{"id":695194,"date":"2026-04-03T03:29:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T03:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/695194\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T03:29:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T03:29:17","slug":"why-flory-bidungas-transfer-portal-and-nba-draft-decision-is-more-strategic-than-surprising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/695194\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Flory Bidunga\u2019s transfer portal and NBA Draft decision is more strategic than surprising"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why Flory Bidunga\u2019s transfer portal and NBA Draft decision is more strategic than surprising<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At first glance, it feels like a lot. Transfer portal. NBA Draft. Multiple options on the table. But when you break it down, Bidunga\u2019s decision makes sense.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

About leverage, not uncertainty<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t a player unsure of what he wants. This is a player keeping every door open. By entering the NBA Draft process, Bidunga gets real feedback from teams. Where does he project? What does he need to improve? Is he ready now, or better off waiting?<\/p>\n

At the same time, entering the portal ensures he\u2019s not locked into one situation if he returns to college. It\u2019s leverage. And in today\u2019s game, that matters.<\/p>\n

Where his NBA stock actually stands<\/p>\n

Bidunga\u2019s resume is strong. He\u2019s a Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He averaged 13.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks. He\u2019s athletic, active, and disruptive defensively.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

But the questions are real, too. He\u2019s slightly undersized for a traditional center at 6-foot-9. His offensive game is still developing. He doesn\u2019t yet have a polished skill set away from the rim.<\/p>\n

That puts him in a gray area. Intriguing enough for NBA teams. Not guaranteed enough to lock in a first-round spot.<\/p>\n

More:\u00a0Deon Thomas\u2019 Bruce Pearl comments show Illinois still hasn\u2019t forgotten<\/a><\/p>\n

What this means for Kansas moving forward<\/p>\n

For the Kansas Jayhawks<\/a> and Bill Self, the situation is tricky. There\u2019s still a timeline where Bidunga could return. But the program can\u2019t plan around that possibility alone. It has to be prepared as if he\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

That means exploring the portal. Adjusting the roster. Reworking the defense. Because even if Bidunga comes back, the waiting game itself changes how you build your team.<\/p>\n

The bottom line<\/p>\n

Bidunga now has three paths:<\/p>\n

But the biggest takeaway isn\u2019t which path he chooses.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s how he\u2019s navigating all of them at once.<\/p>\n

More College Basketball news:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Why Flory Bidunga\u2019s transfer portal and NBA Draft decision is more strategic than surprising originally appeared on The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7,2465,3730,6,12,1408,14706,2051],"class_list":{"0":"post-695194","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-draft","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-flory-bidunga","10":"tag-kansas-jayhawks","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-nba-draft","13":"tag-nba-teams","14":"tag-the-nba-draft","15":"tag-transfer-portal"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116338659391042591","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}