[Deleterious]

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=12872

Teague's Decision Becomes Even Tougher

HOOPSWORLD has learned that Wake Forest sophomore guard Jeff Teague strained his MCL and will be shutting down workouts for at least the next ten days. The injury, which occurred during a group workout in Minnesota with several other NBA teams in attendance, is not serious but will linger through the June 15th deadline for underclassmen to withdraw from the NBA Draft.

Returning to Wake Forest for his junior season remains a possibility for Teague as he has yet to hire an agent. However, Teague has quietly made it known that he's heavily leaning towards staying in the draft and according to his father this minor setback does not change that.

"I don't think this injury will alter that," said Shawn Teague to Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com.

What could possibly alter that is if in the next ten days Teague doesn't receive the kind of feedback he's hoping for. Being a top 20 pick is said to be the deciding factor for Teague and as of right now he's far from a lock to go that early. Luckily for Teague every team in the 13-19 range is a possible suitor whose interest he can gauge before making his final decision. In our latest installment of the consensus mock draft Joel Brigham has Teague going the highest at 15th overall while Alex Raskin, Steve Kyler, and I have Teague going in the 21-22 range.

The point guard position is by far the strongest in this year's draft and while Teague could go as high as 13, he could just as easily fall to late in the first round. Although Teague's interest in staying in the draft is strong, he has to be giving some strong consideration to returning to school for just one more season.

Just two years ago current Indiana Pacer and former Kansas Jayhawk Brandon Rush went through nearly the exact same predicament Teague is currently going through, only to a more severe extent. Rush tore his ACL while testing the waters, which practically made his decision for him. The torn ACL ended up being a blessing in disguise for Rush as not only did he improve his stock during his junior season, he also ended up winning a National Championship.

Waiting for Teague at Wake Forest is really an ideal situation that could produce similar results to what Rush saw. Teague has the luxury of being able to play both guard positions for Dino Gaudio and a very talented team that with him has Final Four potential. The Demon Deacons were extremely young last season and return future lottery pick Al-Farouq Aminu along with seven others from their top ten.

Teague tested out fairly well at the Chicago predraft camp last week, but didn't blow anyone away by any means. He came in a bit shorter than expected at 6'1.5" in shoes and was mediocre in terms of speed. Areas that he stood out in for his position were with his wingspan and leaping ability. Teague has a 6'7.5" wingspan and a maximum vertical leap of 36".

This year's point guard crop is highlighted by Ricky Rubio, Brandon Jennings, Stephen Curry, Jonny Flynn, Tyreke Evans, Ty Lawson, Jrue Holiday, Eric Maynor, Darren Collison, Patrick Mills, and Nick Calathes along with Teague. Each and every one of them feels they are first round worthy, but we're talking about 12 point guards with only 30 picks in the first round. Only so many are going to be taken and inevitably some players are going to slip, with Teague being a prime candidate to do so.

The depth at point guard won't factor into Teague's decision at all though if he can get the highly-coveted promise from a team picking in the range where he wants to be selected. That would remove the uncertainty from Teague's status, but unless that promise comes Wake Forest is definitely his best option.