With less than 10 games left in the 2013-14 NBA season, the speculation has kicked into high gear about which elite college players will declare for the upcoming 2014 NBA Draft.
The first big-name to declare thus far is Andrew Wiggins of Kansas, but everyone is waiting to see if Duke’s Jabari Parker will be the next to make the jump to the NBA level.
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According to ESPN’s Chad Ford, Parker is leaning heavily to return to Duke via Matt Moore of CBS Sports:
ESPN reports via a chat wth draft expert Chad Ford that Duke forward Jabari Parker is discussing returning for his sophomore season so much some scouts believe that will be his decision instead of declaring for the draft.
At this point in time, many believe that Parker will be the number one overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft if he decides to leave school. Although Duke losing to Mercer was arguably one of the biggest upsets in the NCAA Tournament, Parker’s draft stock didn’t plummet with the consensus being that he might still be the most NBA-ready collegiate player.
If Parker ultimately decides to return to school for another year, Wiggins will likely be the top prospect heading into the draft on June 26. Along with Wiggins, Kansas teammate Joel Embiid might also declare and would be a top prospect as well.
Another big-name that could declare in the coming months and could possibly challenge Wiggins for the top spot in the draft, is Kentucky’s Julius Randle. The Kentucky standout has increased his draft stock more than any big-name in the NCAA Tournament leading the Wildcats to the Final Four with a decent chance of winning it all.
With the Los Angeles Lakers potentially having the sixth pick or higher in the upcoming draft, Parker, Wiggins, Embiid and Randle could all be options for the storied franchise on draft day.
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