Fansided

2019 NBA Mock Draft: There’s movement in the top 5

By Brendon Kleen

CHARLESTON, IL - JANUARY 17: Ja Morant #12 of the Murray State Racers brings the ball up court during the game against the Eastern Illinois Panthers at Lantz Arena on January 17, 2019 in Charleston, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHARLESTON, IL - JANUARY 17: Ja Morant #12 of the Murray State Racers brings the ball up court during the game against the Eastern Illinois Panthers at Lantz Arena on January 17, 2019 in Charleston, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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24. . PG. Murray State. Ja Morant. 2. player

Morant is toying with us — setting expectations low knowing he can break through them on a nightly basis. You thought the dunks were good? Did you like what he did against Alabama or Auburn? Ha. Nice. Those were warmups. The real show is yet to come, but it will look a whole lot like the sophomore’s 40-point, 11-assist, 5-steal spectacular against SIU-Edwardsville on Saturday night.

The hype is in the clouds at this point. Between Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and all of #NBATwitter hitching onto the Morant bandwagon, the Racers’ sensation won’t go away.

The dominance of athletic point guards in the NBA will help Morant’s stock as well. De’Aaron Fox’s breakout coupled with Russell Westbrook’s 2016-17 NBA MVP campaign likely means NBA teams will continue to value that type of player despite the inefficiency and poor overall value of others in that mold such as John Wall and Derrick Rose. Even so, Morant is closer to Westbrook in terms of the way he grabs rebounds to ignite transition opportunities and trusts his rim-crashing more than anything his teammates can do.

As for his fit in Chicago, it’s not ideal within the context of the Bulls’ roster right now. But the Bulls’ roster shouldn’t look like this. They have two core pieces — Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr. The inefficient haul Chicago reeled in this summer, Jabari Parker and Zach LaVine, the latter of whom has already been benched, won’t be around for the next good Bulls team. The important thing is Morant fits with Markkanen and Carter, two skilled big men who space the floor.

A better passer and finisher than LaVine, Morant will lead a more efficient version of this offense if Chicago drafts him.