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NBA Announces Initial Early Entrant List For 2024 Draft

April 30th, 2024 at 12:32pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially released the initial list of early entrants for the 2024 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 195 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 138 are from colleges, 43 had been playing for teams internationally, and 14 were playing non-college ball stateside (ie. the G League or Overtime Elite).

While that early entrant total obviously far exceeds the number of players who will be selected in this year’s draft (58), it’s down significantly from the figures we’ve seen in recent years. A record 353 early entrants initially declared for the draft in 2021, but that number dropped to 283 in 2022 and 242 a year ago. The NCAA’s NIL policy, which allows college athletes to be paid based on their name, image, and likeness, has presumably been a major factor in that trend.

This year’s total of 195 early entrants figures to decline significantly by May 29 and again by June 16, the two deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. But it’s still likely that the eventual number of early entrants will exceed 58 players. That group will join the college seniors with no remaining eligibility and other automatically eligible players in this year’s draft pool.

Our tracker of early entrants for the 2024 draft is fully up to date and can be found right here.

Here are the changes we made to our tracker today:

Newly added players

College players:

These players either didn’t publicly announce that they were entering the draft or we simply missed it when they did.

International players:

These players weren’t previously mentioned on our list of international early entrants. The country listed here indicates where they last played, not necessarily where they were born.

Other players:

  • Abdullah Ahmed, C, Westchester Knicks (born 2003)
  • Somto Cyril, C, Overtime Elite (born 2005)
  • Reynan Dos Santos, G, Overtime Elite (born 2004)
  • Djordjije Jovanovic, F, Ontario Clippers (born 2003)
  • Jalen Lewis, F/C, Overtime Elite (born 2005)
  • Malique Lewis, F, Mexico City Capitanes (born 2004)
  • Babacar Sane, F, G League Ignite (born 2003)

Players removed

Despite reports or announcements that the players below would declare for the draft, they didn’t show up on the NBA’s official list.

That could mean a number of things — they may have decided against entering the draft; they may have entered the draft, then withdrawn; they may have had no NCAA eligibility remaining, making them automatically draft-eligible; they may have incorrectly filed their paperwork; or the NBA may have accidentally omitted some names.

It seems that last possibility is a real one, as Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets that a “miscommunication or mishap’ at the league office may result in a dozen or more additional names being added to the NBA’s early entrant list.

We’ve still removed the following names from our early entrant list for the time being, but it sounds like some could be re-added soon.

Note: Some of these players may also be transferring to new schools.

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Draft Notes: Karaban, Clingan, Talent, Warren, Crawford, Richard

April 19th, 2024 at 6:54pm CST by Rory Maher

After winning his second consecutive national championship with UConn, sophomore forward Alex Karaban announced (via Twitter) that he’s entering the 2024 draft pool while maintaining his college eligibility.

Karaban, who averaged 13.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 0.9 SPG and 0.8 BPG on .495/.379/.885 shooting in 39 games for the Huskies (31.4 MPG) this season, is ranked No. 41 on ESPN’s big board, making him a projected second-round pick.

Karaban’s college teammate, center Donovan Clingan, already announced he’s entering the draft. Clingan is ranked No. 3 on ESPN’s board and will reportedly receive consideration for the No. 1 overall pick.

However, that doesn’t appear to be the consensus. Five “high-ranking NBA executives” who spoke to Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 had Clingan ranked anywhere from No. 5 to 20, with most saying mid-to-late lottery (Twitter link).

Here are a few more notes ahead of June’s draft:

  • One general manager Goodman talked to was very critical of the available talent in this year’s class, particularly at the top (Twitter link). “This is an absolutely awful draft,” the GM said. “There’s no guy that projects as a franchise player, no one that even stands out as the No. 1 pick. This is the type of draft that gets someone fired if they get the No. 1 pick.”
  • Count Sam Vecenie of The Athletic among the talent evaluators who are skeptical of any prospect having real star potential in the 2024 draft. His updated big board has several differences with ESPN’s. For example, french forward Zaccharie Risacher, who is No. 1 on ESPN’s list, is No. 8 on Vecenie’s board. He’s higher on UConn’s Stephon Castle, who recently entered the draft — Castle is No. 3 on Vecenie’s board but No. 9 on ESPN.
  • Former Overtime Elite guard Bryson Warren, who was drafted into the NBA G League last year, is entering the 2024 draft (Twitter link). Once a five-star recruit, Warren had a statistically disappointing season for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, averaging just 6.9 PPG and 1.8 APG on .376/.325/.800 shooting in 27 total games (17.4 MPG).
  • Louisiana Tech forward Isaiah Crawford, who’s coming off an impressive senior season in which he averaged 16.3 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 2.4 APG, 2.1 SPG and 1.7 SPG on .485/.414/.728 shooting in 32 games (32.9 MPG), is “drawing strong interest from NBA teams,” according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter link). Crawford is participating in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.
  • Florida junior Will Richard is testing the draft waters while maintaining his college eligibility, he announced on Instagram. The 6’5″ guard averaged 11.4 PPG and 3.9 RPG on .411/.345/.802 shooting in 36 games this season for the Gators (29.5 MPG).
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