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When Duke, Kentucky, Gonzaga and Purdue all fell in the Elite Eight, a cavalcade of NBA draft prospects was eliminated from the NCAA tournament.
Texas Tech guard Jarrett Culver and Virginia forward De’Andre Hunter are the top remaining prospects and the only surefire first-round selections left in the field. They’re not the only players with NBA potential, though.
Ahead, we’ve taken a closer look at the top seven NBA prospects still active in the men’s NCAA tournament, based on composite ranking from the NBA draft big boards from Bleacher Report, ESPN.com and The Athletic.
Along with breaking down their pros and cons, we made a buy or sell call on each prospect’s NBA future.
Note: Auburn forward Chuma Okeke was not included after he suffered a torn ACL in the Sweet 16. He checks in at No. 40 in the cumulative big board rankings.
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Cumulative Big Board: No. 92.5 (on two of three boards)
Cassius Winston won Big Ten Player of the Year honors this season and averages 18.9 points and 7.6 assists per game while shooting 40.4 percent from beyond the arc.
He’s averaging 19.0 points and 7.8 assists in the NCAA tournament, and he’s fresh off a double-double of 20 points and 10 assists in Michigan State’s upset win over Duke in the Elite Eight.
So why isn’t he more prominently featured in the NBA draft conversation?
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic noted in the comment section of his top-100 big board article, where he had Winston slotted at No. 98: “The turnovers and defense are the big concerns. He might have a shot to get drafted in 2020. Wouldn’t be outlandish if he improves on those factors, at all. The shooting is the key there. Terrific pull-up shooter who keeps defenses in a tough spot coming out of ball screens. He’ll certainly get a chance at the next level.”
Look for Winston to test the draft waters but return to East Lansing for his senior season.
Buy or Sell: Sell…for now.
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Cumulative Big Board: No. 75 (on one of three big boards)
After he played just 8.7 minutes and averaged 2.8 points per game as a freshman, Xavier Tillman stepped into a much larger role for Michigan State this season.
The 6’8″ forward has steadily improved, too:
- Nonconference: 24.3 MPG, 9.1 PPG, 7.0 RPG
- Big Ten Conference: 24.3 MPG, 10.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG
- Big Ten Tournament: 25.0 MPG, 11.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG
- NCAA Tournament: 28.3 MPG, 15.3 PPG, 8.5 RPG
He matched his season high with 19 points against Duke in the Elite Eight, adding nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Tillman was also tasked with guarding Duke superstar Zion Williamson, and he earned praise from the likely No. 1 overall pick following the game.
“Obviously, I don’t focus on individual battles, but he played great, solid defense,” Williamson said of Tillman while talking to reporters.
Given his upward trajectory, Tillman is one to watch during the predraft process. If he returns for his junior season, he could be a force in the Big Ten.
Buy or Sell: Buy
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Cumulative Big Board: No. 73 (on one of three big boards)
If only Kyle Guy were three or four inches taller.
At 6’2″, he’s an undersized shooting guard and an overmatched defender against rangy NBA wings. Teams can always use another three-point shooter off the bench, though, and that will be his ticket to an NBA gig.
Guy has knocked down 114 treys at a 42.7 percent clip this season, and when he gets hot, he’s as good a shooter as anyone. For evidence, look no further than his 29-point game against NC State in the ACC tournament in which he connected on seven of nine shots from beyond the arc.
However, before he hit 5-of-12 from deep against Purdue in the Elite Eight, Guy shot a dismal 3-of-26 from downtown in Virginia’s first three NCAA tournament games, going cold at a time when he could have boosted his stock.
There are worse ways to spend a late second-round pick than grabbing one of the nation’s best shooters, but his game may be too one-dimensional for him to carve out a significant role.
Buy or Sell: Sell
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Cumulative Big Board: No. 66.5 (on two of three big boards)
Jared Harper is having an excellent NCAA tournament for the upstart Auburn Tigers, averaging 17.5 points and 6.5 assists in four games. That’s nothing new for a player who led the SEC in assists (5.8 apg) and ranked sixth in scoring (15.4 ppg) on the year.
His NBA future remains uncertain, though.
He’ll always face questions surrounding his undersized 5’11” frame, and his 39.9 shooting percentage doesn’t paint him as an efficient scorer.
Harper declared for the draft last year and worked out for the Atlanta Hawks before he returned for his junior season. The fact that the Hawks were interested enough to bring him in for a workout is a promising sign.
Still, Harper might have to settle for undrafted status and try to play his way onto a roster through the G League.
He has the tools to serve as an offensive-minded backup point guard. He faces an uphill battle, though, and his defense and outside shot will need to improve for an NBA team to give him a chance.
Buy or Sell: Sell
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Cumulative Big Board: No. 30.7 (on three of three big boards)
Ty Jerome has been soaring up draft boards all season, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to hear his name called at the end of the first round.
Rob Dauster of NBC Sports sung his praises in February while slotting him No. 23 spot in his mock draft:
“Jerome is a guy that I’m willing to go all in on as an NBA prospect. I’m not saying that I think this guy will be an all-star or anything like that, but he has all the makings of a ten-year NBA veteran that will find himself a role at the next level. He’s a big-time shooter that can create for himself on-the-ball despite a lack of athleticism and really understands how to use screens and move into space moving off the ball. He’s 6-foot-5, and while he doesn’t have even average NBA tools, he’s a heady player that works well as a cog in the best defense in the college ranks.”
Aside from his obvious outside shooting ability (73 threes, 39.9% this season), Jerome also does an excellent job of taking care of the ball and facilitating with a terrific 188-to-56 assist-to-turnover ratio.
He may be more floor than ceiling, but for a team that’s drafting at the end of the first round, he’s a plug-and-play rotation player.
Buy or Sell: Buy
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Cumulative Big Board: No. 7 (on three of three big boards)
Despite being a 4-star recruit and the No. 91 player in the 2016 recruiting class, according to 247Sports, De’Andre Hunter redshirted his freshman year.
He came off the bench last season and averaged a modest 9.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 19.9 minutes per game, but he showed flashes of the player he’s become this season down the stretch.
Now he’s a full-fledged star and one of the nation’s best NBA prospects.
The 6’7″, 225-pound forward is averaging 14.9 points per contest and shooting 42.4 percent from beyond the arc while also serving as a key cog in one of the country’s best defensive units.
Vecenie talked to a handful of opposing coaches who offered glowing reviews across the board before he added the following summary:
“In a class full of question marks, Hunter represents a player type that has value to nearly every organization in the NBA, a frame, athleticism, and defensive intersection of skills that gives him a high floor, and the potential for growth moving forward. Personally, I’m willing to bet on that at a level slightly above where NBA evaluators have him, which is why he’s the No. 5 player on my board.”
His floor represents a solid two-way player who can immediately help the team that drafts him. The ceiling might be Kawhi Leonard.
Buy or Sell: Buy
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Cumulative Big Board: No. 5 (on three of three big boards)
A hot streak at the end of the season doesn’t win you Big 12 Player of the Year honors. It took an entire campaign of impressive play for Jarrett Culver to earn that title.
However, his stellar form of late has solidified his place as a lottery pick, and he could go off the board as high as No. 3, depending on how he performs in predraft workouts.
Culver his averaging 21.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.2 steals while shooting 44.0 percent from the floor over his last 12 games. The Red Raiders are 11-1 during that stretch, and they’re in the Final Four for the first time.
The 6’6″ sophomore has prototypical size and the requisite ball-handling ability for the off-guard position, and while he’s shooting just 31.6 percent from beyond the arc, there’s reason to believe his smooth jump shot can yield better results.
While he’s not an explosive athlete, he’s smooth and plays in control, and has shown a knack for getting to the rim and finishing.
B/R’s Jonathan Wasserman described him as “one of the draft’s most complete two-way players” while ranking him No. 3 on his latest draft big board.
Buy or Sell: Buy
All stats courtesy of Sports Reference unless otherwise noted.
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