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Louisville Basketball: Deng Adel to Workout with Boston Celtics

By Jacob Lane

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Former Louisville basketball star wing Deng Adel is scheduled to workout with one of the NBA’s best teams.

It didn’t come as a big surprise to anyone around the Louisville basketball program when junior forward Deng Adel decided to enter the 2018 NBA Draft after the team’s loss to Mississippi State in the NIT Quarterfinals.

Just as he did last offseason, many expected Adel to workout for teams, hopefully get an NBA Draft combine invite, and then ultimately come back for his senior season. So it came as a bit of a shock when just weeks after making his initial announcement to declare for the draft, that Deng Adel announced he would be keeping his name in the draft, hiring an agent and forgoing his remaining eligibility.

Since then, we haven’t heard much about the draft prospects for Deng Adel. I wrote about how big of an impact not getting a combine invite could be the future of Adel, but how he could no doubt go on to have successful career without it. As it turned out, Adel would be left off the NBA Combine list, ultimately impacting his hopes at being drafted.

Deng Adel has been preparing for the draft in Miami with former teammates Ray Spalding and Mangok Mathiang, preparing for the next step in his career, while having workouts with the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks.

Today we got word that Deng Adel would be apart of another NBA Draft workout with one of the best team’s in the Eastern Conference. That team would be the Boston Celtics.

According to Celtics beat reporter, and former CJ writer, Adam Himmelsbach, Adel will join a group that includes former Duke star Grayson Allen, Arizona’s Allonzo Trier, and former five star recruit and Kansas enrollee Billy Preston.

While it’s doubtful that Adel is drafted it’s not impossible. If he were to be picked it would likely come late in the second round, where several teams on the board need wing help. Adel provides a long, athletic wing at 6’7, who could play the two and three (SG & SF), while guarding multiple positions.

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We all know that Adel had an up and down season in 2017-18 for the Cards, but was still one of the teams top players. He did lead the team in scoring, averaging 15.0 points per game, while finishing second in rebounding at 5.2 per. Adel still needs a lot of work on his jumper, shooting just 54% from the field, as well as his shot selection. The Clemson and Virginia games are two that quickly come to mind when thinking about his poor decision making in crunch time.

I 100% believe that Adel is good enough to land on a roster next season, most likely as a end of bench developmental prospect, or a two-way player. If Adel lands in a situation where he can have a few years to play in the NBA G-League, while getting occasional spot minutes, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him develop into a solid role player.

However, the more likely scenario is the Sudanese forward ends up on a high level European team, as he wouldn’t count against a team’s “American born” roster cap. Don’t be shocked to see him pursue a career similar to Trey Lewis and Peyton Siva.

Adel will need several strong workouts to begin being talked about as as serious draft pick, but keep in mind that it takes just one team to fall in love with a player and select him in the draft.

Next: Louisville Basketball: Top 15 Players of 2000’s – 15-12

The 2018 NBA Draft will take place on Thursday June 21st.

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