Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Henri Drell

NBA Announces Initial Early Entrant List For 2022 Draft

April 27th, 2022 at 10:05am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially released the initial list of early entrants for the 2022 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 283 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 247 are from colleges, while 36 are international early entrants.

Those are big numbers, but they fall well short of the 353 early entrants who initially declared for the draft a year ago. Beginning in 2021, the NCAA granted players an extra year of eligibility due to the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in seniors having to decide between staying at college for one more season or declaring for the draft as an “early” entrant.

That tweak to the NCAA’s eligibility rules has increased the number of total early entrants due to the influx of seniors into the pool. However, as Jonathan Givony of ESPN observes (via Twitter), the number of college non-seniors (123) on the initial early entry list this year is actually the lowest since 2016, while the number of international prospects (36) is the lowest since 2014.

This year’s total of 283 early entrants figures to shrink significantly by June 1 and again by June 13, the two deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. But it still looks like the pool will remain extremely crowded, with the eventual number of early entrants certain to exceed 58, the number of picks in the draft.

Our tracker of early entrants for the 2022 draft is fully up to date and can be found right here.

Here are the changes we made to our tracker today:

Newly-added players:

College players:

These players either didn’t publicly announce that they were entering the draft or we simply missed it when they did.

International players:

These players weren’t previously mentioned on our list of international early entrants. The country listed here indicates where they last played, not necessarily where they were born.

Other notable draft-eligible early entrants:

The NBA sent its teams a list of 33 “also-eligible” names. That list isn’t public, but Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link) shared some of the most notable players on it, and we’ve added them to our early entrant tracker. They are as follows:

  1. Dominick Barlow, F, Overtime Elite
  2. MarJon Beauchamp, G/F, G League Ignite
  3. Dyson Daniels, G, G League Ignite
  4. Henri Drell, G/F, Windy City Bulls
  5. Michael Foster, F, G League Ignite
  6. Jaden Hardy, G, G League Ignite
  7. Makur Maker, C, Sydney Kings (formerly Howard Bison)
  8. Jean Montero, G, Overtime Elite
  9. Samson Ruzhentsev, G/F, Mega Basket (formerly Florida Gators)
  10. Kai Sotto, C, Adelaide 36ers (formerly G League Ignite)
  11. Zaire Wade, G, Salt Lake City Stars
  12. Kok Yat, F, Overtime Elite
  13. Fanbo Zeng, F, G League Ignite

Players removed:

Despite reports or announcements that the players below would declare for the draft, they didn’t show up on the NBA’s official list.

That could mean a number of things — they may have decided against entering the draft; they may have entered the draft, then withdrawn; they may have had no NCAA eligibility remaining, making them automatically draft-eligible; they may have incorrectly filed their paperwork; or the NBA may have accidentally omitted some names.

In any case, we’ve removed the following names from our early entrant list, at least for the time being.

Finally, Givony reports (via Twitter) that Canadian forward Leonard Miller, from the Fort Erie International Academy has been asked to fill out additional paperwork to finalize his entrance into the draft pool. According to Givony, there’s an expectation that Miller will be added to the list, so we’ve left him listed in our early entrant tracker among the international players.

Retweet 1 Share 0 Send via email0

Draft Notes: International Prospects, Wolves, Suns, Lewis, Terry

November 9th, 2020 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s deadline for early entrants to withdraw from this year’s draft has now passed, which means it should just be a matter of time before we get an updated official list from the league of the early entrants who have kept their names in this year’s pool.

In the meantime, updates on a handful of international prospects continue to trickle in. According to Nicola Lupo of Sportando, Estonian forward Henri Drell – who is currently playing for Pesaro in Italy – has withdrawn his name from the 2020 draft.

On the other hand, Isralie point guard Yam Madar, a member of Hapoel Tel Aviv, has elected to keep his name in the draft, per Barak Haklai of ynetsport (Twitter link). And after initially announcing that his client Marko Simonovic would be pulling out of the draft, agent Misko Raznatovic has clarified (via Twitter) that Simonovic will remain in the draft after all.

Here’s more on the 2020 NBA draft:

  • An NBA general manager who spoke to Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link) this morning said he doesn’t envy the Timberwolves and their efforts to maximize the value of the No. 1 pick. “The teams at the top are desperate to try and trade down, but there just isn’t much value with the top few picks this year,” the GM said.
  • Within a piece on Kira Lewis Jr., Mike Mazzeo of Forbes says the Timberwolves and Suns are among the teams that have watched the Alabama guard work out in person. Lewis also worked out in person for Detroit, Chicago, New York, and Orlando, as previously reported.
  • Few prospects have increased their stock in recent months as substantially as Stanford’s Tyrell Terry, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, who notes within a profile of Terry that the 20-year-old has interviewed virtually with all 30 NBA teams.
  • In an Insider-only article, Kevin Pelton of ESPN uses advanced stats to break down this year’s prospects into tiers. Pelton has LaMelo Ball on his own in tier one, followed by Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton in tier two, with Deni Avdija, Onyeka Okongwu, and James Wiseman in tier three.
Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0

Draft Notes: Lewis, Vogt, Drell, Williams, More

April 21st, 2020 at 3:38pm CST by Luke Adams

Alabama sophomore guard Kira Lewis has elected to keep his name in the 2020 NBA draft and will forgo his final two years of college eligibility, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Lewis, who will hire an agent, confirmed his decision to go pro in a Twitter video.

A point guard who ranks 25th overall on ESPN’s big board, Lewis averaged a team-high 18.5 PPG to go along with 5.2 APG, 4.8 RPG, and 1.8 SPG in 31 games (37.6 MPG) in 2019/20 for the Crimson Tide. Alabama head coach Nate Oats told reporters nearly a month ago that Lewis would test the draft waters, noting at the time that he didn’t expect the starting point guard to return to school for ’20/21.

We have a few more draft decisions to pass along:

  • Cincinnati center Chris Vogt announced today on Twitter that he intends to test the draft waters. After transferring from Northern Kentucky, Vogt averaged 11.0 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 1.6 BPG in 30 games (28.5 MPG) as a junior.
  • Estonian swingman Henri Drell, who played for Italian team VL Pesaro this season, has declared for the NBA draft, his agency tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link). The 19-year-old, who also tested the draft waters a year ago, has previously played for teams in Estonia and Germany.
  • Evansville sophomore forward Deandre Williams has declared for the 2020 draft while entering the NCAA transfer portal, he tells Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype (video link). Williams recorded 15.2 PPG and 6.9 RPG in 18 games (27.1 MPG) in 2019/20.
  • VCU junior forward Marcus Santos-Silva, who previously entered the draft, has announced on Instagram that he’s transferring. While he didn’t explicitly say it, it sounds as if Santos-Silva will pull out of the draft process as he looks to play his senior season at a new program.
  • Former University of Sioux Falls commit Lincoln Bernhard, a 6’7″ wing, has entered the draft in the hopes of making a G League roster next season, he tells Hoops Rumors.
Retweet 5 Share 0 Send via email0

Draft Updates: Matthews, Bol, Porter, Withdrawals

June 10th, 2019 at 1:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Michigan guard Charles Matthews suffered some bad luck with the 2019 NBA draft right around the corner, as agent Adam Pensack tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com that his client has a torn ACL. The injury occurred during a workout with the Celtics, Givony adds.

Matthews, who had been ranked as the No. 60 prospect on ESPN’s big board and was receiving second-round interest, will head to his hometown of Chicago to undergo surgery to repair the ACL. He hasn’t given up hope of being selected in next week’s draft.

“Injuries are tough, but Charles is an extremely hard worker and will be back stronger than ever,” Pensack told Givony. “He had a series of outstanding workouts lately and has helped himself. Charles will continue that momentum when he returns to action. As of now, we have interest in the second round as Charles is OK signing a two-way contract like Edmond Sumner did with the Indiana Pacers in 2017.”

Let’s round up a few more draft-related items…

  • Bol Bol, who is recovering from a foot fracture, will hold an invite-only workout for select teams on Wednesday, according to Jeremy Woo and Jake Fischer of SI.com (Twitter link). Bol is one of the biggest wild cards in the draft for health-related reasons, so Wednesday’s session could have a major impact on where he’s selected.
  • Kevin Porter Jr., a probable first-round pick, has worked out for the Nets, Spurs, and Hornets, and has sessions lined up with the Magic and Hawks, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Porter’s previously-reported upcoming workouts with the Heat and Wizards will take place on June 13 and June 17, respectively (Twitter links via Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald and Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington).
  • With Monday’s withdrawal deadline looming, several international early entrants are pulling their names out of the 2019 draft pool. According to reports from Givony and Lithuanian journalist Donatas Urbonas (all four Twitter links), the following players are withdrawing: Nikita Mikhailovskii (Russia), Arturs Zagars (Latvia), Henri Drell (France), Tadas Sedekerskis (Lithuania), Gytis Masiulis (Lithuania), and Arnas Velicka (Lithuania).
  • Lithuanian early entrants Deividas Sirvydis and Matas Jogela intend to remain in the draft pool, sources tell Urbonas (Twitter link). According to Givony (all Twitter links), Sekou Doumbouya (France), Goga Bitadze (Georgia), Luka Samanic (Croatia), Adam Mokoka (France), and Marcos Louzada Silva (Brazil) will also stay in the draft.
Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0

Draft Updates: Drell, Mikhailovskii, Montgomery, More

April 19th, 2019 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

A pair of international prospects who show up in ESPN.com’s top-100 list for 2019 have declared for the draft, as Jonathan Givony of ESPN details in a pair of stories.

Estonian wing Henri Drell, the No. 55 prospect on ESPN’s big board, is one of those two players, Givony writes. Drell has spent the 2018/19 season in Germany, splitting time between Bamberg and lower-level teams. Despite still being just 18 years old, he joined the Estonian national team earlier this year for FIBA World Cup qualifiers.

If Drell goes through the pre-draft process and isn’t thrilled with the feedback he’s getting from NBA teams, he could withdraw anytime before the June 10 deadline.

The same can be said for 18-year-old Russian wing Nikita Mikhailovskii, who has also submitted paperwork to the league office to make himself eligible for the 2019 draft, agent Arturs Kalnitis tells Givony.

Mikhailovskii, the no. 63 prospect on Givony’s draft board, is the fourth-youngest player in ESPN’s top 100, so if he keeps his name in the draft pool and is selected in June 20, he’d likely end up being a draft-and-stash player. The 6’8″ wing is currently playing for Avtodor Saratov in Russia and has made 44% of his three-point attempts this season, per Givony.

Here are more early entrants who have recently declared for the 2019 draft:

NCAA:

International:

Retweet 3 Share 0 Send via email0