On Aug. 20, the National Basketball Association hosted the annual lottery draft where teams are assigned the following year’s draft order. With the lottery picks set for the upcoming draft, the question now is who will be picked and when?
Although no Colorado State basketball players are likely to be selected this year, multiple familiar faces will still have their names called on draft day Oct. 16. Here are the players that CSU faced during the 2019-2020 season who are expected to get drafted.
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Cassius Stanley – SG – Duke
Possibly the most anticipated game of the year for CSU last season was against the legendary Duke Blue Devils. Although the Rams were blown out, it was fun to see how they competed against many NBA-level athletes. The cream of the crop coming out of Durham, North Carolina, was Cassius Stanley.
Stanley is likely to be selected in the first round and is the best prospect the Rams faced. The 6-foot-6-inch freshman is an insanely talented athlete with extreme bounce. He excels in transition as a finisher and runs the floor exceptionally well.
Stanley’s athleticism is truly top-notch, as he was one of the fastest players in college, and this allows him the potential to bloom into one of the best players from the class if he improves his consistency and half-court scoring. Stanley averaged 12.6 points per game for the season but demonstrated his skills against CSU with 19 points. Expect to see Stanley drafted in the early to mid-first round.
THANK YOU DUKE! 💙💙💙💙. BROTHERHOOD FOR LIFE! pic.twitter.com/ewUM4NymEw
— Cassius Stanley (@cassius_stanley) April 7, 2020
Tyler Bey – PF – Colorado
One of the weirdest games of the season was against the home-state rival, the University of Colorado Boulder Buffaloes. CSU struggled against CU in the first half and struggled to generate any type of offense, but they almost came back in the second half before falling just short in the comeback attempt. However, unlike the success they allowed to Stanley, CSU did a solid job of limiting CU’s prospect Tyler Bey’s production, as he only had nine points on four shot attempts.
This wasn’t the best game for Bey, who averaged 13.8 points for the season. Bey is a unique player who can do a little bit of everything. He shot an excellent 41.9% from three. He can hit the open three and has serious potential to be a modern stretch power forward who can also bang down low. His inside game has the potential, and although he may not be a star, he should find a role in a rebuilding organization’s rotation.
Bey is a jack of all trades with good versatility to stretch the floor and is projected to be selected in the late second or early third round.
Malachi Flynn – PG – San Diego State
Malachi Flynn is the NBA-bound prospect that hits the most home for Rams fans, as he dominated the Mountain West this past season with 17.6 points per game en-route to becoming the MW player of the year for SDSU. Malachi went 30-2 and was near the top of the rankings all year long.
Flynn is a magnificent scorer who has a quick trigger from deep and a range that extends well beyond the NBA three-point line. Flynn shot 37.3% from three on a high volume of 6.4 attempts per game. As an absolute offensive juggernaut, he is crafty and has the ability to score inside and from the midrange. Flynn’s talent can land him a role as an off-the-bench spark plug in the NBA, but he is likely to drop to the late second round because of his defensive flaws.
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Although we have seen Flynn mocked as high as the 37th pick, he is undersized at 6-foot-1-inch and isn’t equipped to handle bigger guards, but he plays a pesky defensive style that enables him to hold his own. Nobody would expect Flynn to drop lower than the third round.
Tre Jones – PG – Duke
Duke has always been a prospect-producing machine, and Stanley isn’t the only Blue Devil who is going to be picked. Tre Jones is a very similar player to his brother, Tyus, who has carved out a nice role with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Jones is expected to be a solid backup point guard who doesn’t do too much. He is the definition of a floor general. Scouts expect him to develop into a role where he can lead an offense, generate plays for his teammates and constantly play with a low turnover rate.
Unfortunately, most see Jones as an offensive facilitator, not an offensive threat most teams wish for. Because he lacks the ability to be a dynamic scorer, his draft stock is definitely limited. Jones was once viewed as a first-round guy, but we now project him to be a second-rounder.
Fringe prospects who may be picked but are expected to go undrafted:
- Jalen Harris – SG – Nevada
- Sam Merrill – SG – Utah State
Bailey Bassett can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @baileybassett_.
