Draft Withdrawal Deadline Surprises: Who's in and Who's Out

In the year of NIL, there were some big surprises around this year's NBA Draft withdrawal deadline. These were the players who gave us the biggest shock.

After peaking at a whopping 363 early entrants in the 2021 NBA Draft, the significant implications and impact of NIL in the NCAA are already being felt, as there were only 106 total early entrants in this year’s draft. That figure happens to be the lowest in a decade, when there were only 91 early entrants in the 2015 NBA Draft. So, in other words, the depth in this year’s already questionable draft class is looking shallower than it has in years, and NBA front offices will have to do their homework if they’re tasked with finding late-round value.

With these somewhat eye-opening numbers in mind, it makes sense to dive a bit deeper into the biggest surprises from this past Wednesday night’s deadline. Here, we’ll dive a bit into the rationale behind why some relatively high-profile names decided to head back to school (and the pros and cons of their decision), and then similarly chat through a few names we were surprised to see remain in the draft.