Rodions Kurucs’ brother among players who have withdrawn from 2020 NBA draft

Nearly two dozen basketball players from overseas withdrew their names from the pool of players eligible to be drafted into the NBA in 2020.

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Only 60 players can be selected each year in the NBA. Up until late Monday night, 109 players had declared for the 2020 NBA draft.

But now, that number has dipped down to 86 players with 23 deciding to withdraw their names. Of those 23 players, 21 are international prospects — one of which has a tie to the Brooklyn Nets.

Among the players to withdraw from the 2020 NBA draft was Rodions Kurucs’ younger brothers, Arturs.

The 6-foot-3, 20-year-old guard spent most of last season with VEF Riga of the Latvian Basketball League but changed clubs toward the end of 2019-20, now playing for TD Systems Baskonia of Liga ACB and the Euroleague.

After averaging 12.9 points per game on 44.5% shooting (40.4% from deep) in 40 games last season, Arturs Kurucs is off to a slow start in 2020-21. Through 15 games, the guard is barely averaging over one point per game on 31.8% shooting (15.4% from long-range) while only playing 7.1 minutes per game — over 20 fewer minutes per game than he averaged in 2019-20.