NBA Draft 2021: Stock watch after month of conference games
FR Brandon Boston Jr. – Kentucky Wildcats – 6’7, 185 lbs
FR Terrence Clarke – Kentucky Wildcats – 6’7, 194 lbs
Stocks: Down
While they are different prospects, I think it’s fair to rank these Kentucky wings together because they’ve both slid on my board.
Boston’s slide has been more worrisome. I was optimistic about him placing him No. 3 on my preseason big board, after a stellar season at Sierra Canyon. He flashed unique finishing and pull-up shooting ability as a plus athlete.
But at Kentucky, he’s been a dramatically worse player. He’s made just nine of his 50 attempts from deep and the mechanics look worrisome. He shoots with a noticeable hitch and his knees often bend inwards. The burst and handle flashes have been minimal. The concerns about how Boston can make his teammates better have shown themselves. He’s got 19 assists compared to 24 turnovers.
Defensively, Boston was able to make up for defensive lapses in high school due to his length. But that hasn’t translated as the competition has improved. He has a hard time stringing together consecutive good possessions on that end, frequently missing a rotation or just losing him man.
Clarke has missed the past few weeks with an ankle injury. But when he was active, he was struggling to make a positive impact. Clarke is a good athlete, with good size and is young for the class, but doesn’t have any bankable NBA skills at the moment. He is just 5-22 from deep and his 8-17 free throw mark is not a positive indicator he’ll become a good shooter. He, too, is not a player that makes his teammates better, with a negative assist to turnover ratio.
Kentucky’s team context has not really optimized either player. They lack a dynamic point guard and play multiple non-shooting bigs at the same time. I am, by no means, writing either prospect off. We’ve seen plenty of players come from Kentucky who ends up being awesome value picks (Devin Booker, Tyler Herro, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Bam Adebayo to name a few).
They’ll both need G-League time but I think Boston shouldn’t slip outside of 25. Clarke is more of a project but is definitely still someone I’d draft in the late first, early second round. The team’s tournament hopes look grim, but some strong performances down the stretch could help them gain some momentum going into the offseason.