Bobi Klintman to enter NBA draft while maintaining eligibility

Bobi Klintman showed more potential as a future NBA player as Wake Forest’s basketball season progressed, and now he’ll have a chance to learn how close he is to that reality.

Klintman announced Thursday afternoon that he’s entering the NBA draft after his freshman season as a Deacon. Included in Klintman’s tweet is that he’ll maintain his eligibility to return to Wake Forest for his sophomore season.

The 6-10, 225-pounder averaged 5.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game this season. He shot 36.8% on 3-pointers (28 of 76), making at least one in each of Wake’s last 11 games (18 of 44).

Klintman’s potential and projectability, though, makes him an intriguing prospect for the NBA.

He’s a late-bloomer in basketball, having grown up in Sweden. Klintman attended Sunrise Christian Academy last year and played behind Gradey Dick, a projected lottery pick this year, and Mark Mitchell, who started all but one game at Duke this season.

So in arriving at Wake Forest last summer — later than most freshmen, as he was playing for Sweden — Klintman was still a raw prospect.

He stood out at times throughout the season, coming on strong at the end. Klintman had 10 points and 12 rebounds against Notre Dame late in the regular season, and then scored a season-high 17 points in Wake’s win over Syracuse in the ACC tournament (to go along with 11 rebounds).

There has only been one Wake Forest freshman to enter the NBA draft and remain in it; that was Jaylen Hoard in 2019, who went undrafted.

The deadline for underclassmen to withdraw from the NBA draft and maintain college eligibility is midnight on May 31. The NBA draft is June 22.