10 NBA Draft prospects who can rise or fall in Big 12 Tournament
We have arrived at the pinnacle of basketball season — March.
The NBA is heating up, but of course, the primary focus will be on the NCAA Tournament. Before we get there, however, conference tourneys are on the docket. The Big 12 is brimming with postseason contenders. Nine teams from the conference are projected to reach the big dance, per ESPN's Joe Lunardi.
Houston is a shoo-in No.1 seed. Iowa State, Kansas, and Baylor are all potential top-3 seeds. The Big 12 Tournament has bloodbath written all over it. We should be treated to some excellent basketball. On the NBA Draft front, we will also get a chance to observe several top prospects.
We aren't far off from the draft in June and there's still a ton of uncertainty about how exactly this class will unfold. There is more room than usual for dark-horse prospects to break out and surge up draft boards.
Here is the full bracket for the Big 12 tourney, which will start on March 12 in the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
And, here are the prospects you need to keep an eye on.
10. BYU's Jaxson Robinson needs one final push
BYU senior Jaxson Robinson rocketed up draft boards with an early-season hot spell from behind the 3-point line. The only problem? Robinson's percentages have cooled off significantly, and he's back to 34.8 percent on the season — right in line with his career average (34.0 percent) and far removed from the elite status scouts were banking on initially.
The shot looks great and Robinson gets a lot up, but if he's only an average shooter, it's hard to imagine the 21-year-old generating a ton of interest. He's younger than your average senior, a plus, but Robinson doesn't provide much on-ball juice. He is reliant on spot-up 3s, cuts to the rim, and transition offense.
NBA teams will always test out 6-foot-7 wings who can shoot and defend multiple positions, but Robinson lacks outlier athleticism and if the 3s aren't falling at even a league-average clip, he's going to fall out of favor quickly. He could really use a timely month-long scorcher beyond the arc to rekindle interest.
9. Kansas' Elmarko Jackson can prove he's ready for the big-league jump right now
Elmarko Jackson began the season ranked No. 8 on the FanSided draft board. The freshman quickly ran into trouble, mostly due to his inconsistency behind the 3-point line. Playing time has not been an issue for Jackson, even in the deep Jayhawks backcourt. He's averaging 18.1 minutes per game and he has 18 starts to his name. That's enough to at least keep NBA scouts intrigued.
Right now, however, all signs point toward Jackson sticking around for his sophomore season in Lawrence. That is, unless he can really shine in March. All the physical tools are still there. He's an explosive athlete at 6-foot-4, blessed with a deadly first step and great positional strength. He battles on defense. His feel for the game is solid.
NBA teams are waiting for Jackson to take it up a notch. Maybe that doesn't happen this season, but on the off chance that he explodes at the right time, Jackson can still catch scouts' attention in a weak class. Teams will reach for upside more than usual in 2024. If Jackson's theoretical two-way skill set starts to look less theoretical, he's a name to watch.