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Adou Thiero Staying In NBA Draft; Oweh, Bittle, Others Withdrawing

May 28th, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

After spending the 2024/25 season at Arkansas, 6’6″ wing Adou Thiero will be keeping his name in the 2025 NBA draft, agent Lucas Newton of Klutch Sports tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link).

While Thiero was technically testing the waters and could have pulled out of the draft to return to school for another year, the wording of his initial announcement strongly indicated that his plan was to go pro. It sounds like he hasn’t received any feedback during the pre-draft process that dissuaded him from taking that route.

Thiero, who spent his first two college seasons at Kentucky, had a breakout year for the Razorbacks as a junior, averaging 15.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.6 steals in 27.5 minutes per game across 27 contests (26 starts). He made just 25.6% of his three-point attempts (11-of-43) and shot 68.6% on free throws, but is considered a potential first-round pick due in large part to his exceptional athleticism and energy.

Theiro was listed as the No. 30 prospect in the latest version of ESPN’s big board for the 2025 draft.

Here are a few more of the latest draft decisions made by early entrants:

  • Kentucky guard Otega Oweh will be removing his name from the draft pool and rejoining the Wildcats for his senior season, agent Wilmer Jackson tells Givony (Twitter link). Oweh, who transferred to Kentucky after two years at Oklahoma, was the team’s leading scorer in 2024/25 with 16.2 points per game and made the All-SEC second team. He was the No. 72 player on ESPN’s big board.
  • Oregon forward/center Nathan Bittle, the No. 79 prospect on ESPN’s board, intends to withdraw from the draft and return to the Ducks for one more year, tweets Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports. Bittle was named to the All-Big Ten third team and the conference’s All-Defensive team this spring after averaging 14.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game. He has been with Oregon for four years, but was granted a medical redshirt for the 2023/24 season after being limited to five appearances due to health issues.
  • Wisconsin guard John Blackwell worked out for a few NBA teams during the pre-draft process and got positive feedback, but he has decided to pull out of the draft and head back to school, reports Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Blackwell became a full-time starter for the Badgers as a sophomore last season and put up 15.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 2.2 APG in 37 games.
  • Guard Camron McDowell has withdrawn from the draft, according to agent Curtis Lawrence (Twitter link via Chepkevich). McDowell poured in 27.1 points per game last season playing for Division II school Northwestern Oklahoma State. He’s in the transfer portal and will be returning to a Division I team for his senior year, Chepkevich notes.
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Northwest Notes: Randle, Thunder, SGA, Blazers

May 6th, 2025 at 9:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Julius Randle missed over a month during the regular season due to a groin injury. The Timberwolves big man used that time to reevaluate how he could best impact his new teammates, he told Marc Spears of Andscape.

“When I got injured those few weeks, I was able to see what the team needed, kind of see better how things are done and how I can best help us win games,” Randle said. “So, usually when I get injured, I try to come back better than I was before and really that was my focus. It was just learning the teammates, learning the system, adjusting, learning how I can best help the team.”

Randle delivered in a big way during their first-round series against the Lakers, posting averages of 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

  • The Thunder played just 24 games this regular season decided in clutch time, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman notes. That may have caught up to them in Game 1 of their second-round series against Denver, as they squandered a late nine-point lead. “We’ve usually been able to execute pretty well on both ends and slam the door on those games,” coach Mark Daigneault said. “We didn’t do that last night.”
  • Franchise player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is eager to see how his Thunder teammates will respond in Game 2 on Wednesday. “It should be fun,” Gilgeous-Alexander said, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “We’re going to find out what we’re made of, what we’re really made of. Nobody expected it to be smooth sailing this whole journey. No journey in life is, and we know that. Today’s a bump in the road — unexpected. No one expects to lose, especially that way, but it’s the game of life. So it’s about how you respond to getting knocked down.”
  • The Trail Blazers held a pre-draft workout on Tuesday that included Devon Pryor (Oregon), Rueben Chinyelu (Florida), Ben Henshall (Perth Wildcats), Dink Pate (Mexico City Capitanes), John Blackwell (Wisconsin) and Lachlan Olbrich (Illawarra Hawks), Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian tweets. Pate (No. 55) and Henshall (64) are the highest-rated prospects among that group, according to ESPN’s Best Available list.
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Draft Notes: Fland, Flagg, Final Four, Burton, Early Entrants

April 4th, 2025 at 5:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Arkansas guard Boogie Fland has announced (via Instagram) that he’s declaring for the 2025 NBA draft. While Fland, who just finished his freshman year with the Razorbacks, has the option of testing the draft waters and retaining his NCAA eligibility, his statement makes no mention of that plan, so it sounds like he’s preparing to go pro.

Fland, who won’t turn 19 until July, appeared in 21 games for Arkansas in his first – and potentially only – college season, averaging 13.5 points, 5.1 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 31.8 minutes per contest. He made just 37.9% of his field goal attempts, including 34.0% of his three-pointers.

Fland underwent thumb surgery in January that was expected to end his season, but he returned to action for the NCAA Tournament last month. He wasn’t particularly effective in his three games back from the injury though, scoring just 12 total points on 4-of-18 shooting in 53 minutes against Kansas, St. John’s, and Texas Tech.

The 18-year-old ranked 48th overall on the latest 2025 draft big board from ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo.

Here are several more draft-related notes:

  • ESPN’s Jeremy Woo spoke to NBA executives and scouts about current and past NBA comparables for projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg and got some interesting responses. Woo zeroes in on five of those players – Jayson Tatum, Kawhi Leonard, Lamar Odom, Scottie Pippen, and Andrei Kirilenko – and outlines the traits Flagg shares with each of them, as well as those he doesn’t.
  • While Duke’s three projected lottery picks (Flagg, Khaman Maluach and Kon Knueppel) will be the headliners of Final Four weekend for NBA evaluators, there are plenty of other prospects to keep an eye on in the showdowns of No. 1 seeds featuring Duke vs. Houston and Florida vs. Auburn. Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports shines a spotlight on several of those players, including Houston guard Milos Uzan, Auburn big man Johni Broome, and Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr.
  • After leading the ACC in scoring as a sophomore, Notre Dame guard Markus Burton has decided to remain with the Fighting Irish for at least one more year rather than entering the transfer portal or testing the draft waters, agent Ron Shade tells ESPN’s Givony (Twitter link).
  • Here are a few more of the prospects who have announced they’re testing the draft waters this spring as early entrants:
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