NBA Mock Draft: 3 highest-ceiling prospects besides Victor Wembanyama

1. The Thompson Twins

There are plenty of meaningful differences between twins Ausar and Amen Thompson but their appeal builds on the same profile — 6-foot-7 frames with absolutely elite, outlier athleticism and a ton of tape leveraging that athleticism in practical ways at both ends of the floor. Their highlight reels are just loaded with absurd dunks, eye-popping blocks, brilliant no-look passes and mind-blowing, acrobatic layups.

Amen is more advanced as a passer and creator and projects into a lead ball-handler role, which is fairly absurd given his size and explosiveness. Ausar is slightly more advanced as a defender and perhaps more prepared for an off-ball, complementary creator role. But both players have the potential to turn their skills and physical tools into two-way stardom, even if it’s not entirely clear what it might look like in terms of role and fit.

Their similar appeal also comes with largely the same question marks. Neither player is a reliable shooter at this point, off the dribble or off the catch, and as the first two serious draft prospects from the Overtime Elite league we don’t really have a frame of reference for the level of competition they’re playing against and how that should change the way we evaluate their numbers and tape.

It may take the twins a bit longer to translate their production since no other prospects will face as large a jump in the level of competition as they will. But they both have everything they need to become NBA All-Stars many times over.

Check out The Step Back for more news, analysis, opinion and unique basketball coverage. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to our daily email newsletter, The Whiteboard.