It’s one of the best times of the year for sports. March Madness starts this week (or last week if you consider conference tournaments part of it) and carries us into April. As per usual, the Charlotte Hornets have left us with very little to root for in the NBA. While they ride out the season with whatever combination of players they can scrounge together on a given night, we can watch some college ball and see if there are any kids that will help the Hornets take the next step. Like, for real this time.
Unlike last season, the top of this lottery is full of college players. It’s a pretty thin international class. That means a lot of the top prospects are going to be in action for the tournament. The exceptions being Rutgers’ Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, who despite being considered top three prospects by many, couldn’t carry their team to the tournament.
So let’s look at the players that will suit up this weekend, starting with potential targets at the top of the draft.
First Round Targets
Cooper Flagg, Forward, Duke
First Game: Friday, 2:50pm Eastern (if healthy)
Flagg is the prize of this class. There are virtually no flaws in his game, and he brings the effort and intensity required to elevate his team every night. He has a tremendous feel for the game on both ends of the floor, is a very good athlete, and is developing into an impressive shot maker. He instantly makes whatever team gets him better. He sprained his ankle in the ACC Tournament, so his availability at the beginning of the NCAA Tournament is in doubt, but it’s likely he’ll get on the floor at some point.
VJ Edgecombe, Guard, Baylor
First Game: Friday, 12:15pm Eastern
Edgecombe has firmly planted himself in the top four in most people’s eyes, and I think many people might have him above Ace Bailey. He’s an explosive athlete and monster defensively. The outside shooting is hot and cold but there’s enough there to think he’ll figure that out before too long. He brings a skillset that the Hornets need.
Tre Johnson, Wing, Texas
First Game: Wednesday, 9:10pm Eastern
Johnson is one of the better pure scorers in this draft. His game could use some more refinement and consistency, but few players have the shot making talent that he has. He’s had a rough go of it the last couple weeks and will try to find his form on the biggest stage.
Kasparas Jakucionis, Guard, Illinois
First Game: Friday, 9:45pm Eastern
The Lithuanian born guard has been very productive for Illinois as a freshman. Listed at 6’6″, he has tremendous size for a point guard. He can get hot from three as an off the dribble or spot up shooter and is a very good passer and rebounder. There are questions about the defense and the ball security, and he fizzled out a bit down the stretch.
Second Round
It’s so hard to predict who will go where after the 20th pick or so, so we’re just going to throw some notable names out there.
JT Toppin, Forward; Darrion Williams, Wing; Texas Tech
First Game: Thursday, 10:10pm Eastern
Toppin is an absurdly productive sophomore from the 3 seeded Red Raiders. He’s averaging 24.6 points and 12.5 rebounds per 36 minutes. He’s bouncy and aggressive, but he’s kinda small to be a big and hasn’t proven to be enough of a shooter to be a true forward.
Williams is a terrific passer with good size. He has a good well rounded game but is very much a below the rim player at 6’6″.
Johni Broome, Forward/Big, Auburn
First Game: Thursday, 2:50pm Eastern
For as good a season as Flagg has had for Duke, Broome has kept pace with him statistically leading another one of the best team’s in the country. His statistical profile is absurd both in box score numbers and advanced stats. He’s averaged 22.5 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.7 blocks per game. He’s not a great athlete, but he knows how to play at his own pace and is very savvy. Auburn runs a lot of offense through him, and it’s hard to bet against him finding some sort of niche at the NBA level.
Alex Karaban, Forward, UConn
First Game: Friday, 9:25pm Eastern
UConn is having a very down year by their recent standards, but they still have a couple of pro players on their roster. Karaban probably would have been drafted last year but elected to run it back one more time in college. He’s a shooter with good size and length.
Nique Clifford, Wing, Colorado State
First Game: Friday, 2:00pm Eastern
Like Broome, Clifford is a super senior with a crazy statistical profile. He led Colorado State to 10 straight wins and a Mountain West championship down the stretch. He’s got a sizeable bag as a scorer but also has good feel as a passer. He’s already 23 years old, so the questions will be about how much growth he has left and how he’d fit as a role player.
Most of Duke
First Game: Friday, 2:50pm Eastern
Duke is loaded with NBA talent. Along with Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach are likely lottery picks. Their role players are all projected to go somewhere in the second round. Keep an eye on Tyrese Proctor, Isaiah Evans, and Sion James.