SALT LAKE CITY — A meeting with Larry Krystkowiak led Delon Wright to forgo entering the NBA draft in 2014 and stay for his senior season.
“It was close to the week where you enter your name into the draft, I told Coach K that I was leaving. I told him it was final. He happened to be out of town at the time, so he said, ‘Can you wait two more days until I get back and we can have a discussion?” Wright said in a new podcast with Pac-12 Perspective.
Instead of entering the 2014 NBA Draft, @delonwright changed his focus to becoming the best player in college and a lottery pick the next year.
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) June 25, 2020
The former @UtahMBB player talks about the importance of staying his senior season on Pac-12 Perspective. ➡️ https://t.co/QYrGJoBRrr pic.twitter.com/BGZPVMqRdH
After talking with Krystkowiak, Wright decided to return to Utah. It turned out to be the right decision, as Wright averaged 14.5 points, 5.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 steals in 2014-15, leading the Utes to a Sweet 16 appearance, where they narrowly lost to Duke.
“I went in there telling him I was leaving and I came out after he told me all of the pros and cons of going to the draft and what to expect, I kind of changed my mind and my focus was more about trying to be the best player in college the next year and become a first-round pick,” Wright said.
Wright went on to be a first-round draft pick in the 2015 NBA draft, drafted 20th overall by the Toronto Raptors. Wright played three seasons in Toronto before being traded to Memphis in 2019, then being traded by the Grizzlies to Dallas. Wright has carved out a solid spot as a bench player in the NBA and is averaging 7.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1 steal in his five seasons as a pro.