Another Prospect Knicks Took Close Look at Is Now Skipping Draft

Baylor Bears guard Tounde Yessoufou (24) reacts after scoring a three-point basket against the Colorado Buffaloes during the first half at Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion. | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

As the New York Knicks wait to see who they will play in the NBA Finals, the team has been busy doing its homework on this year’s draft class. The Knicks, who have three picks in next month’s NBA draft, have been bringing in prospects for workouts over the last few weeks.

Their pre-draft board of known workouts is quite loaded with talent. At the same time, New York’s draft board is slowly but surely starting to whittle down as some of these prospects are deciding to head back to school for another year. On Wednesday, we wrote about freshman center Malachi Moreno returning to Kentucky, and now Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou, whom the Knicks just worked out, is following the same suit.

Late Wednesday night, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Yessoufou withdrew his name from the 2026 NBA Draft ahead of the early entrant deadline to return to school. But instead of going back to Baylor, the potential first-round pick has committed to play with St. John’s this upcoming season.

Knicks lose potential first-round target in Tounde Yessoufou

Yessoufou just wrapped up his freshman year at Baylor, where he averaged 17.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. However, the 6-foot-5 guard’s shooting left much to be desired, which, if he can improve on, will certainly help his draft stock for next year.

He shot 46.5 percent from the field but only 29.3 percent from beyond, though that didn’t stop him from taking those opportunities, as Yessoufou averaged 5.3 attempts per game.

That said, Yessoufou does have some defensive potential, which could’ve been useful for the Knicks and other teams in the first round, as he has the size and versatility to defend multiple positions.

As we know, that’s huge in today’s game as most teams aren’t running traditional big-men lineups and have more wings and guards on the floor. In his lone season at Baylor, Yessoufou racked up 2.0 steals per game and had a defensive rating (DRtg) of 108.8. 

Now, with Yessoufou playing at St. John’s, the Knicks will be able to get an up-close look at him more often since he’s in their backyard.

As for the Knicks’ draft board, there are still some guys that could be available when they pick at No. 24 overall. One of those guys is Meleek Thomas, who reportedly decided to stay in the draft and will forgo his sophomore year at Arkansas, per Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.

Thomas was part of the huge workout with Yessoufou and is projected to be selected with the 30th overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks in NBA Draft on SI Derek Parker’s latest mock draft. He has the size and scoring chops, especially from beyond the arc, that would make the Knicks’ offense more dangerous next season.