The talent of Deng Adel is certainly undeniable, but the Adel that we saw during his junior season at Louisville playing for David Padgett, left much to be desired. Though he led the team in scoring, averaging 15 points per game, when Adel declared early for the NBA Draft shortly after the Cards loss to Mississippi State in the NIT Quarterfinals it seemed like the NBA was a long-shot due to his up and down play throughout the 2017-18 season.
After going undrafted, Adel signed with the Toronto Raptors for the NBA Summer League and played like the player we all knew he could be.