2018 NBA Mock Draft: What if Memphis wins the lottery?

There’s concern that some silly team will talk themselves into Trae Young based upon the success of pull-up shooting guards such as Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry — but what if they do the same with Holiday? Young is deserving of the intrigue he’s gotten, because he is more developed as a passer and the threat of his jump shot stretched further toward half court than anyone in college basketball. Holiday is not, but it’s not hard to imagine a team being tricked.

That team could easily be the Clippers, who had a front row seat to Holiday’s outstanding junior season in Westwood. The guard flipped up a true shooting percentage over .600 for the second straight season, got to the line more frequently, and become a more efficient playmaker. He chiseled his game into its best form and will get drafted quite high as a result. It seems, looking around the internet, that Holiday has separated himself in the minds of executives and scouts from the late-first round tier of upperclassmen guards more celebrated in college than Holiday.

I go over every week how the Clippers’ point guard situation seems overcrowded now but will be a distant memory by the time this team is contention for a title again. Holiday is a better prospect than Jawun Evans, and it’s true he has a skill, shooting over the top of the defense, that often leads to productive careers for ball-handlers. He wouldn’t necessarily be a bad pick for Los Angeles, merely one that is not incredibly valuable at No. 13.