Who do you view as the upperclassmen most likely to rise come draft time and leave a mark in the NBA?
To start out with a couple players:
– Jalen Wilson. Already talked about him a bit. Shooting consistency is the swing skill but he just has an NBA profile and an offensive skillset that should translate to the NBA. Strong, creative and patient in the paint, good ball-handling and playmaking ability from the wing and his shooting form is fine even if the results are still up and down. Not only a safe FRP but a potential lottery pick for me.
– Ricky Council IV. Council with more space to drive could be a weapon in the NBA. He's quick, athletic, long and somewhat crafty. If I trusted his shooting ability, he'd be a lottery pick for me. As is, I'm still wait-and-see on him but he surely is a FRP and I could even see him pushing into the lottery.
– Kris Murray. Comes off a couple less stellar games but he has shown what he can be. He fits the modern NBA archetype of a combo-forward that spaces the floor and has sufficient athleticism to work in the NBA. His ceiling is not that great due to his limited on-ball and creation skills but it's hard to not see him as a really good role player at the next level. Certainly a FRP for me as well.
A short list of Upperclassmen who I'll pay closer attention to – feel free to add (the list of by no means exhaustive)!
Spoiler:
I'd be looking most closely at Baylor Scheierman, Julian Strawther, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Jaylen Clark who I can see being intriguing to a playoff team looking for bench depth at the end of the first round. But a couple others could fit that mold, too.
