What are the key dates for players thinking about the NBA draft?
With the 2016-2017 season over for our Deacs, it’s time to look ahead to the next event that will likely have a huge impact on the 2017-2018 season, the NBA Draft.
Last year’s rule change by the NCAA allows players who declare for the draft to take part in the NBA combine and 1 team workout for each team without losing their eligibility (so long as they don’t hire an agent, of course).
That basically means that players can go workout for NBA teams, get feedback on what they need to improve on, and then return to college. Since there is really no down side to doing so, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if players that could have NBA potential declare for the draft just to get evaluated. Here are the dates to keep in mind for Deacs that may choose to declare:
April 23rd - Early Entry Eligibility Deadline, aka the last day for players that aren’t seniors to declare for the draft.
May 9-14 - NBA Draft Combine
May 16th - NBA Draft Lottery (typically kicks off pre draft workouts)
May 24th - Last day to withdraw from the draft and keep NCAA eligibility
June 22nd - NBA Draft
The important thing here is to remember that as long as a player doesn’t hire an agent, he has until 10 days after the NBA combine to withdraw. So don’t panic if and when Collins, Crawford, or anyone else declares for the NBA draft, as there is a good possibility they will return and continue their collegiate career.
Without any inside knowledge, it’s pretty obvious that it would be helpful for John Collins to declare and go work out with NBA teams. He is a fringe lottery pick, and unless he has just already made up his mind to stay in school another year, then he should take advantage of what is being offered to get the most information possible for his decision.
Bryant Crawford is a little less straightforward. He’s not on many draft boards, but this could be an opportunity to get in front of NBA scouts for workouts and get feedback. He has played in front of a lot of high-level scouts already this year (either there to watch Collins, or pretty much any other ACC team with NBA-cailber players), so he may already have a good idea of what is expected at this point.
As you can see, the timeline is over the next two months, so it may take a bit before we know for sure what will happen with our main guys.
While this can be confusing, just remember these guys can withdraw their name before May 24th as long as they don't sign with an agent. If you see that happening then they are gone to the NBA.
