NBA Draft 2015: 5 non-lottery players who will bring value

Justin Anderson, SG/SF Virginia

If not for some injury issues down the stretch of his junior season in college, Justin Anderson might be a consensus lottery pick. However, he appears to be falling into the 18-to-25 range with regard to recent mocks, and at that point in the 2015 NBA Draft, he would be an absolute steal.

Anderson isn’t your typical draft prospect in that he was never a volume scorer at the collegiate level, nor is he a high “upside” player with youth and pedigree. Instead, Anderson profiles as a potentially elite defensive player at the NBA level, using a 6-foot-6, 230-pound frame to hassle guards, with the versatility provided by a nearly 7-foot wingspan to be able to guard power forwards in the NBA if asked to do so.

Offensively, Anderson is a more limited talent, but his skills could be useful. He is an above-average athlete that shot better than 45% (!) from three as a junior, and even if his jump shot isn’t as effective as that suggests, it is easy to see the development as a “3-and-D” player. Of course, there is a knock or two, largely in his relative inability to get his own shot, but players like DeMarre Carroll (or Khris Middleton, etc.) have come into vogue lately, and Anderson fits that bill.

Fans (or even scouts) that focus on his 12.1 points per game in college are missing the boat, especially when considering that he played in the glacially-paced system that Tony Bennett provides at Virginia. Anderson’s defensive ability is well-documented, and if he can become a high-end 3-point shooter in the NBA as his junior season possibly suggests, there is real value here.

Next: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson