A New Wave
Highlighting the top prospects in this year’s NBA draft
This year’s NBA draft is shaping up to be the best draft that the league has seen since the 2003 draft that featured the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony, and considered the depth of this year’s draft pool, it may be even better.
While there may not be an an all-time great player in this years draft like there was with LeBron James, what this class does offer is a plethora of talented players with the ability to grow into future all-stars.
Markelle Fultz
In a draft full of elite point guards, Fultz separates himself as the top prospect. What makes the combo guard out of Washington truly speacial is his lack of a weakness on the offensive end. He has the ability to hit difficult shots off the dribble, make contested layups in traffic, on top of the fact that he can create offense out of nothing for either himself or his teammates.
The most impressive part of his season at Washington is that he was able to all this while maintaining elite efficiency. He shot 41% from three and 48% overall. Being able to maintain this type of efficiency while being the focal point of every opponents gameplan is impressive.
While he was prone to being disengaged at times on the defensive end, he still managed to average 1.6 steals per game and 1.2 blocks per game, indicating that he has the ability to be a defensive playmaker when he’s locked in.
Lonzo Ball
In a league where spacing and three point shooting is becoming increasingly synonymous with success, Ball is the prototypical point guard for the modern day offense. NBA teams caught a glimpse of this during his time at UCLA when he was surrounded by great shooters every time he stepped on the court.
He consistently showcased the ability to find the open man in the offense, which is illustrated in his 7.6 assists per game, which lead the entire country. But if defenses worried to much about his passing ability, then he showed that he was more than capable of scoring on his own, scoring 14.6 points per game while shooting 41% from three.
Possessing great size at 6'6" and immense athleticism, he also has the ability to be an impact off of the ball on offense as well, as UCLA often used him as a spot-up shooter or even occasionally threw him an alley-oop when his defender was caught slipping.
Josh Jackson
The thing that stand out the most about Josh Jackson was his ability to be whatever Kansas needed him to be during the season. If they needed a lockdown defender, he could do it. Somebody to serve as the primary playmaker for a possession or two? Jackson again. He consistently came through for them whenever it was needed.
For evidence of this, look no further than Jackson’s full stat line, 16.3 points per game, 7.4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.1 blocks. He can do it all and that type of versatility will allow him to fit in seamlessly with any team and matchup well against anybody he could face.
The main complaint that scouts have about Jackson is he shooting ability. While he didn’t start the season off too well in that regard, he improved rapidly as the season went along, finishing shooting 37.8% from three. He will need to improve his shooting more before teams see him as a real threat from the perimeter, and his 56% free throw shooting is evidence of that, but if his improvement this season holds up, then he will be able to turn his shooting into a real weapon.
Dennis Smith Jr.
While Smith wasn’t able to turn his great production at North Carolina State, 18.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.8 assists per game, into many victories for his school, that won’t deter many teams from realizing the great talent that he possesses, and for good reason.
He served as a great distributor of his own offense, as he led his conference in assists, while also being a great disruptor of the opposing offenses, finishing second in steals in his conference. He also showed the ability to step up his game against tough competition, finishing with 32 points and 6 assists in a victory over the Duke Blue Devils, and having 27 points and 6 assists in a loss to the eventual national champion North Carolina Tar Heels.
If there’s a complaint about Smith, it would be that would sometimes sacrifice team success for individual statistics, but those complaints generally come from fans who expected Smith’s arrival to come along with more victories for their team, which unfortunately didn’t work out. You won’t hear any of these complaints from his teammates or coaches though, who instead praise Smith for how well he managed going into a season with great expectations, and kept his head up when those expectations didn’t come to fruition.
De’Aaron Fox
Fox closely resembles another big and athletic point guard to come out of Kentucky in the recent past in John Wall. Both point guards stand at 6'4" and were the fastest players on the court in nearly every game they played. They both also utilized their speed in similar ways, driving to the hoop to either finish themselves, or to draw a help defender and kick it out to the open man.
They both struggled with their 3 point shot while in college, with Fox struggling a great deal while finishing shooting 24% from deep. This didn’t hinder him too much in college, because when running the pick and roll in college, when his defender went under the screen Fox could use his speed to beat him to the spot, but he won’t have that luxury against many NBA defenders, and improving his shot will serve him well.
My favorite similarity between the two players however is their immense desire to win and their willingness to put their heart on their sleeve. Most players would try to hide their emotion after a defeat as devastating as the one that Kentucky had in this year’s NCAA tournament, but not Fox. His desire to win and willingness to put it all on the line for his teammates is something that you want out of your leader on a basketball court.
Malik Monk
The lack of shooting ability that Fox had was also made up for in his teammate that patrolled close by off-ball. No player demonstrated the ability to heat up faster than Malik Monk, who led the SEC in three pointer made and three point percentage.
Monk is more than just a great shooter, as he dazzled fans all season with his athleticism by showcasing his highlight dunks on fast breaks and making tough layups in traffic. He will be able to immediately step into any NBA offense and put up points in bunches.
If there’s one thing that could potentially hold Monk back it would be his size, as he only stands at 6'3". He hasn’t show the playmaking necessary to be able to to transition to being a point guard in the NBA, so he may be stuck as an undersized two guard, which may be detrimental for him, especially on the defensive end. However, with many point guards in the NBA beginning to stand as tall as wing players, the right team may be able to pair Monk with a taller point guard to help mitigate any negative effects of his size.
Wesley Canady is a junior English Major and journalism minor at Morehouse College from Lansing, Michigan.
