NBA Draft 2021: Cunningham, Dosunmu, and Kispert featured in mailbag

What is Trayce Jackson-Davis’ current stock? I feel like it’s all over the board – Marco S.

In the most recent mock drafts from ESPN, The Athletic, and Bleacher Report, Jackson-Davis is slotted at 51, 54 and 54. So it appears he’s seen as a late-second round guy right now. I went into detail as to why that might be here. Even with his efficient production, Jackson-Davis has shown limited growth with his off-hand and his jumper. I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion he goes pro.

If he can really develop that jumper this offseason, he has a case for the first round next season. But he’ll also be old for the draft at that point and probably can’t improve his production much. An NBA shot doctor may be more suited to fix those issues anyway. Assuming he does turn pro, I expect his name to be called in the late second round.

Who is your favorite prospect to watch? – Riley G.

Cunningham, Mobley, and Suggs are kind of the obvious names given how insanely talented they are, so I won’t say them. Sharife Cooper is another big name, but he and Auburn are easily my favorite team to watch. He leads the NCAA in assists at 8.9 and I feel like at least four of those games are alley-oops to some of Auburn’s awesome athletes. Arizona State’s Josh Christopher takes some awful shots, but can sometimes make them and is good for one eye-popping athleticism play a game.

A kind of off the grid fun watch is Marshall’s Taevion Kinsey. Of all 20 players with at least 26 dunks, he’s the shortest guy on the list at 6’5. He’s also one of two players to hit that dunk threshold and have at least 14 made threes.

Who is the best player that nobody is talking about? – Bryce M.

Charles Bassey has quietly been one of the most productive players in the country averaging 17.8 points, 12.2 rebounds per game. He’s second in the country with 3.4 blocks per game and leads the country with 43 dunks. In a somewhat weak big man class, I could see him being the third center taken and providing instant value to an NBA rotation.

But the best player that I haven’t seen talked about at all is Virginia’s Jay Huff. The 7’1 big man doesn’t have eye-popping statistics, but he’s been rock-solid as a defender. Offensively, he’s made 47% of his threes on three attempts. Huff has a player efficiency rating over 35 and an effective field goal percentage of over 70%. The only other player to ever do this was Zion Williamson. Needless to say, I think Huff needs to be taken more seriously as a prospect.