NBA Draft Rumors: Could Cole Anthony return to North Carolina?
Is it possible that potential top 10 NBA Draft pick Cole Anthony could return to North Carolina for a sophomore season?
At least for the time being, a potential top 10 NBA Draft prospect hasn’t decided whether he’s going to enter the draft or if he’s going to return to school.
North Carolina standout Cole Anthony posted on his Instagram account that he will “refrain from making any announcements” considering what we are facing as a country. Anthony is expected to be a lottery pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and could be taken in the top 10.
However, the fact that he hasn’t officially made an announcement yet should raise some eyebrows.
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On one hand, returning to North Carolina for a sophomore season wouldn’t exactly be the most surprising of developments for Anthony. Despite being one of the bigger name prospects coming into the 2019-20 NCAA basketball season, Anthony saw his draft stock take a bit of hit over the course of the regular season.
Most of that was due to his shooting inconsistencies. Anthony, a 6-foot-3 point guard, averaged 19 points, six rebounds, and four assists per game during his freshman season at Carolina. Although, he did so by shooting just 38 percent from the field and 35 percent from 3-point range.
Had he been more consistent this past season, there’s no question that Anthony would be in the conversation to be the No. 1 overall pick – or, at the very least, would be a potential top 5 pick.
Even though he’s still projected to be a lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft, he could return to school and try to lift his draft status even more. Although, Anthony would have to weigh the pros and cons to such a decision.
Should he return to school, he could suffer injury or, and hopefully, this wouldn’t be the case, lower his draft stock even further by having a bad season. The risks might outweigh the rewards here, but ultimately that’s something Cole Anthony would have to answer.
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Perhaps Cole Anthony is just waiting for the right time to make his declaration for the 2020 NBA Draft, and maybe there’s nothing more to it. Perhaps we’re just overthinking this all. Who knows. With that said, Cole Anthony returning to North Carolina for a second season would be quite surprising.