It is incredibly rare for fifth year seniors to get selected in the NBA draft. The NBA values youth and upside above all else, and 23-year-olds who weren’t good enough to get drafted early in their college career rarely move the needle later on.
But the 2024 draft class is considered historically weak, which could lead to more teams prioritizing adding role players who can instantly contribute, rather than taking a shot on younger players who may have more upside but who aren’t performing well in college or overseas.
That leads us to Gonzaga’s 6’8 forward Anton Watson, a fifth-year senior from Spokane who has gone from a sub-20 minute per game role player to the leading scorer on a top-15 team in the country this season.
Watson is currently averaging 14.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 57.3% on two pointers and 42.9% from beyond the arc. He turned a lot of heads with a 32 point outburst against the UCLA Bruins in the Maui Invitational, and he paced the Zags with 20 points in a loss to the UConn Huskies in mid-December.
Watson is among the best on-ball defensive players in the country, with incredibly active hands, good body control, upper body strength, and athleticism which has resulted in 179 career steals – second in Gonzaga basketball history only behind Hall of Fame guard John Stockton.
His frame and defensive instincts have had him on the NBA radar since he was a freshman back in 2019-20, but his lack of consistent offense has always held him back – particularly his struggles to shoot from distance.
The modern NBA requires you to be able to space the floor and knock down threes, which is why even elite college players like Oscar Tshiebwe, Kofi Cockburn, Adama Sanogo, and Watson’s former teammate Drew Timme haven’t been able to make it.
However, Watson has made massive strides in this area, going from 11.1% as a freshman, 15% as a sophomore, 22.7% as a junior, 33.3% as a senior to his current 42.9% mark – while his attempts per game has increased in each season as well.
A 6’8 forward who can defend 2-5 and at least capably knock down open threes absolutely has a spot as a 3-and-D role playing wing in the modern NBA, and in a draft class without a lot of obvious long term NBA talent it should absolutely be on the minds of scouts and general managers to consider Watson with a second round pick.
He’ll be 27 by the time his rookie contract is up, but a contending team picking in the second round would be wise to lock him up as a rotational bench piece – rather than gambling on an underperforming underclassmen or an unproven international player.
