NBA Draft Odds: James Bouknight Predicted to Be Top 10 Pick
By Peter Dewey
University of Connecticut guard James Bouknight has been soaring up draft boards ahead of the 2021 NBA Draft, and he’s now predicted to be a top 10 selection.
WynnBET has Bouknight projected to be taken at 9.5. His odds to go under that pick at -150 while his odds to go over are at +125. Given the fact that Bouknight has been climbing up mock drafts ahead of the July 29 draft, it makes sense that Vegas is projecting him to easily fall in the lottery.
A few recent mock drafts have pegged Bouknight going as early as No. 6 overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he would certainly make for an intersting fit alongside Shai Gilgeous Alexander in the backcourt.
FanSided’s Rylan Stiles examined three reasons why Bouknight is the right pick for OKC at no. 6 on Thunderous Intentions, and the odds back it up. With Bouknight so heavily favored to go under 9.5 in the draft, it makes sense that Oklahoma City at No. 6 or Golden State at No. 7 could take Bouknight to bolster their backcourts.
Bouknight spent two seasons at UConn and flashed serious athletic ability in his time in college.
Hard to question Presti and top 5~ picks.
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) July 20, 2021
Westbrook was considered a reach.
Harden pick was questioned cause of.. wait for it.. Ricky Rubio.
Last year, word was OKC was higher than anyone on LaMelo.
If OKC likes James Bouknight, it’s cause he can shoot, create… and do this: pic.twitter.com/XvLG4bO0tz
The main concern with Bouknight is shooting ability and the fact that he was so prone to turnovers at UConn. Bouknight took a step back as a 3-point shooter last season, going just 29.4 percent from beyond the arc, and he averaged 2.8 turnovers to just 1.8 assists per game as a sophomore.
That ratio is certainly concerning, but he has shown the ability to score the ball (18.7 points per game in the 2020-21 season) at a high rate and he still shot 45.6 percent from the field for his career.
UConn didn’t space the floor very well around Bouknight, but in an NBA offense where he would have several shooters around him, he could become a dynamic scoring guard, especially if he develops his outside shot.
As more and more mock drafts project Bouknight in the earlier half of the lottery, bettors may want to see if the line on WynnBET moves any lower to see if they can get Bouknight at less juice that the -150 his under is currently going for.
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