LSU sophomore power forward Jordan Mickey has decided to enter this year’s NBA draft, as he tells Randy Rosetta of The Times-Picayune. Still, there’s a decent chance the 20-year-old won’t hear his name called on June 25th. He’s just 69th in the prospect rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 80th.
The news is no surprise, as Goodman reported a week ago that Mickey was leaning toward declaring for the draft, though the school released a statement around the same time in which the 6’7″ All-SEC honoree cautioned that he hadn’t yet made up his mind. Mickey dealt with injuries this season, but he still averaged nearly a double-double, putting up 15.4 points and 9.9 rebounds in 34.9 minutes per game, with an impressive 3.6 blocks per contest, too. Mickey’s stock nonetheless slipped from this time last year, when he decided to return to school amid rankings that projected he’d go in the late first round or early second round this year.
He’ll join fellow LSU sophomore big man Jarell Martin in this year’s draft, as our log of 2015 early entrants shows. The Tigers lost current Bucks power forward Johnny O’Bryant to the draft last year, but combo forward Ben Simmons, who’s No. 2 on Givony’s 2016 mock draft, has committed to the school for next season. Mickey and Martin helped lead the team to a ninth seed in the NCAA Tournament this season, though LSU lost its first tournament game to eighth-seeded N.C. State.