NBA Draft prospects to watch in the NCAA tournament: West region

At first glance, the West region of the NCAA Tournament bracket appears thin on NBA talent. The South has DeAndre Ayton, a near-lock to be picked in the top three, and a Kentucky roster full of raw potential waiting to blossom. You could almost built a competent NBA roster out of Duke, Oklahoma and Michigan State’s best prospects, all of whom are in the Midwest. But while superstar talent is an important – if not essential – component of good NBA teams, most players don’t fall into that category, and the majority of the players who hear their names called on draft night will become role players of varying quality.

It is through this lens that the West ought to be evaluated. The region has legitimate NBA prospects, but most of them – with one notable exception – will make their careers by filling specific, complementary next to players of superior talent. Here are four NBA prospects to keep an eye on in the West region:

Michael Porter Jr., Missouri

If not for a nagging back injury that kept him out for all but two of Missouri’s games, Porter would be a clear-cut top-three prospect in this year’s draft. The 6-foot-11 forward already has NBA range on his jumpshot, a fluid off-the-dribble game and the ability to smoothly combine the two. Porter has the tools to become a four- or five-position defender at the next level and a matchup nightmare for opponents who don’t have the personnel to match his combination of length, athleticism and skill. He could stand to improve his vision and playmaking, and he can be undisciplined or unengaged at times on defense. But those minor issues are relatively fixable, and Porter represents the archetypal modern NBA wing.

Unfortunately, we may not see Porter at his best for Mizzou’s tournament run, which could only last a game or two. It’s unclear how healthy he is, and two games might not be enough time for him to integrate with the team or shake off the rust of not playing for five months. Having no meaningful data on a player for that long makes it difficult for a team to take the risk of drafting him in the top five. Even if Porter doesn’t play particularly well in the coming weeks, just getting a look at him – his movement, his explosiveness, his assertiveness – could be instructive in determining his standing as a prospect.

(It will also be worth tuning into Missouri to see Porter’s brother, Jontay, who also stands at 6-11 and moves well for someone his size. Jontay isn’t as polished on the perimeter as Michael, but he can capably space the floor (37.7% from 3-point range this year) and provide solid interior defense (6.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game). Jontay is the younger of the two, and has played his way into the late-first/early-second round conversation.)

Robert Williams, Texas A&M

Williams is clearly a cut or two below the top big men in this draft class. He probably won’t fit the “unicorn” mold like DeAndre Ayton, Marvin Bagley or Jaren Jackson might, but Williams projects as a different sort of modern big man. His ability to rebound, protect the rim and score efficiently – albeit on fairly low volume – makes him interesting as a roll man and back line defender with a high floor.

Williams catches lobs and drop-off passes and dunks them with ease, a skill that generally translates well and fits in most systems. He blocks nearly four shots per 40 minutes and slides his feet reasonably well on the perimeter. He’s a non-shooter at the moment – he shot 2-for-30 from distance and 54.3 percent from the foul line in two college seasons – and has a pretty limited offensive game. But he’s also a low-maintenance big who should fit on just about any team that drafts him and provide valuable, efficient production.

Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State

Bates-Diop, the Big Ten Player of the Year, won’t be a lottery pick like his conference mates Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. But a year removed from a stress fracture in his left leg, the redshirt junior proved himself an NBA-caliber player. At 6-foot-7, 235 pounds, Bates-Diop is a versatile forward who routinely controls the game on both ends of the floor, and should enter the NBA with a fairly high floor.

Though he finished second in the Big Ten in scoring, Bates-Diop’s most marketable NBA skill is his defensive versatility. With abnormally long arms, he smothers guards and wings, recording blocks as both an on-ball and help defender. He was the only player in the nation to average at least 19 points, eight rebounds, one steal, one block, and one assist per game this season. He has the size to defend either forward position and his combination of quickness and length makes him effective on guards as well. Ohio State played stretches with Bates-Diop at the five, and often entrusted him with ball-handling duties regardless of the other personnel in the game.

He’ll have to solidify his shooting at the next level for opponents to respect his shot, and might need to add some muscle to his gangly frame. But Bates-Diop has both the skills and the physicality to compete at the next level. For a team drafting late in the first round with designs of competing in the near term, he’ll be one of the best fits available.

Theo Pinson, North Carolina

Pinson has always been a bit of a wild card, and he’ll be one heading into the draft as well. His name doesn’t show up on many draft boards, and if it does, it’s right on the fringes of the second round. Fully, appreciating Pinson requires an acceptance of his downsides: he can’t shoot (26.1% career 3-point percentage) and he’s prone to turning the ball over out of carelessness or ambitiousness.

But it’s impossible to watch North Carolina and not feel his impact. He affects games in Iguodalan ways with his athleticism and instincts. Pinson feels the game at a high level on both ends of the floor, complementing defensive versatility with a dose of playmaking on offense. He makes canny passes or clever cuts to the right places, usually defends the opponent’s best player regardless of position and has a knack for anticipating and disrupting enemy offenses. He reads the floor ahead of time and foresees its changes before they happen. When he gets a lane to the basket, he’s athletic enough to attack it.

Pinson needs other smart and talented players around him in order to thrive, which will make it difficult for him to stick in the NBA. The jumpshot is a major variable. But he just has too many positive traits for NBA teams to ignore him.

Moritz Wagner, Michigan

This year’s Michigan team is similar in many ways to last season’s, but perhaps the most notable difference is the lack of a consistently dominant player. A year ago, at least one of Derrick Walton, Zak Irvin or D.J. Wilson would turn in a special performance almost every night. When all three moved on, the Wolverines turned to Wagner as the linchpin of their offense. The 6-foot-10 German rebounded at a decent rate this season and shoots the ball like few players his size can.

Next: 5 best NBA Draft prospects in the NCAA Tournament

But at this point, it’s unclear if Wagner provides enough value outside of his shooting ability to contribute to an NBA team. Maybe he doesn’t have to; big men who space the floor that well are becoming more playable than ever. Still, it would be nice to see Wagner add a bit more to his skill set. He could stand to improve as a passer and a defender, and doesn’t always use his physicality to its fullest capability. He’s only a junior, but even if he stays for his final season, this March will offer a proving ground for Wagner and the Wolverines.