News from June 18. The LA Lakers elected not to re-sign head coach Phil Jackson. Kobe Bryant (LAL) exercised his opt-out clause and is a free agent. New Jersey picked up their 2nd year option for head coach Lawrence Frank. The NBA released the list of underclassmen and foreign players under 22 years old who withdrew their names from the draft. The full list of those who declared and those who withdrew: Underclassmen who have declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft: Chris Acker (junior, Chaminade, guard) Trevor Ariza (freshman, UCLA, forward) Brandon Bender (junior, Robert Morris College, forward) Evan Burns (freshman, San Diego State, forward) Jackie Butler (high school senior, Coastal Christian Academy (VA), forward) Josh Childress (junior, Stanford, forward) Cortez Davis (freshman, Rutgers, forward) Luol Deng (freshman, Duke, forward) Ben Gordon (junior, UConn, guard) Devin Harris (junior, Wisconsin, guard) David Harrison (junior, Colorado, center) JaQuan Hart (junior, Eastern Michigan, guard) Dwight Howard (high school senior, SW Atlanta Christian Academy, forward) Kris Humphries (freshman, Minnesota, forward) Sani Ibrahim (sophomore, Gulf Coast CC, forward) Andre Iguodala (sophomore, Arizona, forward) Al Jefferson (high school senior, Prentiss High School (MS), forward) Shaun Livingston (high school senior, Peioria Central HS (IL), guard) Kevin Martin (junior, Western Carolina, guard) Emeka Okafor (junior, UConn, center) Randy Orr (sophomore, Georgia Perimeter JC, center) Jason Parker (junior, Kentucky, forward) Donta Smith (sophomore, Southeastern Illinois College, guard) J.R. Smith (high school senior, St. Benedict's (NJ), guard) Josh Smith (high school senior, Oak Hill Academy, forward) Kirk Snyder (junior, Nevada, guard-forward) Robert Swift (high school senior, Bakersfield HS (CA), center) Sebastian Telfair (high school senior, Lincoln HS (NY), guard) Harvey Thomas (junior, Baylor, forward) Delonte West (junior, St. Joseph's, guard) Dorell Wright (high school senior, South Kent School (CT), forward) International players under 22 years old who have declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft (foreign players who turn 22 during 2004 are automatically entered into the draft): Andris Biedrins (18 yrs old, Latvia, forward) Hamid Haddadi (19 yrs old, Iran, center) Ha Seung-jin (19 yrs old, South Korea, center) Arturas Kaubrys (21 yrs old, Lithuania, forward) Sergei Monya (21 yrs old, Russia, forward) Pavel Podkolzine (19 yrs old, Italy, center) Peter John Ramos (18 yrs old, Puerto Rico, center) Jaber Rouzbahani (18 yrs old, Iran, center) Jerry Sokoloski (21 yrs old, Canada, center) Aleksander Vujacic (20 yrs old, Italy, guard) Underclassmen automatically entered into the draft due to having played for a professional team: Noah Ballou (Sam Houston State, Slamball) Grayson Boucher (Chemeketa (OR) CC, And-1) Chris Cologer (St. Joseph's, France) Neven Cuzela (Fairleigh Dickinson, Croatia) Christian Drejer (Florida, Spain) Jerry Dupree (Southern Cal, ABA) Nicklaus Kern (Indian Hills CC, USBL) Maris Laksa (Providence, Slovenia) Antonio Lawrence (San Jose State, Italy) Vedran Morovic (Olney Central (IL) JC, Germany) Simeon Naydenov (Louisville, France) Omar Quintero (Southern Nazarene, Mexico) Tomas Ress (Texas A&M, Italy) Victor Sanikidze (Globe Tech (NY) JC, France) Cleiton Sebastio (Oklahoma Baptist, Brazil) Cameron Tragardh (Oral Roberts, Australia) Underclassmen and foreign players who declared and later withdrew their name from the draft: LaMarcus Aldridge (high school senior, Seagoville HS (TX), forward) Martynas Andriuskevicius (18 yrs old, Lithuania, center) Ender Arslan (21 yrs old, Turkey, guard) Brandon Bass (freshman, Louisiana State, forward) Jermaine Bell (high school senior, Notre Dame Prep (MA), forward) Odartely Blankson (junior, UNLV, forward) Luka Bogdanovic (19 yrs old, Serbia-Montenegro, forward) Darren Brooks (junior, Southern Illinois, guard) Gary Chathuant (21 yrs old, France, guard) Ivan Chiriaev (19 yrs old, Russia, center) Murilo da Rosas (21 yrs old, Brazil, forward) Marcus de Souza (20 yrs old, Brazil, forward) Deng Gai (junior, Fairfield, forward) Mickael Gklabale (21 yrs old, France, forward) Marcin Gortat (20 yrs old, Germany, center) Ryan Gomes (junior, Providence, forward) Darryl Hill (sophomore, St. Johns, guard) Marcelo Huertas (21 yrs old, Brazil, guard) Mile Ilic (20 yrs old, Serbia-Montenegro, center) Martin Iti (freshman, Charlotte, center) Marco Killingsworth (junior, Auburn, forward) Ivan Koljevic (20 yrs old, Serbia-Montenegro, guard) Erazem Lorbek (20 yrs old, Slovania, forward) Miguel Marriaga (20 yrs old, Venezuela, forward) Louis McCullough (junior, Francis Marion University, guard) Dirk Mddrich (21 yrs old, Germany, forward) Jonathan Moore (junior, North Carolina Central, forward) Pavel Mroz (20 yrs old, Poland, center) Damir Omerhodzic (19 yrs old, Croatia, forward) Drago Pasalic (20 yrs old, Croatia, forward) Kelvin Pena (sophomore, Southeastern CC, guard) Kosta Perovic (19 yrs old, Serbia-Montenegro, center) Johan Petro (18 yrs old, France, forward) Roger Powell (junior, Illinois, guard) Lawrence Roberts (junior, Mississippi State, forward) Nate Robinson (sophomore, Washington, guard) Robert Rothbart (high school senior, Natomas HS (CA), center) Dusan Sakota (18 yrs old, Greece, forward) Predrag Samardziski (18 yrs old, Serbia-Montenegro, forward) Imari Sawyer (junior, DePaul, guard) Maurice Shaw (high school senior, Bidgton Academy (ME), forward) Ricky Shields (junior, Rutgers, guard) David Simon (junior, Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne, forward) Tremayne Singletary (junior, Southwestern College, forward) Armands Skele (21 yrs old, Poland, forward) Uros Slokar (21 yrs old, Slovania, forward) Tiago Splitter (19 yrs old, Spain, forward) Marcin Stefanski (21 yrs old, France, forward) Jay Straight (junior, Wyoming, guard) Dijon Thompson (junior, UCLA, guard-forward) Marko Tomas (19 yrs old, Croatia, guard) Roko Ukic (20 yrs old, Croatia, guard)