NBA Draft stock up, stock down, games to watch: Isaiah Collier makes strong first impression

NBA Draft stock down: Aday Mara, UCLA

After a lengthy eligibility battle with the NCAA, Spaniard Aday Mara was cleared to play in UCLA's season opener against Saint Francis. He only played five minutes, however, before making an 11-minute cameo in the Bruins' follow-up game against Lafayette.

It's early, and Mara should see his role expand as the season progresses and he gets more familiar with his teammates. Mara was a highly successful teenager overseas and his physical profile — 7-foot-3, 240 pounds — is well suited to college basketball's more interior style of play.

Mara projects as an elite rim protector and lob threat with top-10 upside, but that's contingent on UCLA actually playing him. NBA teams are already gun-shy when it comes to selecting drop coverage bigs in the lottery, and it would be fair to liken Mara to Connecticut's Donovan Clingan — a sophomore returnee with a pronounced role for the reigning champs. If lottery teams are in the market for a towering shot-blocker, Clingan has the early jump.

NBA Draft stock down: Tyrese Proctor, Duke

It's too early to panic about Tyrese Proctor, but after a summer of hype surrounding his impending sophomore breakout, it's hard not to be slightly underwhelmed by the immediate results. He struggled in Duke's loss to Arizona, shooting 1-for-6 from beyond the arc and managing eight points on 33.3 percent shooting overall.

For Proctor, the next step will have to involve improvement as a scorer. He's a brilliant playmaker who is starting to keep defenders more off balance with his creativity as a ball-handler, but until the scoring comes around in full, his NBA ceiling will appear limited.