French small forward Axel Bouteille intends to enter the 2016 NBA Draft, agent Sead Galijasevic of Wasserman relays (via Twitter). The 21-year-old is the No. 7-ranked international prospect in his class according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. In 31 games for the French club Chalon this season, Bouteille averaged 5.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 14.4 minutes of action per outing. The swingman needs to improve his outside shooting and ability to create his own shot if he hopes to be successful in the NBA, Givony notes in his profile of Bouteille. The deadline for players to declare their intention to enter this year’s draft was Sunday, and Bouteille got in under the wire.
Here’s more regarding the 2016 NBA Draft:
- Luc Loubaki, another Frenchman, also intends to enter this year’s NBA Draft, Thomas Jay of Octagon Basketball Europe relays (Twitter link). The 19-year-old shooting guard is the No. 37 overall player in his class according to Givony. The 6’3″ guard appeared in 30 contests this season for Orleans Loiret and averaged just 3.0 points and 1.2 rebounds in 10.3 minutes per night.
- Bulgarian combo forward Aleksandar Vezenkov will enter 2016 NBA draft, his representatives at Lotsos & Associates announced (via Twitter). The 20-year-old is the No. 69 overall prospect in this year’s draft according to Givony, who projected Vezenkov as an early second-rounder in the 2017 NBA Draft.
- Former Maryland big man Robert Carter, who is the N0. 55 ranked prospect per Givony and comes in at No. 47 overall according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, has signed with Life Sports Management to represent him, Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com tweets.
- Former Indiana point guard Yogi Ferrell has hired Keith Kreiter of Edge Sports International as his agent, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter). Ferrell is the No. 60-ranked player per Givony, while Ford slots him 99th.