UConn big man Adama Sanogo will be keeping his name in the draft and leaving the Huskies following a wildly successful junior year, sources tell Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Sanogo averaged 17.2 PPG and 7.7 RPG for UConn in 2022/23 and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament, which culminated with a Huskies championship.
Sanogo isn’t necessarily viewed as a top prospect, but he has improved his stock so far during the pre-draft process and currently comes in as the No. 70 player on ESPN’s big board, making him a legitimate candidate to hear his name called on June 22.
Here are a few more draft-related updates:
- While Sanogo won’t return to UConn, the defending champions will get one more year from guard Tristen Newton, who will run it back for the 2023/24 season, according to an announcement from the school (Twitter link). Newton averaged 10.1 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 4.5 RPG in 39 games (28.8 MPG) for UConn in 2022/23.
- St. John’s guard Jordan Dingle, Hampton wing Jordan Nesbitt, and UC-Davis guard Elijah Pepper are withdrawing from the draft, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (all Twitter links). Pepper is taking advantage of his extra year of NCAA eligibility due to the COVID-19 season, while Dingle and Nesbitt are underclassmen with multiple years remaining. Dingle is transferring from Penn to St. John’s.
- Kansas State forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin is also pulling his name out of the draft and will return to school for one more year, tweets Jeff Goodman of Stadium.
- The latest ESPN mock draft from Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo (Insider link) includes several interesting tidbits. Among them: Alabama’s Brandon Miller will visit the Hornets on June 10; Scoot Henderson views both the Hornets and Trail Blazers situations as appealing; there’s speculation after Houston’s Jarace Walker called off his pro day appearance that a team opted to “shut him down”; there’s some chatter that the Magic may not hang onto both of their lottery picks (Nos. 6 and 11); and a number of rival executives believe the Thunder could dangle future draft assets in an effort to move up from No. 12.
- Givony also reports within ESPN’s newest mock draft that Ohio State forward Brice Sensabaugh underwent surgery after the college season to address a knee issue and hasn’t been able to take part in competitive team workouts.
The Thunder should start trading their 2024 1st round picks. Its a shallow, weak, draft.
OKC could possibly package some of their smaller contracts, and picks for an upgrade.
I wouldn’t swing for the fences on overpaid guys like Embid, or Siakam, but players in the teens to low $20 million should be looked at by OKC over the summer.
Couldn’t disagree more, OKC needs to take this next season to judge their roster needs moving forward.
They need to see how Holmgren fits into their rotation, and evaluate the current talent they have on their team to see who to keep or move off of in order to make a real run the following season..
Right now, as currently constructed the Thunder have about 8-10 players that they’re seriously viewing as part of their rotation/core group moving forward.
That number could climb to 9-12 by making some additions in the draft.
I think it would be the smartest move to sort through these young guys and see who you’re taking with you going forward, and then adding on and trading away some picks to further improve the roster..
So, I don’t totally disagree with you, but I think you’re maybe a year early..
How dare you say 2024 nba draft it will be a weak draft, Bronny will be in that draft and whoever picks Bronny his dad LBJ will sign with that team for a vet minimum not a bad draft at all.
Would’ve loved the Sixers to draft Sanogo but the league hates us.
that would be great for his growth learning from Joel. plus id love to catch him in some g league games.
Sanogo reminds me so much of Draymond. Teams will regret not picking him! He’s just a winner
@rebillder,
I’d have to disagree. Drummond was 6’10-6’11 had been recruited and watched since he was like 10 years old., Adama is 6’7 and has only been playing for 5 years. I don’t think his game is ready for the NBA. I can’t blame him for seizing on a spectacular statistical season and national championship. but I would have liked to see him grow another year at UCONN. but perhaps a few years in g league and improving his ball handling and shooting will get him on a roster. I want to see him excel and I love his life story.