NBA Draft Prospect Watch: Jaime Jaquez Jr., Jaden Ivey, Keegan Murray, Drew Timme
Plus our Rookie, Sophomore and Draft Prospect of the Week
During the NBA, college and international seasons, my Tuesday newsletter will focus on NBA rookies and sophomores as well as prospects for the 2022 NBA Draft, especially those who have helped or hurt their stock in the past week.
My reports will be based on my own observations as well as information I receive from NBA scouts, executives and agents.
NCAA Upperclassmen: First Impressions
On Wednesday I broke down the debuts of the top NBA prospects among college freshmen.
This week, let’s check in on the five upperclassmen we’ve ranked on our Big Board as well as two outside our top 30 who are making a strong case to move onto Big Board 2.0.
Jaime Jaquez Jr.
UCLA
Junior
Wing
6’6” | 225 | Wingspan: 6’10”
Age on draft night: 21.3
Big Board 1.0 Rank: 28
2022 Draft Projection: 20-40
3 games: 17.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1 spg, 0.7 blk, 4-9 3P
Jaquez was a favorite of scouts during UCLA’s Final Four run last year. He’s not a flashy scorer like teammate Johnny Juzang, but Jaquez is tough and scrappy, with a great feel for the game.
His strong 21-point, 13-rebound, 3-assist performance against Villanova on Friday planted him firmly in the first-round discussion. His offensive rebounding numbers (he had six versus Villanova) add to the intrigue for those scouts who have been wondering aloud whether Jaquez could end up as an NBA small-ball 4.
(Note to readers: This is an excerpt of my weekly NBA Prospect Watch column provided to free subscribers. To get my my take on Jaden Ivey, Bennedict Mathurin, Keegan Murray, Jabari Walker, Drew Time and Ochai Agbaji + my Rookie of the Week, Sophomore of the Week and Draft Prospect of the Week … you need to be a paid subscriber.
Paid subscribers will also get access to full Mock Drafts, Big Boards, scouting reports on all of the top players in the draft as well as the ability to comment on articles and special discussion boards, Zoom calls and more interaction with me in the coming weeks.)