Obi Toppin might be the hardest prospect to project in mock drafts. Which teams make the most sense for him in the NBA Draft 2020? The 2020 NBA Draft’s wild card is almost certainly going to be Obi Toppin of Dayton. Even though the draft has been wide open at the top all year, there’s
NBA Draft Scouting Reports
Justise Winslow, #12, Duke Blue Devils (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) What do we really know about the science and development of jump-shooting? At its core, basketball is a game of points. And in the current era of the NBA, no strain of scoring is more in-style than shooting. As the league is increasingly defined
The NBA has a plan and a schedule for the draft and out latest NBA Mock Draft looks at player fits and potential stars like Anthony Edwards. A dearth of professional basketball means plenty of time to watch tape of prospects, mull over hypothetical player combinations and mash the “Sim Lottery” button at Tankathon. This
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – NOVEMBER 30: LaMelo Ball of the Hawks and RJ Hampton of the Breakers during the round 9 NBL match between the New Zealand Breakers and the Illawarra Hawks at Spark Arena on November 30, 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images) With an official timetable for the 2020
The NBA has a plan and a schedule for the draft and out latest NBA Mock Draft looks at player fits and high risers like Obi Toppin. The NBA Draft was supposed to be conducted last night, June. 25, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has pushed back the 2019-20 season and all the dominos that
Cole Anthony’s NBA draft stock plummeted with a difficult season at UNC. However, a different role in the NBA could let him thrive. When scouting prospects, one of the more difficult tasks to decipher is scalability. Most prospects receive more touches in college than in the NBA, and as a result, see a dip in
Keyontae Johnson hasn’t gotten much attention but he has the tools to be one of the most impactful wings in the NBA Draft 2020 class. The absence of buzz surrounding Keyontae Johnson is strange. The NBA and the mainstream scouting consensus adores athletic tools, so much so that a prospect like James Wiseman is slated
With an injury-shortened season in Australia’s NBL, R.J. Hampton has been mostly out-of-sight, out-of-mind as an NBA Draft prospect. He’s worth another look. R.J. Hampton is enshrouded in shadows — the shadow of LaMelo Ball and his status not only as a prospect but as a basketball celebrity, the shadow of other high profile international
Patrick Williams is only just now getting traction as a first-round NBA Draft prospect, but he’s been playing like one for a while. It has been well established by now that the 2020 NBA Draft appears to be nearly completely devoid of major difference makers. Unlike 2018, which had a bevy of obvious future NBA
Thanks in part to versatile pick-and-roll defense, rim protecting upside and high-level finishing ability, USC center Onyeka Okongwu looks the part of a top-three prospect Let’s start with a simple premise and progress from there. To be a very good NBA player, you likely need to be a very good college player. Checks out, right?
Isaac Okoro is easily the best defensive wing in the 2020 NBA Draft class. But how good does his offense have to get for him to be impactful? One-way NBA players are difficult to build around. It’s obviously easier to count on players who can give you reliable production on offense and defense, and for
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl has good potential to be an impactful NBA player, but how that will happen remains to be seen. One of the most annoying continual arguments occurring around the NBA Draft over the past few years is determining exactly what qualifies as potential and upside. There is one camp that values what has traditionally
Anthony Edwards and Cole Anthony have separated themselves as the top players in the 2020 NBA Draft, plus other thoughts after the first month of college basketball. The 2020 NBA Draft picture is starting to take shape. Six weeks into the NBA season, we know who a few of the teams who will be picking
Anthony Edwards has asserted himself as a true No. 1 pick prospect on the back of his elite scoring profile. How does he find so much success, and can it translate to elite NBA scoring? Georgia’s Anthony Edwards has been the star of the college basketball season so far. While other names like Myles Powell
Killian Hayes is an interesting 2020 NBA Draft prospect due to his size and pedigree. But is he really best suited at the point guard position? Killian Hayes is one of the more interesting top ten prospects in the 2020 NBA Draft. Born in Florida but growing up in France, Hayes has long been an
Arizona freshman guard Nico Mannion isn’t the flashiest of players, but his well-rounded offensive arsenal should be a clear plus in the NBA. Head coach Sean Miller arrived at Arizona in the fall of 2009. Over the past 10 years, he’s welcomed seven top-10 recruits to Tucson. Prior to this season, all five were forwards
Another draft season is upon us, and that means it is time to unveil the Step Back’s starting point for ranking 2020 NBA Draft prospects. The 2019-20 NBA season kicked off a few weeks ago, and the college basketball season is upon us. That means that prospect evaluation for the 2020 NBA Draft is finally
The 18-year-old scoring wing Anthony Edwards is already among a select group in contention for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Combine the modern-day importance of players who can drive to the rim and either kick to shooters or create shots for themselves with the ever-valuable skill of isolation scoring and
Tyrese Maxey won’t always have the ball in his hands as a freshman but he should thrive at Kentucky to become a top-10 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Since John Calipari was hired as Kentucky’s head coach in 2009, eight Wildcat guards have been drafted as lottery picks: John Wall, Brandon Knight, Devin Booker,
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images Returning college players get undervalued on preseason big boards, but often make or break the depth of a class. Here are five players who could do this for the 2020 NBA Draft. NBA Draft classes are defined by their freshmen in the one-and-done era. The last nine No. 1 overall
James Wiseman was the nation’s top recruit for 2019 and sits atop many NBA Mock Drafts. A closer look reveals he may not be worth that level of praise. James Wiseman was the top-ranked recruit for 2019 on most sites and ESPN has pegged him to go No. 1 in the 2020 NBA Draft. Pretty
Deni Avdija is a highly regarded international prospect because of his ability to be a positive contributor on offense and defense. Despite sharing an affinity for three-quarter leg tights, Deni Avdija is not the next Luka Doncic. Both are 6-foot-8ish European ball-handlers with significant hype and intrigue. But the similarities mostly end there. Avdija is
Cole Anthony enters his freshman season as one of the nation’s most exciting prospects. The secret to his success runs deeper than his highlight packages. Athleticism. It’s a vital component of the NBA game, of sports as a whole and is an omnipresent talking point among fans of the game. A lot has been made
Breaking down the players who turned heads and improved their future NBA Draft stock at the FIBA U19 World Championships last week. The 2019 NBA Draft just ended, but the 2020 and 2021 NBA Draft scouting calendar is already underway, with the 2019 FIBA U19 World Championships taking place last week in Greece. The tournament
And now, the end is near. The 2019 NBA Draft is days away, and that means it’s time to wrap up our final prospect rankings before they are slotted on to their new teams. This class has been the most difficult to evaluate of the four I have covered somewhat seriously, as weighing a weak
The biggest sleeper of the 2019 NBA Draft is also the prospect most capable of taking the mantle from Draymond Green and P.J. Tucker as the league’s next great small-ball center. When Grant Williams arrived at the University of Tennessee, coach Rick Barnes took to calling him and teammate Admiral Schofield — the two young
Rui Hachimura is a projected lottery pick, but sits at No. 41 on our big board. The answer why is his lack of feel for the game. “Feel for the game” is one of the most important traits needed to survive in the NBA. To compete against the top level of basketball athletes in the
Nassir Little and Cam Reddish frequently get the “upside” tag, but do they actually have the traits that lend to future developmental success in the modern NBA? Do Nassir Little and Cam Reddish have upside? This has been a polarizing question about the 2019 NBA Draft class. Both of these players are all over the
As the offenses in Milwaukee and Houston are showing right now, outside shooting continues to push evolution in the NBA. Unless you’re an all-star level player, shooting at least league average (35.5 percent in 2018-19) on 3-pointers is pretty much a prerequisite skill. With the 2019 NBA Draft approaching, there is one name that stands
Cam Reddish will be a risky pick for whoever drafts him, but he’s even riskier for the New York Knicks because of how David Fizdale handled Kevin Knox’s rookie season. Earlier today, a report from Ian Begley tied the New York Knicks to Cam Reddish in the draft process. Obviously, all of the normal caveats