Right now the NBA and all of its evaluation tools for the NBA Draft is in flux, which means there’s a large unknown component to AJ Lawson’s looming decision.
Martin, as of Monday, doesn’t know Lawson’s next steps but the two are set to talk about it soon to talk about what could be next for Lawson.
Even with a lot of uncertainty in the air, Martin does know Lawson likes being at South Carolina even with the attraction of going pro.
“He and I texted this morning. We’re supposed to get on a conference call with mom, dad and him,” Martin said. “I know AJ and the family are at peace with him being in college. It’s not like he’s running away from college. It’s not like he can’t wait to get away from here. It’s not like I have to be in the NBA. None of that is part of the equation for him.”
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Lawson entered the season projected as a first round pick in this summer’s NBA Draft but after an inconsistent sophomore season fell out of most mock drafts as the college basketball season ended.
He tested waters last year, not getting invited to the NBA Combine, and ultimately came back to school where he averaged 13.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting 41.4 percent from the field and 33.9 percent from three.
Lawson, if he does declare and go through the draft process, would benefit from being able to attend team workouts or, if invited, the combine.
But, as this stands right now, it might be hard to see the NBA to host those or even the combine with the Coronavirus preventing a lot of larger social gatherings, which could make it harder for guys like Lawson to make an impression on front offices before the draft.
“Because of the environment we’re in right now, it’s made it difficult or people like AJ. When you have the opportunity to go to these private workouts, you can convince people you’re there guy,” Martin said. “When you have the opportunity to have these in-person interviews that go on for a whole day, you can convince people that I’m the kind of human being they want in their organization. Then you have the combine where if you’re good enough to be invited to the combine you get another opportunity to compete against 60 other very good players.”
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As of right now, players have until midnight ET on April 26 to put their names in the draft pool and can go through the draft process now. They’ll have until 5 p.m. ET to withdraw from the draft pool and return to school.
The draft combine is currently scheduled for May 21-24 in Chicago, and all of that will be things likely brought up when the two parties link up later this week.
“You don’t need to convince 30 teams. You just need one general manager to say, ‘He’s the guy.’ it’s starting to look and sound like none of that will be a possibility for guys. That’ll be part of the equation for certain guys. That’s something we’ll address when I have that conversation with his family this week.”
