NBA Draft 2015: Star Players with Most to Gain at Final Four

Even though all the focus for this weekend's Final Four will be on the outcomes of the games, as it should be, there's a small contingent of players also fighting to make NBA talent evaluators notice what they are capable of doing. 

There are obvious players who don't have to worry about anything. Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns are safe bets to be the first two names called when the draft rolls around in June, so there's no reason to spotlight them. 

But what about a tournament star, like Sam Dekker? Has Travis Trice's all-around effort given him enough of a push? These are two of the fascinating questions that still haven't been fully answered because their seasons aren't over. 

Things will come into full focus during pre-draft workouts, but being able to build strong tape is a critical part of projecting to the next level. Here are the key players in the Final Four who can drastically improve their draft stock with a great showing. 

Sam Dekker, Wisconsin

It seems appropriate to start with the tournament's breakout star. Dekker went from being a nice second option for the Wisconsin Badgers to putting himself on the same level with Frank Kaminsky. The junior has scored at least 20 points in three of the Badgers' four tournament games and hasn't shot less than 50 percent from the floor in any of them (h/t ESPN).

Here's how far Dekker's star has risen, thanks to the tournament. Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix didn't have the Wisconsin standout on his big board before March Madness began but now has him projected to go in the 13-17 range for this reason:

"

The book on Dekker has been the same all season. Great body. Pretty good athlete. Can’t shoot. That's why the five three-pointers (on six attempts) Dekker made against Arizona, a pair of them coming at critical moments in the second half, were so impressive. If Dekker puts on another shooting display against Kentucky, it will go a long way towards mitigating the 33.8 percent he shot from beyond the arc during the season.

"

Dekker is what makes the draft and evaluation so hard. If you watched the way he was shooting against the Arizona Wildcats, particularly in key spots late in the game, it would be safe to assume this was nothing new. Yet, the book seems to have changed in three short weeks. 

To put it another way, per Dave Heller of Fox Sports Wisconsin, Dekker has become that guy in the NCAA tournament:

The potential for a draft surge still isn't over, as Dekker can solidify his brilliant performance so far by shooting the lights out against a Kentucky Wildcats defense that doesn't let three-point shooters succeed. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish went just 4-of-14 against the Wildcats in the Elite Eight, for example. 

Travis Trice, Michigan State

Dekker has the flashier tournament resume, but Trice has a case to be made as the best all-around player in March. He's still showing some of the same flaws offensively, having shot 40 percent against the Georgia Bulldogs and 33.3 percent against the Louisville Cardinals. 

Yet, if you want to look at the good for Trice, there's been a lot of that. He dropped 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting against an excellent defensive team in the Virginia Cavaliers, and then he followed that up with 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting against the Oklahoma Sooners. 

Despite that success, Trice is fighting an even steeper uphill battle than Dekker. He's an undersized guard at 6'0" and 170 pounds, with a long history of inconsistency on offense—shooting over 40 percent from the field once in four years (2013-14). 

There are enough limitations in Trice, physically and in his performance, that he's got no chance to be a first-round pick in a guard-heavy draft. 

Using Mannix's draft prospects to watch article, Trice is still projected to go undrafted with the caveat it could change with high-level efforts against Duke and a potential national title game:

"

He's an undersized (6’0”) scoring guard who shot 37.1 percent from three this season, a four-year low. Still, Trice more than doubled his assist average (5.1) this season and has carried the Spartans offensively in the tournament. A strong finish to the tournament won't make him a first round pick, but it could create enough interest for a team to take a flyer on him in the second round. 

"

Trice isn't a lockdown defender, though he's been strong in transition at various points. He's not going to be a star in the NBA, but his ability to make big plays down the stretch in games should not go unnoticed. Teams need players who aren't afraid to take the ball in crunch time. Trice is as good as anyone in that area and worthy of being a late pick, as long as he doesn't have another abysmal shooting night in the Final Four. 

Aaron Harrison, Kentucky

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Speaking of taking the ball in crunch time, it would be hard for any player to match what Aaron Harrison did for Kentucky last year. He hit three three-point shots in the final 40 seconds of three straight games, including two in the final 10 seconds, that put the Wildcats in the national title game. 

Unlike most Kentucky players, Harrison decided to return for his sophomore season in 2014-15. Unfortunately, the performance hasn't carried over, and his draft stock has taken a significant hit in the process. His offensive numbers across the board declined. 

ESPN's Chad Ford has Harrison ranked as the No. 80 overall prospect in the 2015 draft and hasn't felt compelled to update the profile since December because it's not an exciting skill set.

One NBA scout offered this summation to Ford:

"

If he was a more consistent shooter, I could see it. But he's not. He's streaky, and he doesn't have anything else to his game that really screams NBA to me. I think both of the twins are still living off an inflated reputation coming out of high school and a few good games in the NCAA tournament last year.

"

It doesn't help Harrison's NBA draft prospects that he's been doing all this playing for a team that everyone is watching intently because it's two games away from a 40-0 season. The sophomore is not a dynamic scorer, which is a problem for a shooting guard. 

Justin Rowland of Rivals did make an interesting comparison for Harrison, though, it comes with a caveat that he doesn't look at any of the physical measurements:

This is where we get into the question of how to evaluate signature moments against career value. Robert Horry only averaged seven points per game in his career, via Basketball-Reference, which may be surprising because of how many key shots he hit. 

Harrison has proven time and again—including in the Elite Eight against Notre Dame with a key three-pointer to give Kentucky a 64-63 lead and the game-winning free throws—that he can take the ball in big spots to make something happen. 

That doesn't excuse the regression in Harrison's numbers this season, but someone is going to fall in love with him if he has another one of those big moments in the Final Four. He will wait a long time to hear his name called on draft night because of the limitations. But it will happen at some point, especially for a team looking to hit on a wild card in the second round.