If you were hoping to get a closer look at all of the top college prospects during this year’s NCAA tournament, you are already somewhat disappointed. Of the top 10 projected picks in the upcoming 2018 NBA Draft, four of them got knocked out in the first round. Possibly the most notable of all was Trae Young.
The Oklahoma point guard lit the sports world on fire earlier this season, putting on a show the likes that we’ve literally never seen before in college basketball. He stormed out of the gates leading the country in both scoring and assists, essentially being a guarantee for 30 points and 10 assists every night.
Deemed the second coming of Stephen Curry — and also much more advanced than Curry was at this age — Young had OU looking like one of the best teams in the country for awhile, and potentially a future No. 1 seed.
My, how things changed.
By the time the bracket was being put together, OU was on the bubble and so much so that when they made it as a 10-seed, there came with it a roar from critics that the Sooners were undeserving. In hind sight, maybe that was correct.
OU fell to 7-seed Rhode Island in overtime while Young’s college career (most likely) fizzled to an alarming end. Anyone with any sense realizes the downfall of the Sooners doesn’t lie solely on the shoulders of Young — it’s true he had little help and was asked to do way more than any college point guard should — but nevertheless weaknesses in his game were revealed.
Still, he is a projected lottery pick if he decides to bolt to the NBA now. The second coming of Steph Curry however? Probably not as the reactionary types of NBA scouts are saying they wouldn’t take Young in the lottery now.
It’s going to be hard for some teams that need one to rationalize taking another point guard ahead of Young in the upcoming draft. Alabama’s Collin Sexton seems to be the main threat to Young when it comes to which point guard will get picked first — a significantly greater athlete but nowhere near the shooter or possessing the floor vision Young has.
Here’s a look at four teams that need to make sure they don’t pass on Trae Young if they want to solve their point guard problems in the Draft:
4. Phoenix Suns
The Suns may be a long shot to really consider Young now since there’s a good chance they’ll have a top three pick and they do have some young point guards already on the roster. Young is worth a look though since Elfrid Payton, Brandon Knight and Tyler Ulis aren’t exactly great long-term options in a league that demands near All-Star level quality at point guard for any team that’s half decent.
The greatest draw here is the dream of pairing Young with Devin Booker in a backcourt that would immediately be compared to the Golden State Warriors’. Of course, they’d be nowhere near that level right off the bat but it’s a fun dream to consider imagining Young and Booker’s 3-point abilities co-existing.
Throw in Young transforming some of the other youngsters (Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss, Josh Jackson) into bigger threats with his passing ability and the Suns could quickly become a very entertaining team to watch, one that would be perfect for an up-tempo pace.
With many more questions than just point guard, it’s quite possible the Suns look at a big like DeAndre Ayton, Marvin Bagley or Michael Porter when it’s their time to pick.
The Magic would pick fourth if the lottery went chalk and that means the likes of Ayton and Bagley may be gone by then. When you also consider that Aaron Gordon also plays the four, maybe Orlando will be more inclined to fill a backcourt need first.
It’s hard to make a case that anything other than point guard being the greatest need in Orlando. They traded Payton at the deadline and are now left with D.J. Augustin and Shelvin Mack. Really, that’s it.
That makes for possibly the best fit for Young who should be able to start there right away. Gordon is really the only other young and truly exciting player on the roster. There have been some murmurs that he may look to leave town if the opportunity presents itself. A potential potent pairing with Young could make Gordon think twice about that.
If Orlando can’t solve its point guard problem in free agency or with a trade, expect them to draft a playmaker like Young, unless they prefer Sexton or even Luka Doncic.
LeBron James made headlines when he began showering Young with praise early in the college basketball season. Clearly a fan of the Oklahoma product’s game, why wouldn’t the Cavs’ forward/head coach/general manager think about drafting him?
Holding the Brooklyn Nets pick, that currently has the Cavs drafting seventh. The Suns and the Magic seem to be the only realistic landing spots for Young among teams that will draft before the Cavs, so there’s a good chance Young is still on the board when Cleveland picks.
The Isaiah Thomas experiment bombed this season and he was only replaced with George Hill at the trade deadline. A fine point guard that fits nicely next to LeBron, Hill isn’t a long-term solution and the Cavs have to be thinking in the short-term anyway. That actually may work against Young too but if he gets LeBron’s blessing, that will be all that matters.
The Bulls are currently slated to draft 8th and it doesn’t look like they’re going to make any kind of push for the remainder of the season so they may possibly get an even higher pick by the Draft. Again, Young could very well be on the board by this time and Chicago will have to consider a few things here.
Zach LaVine’s future will come into consideration while he isn’t a true point guard, is expected to be a combo guard in this league. Kris Dunn is the obvious other factor, also acquired from the Timberwolves in the Jimmy Butler trade. Dunn averaged 13.4 points and 6.0 assists per game this season in 29.3 minutes a night.
After two seasons, stock has dropped for Dunn and when you also consider that most of the big name bigs will be picked by the time the Bulls are on the clock, Young may fall into their laps. A trio of Young, LaVine and Lauri Markkanen is surely interesting to think about, a potential nice foundation for the future of a franchise that should also be able to attract free agents to fill the rest of the needs.
Trae Young shocked the basketball world for much of this season, then came back down to life. The good news is that reality for Young still possesses the potential of being a very good NBA player. Maybe not Steph, but think the athlete that Mike Conley is combined with greater range and the vision and playmaking instinct of some of the best point guards in the league. That combination will be hard for most teams to turn down.
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