6. Tyrese Haliburton, Iowa
Details: 20 years old, 6-foot-5, 175 pounds
Key stats: 15.2 points, 6.5 points, 5.9 points, 41.9% 3PT
Haliburton’s phone number pops up page. He is 6 feet 5 meters tall and is a primary defender with broad vision who can ask the point guard to pass the ball. He's a good 3-point shooter with a certain position and can at least prove himself as a defender on and off the court. During the summer, he was Team USA's best player at the U-19 World Championship. It all adds up.
If it has anything to do with Haliburton, it's his body tool. He's not an explosive athlete, and at 175 pounds, he worries about how he'll handle the rigors of the rim. His jump shot also releases slowly and funky-think Shawn Marion. Can he succeed at the next level?
I rate Haliburton highly because after watching elite passers like Luka Doncic, Ja Morant, and Trae Young flourish early in their NBA careers, I'm willing to take the chance on a 6-foot-5 guy. A point guard can pass in a year with relatively few opportunities to pass the roll of the dice.
7. USC Onyeka Okongwu
Details: 19 years old, 6-foot-9, 245 pounds
Key stats: 16.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.7 points, 1.2 spg, 72% FT
For me, the plot against Okongwu Very simple. He's a solid athlete at 6-foot-9 with an already solid frame. He was both a scorer and rebounder at the college level and showed pretty good numbers for a 19-year-old. He can defend the rim. He's athletic enough to be a five-man presence in the range of results. His shooting has a soft touch. According to Synergy data, his jump shot percentage is only 15 of 35 this season, but his 17-foot jumper percentage is 9 of 19, and his field goal percentage is 72% of 143 free throws. .
The worst-case scenario is that Okongwu turns into an off-court big man who can provide energy, rebounding and defense. He could do a lot more if the jump shot comes, but is a top-10 spot worth it on a guy who looks like he might end up being a bench player?
8. North Carolina Cole Anthony
Details: 19 years old, 6-foot-3, 190 pounds
Key stats: 18.5 points, 5.7 points, 4.0 points, 35% 3PT
I'm considered a prospect by Cole. On one hand, I like the way he's wired. He's tough, confident and competitive, the ultimate alpha. He's a worker who spends a lot of time in the gym. Considering the way he was raised, he won't be intimidated by anything. In an era of poor draft prospects for the team, they called it "shutdown," and midway through the season, once they earned a spot near the top of the lottery, Cole battled back with a knee injury that required surgery to get back into shape. Even though they don't have much to play for this season, there are still games to play against his team.
I respect that. If I were an NBA general manager, that's the way I'd want players to be wired.
The problem with Cole is the way he plays. He's physically strong and athletic, but given his average height and length, he's going to more or less have to defend point guards at the next level. I'm not sure he's good enough to be the guy he's been in the NBA his entire career. He moves like Russell Westbrook (Russell Westbrook), he is an overly athletic athlete, a streaky shooter who sometimes shoots inefficiently, has limited passing range, and has a habit of shooting at night Dribble the ball out of the air and shoot it on the fly. He will be 20 years old by the time he is drafted. How much room is left for change?
I will say this: Anthony did become a better passer later in the season because he had more confidence in his teammates and he was shooting baskets after long stretches. That's a good sign, but I still have questions.
9. KENTUCKY'S TYRESE MAXEY
Details: 19 years old, 6-foot-3, 198 pounds
Key stats: 14.0 PPG, 4.3 PPG, 3.2 PPG, 29% 3PT
What it means to take the risk of facing Maxey in the 2020 NBA Mock Draft , his 29 percent three-point shooting as a freshman had more to do with adjusting to the college level than his actual shooting ability. Coming into high school, Maxey became an elite scorer due to his ability to hit jump shots with depth and the variety of floaters and layups he could finish around the rim.
While he will show flashes of being Kentucky's leading scorer, the Wildcats' playoff surge is a direct result of Immanuel Quickley's improvement, not Maxey's Maxey) stability. We've been saying "just wait until Maxey finds Stroke" all season, and he actually does. He needs to be able to shoot as the rest of his game is somewhat limited. He's not a natural creator, he scores more points than anything else, and while he's a good point guard, he's certainly not an elite athlete by NBA combo guard standards. He was also a worker and was known to be a good kid and a competitor. I think he has a good chance of being a secondary scorer, but if you put it all together, I can see him being neck-and-neck with Lou Williams in his career.
10. SADDIQ BEY, Villanova
Details: 20 years old, 6-foot-8, 216 pounds
Key stats: 16.1 points, 4.7 points, 2.4 points, 45% 3PT
Saddiq Bey is the guy I think A higher third guy than anyone because I think he has a chance to be one of the best players in the 2020 NBA Mock Draft. Bey is a junior. He was a 6-foot-1 guard as a sophomore and, according to the Villanova coaching staff, has actually grown an inch since he arrived on campus. He's listed at 6-foot-8 and will probably be closer to 6-foot-9 when all is said and done.
Bey’s shooting ability speaks for itself. According to Synergy, he made 45 percent of his three-point field goals while averaging just over five per game, and his overall field goal percentage ranked in the 98th percentile nationally. He's shown some ability off the dribble, and while he's not a shooter off the dribble yet, he has the ability to work as a screener. The bottom line is, as we've seen recently with the Villanova program, they just know how to play ball. If you didn't, you wouldn't see the floor there, and considering the fact that Bey was asked to be an all-around point guard for his high school team, he has experience as more than just a scorer.
But what has really stood out about Bey since he entered the main lane is his defensive ability. He's the best defender in the program, and while Villanova isn't always known for the way it plays defense, they are the second-best defensive team in the Big East behind Seton Hall. The defense is among the top eight in the country. They let him take some of the load off agile point guards like Devon Dotson and Kamar Baldwin, and Villanova's tendency to jump ship means Bey also Spent a lot of time guarding big men.
So what we have here is a multi-positional defender who can take screens off the ball and be a playmaker off the bounce. I think he has the same potential as Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo, Eric Paschall, and Josh Hart, and those four are already players who will be around the NBA for a while. Bey is next.
