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Draft Decisions: A. Jackson, Edey, Beekman, More

May 31st, 2023 at 11:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

Andre Jackson Jr., who helped lead Connecticut to a national title, has opted to keep his name in the draft rather than return to the Huskies for another season, writes ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Jackson is projected to be taken late in the first round or early in the second round, Wojnarowski adds. The junior shooting guard ranks 32nd on ESPN’s big board and is projected to go to the Pacers with the 32nd pick in the latest mock draft by Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

“My time at UCONN has been filled with ups and downs but through it all I built relationships with my teammates, coaches, friends and fans that will last forever,” Jackson wrote in a Twitter post. “I’ve made so many memories playing in that jersey and I will miss it. But I’ll always be a husky. Thank you.”

Jackson averaged 6.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.3 steals in six tournament games and was believed to have raised his draft stock significantly, although questions remain about his outside shooting. He took part in the draft combine and went through individual workouts with several teams, including the Hawks, Celtics, Nets, Pacers and Trail Blazers, according to Wojnarowski.

Dozens of draft decisions were announced Wednesday ahead of the 11:59 pm EDT deadline to return to school without losing eligibility. Most late deciders opted to pull out of the draft, but a few prominent names will remain in the pool. They are:

National Player of the Year Zach Edey will withdraw from the draft and return to Purdue for another year, according to Jeff Borzello of ESPN. The 7’4″ center averaged 22.9 points and 12.9 rebounds as a junior while shooting 60.7% from the field. Even so, his draft status wasn’t certain as he’s No. 47 in the ESPN rankings.

Another prominent player pulling out of the draft is Virginia’s Reece Beekman, the ACC’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Givony reports. Beekman hopes to boost his draft stock for 2024 after coming in at 43rd in ESPN’s rankings. “I’ve decided to go back to UVA to work towards being a first-round draft pick next year and finish my degree,” he said.

Here are some more players who decided late Wednesday to take their names out of the draft:

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Eastern Notes: Hawks, Quickley, Rubio, Celtics, Redick

May 10th, 2023 at 7:33pm CST by Rory Maher

The Hawks held pre-draft workouts with six college players on Thursday and will be hosting six more on Friday, the team announced (Twitter links).

Thursday’s group featured Alex Fudge (Florida), Logan Johnson (St. Mary’s), Matthew Mayer (Illinois), Kevin Obanor (Texas Tech), Antonio Reeves (Kentucky) and Hunter Tyson (Clemson), while Marcus Carr (Texas), Kendric Davis (Memphis), Tosan Evbuomwan (Princeton), Landers Nolley (Cincinnati), Drew Peterson (USC) and Erik Stevenson (West Virginia) will be working out tomorrow.

Of the players mentioned, only Evbuomwan — who helped lead the 15th-seeded Tigers to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament — appears on ESPN’s top-100 prospects list ahead of the draft; he’s considered a fringe second-round pick at No. 77. The Hawks control the 15th and 46th overall picks in June’s draft.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • Trailing 3-1 and facing playoff elimination tonight, the Knicks will be without Sixth Man of the Year runner-up Immanuel Quickley for the second straight game due to a left ankle sprain, head coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters, including Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Thibodeau did say the third-year guard’s injury has improved, but obviously not enough to play. He’s still considered day-to-day, Begley adds. Reserve guard Evan Fournier (illness) will also be sidelined, per the Knicks (Twitter link) — the veteran has yet to play this postseason.
  • Cavaliers guard Ricky Rubio didn’t have the season he was hoping for after returning from his second left ACL tear, but he and the team are hoping for better results in 2023/24, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Sources tell Fedor the Cavs are encouraging Rubio to play in this summer’s World Cup for Spain, but the veteran hasn’t made a decision on that front. “I think it will help,” Rubio said. “I’m going to meet with my team, my personal team, see what’s the best for me in rehab. I think I’ve got to get more even strength on my lower legs, lower body and see what’s the best for me. I always want to compete up. The World Cup is something special as well. But I will take my time.”
  • Former NBA veteran JJ Redick, who is now an ESPN analyst, recently interviewed for Toronto’s head coaching job. The Celtics are among “several teams” that have shown interest in hiring Redick as an assistant coach since he retired a couple years ago, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
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50 Prospects Reportedly Invited To G League Elite Camp

May 5th, 2023 at 8:12am CST by Luke Adams

A total of 50 prospects for the 2023 NBA draft have been invited to the NBA’s G League Elite Camp, according to reports from Adam Zagoria of Forbes and Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report (Twitter links).

Those players are as follows:

The name of the G League Elite Camp is a bit of a misnomer — when first introduced, the event showcased NBAGL players, but the field of participants now consists exclusively of draft prospects. The event will take place on May 13 and 14 in Chicago, ahead of this year’s draft combine.

Like the combine, the Elite Camp brings young players to Chicago to meet NBA teams and participate in drills and scrimmages. While the combine focuses on the top prospects in a given draft class, the Elite Camp generally features prospects who are trying to break into that upper echelon of prospects but are more likely to go undrafted. The top performers at the event typically receive invites to the combine.

Of the 50 G League Elite Camp invitees, 15 show up on Jonathan Givony’s list of this year’s top 100 prospects at ESPN.com. However, no Elite Camp invitee ranks higher than No. 58 (Hart) on ESPN’s board.

The G League Elite Camp will give the invitees who declared for the draft as early entrants an opportunity to see where they stand ahead of the draft withdrawal deadline on May 31. Not all of the players who participate in this event will remain in the draft pool.

Some NBA players who have participated in past G League Elite Camps include Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado, Pacers forward Oshae Brissett, Clippers guard Terance Mann, and Heat wing Max Strus.

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Duke’s Dereck Lively Among Draft’s Recent Early Entrants

April 4th, 2023 at 3:10pm CST by Luke Adams

Duke center Dereck Lively II announced on Tuesday that he’s entering his name in the 2023 NBA draft, confirming his decision in a video on Twitter. There’s no mention in Lively’s statement or a press release from the school about him preserving his remaining NCAA eligibility, so it sounds like he intends to go pro.

A 7’2″ center, Lively doesn’t have much of an offensive game, having averaged just 5.2 points in 20.6 minutes (34 games) during his first and only college season. However, his defensive upside is significant and he’s considered perhaps the best shot blocker in this year’s draft class, having averaged 2.4 BPG for the Blue Devils.

John Hollinger of The Athletic recently wrote that the floor spacing at the NBA level should give Lively more room to operate as a rim runner. He has shown some passing ability and the potential to make corner threes, according to Hollinger, so there’s reason to be hopeful that he could develop a passable offensive game to go along with his game-changing defense.

Lively is the No. 22 prospect on ESPN’s big board.

Here are more updates on early entrants declaring for the draft in recent days:

  • Indiana senior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis will forgo his final year of college eligibility and enter the 2023 NBA draft, he announced on Instagram. A possible first-round pick, Jackson-Davis is the No. 31 prospect on ESPN’s board after an impressive 2022/23 season in which he averaged a double-double (20.9 PPG, 10.8 RPG) to go along with 4.0 APG and 2.9 BPG in 32 contests (34.5 MPG).
  • Arkansas junior guard Ricky Council IV has declared for the draft, making his announcement on Twitter. Based on his statement, it sounds like Council will forgo his remaining college eligibility. The No. 43 prospect on ESPN’s top 100, Council transferred to the Razorbacks after two years at Wichita State. His shooting percentages dipped a little in 2022/23, to 43.3% from the floor and 27.0% on threes, but he averaged 16.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and 2.3 APG in 36 games (34.1 MPG) and has “an NBA-caliber frame and exceptional explosiveness,” per ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
  • The following players are also entering the draft and will maintain their NCAA eligibility unless otherwise noted:
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NBA Announces 88 Early Entrants Withdrawing From Draft

July 10th, 2021 at 6:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA issued a press release today announcing that 88 prospects who declared for the 2021 draft as early entrants earlier this year have withdrawn their names from the draft pool.

We’ve passed along updates on most of these players in recent weeks, but the following names on today’s list are ones that we hadn’t written about yet. They’ve pulled out of the 2021 NBA draft and will retain their NCAA eligibility for at least one more year:

  1. Josiah Agnew, G, Denmark Technical College (SC) (freshman)
  2. Dalonte Brown, F, Miami (Ohio) (senior)
  3. D.J. Burns Jr., F, Winthrop (sophomore)
  4. Lydell Elmore, F, High Point (senior)
  5. Patrick Greene Jr., G, National Park College (AR) (sophomore)
  6. Ron Harper Jr., G/F, Rutgers (junior)
  7. Trevor Hudgins, G, NW Missouri State (junior)
  8. David Jean-Baptiste, G, Chattanooga (senior)
  9. Jalen Johnson, F, Mississippi State (senior)
  10. Jaizec Lottie, G, Flagler (FL) (senior)
  11. Loudon Love, F, Wright State (senior)
  12. Issa Muhammad, F, Daytona State (FL) (sophomore)
  13. Jordan Phillips, G/F, UT Arlington (junior)
  14. Antonio Reeves, G, Illinois State (sophomore)
  15. Shawn Royal Jr., G/F, Victory Rock Prep (FL) (post-graduate)
  16. Maleek Taylor, F, Allen University (SC) (senior)
  17. Alonzo Verge Jr., G, Arizona State (senior)
  18. Richard Washington Jr., G/F, San Jose State (senior)
  19. Keith Williams, G, Cincinnati (senior)

Our unofficial list of early entrants is now up to date, to the best of our knowledge. While the NCAA’s early entrant withdrawal deadline came and went this past Wednesday, the NBA’s own deadline is on July 19, so there will still be a number of early entrants removing their names from the draft in the next nine days — especially international prospects, since the NCAA deadline didn’t apply to them at all.

We’ll continue updating our list of early entrants through the NBA’s withdrawal deadline on July 19, and will eventually provide an official list of this year’s draft-eligible early entrants.

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Marcus Bagley Among Prospects Entering 2021 Draft

April 6th, 2021 at 11:11am CST by Luke Adams

Arizona State forward Marcus Bagley has decided to declare for the 2021 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility, he tells ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

Bagley, the younger brother of Kings big man Marvin Bagley III, currently ranks 27th overall on ESPN’s big board of 2021 prospects. He missed a portion of his freshman season due to COVID-related interruptions and ankle and calf injuries, but showed enough in 12 games to make him a potential first-round pick.

The 19-year-old averaged 10.8 PPG and 6.2 RPG while shooting 34.7% from beyond the arc in 29.2 minutes per contest during his first – and possibly only – college season.

Bagley is one of many early entrants who has declared for the draft in recent days. Here are some others:

Expected to go pro:

Testing the draft waters:

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