In the first NBA mock draft of the year, we’re using current standings to keep things simple.
That of course means that certain teams (looking at you, New York and Oklahoma City) are quit a ways away from where they will likely draft come next June. Oh, well.
As a result, I withheld analysis based on the teams these guys ended up on. It’s not quite a big board, but in the spots where I did put a certain player on a certain team based on fit or draft tendency, you will still simply find my analysis of that player independent of their team match.
Whoa. Kudos to The Step Back crew for being on top of the Bonga train ahead of everyone. The point forward just turned 18, despite competing in the FIBA U19s this summer and performing well. The kid barely fills out his jersey, but stands out immediately after a few seconds.
The ball finds energy, as Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni says, and Bonga has plenty of it. He’s devastating with any inch of space between he and the rim, especially in the open court, where he flashes perhaps a little Josh Jackson. But outside of those electrifying moments, his play whispers of potential.
The team is called the Fraport Skyliners, and there are lots of fun things to see: off-the-bounce threes, the broadcasters yelling his fabulous name (“BOOOONGAA!!”), and a breakneck pace. Bonga has the fortune of playing several more years in Europe before even considering a move across the pond, but when he chooses to try the NBA, the team that drafts him will be inheriting a project worth doing the extra homework for.
Watching the precise footwork and slick handle that Alexander-Walker turns into buckets on offense makes me consider the career trajectory of Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan.
This season, DeRozan was supposedly going to take on a bigger playmaking load offensively, to maximize the space provided by Kyle Lowry as a shooter and make better use of his own skills with the ball in his hands. However in the early part of the season, DeRozan’s assist rate is actually down and so are his assists per 36 minutes. The experiment has been so far unsuccessful, with Lowry also in an extended cold streak.
Perhaps this is because DeRozan is an ill fit for the point guard position, which demands a patience and consistency that scoring pressure or prior habits can sometimes overrule. He is a good passer once the defense has broken down, and can make read the rotations of a defense, but he is not best as a 70 possession per game ball-handler.
In a perfect world, Alexander-Walker projects to fill that type of role at the NBA level. He has footwork on pace to be at the elite level of DeRozan’s by the time he finds his footing in the league, plus the requisite passing to actually have the craftiness pay off.
He’s also about as big as Lonzo Ball, and more athletic. There’s a matchup crusher somewhere not too deep inside this Virginia Tech freshman, and I have a feeling he’s getting ready to show us more at the NCAA level.
Why can’t Grayson Allen be CJ McCollum?
Certainly, Allen will need to improve his accuracy at those shots which so many other guards avoid taking and rarely make. Yet their college numbers are wildly similar: at each player’s best, they peaked around a 9.0 offensive box plus-minus, shot over 40 percent from three, and provided enough playmaking to keep defenses honest.
Allen is confident and comfortable rising for deep threes off the bounce, an ability McCollum has watched decimate defenses through his first half-decade in the league. Simply knocking down that shot at an above-average rate is a valuable enough weapon to keep Allen in the draft conversation throughout the next seven months.
However, we know a lot more about Allen than his shotmaking. He has had (overblown and over-discussed) issues with on-court behavior, but four years at Duke ought to have had a positive impact on his demeanor as a leader and professional. It will be interesting to watch Allen go out with this year’s team full of super freshmen.
Melton’s statistical profile in his first season at USC lies in lock step with Dwyane Wade’s best season at Marquette. He may look to fans as a backcourt Draymond Green, the type of do-it-all guy on both offense and defense who holds contending teams together. He will benefit from the success USC will have as a team just as much as he propels that success himself.
The thing you’ll hear about Melton throughout the early part of the season — until he has the chance to reverse the trend — is that he shot 28 percent from three last year. But thanks to the continuity USC will have under coach Andy Enfield and the incoming talent around Melton, the Trojans might be one of college basketball’s upstart teams this year.
That will gave Melton every chance to blossom into the type of all-everything guy that NBA teams have coveted since Green entered the league and changed the way NBA teams think about versatility and development.
One of the more bizarre stories in all of college basketball comes from Robinson’s camp. Over the summer, a series of stops and starts resulted in Robinson’s dismissal, reintroduction and subsequent departure from Western Kentucky.
He seemingly signed with the school to follow coach Rick Stansbury, who was an assistant at Texas A&M, where Robinson originally committed. Stansbury had also hired Robinson’s godfather as an assistant at Western Kentucky.
But for some reason, something in Robinson’s heart of hearts convinced him that the school wasn’t for him. It was so late in the process though, and a good deal of drama had already ensued, that Robinson declared that not only would he be leaving WKU, he wouldn’t be attending college at all in 2017.
Instead, the raw big man prospect will train through the season and likely declare for the 2018 NBA Draft. Scouts will worry that he is missing a season of competition in his best developmental years, regardless of the access he now has to world-class trainers and mentors.
At this point, Robinson is a very bouncy prospect with touch and not much else. He plays with a special smoothness, but that sometimes means a slowly chugging motor. It’ll be a wait-and-see situation with Robinson, unfortunately.
I’m uncertain what Richards can do to improve his stock long-term. He looks fine as someone who can catch and finish around the rim, with the size and touch to rebound as well. Perhaps the post game, which includes a hook shot and turnaround jumper, will develop.
But outside of that, the Wildcats’ starting center is unremarkable as a prospect. His athleticism is normal for a seven-footer, freakish but not filthy, and not enough to project game-changing defensive impact. He will fill his role this year and in the NBA, scoring points when they come, stuffing the stat sheet from time to time and generally doing his job.
Late in the first round, a sure-thing rotation big man is a gift. Richards is on his way to being that type of player, but for a five-star recruit at a school like Kentucky, ordinary success can feel disappointing. If Richards takes the next step as an offensive fulcrum, perhaps there is a larger conversation we can get into. Let’s talk when and if that happens.
There are few players in this draft I want to face with a full head of steam than Akot, who downright gallops when given the space in the open floor. Akot proved in the FIBA U17 Championships (where he played for Team Canada) that he will be valuable in transition right away.
Elsewhere, it will be a matter of him fulfilling potential as a legit point forward. He’ll be a head taller than most guys guarding him if he can truly play on the ball that way. The shot is coming along, and Akot will benefit from the space allowed by having a big man like DeAndre Ayton who draws attention inside and outside in the halfcourt.
Akot can rely on a quick crossover that should buy him space while the rest of tools are sharpened during a full college season. He’s more raw, clearly, than his teammate Ayton, but those tools are enticing for any team looking to add versatility and mobility from its bigger players.
Who knows what he will be on defense at this point, aside from a few highlight blocks in international and high school competition? That’s what the college season is for — to find out things like this!
FanSided’s Trevor Magnotti has used Khris Middleton as an offensive comparison for the young Barcelona pro, and I like it. He’s being used to finish possessions in near-isolation quite a bit on Barcelona’s second team, but in the NBA, he would look great in a role similar to the one Middleton occupies in Milwaukee.
That would mean cutting, shooting and converting open attempts. Granted, few guys are blessed to play with someone as gifted as Giannis Antetokounmpo is at creating open shots for teammates, but all I mean is that Kurucs has the ability to fill such a role when and if he gets that chance.
In the meantime, the way Barcelona uses him — driving off the catch and shooting off of screens — can only help. It will allow Kurucs to improve as a decision-maker, and he’ll see hundreds of reps driving to the rim against all kinds of different defenders. His 3-point shot is already landing at an above-30 percent clip. By the time he arrives in the U.S., he’ll be a finely tuned player.
This draft is so deep with big man talent, it can be difficult to rank their various strengths heading into the college season. Wiley will have the opportunity in the SEC to go head-to-head with many of them, but overall he stands out compared to his competition.
Several of this year’s bigs project to take up residency around the rim, and be successful doing so. However, the development to the outside and on defense is what so many of these guys are held back by. Wiley has a secondary skill set already visible before his freshman season begins.
The ability to get a shot off with one’s back to the basket is less valuable now than before, but it still operates as a nice go-to in case of emergency for young athletes trying to impact the game. Wiley plays with a jittery motor on both ends that bodes well for his effectiveness, but he also finds easy points by using his bulk and touch down low.
It’s one thing to rocket around the floor and stumble into productivity. It’s another to fall back on a skill set and craft a legitimate plan, something Wiley seems more capable of than most bigs in the back half of this class.
Sometimes I think we get carried away projecting players into infinity. Sure, it would be fantastic if the 6-foot-11 Metu could continue to fill out his frame and use his body as a defender, but there’s a necessary appreciation when considering his scoring ability.
Last year for the Trojans, Metu posted a 22.5 PER on the back of a 15-8 line per game on 55 percent shooting and solid free throw numbers. He remains the focal point of USC’s offense this year as the team, with several players returning, attempts to build on their second round tournament run from a season ago.
Ideally, he develops his passing up past a .100 assist percentage with so much talent around him. If the defense gets there while he’s still in college, you’re ecstatic, but Metu has the body and scoring talent to earn legitimate lottery consideration already.
Helping the reinvigorated Trojans program win games this year will be his best bet to earn the attention of NBA teams before next June.
Brown joins a rich history of Oregon stars who enter the program like a piece of furniture in a Goldilocks sequel: too big, too small, too long, too short. This is not solely negative, as many players (such as Jordan Bell and Dillon Brooks) have found professional success out of Oregon.
Rather, they always seem to bring in players with varied skills, capable of handling mismatches. Troy Brown is a 6-7 point guard with the ability to score all over the place and expose countless mismatches. The Ducks will put the ball in Brown’s hand this year, after losing Brooks to the NBA this summer.
After a Final Four berth last March, Oregon is counting on Brown to make noise for them this year. He brings a level of athleticism and explosiveness that the team is not used to having out of its guard rotation. Brown can dish and finish off alley-oops — there aren’t a lot of guys who can do both. The big point guard comes into the draft with tons of potential, and equally as many question marks.
Smart players with sweet jumpers get taken high in the draft by smart NBA teams. Trent may not thrive individually at Duke like he could with lesser talent around him, but his progress as a draft prospect and basketball player will be aided by serving as the catch-and-shoot guy within Duke’s 2017-18 powerhouse.
Bagley, Carter and Duval need someone to stand in the corner and make good decisions, and Trent is more than capable, plus quietly fast with instant acceleration and able passing. He’s a complete offensive role player on a team full of dominant stars in the making.
It’s impressive, actually, to see someone as effective making difficult shots as Trent constantly looking for the open pass. He keeps the wheels of the offense turning, and already has shown in Duke’s two preseason games that he can flip the offense into gear when his own shooting gravity bends it one way or another.
As Jay Wright’s Wildcats try and find balance in their post- Josh Hart lives, Bridges figures to play a big role in the rotation this year. Yet he will likely not be Villanova’s most impactful scorer or playmaker — he fits much better as a complementary piece on offense.
I love this passage from FanSided’s Chris Stone in his Villanova preview piece: “He’s so efficient offensively in a complementary role that he is one of only two players in the last 25 years (min. 200 field goal attempts) to make at least 69.0 percent of his 2s, 39.0 percent of his 3s and 90.0 percent of his free throws in a single season. Bridges would simply be an excellent fit on just about any roster in America.”
The 6-7 wing is one of the only true 3-and-D difference-makers in this year’s first-round, and in a draft full of big man prospects, lots of eyes will be pointed his way during the course of the college season. If he and his teammates can help propel Villanova back to contention following the departure of Hart, Ryan Arcidiacono and Kris Jenkins, these guys could become quite a story nationally.
Bridges’ play on the margins are a building block from which the Wildcats — and any NBA team — can form a rotation.
Musa is an electric shooter filling out the edges of his game in Europe. As FanSided’s Trevor Magnotti wrote earlier this year, the key to Musa’s development has been ironing out his jumper. His leap is more linear, his feet plant straight ahead, and he took away much of the loose movement that held him back previously.
Musa lacks elite athleticism, but plays around with a loose and creative handle on his way to the rim, helped out by the conservative schemes opponents use against him. If they aren’t careful, Musa can pull up from the outer reaches of the halfcourt to unload his shot.
The tall, scoring wing out of Bosnia was named most improved at the 2017 adidas Eurocamp, and at age 18, is rising along the sharp upward swoosh along his development curve. Like many European players, Musa will likely spend a season or two more developing in Europe or at the end of the bench in the U.S. When he is ready to play in the NBA, he has the chance to be a real 3-and-D prospect.
They have different body types, but Diallo’s game reminds me a little bit of Michigan standout Caris Levert, who had his own stops and starts on his way to being a first round pick two years ago. The Nets saw a potential go-to scorer in Levert and have had success developing him thus far. Diallo boasts similar upside.
After enrolling at Kentucky last January, Diallo stayed with the school for the extra year in hopes of taking advantage of his eligibility this season. He joins a very different situation this year than the one he watched from the sidelines last year. His finishing ability will be in demand for one of the teams with the least continuity in college basketball.
The primary problem for Diallo right now is one Levert doesn’t really have to deal with: the lack of a jump shot. Diallo is comfortable taking 3s and has sturdy form, but misses wildly quite often. He should of course keep shooting those, but if he takes the leading role he ought to for the Wildcats’ offense, at some point that shot has to start falling.
Less a Sheep than Justin Jackson and more a traditional wing, Knox is a Kentucky outlier, entering the season as the Wildcats’ top prospect despite residing just inside the lottery on The Step Back’s first big board. He is as long and gifted as any forward in the country, honestly, but I have questions about how exactly he’ll consistently put the ball in the hoop.
He has a willingness to shoot that outshines his success doing so, which may keep defenses honest but will do little to warp them in any meaningful way. Knox is an exciting dunker, extending to the hoop from any range on drives. His ability to find open shots consistently will be important for Kentucky.
On defense, Knox has the makings of a switchable piece, and Kentucky has utilized him in more aggressive schemes during the preseason. He plays passing lanes well, creating and finishing transition possessions very easily.
To help the Wildcats and jump up draft boards, Knox will have to find ways to score points off of his own defense and physical abilities. Easier said than done.
Duke benefited well from the back half of a busy summer for NCAA talent. They landed Duval and Bagley between May and August, two leaders who have a chance to push this team to its second national championship in five years. Duval brings a burst and craft, along with a tremendous handle, that might eventually push Duke’s offense to a summit higher than its combined parts could climb alone.
He’ll need to be wonderful driving to the rim and setting up his tremendous teammates if Duke hopes to reach its peak this season, because he does not project as a shooter in the short term. Despite eye-popping length, his shot is short and bricky. Duval will probably be most comfortable as a full-time playmaker in college, setting the table for the abundant scorers on the Blue Devils’ roster.
Few backcourt prospects can lean on the cushion provided by a player as talented as Grayson Allen. Duval can provide value in transition and off the ball if he wants — his athleticism is filthy. Allen can clearly handle a larger ball-handling load while Duval finds his spots. The concern here is that those spots are few, and that defenses might easily erase them.
You thought you could wander over to a 2018 NBA mock draft and get away from Kyle Kuzma discussion, but you can’t — Kuzma is breeding. His kin are all over, and they’re here dominate.
The archetype is perfect: long, athletic and multi-skilled. They make quick decisions off the bounce and impact the game on both ends with their length. Can we coin a term for players that are so straightforward and regular that their dominance is habitual? We call the more unique guys “unicorns,” so how about “sheep” for guys like Jackson and Kuzma? The Lakers’ rookie is shepherding his sons through the modern NBA, an era that fits them perfectly.
Last season, Jackson shot 44 percent from three en route to 15 points per 40 minutes. Maryland allowed less than 97 points per 100 possessions, and their defense was actually slightly better than that when Jackson on the court. Defensive box plus-minus measures a player’s impact on the defense per 100 possessions in terms of box score statistics, and it graded Jackson as a better defender than offensive player in his freshman season with the Terrapins.
Melo Trimble is gone, and Jackson will have the opportunity to raise his usage rate to the levels of other elite scoring options. Will he remain on their level in terms of production and efficiency?
A lot of the time, teams focus on balance and volume when recruiting. Arizona comes to mind as a program that always seems to have talent in the wings at every position, rather than inflating one position group. That being said, it’s going to be wildly fun to see two combo guards — Walker and teammate Bruce Brown Jr. — dominate the ACC this winter.
Walker is a perfect partner for Brown. He is smaller and more nimble, plus he shoots better than the hulking Brown. Brown gashes his way into bursts of points — Walker’s offensive game packs a similar punch, on a whole other timeline. The patience that Walker plays with complements Brown perfectly.
He shot above 38 percent from 3 in both go-rounds at the Nike EYBL tournament, as well as over 50 percent from the field. Between 2015 and 2016, he moved up from one assist to three per game at the EYBL tourney.
Getting run as a freshman on a competitive Hurricanes squad will do wonders for Walker’s development as an offensive focal point.
Brown is going to make a name for himself this year as one of the most exciting two-way players in college basketball, with a fully developed shooting profile and turnovers forced left and right as a defender.
Last season with the Hurricanes, Brown shot his way to .514/.347/.744 splits on his way to 12 points per game. Fortunately for Miami (and Brown’s draft odds), Brown also pitched in over three assists a night. At 6-5 and 190 lbs., Brown looks and plays like the type of player who can dominate as a scorer for a long time. Despite his body and skill set, the sophomore only got to the line about four times per 40 minutes.
The number to watch then is his FTr, or the number of free throw attempts he earns per field goal attempt. Last year he finished at .414, but getting it up above .500 by being efficient with his shot selection and drawing contact in the lane would help Brown become a more balanced and productive player for the Hurricanes in 2018.
Next to Lonnie Walker, Brown has the chance to make Miami legitimate as a basketball school for the first time in as long as I can remember. They’re going to be fun, in large part thanks to Brown’s dynamite scoring instincts.
Don’t let your soul get too close to Jaren Jackson Jr., else he might legitimately eat it. It’s difficult for a lot of people to get excited about defense, but watch a couple minutes of highlights of Jackson Jr. patrolling the rim and you’ll be gasping for air.
He is the most patient and athletic leaper to this point in the draft, blocking shots out of nowhere despite normal wingspan for his height (7-4 as of the 2017 Nike Hoop Summit). By using his strength to control space in the paint, Jackson charges his motor like a car battery or a fine wine — better with age. The freshman should piss big men off throughout the NCAA in 2018.
Offensively, Jackson has shown a lot of skills for which the translation is questionable. A quick-shove jump shot may not be so wet in college, though he made 42 percent of his 3s on four attempts per game in the 2016 Nike EYBL tournament. In that tournament, Jackson Jr. shot 48 percent overall and 71 percent on free throws. Who knows?
Michigan State’s second lottery prospect has some skill driving to the hoop as well, though he’s probably the worst of the top big men at doing so. It’s unwaveringly straight — a beeline for the hoop. He can bully his way into layups, sure, but it’s tough to watch around the hoop. Jackson is an imposing guy to fight with down low.
Will Carter be the odd man out at Duke? Bagley looks like one of the nation’s top draft prospects entering the season, while point guard Trevon Duval is a near-perfect fit as a table-setter. Grayson Allen will carry a big load on both sides as all of the freshmen attempt to find their place. I wonder what Carter does that stands out beyond all of the talent around him, or how he makes the job easier for his teammates?
The thing he’s most effective at, scoring over long possessions in the paint, but his footwork down there rarely creates easy shots for him. Somewhere in these concerns lies the bigger worry about positionality — Carter is a small 6-10. Among the giants of the NCAA and NBA, he may struggle to find open space.
This all makes his 3-point shot extremely important. His shot is sound from mid-range, and he has touch. The big man’s size and talent generally leave me optimistic that he will find ways to get the ball in the hoop, but I can’t help but worry. Carter has the tough job of playing aggressively next to Bagley, perhaps the most energetic and exciting player in college basketball.
Is it awkward to just say that I enjoy the fact that Sexton is 6-3? He plays the game of guys several inches shorter than him, like Kemba Walker or Chris Paul. Fortunately for Sexton, the patient athleticism he uses to puncture the first line of defense is taken to the next level by the way he passes.
Sexton’s eyes are always up on offense, zipping passes into tight spaces a beat ahead of pick-and-roll coverages. He’s going to be successful right away playing downhill, for an Alabama team that should look to run. Alabama’s coach is ex-NBA player and former Mavericks coach Avery Johnson, and the hope is that his steady hand will help the dazzling freshman helm a winning team this season.
The 5-star recruit forced himself into draft conversation over the past year by earning MVP honors at the U17 FIBA Championships, dazzling the Nike Hoop Summit audience and scoring 31 points per game in this summer’s Nike EYBL circuit. As his final act as an amateur, can he push Alabama into the NCAA tournament for the first time under Avery Johnson?
I do not know what Miles Bridges is, or what he is going to be.
A few things I can say for certain. He seems, on and off the court, like one hell of a person and teammate. He had one of the better shooting seasons in college basketball last season, with a .580 true shooting percentage on 13 FGA and 3.3 FTA per game. He returned to Michigan State despite a lottery projection in the 2016 draft. He is a toolsy juggernaut, sculpted with the same chisel as Draymond Green and Julius Randle.
He has a dominant left hand, but a strong right hand as well. So far though, he has struggled driving to his right in college. But he plays both ends, and explodes vertically like a player several inches taller.
The 2017 Big Ten Player of the Year figures to be in the conversation for the national awards once again in 2018, though a move to small forward will be a legitimate test for Bridges as a sophomore. The combination of size and speed that overwhelms defenders when he plays power forward will be less advantageous when he matches up against smaller players.
I would expect his shooting and rebounding numbers to go down relative to last season, especially early in the year as he adjusts to playing small forward. His move away from the power forward position also leaves the halfcourt potentially less spacious, with freshman Jaren Jackson Jr. still integrating.
Bridges will look like a very different player this year, even assuming Michigan State succeeds as a team. It’s an even more risky play for someone to return to school if they face such different circumstances. Bridges could have made a lot of money getting drafted in 2017 — can he continue to develop at small forward such that NBA teams remain equally intrigued?
Williams is a fantastic finisher, managing a 57.0 true shooting percentage despite shooting 11 percent from 3 and 59 percent from the free-throw line. He is a monster around the rim, with a complete physical package which gives him an advantage over most any defender.
Defensively, his quick feet carry him out to perimeter players, where he can hang reasonably well. Williams will again be tested against SEC competition this year, with projected lottery picks Michael Porter Jr. and Kevin Knox staring him down in conference play. After surprising as a freshman, expectations will be high.
Texas A&M and Coach Billy Kennedy should focus on Williams’ development as a true center, and utilize his driving and shooting abilities as rabbit-out-of-a-hat type performances. Williams has the size and skill to be a good modern big man — not everyone needs to be Draymond Green.
J.J. Caldwell will take over as the Aggies’ point guard this year following a season of ineligibility, which should have a smoothing-out effect on the team’s incongruous offense. If the shooting can sort itself out on the wing, Williams will have more space to fight down low, and the Aggies will find more balance overall.
In all, Williams’ might be one of the most interesting seasons to focus on of any in the draft, due to the high level of competition and surrounding roster changes.
I think that ESPN’s Mike Schmitz has the best Bamba-Ayton comparison of the early season so far, in this piece on the top ten NCAA centers: “If Ayton is the most physically imposing, Bamba is the most physically intriguing.” I know that my giraffe comparison for Ayton is about as simple as it gets for a basketball player, but focusing on the confidence and control is the key to understanding why Ayton will dominate.
On the other hand, Bamba is maybe more like a flamingo: gawky, special and confounding. The big man dominated in the Longhorns’ trip to Australia over the summer, making plays all over the court. He flashed an intriguing patience from the elbow, but mostly dazzled scoring around the rim.
Bamba will be tested early, with Texas facing a difficult non-conference schedule early in the year. Before they even think about Kansas or Baylor, they will play Butler, Duke, VCU, Michigan and Alabama. Bamba has the physique of Rudy Gobert, plays in defensive guru Shaka Smart’s system, and has enormous offensive potential far higher than what Gobert has put together.
If “Rudy Gobert with a face-up game” is something people can reasonably say about you as you head into your freshman season, things are expected to go well.
A decade ago, the prototypical basketball player probably looked something like Dwight Howard or DeAndre Jordan. The type of athletic freak who could combat a new generation of flashy, score-first point guards at the rim.
In today’s 3-point-heavy era, the ideal superstar looks exactly like Michael Porter Jr. Big enough to play either forward spot, long enough to defend multiple positions, athletic enough to make plays for himself and others. Porter told ESPN’s Myron Medcalfe in late October that, “It depends on what an NBA team needs: If they need a scorer, if they need a big man. For me, I want to play so good, work on my game so much that it’s unanimous.”
I like that Porter is aware of his own versatility and what it could do for NBA teams. Jonathan Tjarks wrote an illuminating piece around last year’s draft making a similar point for the possibility of OG Anunoby and Jonathan Isaac, both first-round picks in 2017, to end up playing center in the NBA.
Ahead of an important season for Missouri, we don’t know what Porter can or will be in the future, but we know that he looks, plays and acts a whole lot like an incredible basketball player.
At the Phoenix Zoo, just southeast of downtown, the first enclosure you’ll see when you walk up is a pretty large green area populated by several different kinds of animals. There are goats, rams and a bunch of other critters that live in plains across the world. It takes barely a minute to find the highlight of the attraction: the giraffes.
This is as good a representation of what it’s like to watch De’Andre Ayton play basketball as I can come up with. Not only do his height (7-0 at the Nike Hoop Summit last year) and wingspan (7-6) draw your attention to him immediately, but he stalks opponents much like those giraffes do in that big, green plains exhibit.
After 31 points and 10 rebounds in a exhibition game versus Eastern New Mexico and a preseason No. 3 ranking for his Wildcats, there’s quite a bit of attention on the nimble, toolsy big from San Diego. Keep an eye on whether he can make as good use of those tools on defense as offense when the season begins.
If so, Ayton has a legitimate chance to rise to contention for the first overall pick in the next June’s NBA Draft.
He might not look like he has the body yet, at 6-11 and 234 lbs., but have faith that Bagley will find his way into nearly every single Duke possession this season, thanks to his motor. He exhausts his competitors into submission, affecting games on the glass as much as anywhere and fighting for each shot attempt.
Down low, he struggles to find openings unless he can get up a lefty hook, pushing and shoving smaller and less athletic guys. Watch how he handles when opponents make him go right, especially in less spacious Duke lineups that do not feature Wendell Carter, or when senior Grayson Allen is not on the court to get him the ball in his spot.
If you want to have some fun, just look up Bagley’s already populous alley-oop reel from Duke’s blue-white scrimmage and their exhibition contest against Northwest Missouri State.
For now, it will be incredibly fun and fascinating to see how Bagley develops his skill set near the rim on defense and beyond the arc on offense. On a loaded Duke team, Bagley already looks like he has the skill set necessary to show up on a nightly basis and make a positive impact.
Doncic has posted a solid 18 point, 6 rebound, 4.5 assist average line in 10 EuroLeague games this season for Real Madrid. The team lost point guard Sergio Llull for the year before game one, forcing Doncic to shoulder a heavier play-making load in addition to the dynamic role he was expecting to play on the wing. Real Madrid has only one loss in EuroLeague competition this season, and Doncic still found 12 points and 7 rebounds in that game.
The 19-year-old wing has put Real Madrid atop the EuroLeague standings behind 63 percent shooting and excellent all-around performances night after night. He plays coast to coast, on and off the ball, and affects the game on both ends (though mostly on offense).
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Despite his versatile skill set, it doesn’t appear that the team which drafts Doncic will have to spend a great deal of time finding the proper role for him. He is only 6-6, big and quick enough to guard both wing positions. If Real Madrid keeps winning through Doncic (without Llull), the young Slovenian might entice a team to take him first overall. There is no team which wouldn’t be made better by the efficient, dynamic production Doncic provides.