2020 aggregate NBA mock draft 4.0: Evaluating the rising upperclassmen

Somehow already past the midpoint of the college basketball season, the 2020 NBA Draft is starting to shape up with far more clear rankings.

Somehow already past the midpoint of the college basketball season, the 2020 NBA draft is starting to shape up with far more clear rankings.

As always, we examine the most trusted analysts to give us the best idea of a consensus for what the upcoming draft class will look like in June. The latest 2020 NBA mock drafts from experts at ESPN, CBS Sports, SI.com, Bleacher Report, NBADraft.net, The Athletic and USA Today Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire were used for these rankings.

The top four players (Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman and Cole Anthony) have remained the exact same despite none of the latter three players being active for various different reasons.

Meanwhile, Iowa State sophomore point guard Tyrese Haliburton entered the Top 5 and replaced 19-year-old Israeli prospect Deni Avdija – who has not seen much playing time in the Euroleague.

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Included below are brief scouting reports for senior guards who have improved their draft stock the most since our last update. These players listed are all four-year NCAA players who could be ready to make the jump to the NBA like Josh Hart and Malcolm Brogdon did in their respective classes.

MARKUS HOWARD, MARQUETTE

Aggregate Mock Draft Rank: 46

One of the most important things to know about Marquette senior Markus Howard is that despite the fact he has four years of collegiate experience, he is just 20 years old. Few teams operate their offense through one player quite like Golden Eagles do with Howard, who has taken 42.5 percent of their total field goal attempts. Fortunately, the guard brags one of the most efficient and prolific jump shots among all NCAA players. Howard operates well when he is shooting off the catch and off the dribble, which will make him a good fit for almost any offense in the NBA. He is currently averaging 28.4 points per game while shooting 42.5 percent on three-pointers. Similarly, no guard in college has been fouled more often than Howard has thus far. He should be a lock win Big East Player of the Year and should be a strong contender for the National Player of the Year, too. As a pro, he can likely become a spark-plug scoring option off the bench. His draft stock has improved from No. 68 up to No. 46 month-over-month.

PAYTON PRITCHARD, OREGON

Aggregate Mock Draft Rank: 47

Oregon senior guard Payton Pritchard was a Top-50 recruit coming into the Pac-12 back in 2016. He attended West Linn High School, where he was able to lead his squad to four consecutive state titles. That accomplishment was an especially impressive feat considering the program had only won the OSAA Boys Basketball Championship once before and it was way back in 1997. He has since played for the Ducks in the Final Four (2017) and also won MVP of the Pac-12 Tournament last season. He is currently averaging 19.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists with 1.7 steals per game. His assist rate (32.7 percent) is Top 20 among seniors and he has connected on 40.7 percent of his three-pointers. Now more than halfway through the season, he is the heavy favorite to win Pac-12 Player of the Year and could be a sleeper for National Player of the Year as well. He has leaped from No. 96 in December all the way to No. 47 now in January.

SKYLAR MAYS, LSU

Aggregate Mock Draft Rank: 57

During his senior year of high school, Skylar Mays was actually teammates with Howard at Findlay Prep. Also on the roster was 2019 first-rounder PJ Washington and Toronto Raptors two-way wing Oshae Brissett. For what it is worth, their roster also had current college basketball standouts Tristan Clark (Baylor) and Lamine Diane (CSUN). Their team has already sent tons of prospects into the NBA and Mays could very well be the next in line. He is a potential 3-and-D threat, averaging 1.4 three-pointers and 2.1 steals per game for the LSU Tigers as an NCAA senior. Meanwhile, LSU’s adjusted offensive rating (116.6) ranks Top 5 in college basketball. Along with Reggie Perry (Mississippi State) as well as Kerry Blackshear Jr. (Florida), Mays has a strong candidacy to win SEC Player of the Year. He has jumped from No. 90 last month to No. 57 this month.

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Three Illinois players Badger fans need to know

Wisconsin hosts the Illinois Fighting Illini on Wednesday evening. Badger fans should be sure to know these three opposing players.

Wisconsin (9-5) will look to make it five wins in a row when it plays host to Illinois (10-5) at the Kohl Center on Wednesday evening.

The Badgers took down the Fighting Illini in both matchups between these programs last season and have had extraordinary success in this series throughout recent years, winning 14 consecutive games. The last time Illinois beat Wisconsin? Jan. 2, 2011.

That being said, while the Badgers have been on a roll as of late and are coming off of their best win of the season at No. 5 Ohio State last Friday, Wednesday could very well be the day the Illini finally get back in the win column against Wisconsin. There’s still work to be done in order to enhance the resume, but head coach Brad Underwood has a roster this season that should have Illinois contending for its first NCAA Tournament since 2013.

The Illini have been playing some pretty good ball as of late, winning four of their last six games starting with a 71-62 victory over No. 5 Michigan back on Dec. 11. They also destroyed Purdue at home, 63-37, the last time they took the court. However, it’s worth noting that Illinois has dropped three of its four road games this season (against Arizona, Maryland and Michigan State), with the only win coming against Grand Canyon in the second game of the season.

If they are going to take down a Wisconsin group that has been excellent at home so far, these three players are going to need to step up for the Fighting Illini.

Kofi Cockburn – Center

Current stats: 15.0 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 1.4 bpg, 55.6 FG%, 64.8 FT%

As a poor rebounding team, the Badgers are in for a long night on the boards against Illinois, one of the nation’s best in that category. The Illini’s prowess in the paint begins and ends with Cockburn, a 7-0, 290-pound behemoth of a center who is likely to give Wisconsin’s bigs nightmares for weeks.

He’s just a freshman, but the Jamaica native has been a man among boys all season long. Cockburn ranks second in the Big Ten and No. 16 nationally in offensive rebounds and is No. 5 in the conference in total rebounds per game. He’s also Illinois’ top shot-blocker and No. 2 scorer (just 0.1 points below the next player on this list).

A five-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week honoree, Cockburn is likely shoo-in for the conference’s Freshman of the Year award at the end of the season.

Ayo Dosunmu – Guard

Current stats: 15.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.0 spg, 46.9 FG%, 27.5 3P%

Feb 18, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) dribbles the ball as Wisconsin Badgers guard Brad Davison (34) follows at the Kohl Center. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports

A former five-star recruit out of Chicago, Dosunmu lived up to the hype throughout his first go-around in Champaign last season by becoming the first true freshman in school history to lead Illinois scoring. It’s been more of the same type of production for the 6-5 floor general this year.

Dosunmu is second on the team in assists and third in steals, but his primary purpose for the Illini is to get buckets. He’s been quite successful in that regard as the Big Ten’s No. 7 scorer at 15.1 points per game, and his 46.9 percent shooting clip from the floor the eighth-highest in the conference.

That being said, Dosunmu has struggled mightily against the Badgers to this point in his young career, going a combined 8-31 from the floor in Illinois’ two losses to Bucky last season.

Andres Feliz – Guard

Current stats: 10.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.5 apg, 0.7 spg, 49.1 FG%, 29.4 3P%

Underwood has been having Feliz come off his bench, but you could argue he’s been Illinois’ most valuable player this season.

Cockburn and Dosunmu are legitimate stars and future pros, but every good college basketball team needs a player like Feliz. I’ve watched a few of the Illini’s games this season, and the senior floor general’s leadership, hustle and toughness are palpable. Those intangibles aside, Feliz will also stuff the box score as well: he’s third on the team in scoring and rebounding, and he leads Illinois and ranks ninth in the Big Ten in assists per game.

2020 aggregate NBA mock draft 3.0: Michigan State players are climbing

After over a month of the college basketball season, we are starting to get a better picture of what the 2020 NBA Draft will look like.

After over a month of the college basketball season, we are starting to get a better picture of what the 2020 NBA draft will look like.

For example, Georgia Bulldogs freshman Anthony Edwards is beginning to separate himself as a near-consensus No. 1 overall pick. On the other side of the coin, though, several of the projected top selections (LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman, Cole Anthony and RJ Hampton) will miss extended time due to either injury or suspension.

In order to get a better read of the bigger picture, we collected opinions from the top experts and analysts that cover the draft. The latest 2020 NBA mock drafts from ESPN, CBS Sports, SI.com, Bleacher Report, NBADraft.net, The Athletic as well as USA Today Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire were used for these rankings.

Cassius Winston, Aaron Henry, Xavier Tillman in top-45 of The Athletic's NBA Draft Big Board https://t.co/LFrVsMcvZD

— SpartansWire (@TheSpartansWire) December 15, 2019

One of the most interesting takeaways is that the Michigan State Spartans have three players (Cassius Winston, Aaron Henry and Xavier Tillman) all trending up.

After making the Final Four in last year’s March Madness, the program was expected to take another leap forward for their 2019-20 campaign.

Despite three losses in their first 10 games, the Spartans still rank No. 15 overall this season. This can be attributed to the fact Michigan State currently has the third-best offense in college basketball, per KenPom.com.

They also have three of the most improved players since our last aggregate mock draft. The full list, and more on each of the MSU players moving up draft boards, is included below.

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Cassius Winston, Guard

AMD Rank: 29

Since our last AMD, this has moved up 17 spots in our rankings.

Despite already being 21 years old, the 6-foot-1 guard currently has a first-round grade from ESPN as well as Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports.

Winston has been one of the best distributors since he began at MSU. 67.1 percent of all field goals for the Spartans have been assisted, which is the sixth-most among all teams so far this season. His career assist rate (44.1 percent) ranks No. 1 overall among all college players who have played at least 50 games since 2009-10, via Sports-Reference.

With 7 assists today vs Rutgers, Cassius Winston now has the 2nd-most career assists (770) in Big Ten History, passing Illinois’ Bruce Douglas.

Winston is now just 46 assists behind Mateen Cleaves for the conference career record (816). pic.twitter.com/BLzMQGjpzx

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 9, 2019

During his freshman season, he had the second-best assist rate (46.7 percent) in the NCAA. Then as a sophomore, his assist rate (43.5 percent) trailed only Trae Young for the best in college basketball. Last season, his assist mark (44.8 percent) ranked third-best and behind only Ja Morant among all who played for teams that made the tournament.

But he has also shown strength as one of the more accurate shooters in the NCAA.

Winston was 75-for-151 (49.7 percent) from beyond the arc in 2017-18. That helped him join the exclusive 50-40-90 club for field-goal percentage, three-point percentage and free-throw percentage. Even as a sophomore then, the guard was one of the few to have a membership with at least two three-point attempts per game.

There is some enough NBA readiness to show he can contribute right away for a winning team.

Aaron Henry, Wing

AMD Rank: 33

Since our last AMD, this has moved up 26 spots in our rankings.

Henry was of the players who helped himself the most during the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Then a freshman, he put up 20 points with 6 rebounds and 6 assists during a victory over LSU.

While he has not yet taken the leap some expected as a sophomore, draft experts still have confidence in him as a prospect. His highest ranking right now comes from Jonathan Wasserman, who has him at No. 28 overall (via Bleacher Report):

“The eye test on Henry looks more convincing than the numbers. He isn’t a high-level creator, which limits him in Michigan State’s offense. But the 6’6″ guard is hitting open shots, capitalizing on driving lanes and making impact defensive plays. This late, teams will overlook Henry’s production for his fit.”

Perhaps the best news for the wing is that there is room for improvement. However, there have also been moments that show what Henry is capable of accomplishing at the next level.

This season, for example, the sophomore has been one of the most effective shooters off the catch. He is averaging 1.78 points per possession on catch-and-shoot attempts in a set offense, per Synergy Sports, which ranks in the 98th percentile.

Henry is also shooting 72.7 percent at the rim, which is an especially solid rate for a wing. Overall, he looks like someone capable of being a 3-and-D player in an NBA rotation.

Xavier Tillman, Big

AMD Rank: 50

Since our last AMD, this has moved up 13 spots in our rankings.

Michigan State has always been a team that plays better with Tillman on the court. Last season, for example, the big actually had the third-best box plus-minus in the NCAA — trailing only Zion Williamson and Brandon Clarke.

Jeremy Woo recently helped contextualize what professional teams may like about the 6-foot-8 junior (via SI.com):

“Tillman specializes in doing the dirty work and has been a largely unheralded yet invaluable piece of the Spartans’ success dating back to last season. He’s not particularly tall for a center but has a chance to be a quality rotational big in the pros with what he adds defensively and on the glass. Tillman has worked on extending his shooting range, and if he ends up being able to shoot the three, he’ll have a fairly strong window of opportunity as a role player. A lot of the things he does as a screener and defender don’t show up in the box score, and while he’ll never be more than a fourth or fifth offensive option, he might be able to thrive in that capacity.”

His best trait so far this season has been his ability to cut to the basket. He is shooting 15-for-17 (88.2 percent) on these attempts, per Synergy.

But he has also added value on the offensive glass and as a rim protector for Michigan State. His willingness and ability to make the most of time on the floor makes him a draftable professional prospect.

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