NBA Draft 2020: What Cole Anthony’s return did for his draft stock

Anthony’s skill is still there and his athleticism “is back”

Though he didn’t dunk on anyone, Cole Anthony showed all the quick-twitch movements that made him a star at the prep school level.

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Anthony is dangerous when allowed to attack defenses with his snake dribble in the pick-and-roll and he showed that he is still a great catch-and-shoot scorer as well. We may never see him develop the best sense of when to pass and when to shoot with this set of teammates but he still manages to rack up the points regardless. Anthony went a 2-for-8 from 3-point range and 5-for-14 from the field but managed to salvage his night by attacking relentlessly.

Against Boston College Anthony finished with a whopping 14 trips to the free-throw line, knocking down all 14. He continued to flash his dominant defensive rebounding skill, pulling down five rebounds in his 26-minute stint. Anthony had a long enough time off where it would’ve been somewhat worrisome to not see him flying around with his usual aplomb, so it is great that we can check off that box one game into his time back on the floor.

While the most important thing for his NBA prospects will be finishing over the top off bigs at the rim, it was encouraging to see Anthony score with his floater in the midrange, showing and improved touch overall. With how well he had the midrange game working on Saturday night, it would’ve been great to see Anthony get downhill on the final possession rather than settling for a jumper, time permitting.