draft-related notes:
- Duke’s Patrick Ngongba had been considered a possible first-round pick, but he’ll be returning to the Blue Devils for his junior season, according to the school (Twitter link). The big man emerged as Duke’s starting center in his sophomore year, averaging 10.1 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 2.0 APG in 32 games (21.9 MPG). ESPN’s Jeremy Woo previously noted that some evaluators believed Ngongba wasn’t ready for the NBA’s level of physicality and would benefit from another year in college.
- Alex Samodurov, a 21-year-old power forward who plays for the Greek team Panathinaikos, is declaring for the 2026 NBA draft, agent Alex Saratsis tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). According to Givony, Samodurov is also considering the possibility of coming stateside to enroll in a college program. He played a limited role for Panathinaikos in 2025/26, averaging just 6.2 minutes per game in 13 EuroLeague appearances.
- Italian center Luigi Suigo, the No. 41 prospect on ESPN’s board, is still weighing whether to enter the NBA draft or play college basketball, writes Dario Skerletic of Sportando. Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, St. John’s, Duke, and BYU are among the programs that have been linked to Suigo, who is currently playing for KK Mega Basket in Serbia, Skerletic adds.
[UPDATE: Suigo will test the draft waters while continuing to weigh his options, Givony reports (Twitter links). - Junior forward Keanu Dawes is testing the draft waters this spring, according to Givony (Twitter link). Dawes may end up returning to school for his senior year though. After spending the past two years playing for Utah, he entered the transfer portal and has signed with Kansas. In 32 starts last season for the Utes, the 6’9″ forward averaged 12.5 PPG, 8.8 RPG, and 2.2 APG in 30.8 MPG.
Shocked about Ngongba but this is the right move for him. Needs to throw his size down low a little better on both ends of the floor. Majority of all the bigs besides Mullins are coming back for another year. Going to be an interesting 2nd half of the 1st round this June.
A lot of guys the Bulls would have been interested in are going back to school. The 2 guys from Florida Condon and Haugh, Mullins, The 2 Ivisic boys are all heading back to college. It’s actually kind of refreshing as most of these guys aren’t ready to be in the NBA anyway. I get the risk but why sit on an NBA bench when you can play 30 -40 games and build your game up? There really isn’t an injury that could really detour a career anymore with advances in medical technology.
Mike, I really wanted Condon or Haugh. I’m also upset because the kid from Arizona is now moving up bc of all these kids staying in school. Good for him and his family but bad for my bulls fandom lmao
If you mean Burries I really didn’t want him anyway. I still have this horrible taste in my mouth from the last 1st round pick from Arizona they drafted.
No I meant Motiejus Krivas the 7’2 guy. He looks skilled from what I saw. Projected late 1st now.
They have enough bullets now to move up from 38 to the 1st round if they want. I think that would be doable for a smart GM.
I can see them moving up to 30th (Mavericks pick from OKC) for Tre Jones and probably 38th. Dallas needs a PG that can run the 2nd unit, and with the 30th pick I’d like them to target Henry Veesaar or Alijah Arenas.