The all-time Big East NBA mock draft

No. 3 overall pick in 2004

2003-04 UConn stats (Junior): 18.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists per game (Won National Title)

Gordon appeared undersized for his position coming out of school, and his game may not have translated as well today. But the intrigue is there, as he is maybe the prototype for Malik Monk of Kentucky. Gordon made up for his lack of height through his other physical tools — with great leaping ability, strength, and a 6-foot-8 wingspan, Gordon would have made a fantastic wide receiver in another life. He was the same style of three-level scorer we saw with Monk last year at Kentucky. His quickness allowed him to blow by defenders and he had great touch at the rim, and he was an elite catch-and-shoot and pull-up outside shooter. His 81-point streak through the Big East tournament was a signature moment, and hinted at number one scorer potential.

So why isn’t he higher? For the same reasons Monk dropped to No. 11. Gordon was a better passer than Monk, but a lot of his assist generation was due to a role as a pseudo-point guard. He wasn’t totally comfortable creating out of the pick-and-roll, preferring to go one-on-one instead, and that might have hurt him in today’s game. He also didn’t offer much consistency as a defender, which was mostly due to effort. He could defend both backcourt spots when engaged, but there wasn’t much that he showed at UConn to suggest he would do so consistently in the NBA. He needed to be paired next to a player like Kirk Hinrich to be successful, and that would only get more important today, where teams would readily find him and put him into pick-and-rolls consistently.