2023 NBA Draft Better-Than Team: Nine prospects who have more potential than the scouts think

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The most brilliant man covering the NFL, CBS Sports’ own Pete Prisco, writes a pre-NFL Draft column every year that is among my favorites called the “Better-Than Team.” The premise is to highlight a number of players — 20, 25 or however many he darn well pleases — he has gathered, based on consensus, that he likes more than the NFL scouts and other talent evaluators do. 

This year he led the column with a fourth-rounder he liked more than most. The year before it was a third-rounder. 

So with the NBA Draft now less than two weeks out, let’s have a little fun and do our best Prisco impression, shall we? I’ve come up with my own list of players — nine, to be exact — who I believe I am generally higher on than the consensus leading up to the draft. I separated them into their current draft projections — first or second round or undrafted — just to keep things nice and clean. 

Let’s go!

Projected first-rounders

Cam Whitmore, Villanova: There are some red flags in Whitmore’s profile that warrant further examination — he had a 6.4% assist rate at Villanova and a 15.1% turnover rate, for instance, according to KenPom.com data — but beyond that surface level there’s reason to believe in Whitmore long-term as a top-five player in this class. He’s a great spot-up shooter, he’s really heady playing off the ball as a cutter, he can slash in and out of the lane and jumps out of the gym. Combine that with a big frame, tons of defensive upside and some untapped potential as a bucket-getter, I like him as the No. 5 player in this class, and there’s a reasonable case that the top-three most productive player in this class — given how high a floor he projects to have — should be within reach.

Jalen Hood-Schifino, Indiana: The more I hear from people around the industry the more I believe I might be closer to consensus than it may seem on Hood-Schifino. Ranked No. 12 on the Big Board and one of the biggest risers in recent weeks after a strong showing at the NBA Draft Combine, I think there’s a chance he goes as high as No. 8 in this…

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/2023-nba-draft-better-than-team-nine-prospects-who-have-more-potential-than-the-scouts-think/

Author : Kyle Boone

Publish date : 2023-06-09 17:57:42

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