Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

How 2014 Early Draft Entrants Fared

March 30th 2015 at 12:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s difficult for underclassmen interested in entering the NBA draft to get truly accurate reads on their respective draft stocks, but the majority of last year’s early entrants are in the NBA, if the players who eventually withdrew from the draft aren’t taken into account. Many of the three dozen who have NBA contracts after declaring for the 2014 draft aren’t seeing much playing time, but they still made it to basketball highest level. Four more were on NBA rosters earlier this season, while a half dozen more were drafted and have yet to sign.

These are the players who declared for early entry in 2014 and currently have NBA contracts:

  • Jordan Adams, UCLA (Sophomore) — The Grizzlies drafted him No. 22 overall.
  • Kyle Anderson, UCLA (Sophomore) — The Spurs drafted him No. 30 overall.
  • Jabari Brown, Missouri (Junior) — Undrafted. Currently on second 10-day contract with Lakers. He previously signed with the team in September, but the Lakers waived him before opening night.
  • Bruno Caboclo, Brazil — The Raptors drafted him 20th overall.
  • Clint Capela, France — The Rockets drafted him 25th overall.
  • Jordan Clarkson, Missouri (Junior) — The Wizards drafted him 46th overall and traded his rights to the Lakers.
  • Spencer Dinwiddie, Colorado (Junior) — The Pistons drafted him 38th overall.
  • Tyler Ennis, Syracuse (Freshman) — The Suns drafted him 18th overall. A deadline-day trade sent him to the Bucks.
  • Joel Embiid, Kansas (Freshman) — The Sixers drafted him third overall. He hasn’t played this season due to injury.
  • Dante Exum, Australia — The Jazz drafted him fifth overall.
  • Aaron Gordon, Arizona (Freshman) — The Magic drafted him fourth overall.
  • Jerami Grant, Syracuse (Sophomore) — The Sixers drafted him 39th overall.
  • P.J. Hairston, D-League — The Heat drafted him 26th overall and traded his rights to the Hornets.
  • Gary Harris, Michigan State (Sophomore) — The Bulls drafted him 19th overall and traded his rights to the Nuggets.
  • Rodney Hood, Duke (Sophomore) — The Jazz drafted him 23rd overall.
  • Damien Inglis, France — The Bucks drafted him 31st overall. He hasn’t played this season due to injury.
  • Nick Johnson, Arizona (Junior) — The Rockets drafted him 42nd overall.
  • Zach LaVine, UCLA (Freshman) — The Timberwolves drafted him 13th overall.
  • James Michael McAdoo, North Carolina (Junior) — Undrafted. The Warriors signed him in February to a two-year deal. McAdoo previously signed a pair of 10-day contracts and a partially guaranteed contract in September that Golden State waived before opening night.
  • K.J. McDaniels, Clemson (Junior) — The Sixers drafted him 32nd overall. A deadline-day trade took him to the Rockets.
  • Mitch McGary, Michigan (Sophomore) — The Thunder drafted him 21st overall.
  • Eric Moreland, Oregon State (Junior) — Undrafted. Signed with the Kings in July.
  • Jusuf Nurkic, Croatia — The Bulls drafted him and traded his rights to the Nuggets.
  • Johnny O’Bryant III, LSU (Junior) — The Bucks drafted him 36th overall.
  • Jabari Parker, Duke (Freshman) — The Bucks drafted him second overall.
  • Elfrid Payton, Louisiana-Lafayette (Junior) — The Sixers drafted him 10th overall and traded his rights to the Magic.
  • Julius Randle, Kentucky (Freshman) — The Lakers drafted him seventh overall.
  • Glenn Robinson III, Michigan (Sophomore) — The Timberwolves drafted him 40th overall. They waived him in March, but the Sixers claimed him off waivers.
  • JaKarr Sampson, St. John’s (Sophomore) — Undrafted. Signed with the Sixers in September.
  • Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State (Sophomore) — The Celtics drafted him sixth overall.
  • Nik Stauskas, Michigan (Sophomore) — The Kings drafted him eighth overall.
  • Jarnell Stokes, Tennessee (Junior) — The Jazz drafted him 35th overall and traded his rights to the Grizzlies.
  • Noah Vonleh, Indiana (Freshman) — The Hornets drafted him ninth overall.
  • T.J. Warren, N.C. State (Sophomore) — The Suns drafted him 14th overall.
  • Andrew Wiggins, Kansas (Freshman) — The Cavaliers drafted him first overall and traded him to the Timberwolves in August.
  • James Young, Kentucky (Freshman) — The Celtics drafted him 17th overall.

The next group signed NBA deals earlier this season but have since cleared waivers:

  • Sim Bhullar, New Mexico State (Sophomore) — Undrafted. Signed with Kings in August but waived before opening night. Plays for Sacramento’s D-League affiliate.
  • Khem Birch, UNLV (Junior) — Undrafted. Signed with Heat in September but waived before opening night. Plays for Miami’s D-League affiliate.
  • Alex Kirk, New Mexico (Junior) — Undrafted. The Cavs signed him in August. A January trade sent him to the Knicks, who waived him shortly thereafter. He’s now playing for Cleveland’s D-League affiliate.
  • Roscoe Smith, UNLV (Junior) — Undrafted. The Lakers signed him in September but waived him prior to opening night. He’s played for the Lakers D-League affiliate this season.

These 11 players went undrafted and haven’t signed with NBA teams at any point, aside from summer league:

  • William Alston, Baltimore County Community College — Remains unsigned.
  • Isaiah Austin, Baylor (Sophomore) — Retired from basketball after he was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome.
  • Chane Behanan, Louisville/Colorado State (Junior) — Played 13 games with the Rockets D-League affiliate this season.
  • Jahii Carson, Arizona State (Sophomore) — He’s played for teams in Australia and Serbia this season.
  • Michalis Kamperidis, Greece — He’s played for teams in Spain and Greece this season.
  • Artem Klimenko, Russia — He’s played for Russia’s Avtodor Saratov this season.
  • Lucas Mariano, Brazil — He’s played for Brazil’s Franca this season.
  • LaQuinton Ross, Ohio State (Junior) — He’s played for Vuelle Basket Pesaro of Italy this season.
  • Antonio Rucker, Clinton Junior College (Freshman) — Remains unsigned.
  • Ojars Silins, Italy — He’s played for Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia of Italy this season.
  • Ta’Quan Zimmerman, Canada — He’s played for the Jazz’s D-League affiliate this season.

These players are “draft-and-stash” prospects who are playing either in the D-League or overseas even though NBA teams drafted them last year:

  • Semaj Christon, Xavier (Sophomore) — The Heat drafted him 55th overall, and a pair of trades sent his rights to the Hornets and ultimately the Thunder. Oklahoma City didn’t sign him but he entered the D-League and has been playing for the Thunder’s D-League affiliate.
  • Nemanja Dangubic, Serbia — The Sixers drafted him and traded him to the Spurs. He’s played for Serbia’s Crvena Zvezda this season.
  • DeAndre Daniels, Connecticut (Junior) — The Raptors drafted him 37th overall. He played for the Perth Wildcats of Australia this season.
  • Nikola Jokic, Serbia — The Nuggets drafted him 41st overall. He’s played for Serbia’s KK Mega Vizura this season.
  • Vasilije Micic, Serbia — The Sixers drafted him 52nd overall. He’s played for Germany’s Bayern Muenchen this season.
  • Dario Saric, Croatia — The Magic drafted him 12th overall and traded his rights to the Sixers. He’s played for Turkey’s Anadolu Efes this season.

The final group consists of players who withdrew from the draft, most of whom are from overseas. There’s a decent chance that many of these names will resurface again as early-entry candidates this year:

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0
View Comments (0)