Duke star taking his time on NBA plans

Duke's Gerald Henderson is the last of the ACC’s underclassmen to make his NBA plans public.

Henderson, a 6-foot-4 junior wingman, has until 11:59 p.m. Sunday to make it official, but he’s likely to wade into the pool with an announcement Saturday. The Blue Devils’ annual basketball banquet will be held tonight.

Non-seniors taking their first draft excursion and without an agent can retain their college eligibility by withdrawing from consideration at any time before 5 p.m. June 15. The lottery will be held May 19.

Henderson, who averaged 16.5 points on a 30-7 team last season, will likely become Duke’s first first-round pick since Shelden Williams and J.J. Redick in 2006.

While dozens of NBA mock drafts exist, there’s much speculation that Henderson will be the first ACC player selected.

Here’s a brief sampling of the league’s player projections by a few selected internet
sites:

• NBADraft.net: Henderson 9; Wayne Ellington (UNC) 11; James Johnson (Wake Forest) 13; Ty Lawson (UNC) 15; Jeff Teague (Wake) 19; Gani Lawal (Georgia Tech) 23; Tyler Hansbrough (UNC) 28; Toney Douglas (Florida State) 31; Danny Green (UNC) 39; Tyrese Rice (Boston College) 49; Alade Aminu (Georgia Tech) 56.

• HoopsReport.com: Lawson 10; Henderson 12; Johnson 13; Teague 19; Hansbrough 29; Greivis Vasquez (Maryland) 32; Ellington 33; Douglas 40; Green 50; Jack McClinton (Miami) 59.

• NBA-Draft.com: Johnson 9; Henderson 12; Lawson 19; Teague 23; Ellington 26; Hansbrough 28. (No second round projections).

• NBADraftGuru.com: Henderson 9; Ellington 12; Johnson 17; Lawson 18; Teague 23; Lawal 26; Hansbrough 30; Douglas 39; Green 45.

• NBADraftDepot.com: Henderson 9; Lawson 12; Johnson 14; Teague 20; Hansbrough 26; Ellington 29; Green 38; Rice 49; K.C. Rivers (Clemson) 53; McClinton 56.

• DraftPress.com: Henderson 9; Lawson 11; Johnson 16; Teague 20; Lawal 23; Hansbrough 25; Ellington 30; Rice 35; Douglas 38; Green 43; Aminu 49.

• TheDraftReview.com: Henderson 7; Teague 9; Johnson 16; Lawson 18; Hansbrough 30; Rice 38; Green 48.

• TheSportsBank.com: Henderson 9; Ellington 12; Lawson 14; Teague 15; Johnson 24; Hansbrough 26; Vasquez 37; Green 39; Douglas 54; McClinton 60.

There’s widespread agreement that the top five players, in some order, will be Blake Griffin (Oklahoma forward), Ricky Rubio (Spanish guard import), James Harden (Arizona State guard), DeMar DeRozan (Southern Cal wingman) and Hasheen Thabeet (Connecticut center).

Davidson guard Stephen Curry generally is predicted to go among the top 15.

-- J.P. Giglio