“Of course, I hear, ‘You need to improve this or improve that.’ I’m not listening to anybody but those who are interested in giving me a job.”
Wright will find out soon enough whether an NBA team is willing to make room for him on its roster. He announced Wednesday, April 7, he’s entering the NBA draft, but he’s not hiring an agent, leaving open the possibility he could return for his senior season.
Only first-round picks receive guaranteed contracts, and Wright wouldn’t say whether he’d need assurances of being a first-rounder to keep his name in the draft.
The Trotwood native will have a month to collect feedback and work out for NBA teams. If he doesn’t get a favorable forecast, he has until May 8 to pull his name from consideration.
“If the information is what I’m looking for, I’ll stay (in the draft). If not, I’ll be back,” Wright said. “If I have to come back, that’s no problem. It’s my home, and I would miss the guys (by leaving).”
Draftexpress.com doesn’t have Wright listed among the top-100 draft-eligible players, underclassmen included. But at least one NBA scout, who watched the Flyers’ run to the NIT championship, thought Wright could be picked between Nos. 20 and 40 overall.
“On a daily basis, I’ll be sitting down with Chris and his family, and all our information will be based on what we get from the NBA,” UD coach Brian Gregory said. “It won’t be hearsay or opinion outside of that particular group. That’s the group that will be drafting, and that’s who we’ll be listening to.”
Wright is on pace to graduate with a degree in electronic media next spring, and his mother, Ernestine Grigsby, said her son isn’t making a rash decision.
“It’s not about the money,” she said. “Money can’t buy you happiness. If it was about the money, Europe is wide open. It’s about a goal he set for himself — to go to college and get a degree and do what he wants to do (basketball-wise).”
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