2019 NBA Mock Draft: Tankers beware

Kentucky bringing back its starters for an entire position group is like the rebooted American Idol keeping the same judges for more than one season. It will be odd to watch Washington and Nick Richards patrol the paint for the second consecutive season in Lexington.

It will be a great opportunity for Washington, however. Without Kevin Knox, Wenyen Gabriel or Jarred Vanderbilt in his way, Washington will have the best opportunity to sop up scoring opportunities and develop his game. As a freshman, Washington was mostly a finisher. During his sophomore season, it wouldn’t be surprising if we saw more of what Washington could do facing up in the mid-post or stretching his range out to the 3-point arc.

Washington shot 54 percent from 2-point range as a freshman, throwing down dunk after dunk on feeds from Kentucky’s solid point guard duo. Especially when the team got out in transition, Washington shined.

I’m more interested in watching what he does in the halfcourt next year — are the floaters and layups he showed truly indicative of his touch around the rim, or did he get lucky? Can he maintain that interior efficiency on a higher volume?

The Thunder are always attracted to athletic, two-way forwards, and you can never put too many of those guys next to Russell Westbrook.