Dereck Lively declares for 2023 NBA Draft

Dereck Lively II, one of the most dominant defenders in all of college basketball, has declared for the 2023 NBA Draft, he announced in a video on his Twitter account. He just finished a spectacular freshman campaign for the Duke Blue Devils, where he established himself as one of the nation’s elite rim protectors, averaging 2.4 blocks per game.

Here was Lively’s post on Tuesday stating that he was putting his name in the 2023 NBA Draft:

Thankful for this journey, thankful for my teammates, thankful for my coaches, and thankful for all of Duke Nation. It’s about the get LIVELY. pic.twitter.com/dfz0PoTbIQ

— Dereck Lively II (@DereckLively) April 4, 2023

In this year’s NCAA Tournament, Lively became the just the third player in ACC history to record 10 rebounds and six blocks in his tourney debut. His most spectacular defensive performance of the season came against Armando Bacot of the North Carolina Tar Heels on Feb. 4. Lively simply dominated the paint, swatting eight blocks and bringing down 14 rebounds in his team’s 63-57 win. His eight blocks were the most ever by a Duke player against the Tar Heels.

His dominant showing on the defensive end this year earned him All-ACC Defensive team honors. He also landed on the league’s All-Freshman team, joining his fellow teammate, Kyle Filipowski.

Coming out of Westtown School (Bellefonte, Pennsylvania), Lively was the highest rated prospect in the country in the 2022 cycle. According to the On3 Industry Rankings, he was rated as the No. 1 overall player in America and a five-star prospect. While he’s certainly got plenty of room for improvement on the offensive end, he showed exactly why he was so highly coveted with his spectacular defensive performances during the 2022-2023 season.

More on the 2023 NBA Draft

The 2023 NBA Draft is set to take place on Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Brooklyn at Barclays Center. Round 1 of the draft will be announced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, while Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum is expected to handle the second round of picks.

To be eligible for the NBA Draft, players must be at least 19 years in age during the calendar year that the draft is held and at least one NBA season from their high school graduation date, or the date that would have been if they are not graduated. It is not required that player spend that one year playing college basketball, though. Players can play in either college, abroad, or the G League Ignite if they choose so.

While this is a significant change from what the rules once were, players are eligible to enter their names into the NBA Draft pool and explore their options by hiring an agent to go through the process, while still keeping their college eligibility. The deadline to make that move is on April 23 beginning at 11:59 p.m. ET. Players have until June 12 at 5 p.m. ET to withdraw their name from the pool and return to college.

The NBA Draft Lottery will be held on May 16, which is also the start of the NBA Conference Finals.