Jordan Clarkson

Draft Rumors: Saric, Parker, Brown, Clarkson

Jabari Parker‘s father tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that Parker is still undecided on whether to declare for the 2014 draft. “He’s undecided and we know the [NBA’s Early Entry eligibility] deadline is the 27th [of April] so if he’s going to make a decision he has to make it by that date, but right now he’s undecided,” said the elder Parker. It would be a surprise if Parker, a consensus top-three talent, didn’t come out for the draft when all is said and done. Let’s look at some more draft notes:

  • Chad Ford of ESPN.com, in his weekly chat, insists that Dario Saric is still leaning toward staying out of the draft, in spite of a weekend report suggesting otherwise. Ford also hears from several scouts who say Parker will stay in school, but Ford believes the Duke star will ultimately enter this year’s draft.
  • Oklahoma State senior Markel Brown and Missouri junior Jordan Clarkson, who’s entering the draft, are set to sign with Andy Miller’s ASM Sports agency, tweets Darren Heitner of Forbes.
  • NBA front office types who told their owners that there was a franchise-changing player in this year’s draft are probably nervous now, an Eastern Conference executive tells Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck, who examines the falling stock of the 2014 class.
  • Some of the top prospects in the 2015 class don’t seem too enthused about commissioner Adam Silver’s push for a new NBA minimum age, as they tell Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.

Cray Allred contributed to this post.

Jordan Clarkson To Enter NBA Draft

Missouri combo guard Jordan Clarkson will enter the NBA draft, sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. Most NBA executives have told Goodman that they see him as a late first-round pick, but he’s just No. 58 in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress top prospect listings and No. 63 in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings. Clarkson slumped in the second half of the season, Givony notes (Twitter link), so perhaps the information that he and Ford are hearing about Clarkson’s draft stock is more up to date. Still, Clarkson had to deal with off-the-court matters late this season, including his father’s diagnosis with cancer (Twitter links).

The 6’4″ 21-year-old averaged 17.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in 35.1 minutes per game this season with the Tigers. He scored 20 points or more on 14 occasions, but none of those came during his final nine games, as Missouri went 4-5 and lost in the second round of the NIT. He dished out 3.4 assists per contest but averaged 2.7 turnovers, and he shot just 28.1% from behind the arc, though he did make it to the free throw line 5.6 times a night. His athleticism intrigues scouts, as does his size at the point guard position.

The junior was in his first season with Missouri after transferring from Tulsa and sitting out 2012/13. He has until April 15th to withdraw from the draft and return for his senior year.