Wednesday was the deadline for players to withdraw from the 2025 NBA Draft and return to college basketball for the 2025-26 season, and a bunch of them ultimately made that decision.
Here's the list of players ranked in ESPN's top 100 list that decided to go back to school, per Jonathan Givony:
- 26. Yaxel Lendeborg (Michigan)
- 31. Alex Condon (Florida)
- 38. Tahaad Pettiford (Auburn)
- 41. Milos Uzan (Houston)
- 42. Boogie Fland (Florida)
- 43. Labaron Philon (Alabama)
- 44. Isaiah Evans (Duke)
- 46. Darrion Williams (NC State)
- 51. Miles Byrd (San Diego State)
- 56. Karter Knox (Arkansas)
- 58. Mackenzie Mgbako (Texas A&M)
- 64. PJ Haggerty (Kansas State)
- 72. Otega Oweh (Kentucky)
- 80. Bruce Thornton (Ohio State)
With our All Access Daily newsletter, stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams!
SIGN UP HERE "Not only did we see the lowest number of early-entrant candidates (106) in a decade, but another dozen or so draftable prospects withdrew at the deadline, making this one of the shallowest second rounds we've seen in a few years," Givony wrote Thursday.
How do these withdrawals impact the Celtics? Well, many of the players listed above could have been targets for the C's, who own the No. 28 overall pick in the first round and the second pick of the second round (No. 32 overall) in next month's draft.
For example, recent mock drafts from Sam Vecenie of The Athletic and Adam Finkelstein of CBS Sports projected the Celtics taking Alabama wing Labaron Philon, but he has since decided to go back to the Crimson Tide for another season.
More Celtics coverage
Alex Condon was another popular mock draft pick for the Celtics at No. 28. The Florida big man played a key role in the Gators winning a national championship this past season, and he decided earlier this week to return to Gainesville for his junior campaign.
Why are so many players going back to school? The rise in NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) deals is definitely a factor. Players who are likely to be drafted late in the first round or early second round can stay in school and potentially earn more money there than they might as a rookie in the NBA.
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens told NBC Sports Boston's Chris Forsberg earlier this month that the depth of this year’s draft class could be impacted more by NIL than any other in his Boston tenure.
"I think this year's draft class more than any ever has been affected by the NIL and affected by the new pay-for-play," Stevens told Forsberg on May 20, as seen in the video player below. "I think people in college, whether they're saying it or not, got ahead of the new NIL restrictions and kept people in school. And then there's a lot of people deciding whether they're going back or not.
"I think this draft more than any other will probably be affected by that, as far as the back end of the draft and even into the late first round. People will have really hard decisions to make. 'Do I come into the NBA and make this much money slotted for this many years, or do I take a huge payday from some school?' That's the world we live in."
Stevens later added: "The money can be higher in some of these schools than the bottom of the 20s in the draft."
NIL isn't the only reason for players to stay in school. Some of them like the college experience, and some of them might want to go back to improve their skills and be a higher pick in the future, etc.
NIL could actually end up being a positive for the NBA because players who remain in college for longer would, in theory, have a more well-rounded skill set when they eventually make the jump to the pros.
So, what's next for the Celtics after so many players in their pick range decided to return to college?
The Celtics' biggest need is in the frontcourt. Al Horford and Luke Kornet are unrestricted free agents this offseason. Kristaps Porzingis has one more year on his contract and has been injury prone most of his career. Therefore, it would make sense to target a center, preferably one who can stretch the floor as an outside shooter.
A strong case could also be made to just draft the best player available. The Celtics need talent, especially players who can score, with Jayson Tatum potentially missing most or all of next season as he recovers from Achilles surgery. Big men are important, but guards and wings win you games in today's NBA.
Looking for the best player available who can contribute right away is probably the ideal strategy for Boston. A long-term development project doesn't make sense for where the C's are right now.
Overall, this is a very important draft for the Celtics. They have an expensive roster as a second apron team. The best way to maximize you roster's depth around high-salary veterans is to draft good players who are on cheap rookie contracts. Valuable players like Jaden McDaniels, Christian Braun, Andrew Nembhard and others have been found late in the first or second rounds in recent drafts.
Can the Celtics find a similarly effective player at No. 28 or No. 32? That is one of Stevens' challenges over the next month.