2016 NBA Draft: Most overrated prospects

It’s easy to fall in love around the NBA Draft, but not every prospect can live up to the hype.

It happens every year: NBA Draft pundits, analysts and scouts overvalue and overrate prospects. It’s easy to get caught up in trends when filling out mock drafts or scouting reports. If one site or publication moves a prospect up or down, many tend to follow suit which leads to the masses overrating prospects.

Far too often we become enamored with combine measurements and workouts performances. If used correctly, combine measurements and how a prospect does in a workout can be useful tools in the evaluation process. But sometimes too much stock is put into a prospect having a great workout in a pro day or having a discernibly bigger wingspan than expected while ignoring the fact that he may not have a particular skill that will make him stick long term in the NBA.

Moreover, we can get caught up in a prospect having a good or bad NCAA Tournament and use that as the most important (or, in some cases, only) forecaster for their NBA future.

A prospect being overrated does not necessarily mean that they aren’t a good prospect or they won’t have a good NBA career. Mostly, it just means that we, the people who cover the NBA Draft, have in some way made an error in our evaluations.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the five most overrated prospects in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Next: 5. Jamal Murray