USC’s Isaiah Collier faces questions at NBA draft combine

Isaiah Collier has a lot to prove in the weeks before the NBA draft.

Where will former USC Trojans guard Isaiah Collier land in the 2024 NBA draft next month?

In a fresh mock draft, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony projects Collier to slip to No. 11 on the board.

“Collier is viewed as a polarizing prospect, with a wide draft range starting around the mid-lottery and extending throughout the first round,” Givony writes. “Few prospects share the shot-creation prowess, scoring instincts and star power Collier boasts, but his lack of scoring efficiency, nontraditional shooting mechanics and inconsistent defense make it difficult to gauge how prepared he is to impact winning early in his NBA career, considering USC’s struggles this season. Collier can use the pre-draft process and remind teams why he was his recruiting class’ No. 1-ranked player coming out of high school, as well as assuage some of these concerns.”

Despite an overall disappointing season for the USC basketball squad, Collier was still able to average 16.3 points per game, 2.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game in 26 games. Collier missed over 10 games with a hand injury but is still one of the more mysterious prospects in the 2024 NBA draft class.

The NBA combine begins May 12. At that event, Collier expects to be one of the top players in this year’s group, cementing himself as a lottery pick or possibly higher. Collier’s odds of being a top-five pick, however, are slim in light of the struggles he had in his one year of college basketball.

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