Jabari Parker recently announced his decision to enter the 2014 NBA Draft, and the former Duke University standout could end up as the first-overall pick in the annual rookie selection.
ESPN's Jeff Goodman reported that most NBA executives are convinced that Parker, who averaged 19.1 points and 8.7 rebounds in his freshman season with Duke, will be picked first before Kansas stars Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid.
"It's almost assumed these days that the top overall pick in the NBA draft will come out of the Kansas program, whether it's Andrew Wiggins or freshman teammate Joel Embiid. However, in an ESPN poll of 30 NBA executives, it was Duke's Jabari Parker who racked up more votes than both Wiggins and Embiid," Goodman wrote.
Wiggins, who averaged 17.1 points and 5.9 rebounds, was the consensus favorite to go No. 1 in this year's draft, but the 19-year-old Canadian failed to live up to expectations despite having impressive games last season.
With Wiggins showing flaws in his game especially during the earlier part of last season, Parker moved up on top of most draft boards, along with Embiid, who was not projected to land in the lottery before the season started.
Embiid caught the attention of NBA scouts with his defense, and was considered by most experts as the likely first overall pick before an injury hurt his draft stock.
The 7-foot Cameroon native hurt his back, which forced him to miss the final regular-season games and NCAA tournament matches of Kansas, which eventually led to an early exit for the Jayhawks.
Embiid, who seriously considered returning to school next season, averaged 11.2 points to go along with 8.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in his lone collegiate basketball season.
Meanwhile, in other draft-related news, Kentucky's Harrison twins - Andrew and Aaron - will likely return for their sophomore season with the Wildcats.
According to reports, the Harrison twins have been seriously considering entering the draft, but had a change of heart after hearing not-so-kind words from most NBA scouts.
One Eastern Conference scout told Cincinnati.com that the Harrison twins should return to school, adding that his team will not consider drafting either of the two in the draft.
"It'd be good for both of them to go back next year," the scout was quoted as saying. "That's what I'd advise them to do. I don't think anybody is really high on them."
