NCAA Basketball: Biggest takeaways from 2019 NBA Draft combine

Wings, Part 1

Kris Wilkes, UCLA 

Not to pick on the UCLA guys, but Kris Wilkes didn’t do too much to impress teams either. To his credit, he did have a pretty efficient first showing on Thursday, leading his team with 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field, 2-of-4 shooting from three, and 6-0f-7 shooting from the line. He had some nice scores on Day 1, showing that he’s capable of getting his own shot despite not having a particularly quick first step. Plus, he had some nice moments on defense, too. But on the second day, he reminded everybody why his status as a draft prospect is so shaky, going 1-of-7 from the field. If he’s not scoring, he’s not giving you much else.

Wilkes has proven himself to be a subpar shooter (34.3 career 3P%, 66.4 career FT%), a questionable athlete (in terms of on-court practicality and functionality), a rather ineffective defender (due to lack of awareness and requisite nimbleness), and a negative-playmaker who regularly has tunnel vision when handling the ball (which he showed in both games at the combine).

Drafting a wing with subpar shooting, athleticism, defense, and playmaking is just not a smart thing for any NBA franchise to do on draft night. If there’s interest in him as a prospect, it’s likely based on his potential as a G League player. His stock is pretty low no matter where you look (most mocks have him going undrafted and most big boards have him near severely low), and his appearance in Chicago likely did little to change that.

Ignas Brazdeikis, Michigan

Michigan’s stocky 6-7 forward struggled to create separation in the first scrimmage of the combine, having a hard time handling the length and athleticism of his peers and knocking down only three of his nine shot attempts on Thursday, missing jumpers and rim attempts (post-ups, floaters) alike. He did manage to bounce back some on the second day, scoring 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting and leveraging his strength well against weaker wings.

He did pop as a ball-handler in the half-court, though, blowing past inferior perimeter defenders on occasion (including a couple spin moves) and showing good patience in the pick-and-roll. Despite averaging 14.8 points and 5.4 rebounds on an efficient 46.2-39.2-77.3 shooting split as a freshman, Brazdeikis is largely receiving mid-second buzz, although he looks the part of a mid- to late-twenties draft pick with his projectability as a decent NBA role player.

Brian Bowen II, Sydney Kings (Australia)

One of the faces of the FBI investigation into college basketball’s pay-to-play controversy, Bowen traveled overseas to play out the 2018-19 basketball year in Australia with the Sydney Kings (6.5 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 45.1-34.2-76.2 shooting in 15.4 MPG), thus making his appearance in Chicago a highly-anticipated one. Outside of a few makes from the perimeter (3-of-7 from three), Bowen largely disappointed. The 6-8 wing only canned 3-of-11 two-point attempts (yikes), dribbling into tough mid-range looks, struggling to create space, and making bad decisions overall in 35 total minutes. He gave little else outside of 10 rebounds, failing to create for others (zero assists, five turnovers) and playing sloppy, upright defense. Bowen was generally viewed as a second-round flier prior to his showing in Chicago, and it wouldn’t be an overreaction to seriously question whether he’s worth a selection at all at this point without having shown much to talent evaluators.

Quentin Grimes, Kansas

No player had a more disappointing 2018-19 college season than Kansas five-star guard/wing Quentin Grimes. Heralded as a shot-maker and versatile combo-guard, the 6-5 Grimes saw his freshman season marred by inconsistency, averaging 8.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists on 38.4 shooting from the field, 34 percent shooting from beyond the arc, and 60.3 percent shooting from the foul line. Once considered a lottery pick before stepping onto the Kansas hardwood, Grimes’ stock fell of a cliff, with the guard being in danger of going undrafted entirely.

His inconsistency returned in Chicago, following up a strong first day — nine points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals on 4-of-8 shooting — with a sloppy finish on Friday, stumbling to nine points on 1-of-9 shooting from the field. Grimes made some bright plays as a passer off of a live dribble (a good sign!), finding teammates in the corner and in the dunker-spot, but his loose handle (four turnovers) and shaky decision-making elsewhere on the floor made for a fairly poor showing. Getting drafted this year is nothing short of a challenge for Grimes, as it’s likely that NBA teams are telling him that he isn’t yet ready to contribute at the next level and that an additional year of collegiate play would benefit him.

Granted, improving while at Kansas is far from a certainty, and it’s fair to wonder whether he’s willing to return to a college campus anytime soon. Grimes’ pedigree as a top recruit helps hold up his stock even with the poor play, since some teams may believe that he wasn’t in an ideal situation in an off-ball role in college (which is a legit talking point, given his previous success as an on-ball playmaker in high school and FIBA). Slipping completely out of second-round consideration would be a surprising development for him, even with all of his warts and blemishes, but his stock as a prospect is still relatively low and his performance in Chicago only cemented that.