NBA Draft 2016: Underrated Prospects Who Will Rise During Predraft Process
Invites for the NBA Draft Combine have been pouring in.
As expected, it's a long list, per ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman:
There are still some notable players on the list who have yet to sign with an agent and will thus have the chance to go back to school if their draft status is not to their liking.
The talent level in this year's draft class can be best described as "untapped potential." There won't be many immediate superstars, but there's a good number of underrated prospects who could see a spike in their draft stock.
Let's take a look at some of them.
Patrick McCaw, SG, UNLV
It was a rocky season for the UNLV Runnin' Rebels, one that resulted in failed expectations once again. The one constant through all the drama in Las Vegas was Rebels guard Patrick McCaw.
If there was a list compiled of the best three-and-D prospects in this draft, McCaw would probably be at the top of it. The UNLV sophomore shot 36.6 percent from three-point range last year but took 5.6 attempts per game, the most on the team.
UNLV has long been known as a three-point shooting team, so the average number of attempts aren't alarming. But McCaw also averaged 2.5 steals per game and 81 total through 33 games. He was the Rebels' best perimeter defender and the reason why UNLV was competitive during a terrible season.
ESPN's Fran Fraschilla was certainly a fan of his earlier this year:
DraftExpress has McCaw going 34th overall to the Phoenix Suns in the second round, nine picks after his UNLV teammate, freshman center Stephen Zimmerman. NBADraft.net has the St. Louis native in the same ballpark at No. 36 to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Make no mistake: McCaw is not just a three-and-D guy. He works well in the pick-and-roll and can also attack the basket and draw contact. He's not a great ball-handler, so having him go one-on-one with the game on the line wouldn't be a sound strategy. But at 6'6", scouts are drawn in because of his size, as one scout told Mike Grimala of RunRebs.com:
"The things that stand out when you watch McCaw is his defense and his ability to play the passing lane, in particular. And then on offense, he has vision and passing ability. When you watch him shoot, your eyes tell you he’s a better shooter than his numbers. Shooters with his size have the ability to translate [to the NBA].
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If he's seen as an early second-round pick, McCaw could leap into the first round with a solid combine. His weight (185 pounds) could be a concern right away, but he's a sound defensive player with the ability to be a lethal three-point shooter at the pro level.
Ben Bentil, PF, Providence
There's not much to dislike about Providence Friars power forward Ben Bentil.
Any player on an NCAA tournament team who can average 21.1 points and almost eight rebounds a game would normally be considered a first-round prospect. But the 6'9" Bentil is currently listed as the No. 40 prospect on CBS Sports' Sam Vecenie's big board, and DraftExpress has him at No. 52 to the Utah Jazz.
He has not hired an agent, so he'll have the opportunity to return to school. That seems unlikely given the sophomore year he had last season.
Bentil's height is apparently a question, though, according to Vecenie. If Bentil is a 6'9" power forward, he should rise to the first round. If not, he's a stocky power forward who will probably need to trim down his 235-pound frame.
Either way, there's too much potential to pass up.
As Providence's season wore on, Bentil was a better player on most nights than potential-lottery-pick point guard Kris Dunn. Bentil shot 46 percent from the field and made nearly 52 percent of his two-point attempts. He averaged 4.5 three-point attempts per game, but he's sporadic at best with a long-range clip below 33 percent.
But he's 6'9", strong, fast and a terrific finisher at the rim. Those traits will make him a popular prospect, per Vecenie:
"That power combined with his mobility in the open floor is another thing NBA teams will be big fans of. Few people at Bentil's height are able to combine the ability to run the floor like a guard -- he's said to be able to beat Dunn in a 3/4-court sprint -- as well as the power to bang inside with big guys due to his upper and lower body strength. Those tools should make Bentil a pretty sought-after guy as far as the NBA is concerned.
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Bentil would be great for a team in need of a scorer. I'm not sure how the Jazz would fit him in the lineup, as he has too much skill to be a backup to Derrick Favors. If he stays in the second round, a team like the Dallas Mavericks in desperate need of scoring in the front court would be a home run pick. Still, it's best to expect Bentil to leap into the first round.
DeAndre' Bembry, SF, St. Joseph's
No player boosted his draft stock higher late in the year than St. Joe's wing DeAndre' Bembry.
His intangibles are there. He's a 6'6", 210-pound small forward with a smooth jump shot and the ability to attack the basket. But his performances to close out the year should make teams give him a bigger look.
Bembry scored 20 points or more three times in the final five games, including a 30-point performance on 13-of-16 shooting in the Atlantic 10 title game. His encore was a 23-point performance in a win against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
DraftExpress has Bembry going as the last pick in the first round to the Golden State Warriors as a potential Harrison Barnes replacement. While that would be a really good pick for an already stacked Warriors, he'll need to improve his three-point shooting in order to be an honorary Splash Brother. Since shooting 34 percent from deep in his freshman year, that percentage dropped to 26.6 percent this year.
He took 128 three-point attempts and made only 34. Nevertheless, Bembry was in solid company this year, per Chris Dortch of NBA.com:
"Bembry's toolbox is filled to overflowing. He gets dinged in NBA scouting reports for his 3-point (.266) and free-throw percentages (.657), but he was one of only three players in the nation to average at least 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and four assists — the others were LSU's Ben Simmons and Denzel Valentine of Michigan State — all while playing the third-most minutes in the country (1,341).
Bembry also led the Hawks in steals and finished second in blocks.
"He's got an old game," [St. Joe's head coach Phil] Martelli said. "There's a little bit of everything in there."
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It's not often a complete player falls to a team's lap late in the first round or early in the second. If Bembry can improve his three-point shooting, he could very well be the steal of this draft.
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