NBA Draft 2020: 5 riskiest first-round prospects

2. Cole Anthony

Anthony already is one of the most highly-scrutinized prospects in this year’s class. He entered the year as a consensus top-10 pick. His inability to score the ball for North Carolina in an effective manner has caused his stock to tumble.

The appropriate question now is whether or not his stock has fallen far enough. Most mock drafts still have him firmly entrenched as a first-round pick. That still might be too high for a player whose effective field goal percentage was only 45.1 during his collegiate career.

If Anthony’s perimeter jump shot improves he does look like a player who can develop into a quality scorer at the next level. That doesn’t do anything to improve his stock as a potential playmaker. That firmly limits Anthony’s ceiling as a third-guard who helps his team by providing scoring punch off the bench.

There’s absolutely value to having that kind of player, but it’s not enough ceiling for a prospect who could still hear his name called sometime in the Lottery. Anthony is a big-name prospect in this class, but his game doesn’t live up to the hype. If his perimeter jumper doesn’t come around, it’s easy to envision a scenario where Anthony falls out of the league altogether.