Brazilian wing Marcos Lousada Silva has submitted paperwork to the league office to make himself eligible for the 2019 NBA draft, he told ESPN.
Silva, the No. 61 prospect in the ESPN Top 100, is coming off a strong week of practices and scrimmages at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, where 165 scouts and executives were credentialed to watch USA Basketball take on 12 elite international prospects.
Silva, who goes by the moniker Didi in his home country, is having a productive season in the Brazilian league (Novo Basquete Brasil) and pan-continental Liga Americas and Liga Sudamericana, averaging 11.5 points in 21 minutes while shooting 47 percent from 3-point range through 38 games. He received his first invite to the senior national team this past September.
Didi has attracted attention this season from NBA scouts, not just due to his impressive productivity on the first-place-ranked team in Brazil, but also for his high energy level and defensive versatility.
With his team expected to make a deep playoff run, possibly into mid-June, it remains to be seen how many workouts he can conduct before the NBA draft withdrawal deadline of June 10.