NBA Draft 2015: Players Who Have Boosted Stock During NCAA Tournament
The NCAA tournament provides plenty of drama, memorable moments and probably a few weeks of diminished productivity at offices around the country. But it also provides the opportunity for some of the top players in the country to improve their draft stock with all eyes on them during March Madness.
Let's break down three players who have taken advantage of that opportunity in a big way.
Justise Winslow, Duke
No player has opened more eyes during the NCAA tournament than Justise Winslow. Yes, everyone knew he was good coming into March Madness, but this good?
Against San Diego State, he scored 13 points and added 12 rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks. It was as complete a performance as we've seen in the tourney, and Winslow was only getting warmed up.
Against a Utah team that successfully took Jahlil Okafor out of the game, Winslow picked up the slack, scoring 21 points while adding 10 rebounds and two blocks for good measure. Against Gonzaga, he scored seven straight points late in the game that essentially sealed the win for Duke.
As Andrew Sharp of Grantland notes, he has the makings of a very high draft pick:
"Okafor has been considered for the no. 1 pick all year, but Winslow has been better all tournament. He has fewer questions marks than his All-American teammate and just as much as upside. As the NBA places more and more value on defense, Winslow is a guy who can guard anyone on the perimeter. Within a few years in the NBA, he could be one of the best all-around wings in the league.
He's raw as a scorer, but his shooting form is fine—unlike, say, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's—and in addition to dominating people in transition, there's no reason to think he can't turn into a dependable 3-point shooter. He is a future Jimmy Butler or Kawhi Leonard.
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Sharp ultimately comes to the conclusion that Winslow will probably be better serving as a second fiddle than playing a lead role for a team, an assessment that is likely accurate. A team drafting Winslow would likely be better off having a pure scorer and leading man already in place.
But Winslow has ascended during this tournament to the point that it's hard to imagine him not being a top-seven pick, and he'll most certainly be a top-10 selection. If a team falls in love with him, he might even crack the top three.
Without him, Duke wouldn't be in the Final Four. If you think that NBA teams aren't salivating over him now, well, think again.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky
It's hard to imagine how a player who spent most of the year being considered as a top-three or top-four pick in the draft could improve his stock all that much. But watching Towns dominate during the NCAA tournament has many draft pundits suggesting that he should be the top player off the board, even surpassing Okafor.
After all, there is something to be said for being the most dominant player on the most dominant team in the country. And boy, has Towns been dominant at points in this tournament.
Alongside Kentucky's clutch shooting down the stretch, Towns led the Wildcats past a tough Notre Dame team in the Elite Eight, scoring 25 points while adding five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. The Fighting Irish had no answer for him in the low post.
There is also the fact, of course, that Towns is an absolute model citizen off the court who graduated high school after three years and keeps his nose clean. His father spoke about his son's off-court aspirations with Zach Braziller of the New York Post:
"Our motto has always been [bad] things happen after midnight. He didn't party, he didn't drink. He was always focused on his basketball, he was focused on his education, and he was focused on all the things in life he wants to do. He wants to build a hospital in the Dominican Republic. He wants to be a kinesiologist.
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That's the kind of man whom an NBA franchise will feel comfortable betting on.
Of course, his talent and potential are sky-high, too. He's still developing his offensive game down low, a scary thought given how far he's already come. He's also an impact player defensively and is a talented enough athlete to fit with a team that likes to run.
With two more big games, a national title and an undefeated season, don't be surprised if Towns is the first player off the board come the draft.
Sam Dekker, Wisconsin
It's about time.
There is no doubt that Sam Dekker is very talented, but for much of Wisconsin's season, it wasn't fully on display, perhaps in part because Frank Kaminsky is the star attraction for the Badgers. But boy, has Dekker reminded folks of his ability in March.
In four tournament games, he's averaging 21.7 points—a marked improvement from his 13.9 points per game overall this season—and 5.5 rebounds per game. His 27 points in the Elite Eight against Arizona and 5-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc buried the Wildcats, namely in the second half.
And it's possible that Dekker has more to show us. Jim Jackson of the Big Ten Network told Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune that "Dekker's potential is unlimited." Doug Gottlieb of CBS told Greenstein that he sees Dekker as a 2-guard in the NBA rather than a small forward, where he plays more aggressively and more resembles the player that torched Arizona.
Dekker almost assuredly won't crack the top 10, but he may have vaulted himself to a top-15 selection based on his play during Wisconsin's run to the Final Four.
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