Azoulas Tubelis was not among the 108 players on the NBA's official withdrawal list of early draft entry candidates Thursday, confirming the long-expected news that his Arizona Wildcats career is over.
Tubelis had been expected to leave permanently since declaring for the draft in April, though he kept the door open and said last month during the NBA combine he still had time to make a final decision.
But Arizona coaches have been actively recruiting this spring to fill up their 2023-24 roster without him. They pulled in San Diego State transfer Keshad Johnson to potentially fill Tubelis' starting spot at power forward and hit the maximum number of 13 scholarship spots when they signed North Carolina transfer Caleb Love earlier this month.
A first-team all-Pac-12 pick and Most Outstanding Player in the Pac-12 Tournament last season, Tubelis is projected to be a late second-round pick or one of the top players not taken in the June 21 NBA Draft.
ESPN lists the 6-10 Lithuanian forward as the No. 66 prospect available in the 58-player draft, and Tubelis could be a candidate for a two-way or Exhibit 10 contract between the NBA and G League. He also has significant market value in Europe.
Tubelis is not listed among the 58 mock selections by ESPN, HoopsHype or Sports Illustrated or Clutch Points but he is No. 57 on Rookie Scale's consensus board, No. 63 on NBA Mock Draft database and No. 69 on the NBA Draft Room list.
However, Walter Football has Tubelis in the draft at No. 47 and Tankathon has him at No. 52.
