Jazz News: 4 Notable Prospects Withdrawing From NBA Draft
With the NBA Draft withdrawal deadline occurring Wednesday, we saw some players take their name out of contention in order to go back to school for another season. With the Utah Jazz’s 28th-overall selection during the upcoming draft, a few of these players may have potentially been on their board. Now, they’ll have to wait at least a year to become eligible once again.
Most of these players were projected in the range of the early-to-mid second round in terms of mocks and predictions. With the Jazz lacking any second rounders this year, these withdraws likely impact the team’s process much, if at all. Still, we did see some surprises decide to cut off their NBA aspirations for now.
With this, here’s four of the best players in the draft that decided to withdraw their name from the 2023 NBA Draft:
Adem Bona, F/C, UCLA
6’10", 235 lbs, 20 years old, ranked 48th amongst the 2023 class.
Last year’s PAC-12 Freshman of the Year is coming back for seconds, deciding to return to school on Wednesday. The former McDonald’s All-American and current UCLA big man was a standout defender last year, also possessing some tantalizing pro tools NBA team found some early interest in. Ultimately though, Bona will end up staying another year in school:
"This process is just as much about timing as it is about skill, so I need to prepare and put myself in the perfect situation when turning pro, and I don't think the time is now."
- Adem Bona on his withdrawal, via ESPN.
Dillon Mitchell, F, Texas
6’8", 205 lbs, 19 years old, ranked 41st amongst the 2023 class.
Mitchell looked to be an exciting prospect to enter the league this season, but it looks as if we’ll have to wait another. Considering how raw Mitchell’s game continues to look, along with only having one college season under his belt, returning to Texas is a logical move for him.
Another year of enhanced development in Texas could help catapult Mitchell as a solidified first round pick in 2024, despite the Jazz having one, potentially no first round picks during the next draft.
Reece Beekman, G, Virginia
6’3", 190 lbs, 21 years old, ranked 43rd amongst the 2023 class.
Deciding to finish out his college career, Beekman will be returning to UVA for his senior season. A highly tested and experienced guard possessing some really nice ability to lead both the offense and defense at a high level. It’ll be a crucial year for Beekman’s stock, looking to show out for what looks to be another successful Virginia team.
Zach Edey, C, Purdue
7’4", 305 lbs, 21 years old, ranked 47th amongst the 2023 class.
The biggest name in college basketball is coming back for another season. Edey, part of the infamous Purdue team that fell to 16th-seeded Fairleigh-Dickinson, will now look to bounce back in his senior season.
While Edey’s game looks shaky to transition to an NBA-level filled with big men spacing the floor, we saw during this year’s combine that Zach actually has some potential as a shooter. We’ll see if that has any improvement during his 2023-24 campaign back in Indiana.
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