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| Jabari Parker/Adam Glantzman/Flickr.com |
Jabari Parker was one of the most popular and talked about college basketball players this past season, but no one knows when he will enter the NBA draft. Duke was eliminated in the first round of the 2014 NCAA tournament. This gives Parker a reason to stay at Duke for another year. The question that now comes up is when will Parker enter the NBA draft. As of right now it seems that he is leaning towards staying at Duke for another season; however, Parker is not worried about the NBA.
“We honestly don’t know. After the season, we’ll talk about it,” his father Sonny Parker said in a 2014 SlamOnline interview.
Parker has the potential to be a great professional basketball player, but he needs more time to develop his raw talent into skill. The fact that Duke was eliminated so early in the tournament, as well as the fact that highest rated high school player in the country, Jhalil Okafor is coming to Duke, only adds to him wanting to play another season of college basketball.
The 2014 NBA draft is loaded with prospects including Kansas' small forward Andrew Wiggins, a player that is often considered to be the rival of Parker. In late March, Wiggins declared that he was joining this year’s NBA draft and this decision could impact whether Parker returns next season. If Parker stays another year at Duke and enters the next year's draft, he would stand out more in the draft class of 2015; however, if he enters this year he could get paid sooner and have a guaranteed contract for the 2014-2015 NBA season.
An extra year playing in college would help Parker gain more experience and to develop his skills; however, there is also a possibility of injury that could damage his career. Only time will tell where Parker will choose to take his career and the choice is entirely up to him.
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