Arkansas Basketball: Will All-American JD Notae return to the Razorbacks next season?

Option No 3. JD Notae declares for the 2022 NBA Draft

Option three for Notae is actually a two-parter. We’ll call it option 3.0 and option 3.5, which you’ll see below.

Option 3.0 – Hire an agent and declare for the NBA Draft

This would be the equivalent of burning his life raft and jumping into the pros with both feet firmly planted in the ground.

If he declares for the draft and hires an agent, there would be zero chance of Notae returning to Arkansas or any college basketball team.

As of this writing, Notae seems to be a mid-to-late second-round pick at best, according to NBADraft.net. Right now, their mock draft has Notae being selected with the No. 47 pick overall to the New Orleans Pelicans.

It is extremely tough to crack an NBA rotation as a second-round pick. Heck, it’s hard to do as a first-round pick.

If he fails or doesn’t get drafted, he would be looking at playing in the NBA G-League (developmental) or head overseas to play in a foreign country to show NBA teams he can compete at a high level professionally.

Option 3.5 – Don’t hire an agent and leave the door open

Notae could declare for the NBA Draft and go through some of the proccess to get evaluated and dip his toes in the professional waters without the aid of an agent.

This would keep the door open for him to return to Arkansas or any college team. Here’s how that would work. 

Notae would have to declare for the 2022 NBA Draft before the deadline, which is April 24 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

He could go through the combine to workout, get measured, and interviewed by NBA scouts. It would give him a decent idea of where he might get selected in the draft. The 2022 NBA Draft combine will take place May 16-22 in Chicago.

Notae would then have until June 1, 2022 to withdraw from the draft and return for one more season of college basketball.

We should know something about Notae’s future on or before April 24.