Miles Byrd returned to San Diego State for a day last week and stopped by spring workouts at the JAM Center to visit with teammates and coaches. Then he left again, for training sessions in Glendale run by his pro agency ahead of the NBA Draft Combine that starts in Chicago on Sunday, likely followed by a flurry of more individualized sessions with NBA teams.
The next time he comes to Montezuma Mesa, he noted, will either be “an Aztec or an Aztec alum.”
Decision day is looming for the 6-foot-7 redshirt sophomore guard from Stockton. The deadline to withdraw from the draft and retain college eligibility for next season is May 28.
“It will probably,” Byrd admitted, “go right up to the deadline.”
Byrd remains the final puzzle piece absent from a 2025-26 roster for what might be the most anticipated season in program history.
Coach Brian Dutcher managed to retain seven other players from last season’s young NCAA Tournament team in an age of mass exodus, most notably 7-foot NBA prospect Magoon Gwath, then strategically augmented that core with three veteran transfers and two incoming freshmen.
The Aztecs could be very good without Byrd. They could be very, very, very good if he returns.
But will he?
Most mock drafts project him for the middle of the second round, smack in the gray area where there’s no clear-cut decision either way.
“My main focus is the NBA,” said Byrd, who didn’t enter the transfer portal and pledged his allegiance to SDSU if he withdraws from the draft. “I want to prove myself that I’m an NBA guy this year, right now. At the same time, it’s in the back of my mind that it’s no rush. Obviously, I wouldn’t be opposed to coming back to San Diego State if I’m not hearing the feedback that I want to hear.
“I’m on the fence, for sure.”
The next week will be critical. Being invited to the 75-player NBA Draft Combine is no guarantee that you’ll be drafted — there are only 59 picks in the two-round draft June 25-26 — but it’s a strong indication of the league’s interest. General managers vote on who they want to see at the combine, and Byrd was picked ahead of star college guards like North Carolina’s RJ Davis and Arizona’s Caleb Love.
Davis and Love both averaged 17.2 points per game and are former players of the year in power conferences. Byrd averaged 12.3 points, shot 30.1% on 3s (18.8% over the season’s final 12 games) and was outscored 26-4 in a head-to-head battle with Davis in the NCAA Tournament.
The difference: Davis and Love will both turn 24 before the next NBA season. Byrd would be 21, giving him more upside in what teams view as the key developmental years of the early 20s.
Byrd also meets the NBA’s opening ante of measurables: height, wingspan, speed, athleticism. He ticks analytics boxes as well, less for his scoring than steals (2.1 per game) and blocks (1.1) – the only Mountain West player to rank in the top eight in both categories.
The larger question is his shooting mechanics and consistency. He’s 30.4% behind the shorter college arc in three seasons at SDSU but shot just under 40% through the season’s first half. He also has a reliable free-throw stroke (83.2% last season), which is often used as an indicator for long-range shooting potential.
The peak was a 25-point, six-rebound, seven-steal game on 5-of-9 shooting from deep against Colorado State and NBA prospect Nique Clifford on Jan. 14, with more than a dozen scouts in attendance. Four days later, he had 21 points in the second half against UNLV.
But Byrd tailed off after that, failing to average double figures over the final 15 games, and it will be the scouts’ task in Chicago to sort out which version they’re evaluating.
Just as Byrd admits he is on the fence, so are most NBA personnel. Team representatives aren’t allowed to comment on underclassmen before the draft, but scouts and player personnel directors contacted by the Union-Tribune said the same thing privately: They’re intrigued.
Several said, pre-combine, that they think Byrd will be better served by returning to SDSU and developing there with an eye toward moving solidly into the 2026 first round, reasoning that his shooting inconsistency and slight physique would relegate him to the G League next season. In the same breath, they also said they’d strongly consider grabbing him in the mid-second round given the opportunity.
“His intel is really good,” a Western Conference executive said. “Just takes one team to like him, especially those with multiple picks.”
The question, then, becomes who might pick him and, more importantly, what kind of contract they might offer.
USA Today’s Hoops Hype ranks Byrd 40th among its 2025 draft prospects. ESPN has him at No. 51 on its Big Board. NBA.com has him going No. 49 to the Clippers, Yahoo at No. 50 to the Knicks, Sports Illustrated at No. 53 to the Jazz.
The Athletic, Bleacher Report and a few others don’t project him being drafted.
First-round picks receive two-year guaranteed deals (with team options for a third and fourth year). Second-round picks don’t, but the recent expansion of NBA rosters and advent of the two-way contract (allowing players to split time between the big club and the G League for about $600,000 next season) mean better financial opportunities for those selected in the 30s and 40s.
The rub: The advent of NIL makes it more lucrative for players to stay in college, especially since that is essentially guaranteed money and only a small portion of two-way contracts are.
If you’re projected to go in the first round, you stay in the draft. If teams privately offer a multiyear guaranteed deal in the second round, you probably stay in. If not, you have a decision to make.
“I think if I can keep putting in this work and I can go to the combine and play against some of those other guys who are highly touted, I know the type of competitor I am,” Byrd said. “The uncertainty comes from the lack of feedback as of right now. I’ll get it over the next two weeks. As of right now, I don’t really know what my situation would be in the NBA.”
Since the end of the season, he’s been in Glendale with a group of prospects represented by the Wasserman agency, working out six days a week at a local gym, twice on Wednesday and Saturdays, running sand dunes, dribbling with the NBA ball (which is different from college), shooting, scrimmaging, lifting.
The combine starts with interviews, measurements and agility drills. Byrd should excel in those.
Then come shooting and scrimmages. That’s where his draft fate likely will be decided.
The combine ends May 18, giving him 10 days for team workouts at NBA facilities before the May 28 deadline to retain his college eligibility, to be an Aztec or Aztec alum.
“I’m super excited for whatever decision I make,” Byrd said. “I pray on it a lot. My parents and I are really close, and we all talk about it – my sisters, my agent. Everyone is in the loop and we’re actively talking about it. Whatever decision I make, I know it will be a good decision for myself.”
Originally Published: May 9, 2025 at 6:35 PM PDT
