Part II: NCAA Tournament NBA Draft Stock Watch: Prospects Rising and Falling
Analysis of the Standouts and Disappointments from the Sweet 16 and Elite 8: DJ Burns, Jared McCain, Jarin Stevenson, and Kyle Filipowski
On Monday, I shared insights on NBA Draft observations from the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 Showdowns — focusing on Donovan Clingan, Stephon Castle, and Zach Edey, who remain in competition, alongside Dalton Knecht and Terrence Shannon Jr., whose teams have been eliminated.
Today, I'm pleased to introduce my brother James to the Big Board audience. Together, we'll share our insights on the performances of other top prospects and how they fared over the weekend. We'll dig into who may have bolstered or dampened their draft stock, and also discuss the exciting matchups we're anticipating in the Final Four.
Answers below.
1. Kyle Filipowski and Tyrese Proctor struggled this past weekend and Duke was bounced from the NCAA Tournament. How do you think their performances will affect their draft stock?
Rafael Barlowe: I don’t know if those games will have an impact or not. We’ve seen players struggle in the tournament in the past with zero impact on their draft status.
However, I’ve had my concerns about Filipowski from day one. I know it might come off as if I’m a Filipowski hater, but the NC State game highlighted one of the reasons I’m not as high on him as the consensus. He really struggled defending DJ Burns. Now, I understand Burns is a difficult matchup for anyone, especially when he’s allowed to isolate and go one-on-one on the block, but it didn’t look like Filipowski put up much of a fight. Burns had his way with him, and he was clearly in Filipowski’s head. Filipowski is skilled and has some tools you look for in a modern big man, but he struggles with physicality and length. I believe he’s going to have to be a really good 3-point shooter in the NBA to maximize his playmaking. He’s dropped in my opinion.
I was super high on Proctor coming into the season and had him as a Top 10 pick. I was intrigued by the shotmaking flashes, passing, and positional size. I also thought he was a better shooter than the numbers indicated because he got off to such a slow start from deep early in his freshman. This season has been up and down for him, and he couldn’t have had a more disappointing finish, going 0-for-9 from the floor. In my opinion, it’s in his best interest to return to school for his junior season. He was a likely second-round pick coming into the tournament, and even though you have to look at the whole body of work over the season, I feel like he needed a strong tournament to earn a guaranteed NBA contract for next year. With projected lottery picks Cooper Flagg and Khaman Malauch coming to town, Proctor would have an opportunity to quarterback one of the most exciting teams in college basketball next season if he decides to return.
James Barlowe: In my opinion, neither player did anything to hurt or help their stock. I was not particularly high on Proctor due to his lack of rim pressure. I feel like he’s a rotation guard—a good shooter who improve his efficiency from his freshman season.
I’m still not sold on Filipowski being a lottery pick. Take away a month of hot three-point shooting, and he’s been pretty average as a shooter. However, he does pass the ball very well for a big.