Draft Notes: Bogdanovic, Randle, Embiid, Magic
Here’s the latest news and notes on the 2014 NBA draft:
- Serbian draft prospect Bogdan Bogdanovic tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com that he feels ready for the NBA, but he says he wouldn’t mind staying in Europe another season if an NBA team drafts him and feels he could use more seasoning. He’s No. 32 on the list of prospects at DraftExpress.com.
- Adi Joseph of USA Today Sports takes a look at how the upcoming week’s slate of college games could impact several players’ draft stocks, including the much-discussed Kentucky freshman Julius Randle. Joseph opines that Randle’s lack of top-level upside makes him a less attractive option for the top pick than Andrew Wiggins or Joel Embiid, but also says his versatility could turn him into a perennial All-Star at the next level.
- The Magic sit just three games above the cellar of the Eastern Conference, and as a result, they look to have a great shot at getting a high pick in June’s draft. Embiid’s name has been rapidly climbing up mock draft boards, and Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel takes a look at whether or not the Magic should select the Kansas big man if given the chance. We heard this morning that there’s mutual interest between Orlando and Nikola Vucevic on a potential extension, but drafting Embiid could mean the end of those talks. It’ll be interesting to see if the team would consider pairing the two centers together.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
International Prospects’ Draft Decisions
The deadline for international early entrants to withdraw from the 2013 draft arrives today at 4:00pm central time, so plenty of updates are trickling in on players deciding whether they're in or out. We'll track all of those decisions in this post throughout the day, with new updates being added to the top of each list:
In:
- Lucas Nogueira and Raul Neto are staying in the draft, agent Aylton Tesch tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (on Twitter).
- Giannis Antetokounmpo will remain eligible to be drafted, his agent announced today on Twitter.
- German power forward Daniel Theis will be keeping his name in the draft, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com.
- Sergey Karasev will remain in the draft, agent Justin Zanik tells Givony (Twitter link).
- Givony reports (via Twitter) that Alex Abrines and Marko Todorovic are staying in the draft, with agent Igor Crespo saying, "That was the plan all along."
- French forward Livio Jean-Charles will remain in the draft, tweets Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
- Rudy Gobert will also remain in the draft, according to Ford (Twitter link), which is no surprise, considering he projects as a potential lottery pick.
Out:
- Mouhammadou Jaiteh has decided to withdraw his name from the 2013 NBA Draft, his agent tells Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (Twitter link). He'll return to France for the season.
- French prospects Louis Labeyrie and Axel Toupane have withdrawn their names from the draft, their agent told Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (on Twitter).
- Greek small forward Linos Chrysikopoulos has removed his name from the draft pool, agent Mike Main tells Givony (Twitter link).
- Big man Walter Tavares has withdrawn his name, agent Guillermo Bermejo tells Givony (Twitter link).
- Adin Vrabac, Artem Pustovyi and Bogdan Bogdanovic have also pulled out of the draft, reports Givony (via Twitter).
- Philipp Neumann has withdrawn his name from consideration, tweets Givony.
- Francois Affia Ambadiang has pulled out of the draft, agent Alex Saratsis tells Givony (Twitter link).
- Givony adds four more names to the list of players exiting the draft: Nemanja Besovic, Matias Bortolin, Djordje Drenovac, and Marko Ramljak (Twitter link).