2019 NBA Mock Draft: The Boston Celtics clean up
6. player. 211. . G. Indiana. Romeo Langford
Here are the priorities for Memphis: Find someone who fits with Jaren Jackson Jr. long-term and who can run the offense once they move on from Mike Conley, potentially as soon as this summer. Langford checks both boxes.
The freshman is a big guard who has slowly but surely upped his scoring efficiency over the course of the season and possesses the defensive versatility to one day defend multiple positions in the NBA. He has outlier block numbers for a combo guard with a 2.6 block percentage, swatting one shot per 40 minutes and he is about the only thing keeping Indiana’s team together at this point in the year. That also means on offense, where his huge 27.4 percent usage rate and 55.5 true shooting percentage are a solid statistical combination for a freshman lead guard with little talent or shooting around him.
Through four games in February, Langford is averaging 37 minutes per game, in which he is scoring 16.5 points on 47 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent from 3 while dishing 2.8 assists. Somehow, Indiana has lost three of the four games. You have to wonder if, after recruiting the Indiana native Langford, coach Archie Miller may already be on the hot seat in his second season if Indiana doesn’t make noise in the conference tournament.
In Memphis, Langford would be better served, potentially playing alongside a mentor in Conley next season and joining another young dynamic prospect in Jackson Jr. with whom he could grow.