Michigan State Basketball: 5 reasons Nick Ward should return for junior year

Nick Ward has entered his name into the 2018 NBA Draft pool, but he didn’t hire an agent. Here’s why he’d be smart to return for his junior year.

Despite declaring for the 2018 NBA Draft, Nick Ward didn’t sign an agent and there’s a possibility the sophomore big man could be headed back to East Lansing.

After a tough end to his second season with the Spartans, Ward decided to enter his name into the draft to test the waters a bit. He’s still weighing his options and until he signs with an agent, there’s a good chance he could be back in East Lansing for his junior season.

Here are five seasons I believe Ward will be back for his junior year after going through the draft process.

5. Conditioning is a work in progress

When Nick Ward was a freshman, it seemed like he couldn’t stay on the court for longer than 20 minutes a game. He increased his durability throughout the year, but finished with just an 18.9 minute per game average. Some of that was due to his foul trouble or just Tom Izzo’s substitutions, but in a year without any real bigs, he should have been able to play much more.

That continued slightly in 2017-18, but his conditioning continued to improve. He averaged nearly 20 minutes per game as a sophomore, but he was taken out of games again because of foul trouble and defensive lapses.

Ward was gassed on multiple occasions when his services were needed on the court but his conditioning is getting better with each passing season. The speed of the NBA could take a toll on Ward’s conditioning even more, but with another step forward in that department as a junior or senior, Ward could fit in well in the league.