Australia native Dante Exum, projected to be a top pick in the 2014 NBA draft, has set up meetings with NBA agents and is expecting to decide by February whether to declare for the draft.
Exum is projected to be a top four pick in the draft; some scouts, according to HoopsWorld, even project Exum to go ahead of Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins as the No. 1 overall pick. Exum is eligible for the draft - he graduated early from high school and turned 18 in July - but hasn't decided on his future: college or the NBA.
"To be honest, I haven't been thinking about it too much," Exum told the Sydney Morning Herald. "I am back home but my mum is still in Singapore, so she is going to head back soon. After that I will make my decision with my whole family.
"I want to get it done by February. It shouldn't be too hard [a decision] to make. But I just want to make sure I use my time right so I make the right decision."
All signs so far, however, indicate Exum is headed to the NBA.
While college is an option for the 6'6 point guard, he dislikes the way schools go about recruiting athletes.
"...He found the recruiting process to be a little distasteful and has (kept) himself fairly insulated from recruiting schools," Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld wrote on Tuesday.
He also told HoopsWorld at the 2013 adidas Eurocamp his goal was to go straight into the NBA, but he had concerns about whether he has the size and strength to be successful in the league.
Finally, and perhaps most telling, Exum is in the process of scheduling meets with NBA agents. He will host agents over the next month in Australia and discuss representation, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Exum is currently in Canberra on an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship.
