As Auburn’s roster rebuild takes shape this offseason, there remains a clear position of need for Bruce Pearl and his staff to address heading into the 2023-24 season.

Following last week’s decision by Allen Flanigan to enter the transfer portal as a graduate transfer, Auburn will officially need to replace its starting wing heading into Pearl’s 10th year as head coach. It’s not news to Pearl, of course; it’s something he had been preparing for the possibility for this offseason—and a position he has actively been working to address in the transfer portal.

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“We’ve been exploring those options on the wing for a while,” Pearl said Monday before his Fore the Kids golf tournament in Alexander City. “We’ve been patient, and we’ve lost a few guys we’ve been involved with. I’d say there re still three or four guys that are still out there that we are actively involved in. We’d like to get one of them.”

Among Auburn’s recent misses on the transfer front at that position was Florida State leading scorer Matthew Cleveland, who committed to Miami over his other finalists, Auburn and Missouri. Cleveland was a former five-star recruit out of the Atlanta area and a former AAU teammate with Jabari Smith, the Auburn star-turned-No. 3 overall pick in last year’s NBA Draft.

Cleveland, who was the ACC Sixth Man of the Year as a freshman during the 2021-22 season, averaged 13.8 points per game on 44.5 percent shooting, including a 35 percent clip from distance last season for the Seminoles. He added 7.4 rebounds and 18 assists per game while making 30 starts for FSU before hitting the portal this offseason.

While Cleveland was one of Auburn’s top wing options in the portal, he wasn’t the only one Pearl and his staff have been monitoring. The program hosted former Vanderbilt wing Tyrin Lawrence late last month. Lawrence was the Commodores’ second-leading scorer last season, averaging 13.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game on 50.2 percent shooting, including a 36 percent mark from beyond the arc.

Lawrence declared for the NBA Draft last month while also entering the transfer portal. He participated in last weekend’s NBA G League Elite camp in Chicago but, unlike Auburn big man Johni Broome, was not among the eight players to earn an invite to this week’s NBA Draft Combine. It remains to be seen whether Lawrence will withdraw from the draft, but he has until May 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET to retain his college eligibility.

At 6-foot-4, Lawrence was a two-guard at Vanderbilt and is a bit undersized on the wing. Despite lacking some traditional size, he has the skillset and athleticism Pearl covets in that role within his system.

Another potential option for Auburn at this juncture is former Tennessee wing Julian Phillips. The former five-star prospect was a top priority for Auburn a year ago, after he received a release from his letter of intent with LSU, and Auburn was among his finalists before he signed with Rick Barnes’ program. Phillips averaged 8.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game as a freshman at Tennessee last season, shooting 41.1 percent from the field and proving to be a solid defender.

He declared for the NBA Draft last month but retained his eligibility, and a report surfaced last week that he intents to enter the transfer portal should he return to college. Though the deadline for players to transfer within the SEC was May 1, Phillips could still apply for a waiver to transfer to another SEC program.

The 6-foot-8 wing is among the 86 players participating in this week’s NBA Draft Combine. Like Lawrence, Phillips will have until May 30 to withdraw from the draft and return to school.

While those are two of the more enticing options for Auburn in the portal, Pearl — without mentioning any names — said the Tigers are still keeping in contact with a couple other candidates to fill the need on the wing.

“We’d like to get one of them,” Pearl said. “If we got one of them, we’d feel really, really good about that position. Part of it is staying patient. Fortunately, there are still a couple really good options out there. But we need one. We need one of them.”

As Auburn’s roster stands at the moment, there are two scholarship players who could play the three in Pearl’s system — Chris Moore, who can play the three or the four but was Auburn’s starting wing at the start of last season, and UAH transfer Chaney Johnson, who also slots in at either forward spot. Adding another natural wing who brings versatility to that role would be the best-case scenario for the Tigers.

Of course, there’s a balance that needs to be struck between staying patient and approaching the need with a sense of urgency. Pearl, though, understands the allure his program offers, considering the way the wing is deployed in his system.

“I’m not much of a poker player, but there’s a little bit involved in that,” Pearl said. “You don’t want to settle. You don’t want to just be done with it and take someone who can’t get you where you want to be; the league’s too good. When I say patience, we’re not panicking. But I’m hoping that it pays off. Now, if we lose a couple more — I don’t see, truly, why we’re losing anybody. If there’s a wing out there that likes to score and play with a little bit of freedom. I mean, Wendell (Green Jr.) and Al (Flanigan) were our two most ball-dominant players and they’re both gone. We replaced Wendell with Aden (Holloway), and Al played a major, major role and had a great run, particularly in the second half of the year.

“You’d like to think that a great wing — and I say wing, but we play three guards anyways — would be pretty excited about that opportunity. And I think we’ve got some that are excited. We just haven’t got anybody to say the magic words.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.