Kentucky's Lee leaves room to wiggle out of draft decision
Marcus Lee said Thursday he was "87 percent" sure he would stay in the 2016 NBA Draft. One day later, his level of certainty may have come down a tick or two.
"It's really hard," Lee told reporters of his looming decision to stay or withdraw from the draft, which is due by May 25.
Lee, who averaged 6.4 points and six rebounds as a junior at Kentucky, is widely expected to go undrafted if he keeps his name in the pool. But that won't necessarily stop him from sticking in the draft, as he noted he's "totally fine" with potentially having to cut his teeth in the D-League before receiving a shot at the NBA.
The 6-foot-9 forward further noted that a couple of teams have told him they'll consider calling his name in the second round on draft night.
Despite leaving himself room to back out of the draft, it's still far more likely that Lee will remain in it. In fact, Lee said Friday that despite speculation to the contrary, he's received the blessing of coach John Calipari to follow his NBA dreams, saying "Coach Cal is one of my biggest supporters."
When asked what type of advice he received from Calipari, Lee responded, "He agreed with me."