NBA or Transfer Portal? Three Prospects With a Decision to Make

With the opening of the transfer portal happening recently, who are some players stuck between NCAA hoops and the Association?

Collegiate players have big decisions in the coming weeks, choosing to either stay in college hoops for another season or opting to go the route of the NBA.

Here are a few prospects who could be looking make those decisions soon:

Saint Thomas | Wing/Forward | Northern Colorado

Omaha, Nebraska's own Saint Thomas, a 6-foot-7, 200-pound wing that absolutely looks the part of an NBA small forward, has entered the transfer portal as a senior after spending a year with the Northern Colorado Bears and two years prior with the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers.

A physically imposing player on the perimeter, Thomas can quite literally do it all – he led the UNCO Bears in scoring (19.7 points), rebounds (9.8 boards), steals (1.7 per game), and blocks (0.9 per game) in 2023-24, all while being second on the team in assists (4.2 per game) and shooting 47.1% from the field (33% from three-point land).

Upon closer examination, the lacking efficiency from deep makes sense, as Thomas, being the focal point of the offense, attempted 6.2 threes per game, often doubled, nearly always contested. He finished in the 82nd percentile in points per shot on contested takes according to Synergy Sports.

Of these three players, Thomas feels the most NBA-ready due to his stature and versatile game, and feels like a wing that could get minutes in the Association as early as this next season. Whether he returns to the NCAA or goes pro, Saint Thomas is a player whose name you should be listening for in the next 12 months.

A.J. Storr | Guard/Wing | Wisconsin

Arguably the most highly rated transfer on the market today, Wisconsin's A.J. Storr is a big off-guard/wing archetype that can score the basketball with the best of them. At 6-foot-7, his size is also a major plus – he's big, he's strong, he's deliberate, and he can finish through contact.

This past season, en route to leading the Badgers to a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament, Storr led the team in scoring and finished All-Big-10 second team, putting up 16.3 points per game on 43.1% from the field and 34% from three.

Storr is the kind of player that can transform a college offense and exponentially raise that program's ceiling for that season. He is "best player on a national title team" good, though returning to college for his junior season seems it would be the wisest move for his long-term draft stock.

Andrej Stojakovic | Wing | Stanford

The son of legendary NBA sniper Peja Stojakovic, wing Andrej Stojakovic committed to Stanford over Texas last season, and as a freshman, put up 7.8 points per game and 3.4 rebounds in 22.3 minutes per.

While he didn't shoot the ball as well as he probably would have liked, shooting just 40.9% from the field and 32.7% from deep. The real concerning stat was his free-throw percentage, however, as he managed just 52.8% from the line in his freshman season in Palo Alto.

Of course, one bad shooting season is not the end of a prospect's chances; still, Stojakovic is a player that needs to return to school to fine-tune his movement shooting, his shots off of pin-down screens, and other aspects of his scoring ability.

When he's ready, he'll be an excellent pro.

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