Where do Baylor's Two Stars Fall in Recent NBA Mock Draft?

The NBA season has progressed beyond the All-Star Break, and the college season is starting to reach its conclusion.

That can only mean one thing. Fans of NBA teams who are not making the playoffs are scrolling through Tankathon, and familiarizing themselves with prospects in college basketball who could help their pro team next season.

The college season has been fantastic, loaded with freshman talent, and it looks like the NCAA Tournament is shaping up to be one of the best in recent memory.

In congruence with the college season reaching its end, experts are starting conduct their mock drafts as a way to gauge the stock of those who are likely to enter the draft once their season is over.

On Wednesday, The Athletic conducted another mock draft of their own, and the usual suspects were at the top of the list for teams set to “win” the race to the bottom of the league. BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, and Darryn Peterson of Kansas were the top two picks in the draft.

That will be a debate that rages on between now and draft day.

On the Baylor end of things, there are two players who were thought to be locks as top-20 picks at the midway point of the season.

Both Cameron Carr and Tounde Yessoufou looked poised to turn pro after their first season in Waco, and potentially play their way into the lottery depending on how the rest of Baylor’s season went.

As Baylor’s season has tanked, so too has the draft stock of one of their key contributors.

Yessoufou’s Fall

Tounde Yessoufou used to be in the conversation as to whether he was actually the best pro prospect on Baylor’s roster, but for now it looks like his stock has taken a bit of a hit as Baylor’s season has fallen apart.

In the most recent mock draft from The Athletic, Yessoufou fell all the way down the board, before being taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the final pick of the first round.

Baylor Bears guard Tounde Yessoufou (24) drives to the basket against Arizona. — Chris Jones-Imagn Images

“From a scoring perspective, Yessoufou has been one of the most productive freshmen in the country,” Vecenie wrote

“He’s averaging 17.6 points per game, while grabbing 5.7 rebounds per night. He’s all sorts of physical and plays with an insatiable motor that never seems to stop running.

"Teams, however, are concerned about his style of play and how it will translate. Yessoufou is largely a power-based player and has gotten a lot of recent points through mismatches against smaller players, posting them or attacking out of the midpost. That’s not a style that works in the NBA. Additionally, while Yessoufou sports a remarkably high steal rate, his overall defensive quickness and awareness are not that strong. He regularly gets beat off the bounce by quicker players.”

The questions about his defense and whether he’ll translate to the next level could beg the question as to whether Yessoufou would benefit from sticking around for another season to develop his outside shot.

That’s unlikely, as guaranteed money is often too much to pass up, but it could be a selling point for Scott Drew and company at the end of their season.

Cameron Carr

In this draft simulation, Carr fell to 25th where he was eventually selected by the New York Knicks.

“Carr had a nuclear hot start to the season and has largely settled in as one of the best high-major scorers in the country,” Vecinie wrote.

“He’s averaging 19 points per game while shooting 51 percent from the field, 38 percent from 3 and 80 percent from the foul line. Carr is a terrific shooter with great straight-line slashing instincts, using his long strides and length to cover ground quickly before getting to the rim, and he also has a nice pull-up game from the midrange if his drive gets cut off.”

Carr could play his way into a higher draft slot with a big performance in Baylor’s remaining games. If nothing else, he should have the scoring chops to help a team off the bench as a rookie.