How Baylor's Cameron Carr, Tounde Yessoufou Improve Draft Stock in Crown Tournament
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A close eye has been kept on Tounde Yessoufou's and Cameron Carr's NBA draft stock over the season. As they approach their final collegiate games in the Crown Tournament, they have a lot to prove to NBA teams.
In the latest mock draft, Yessoufou is not listed as a first-rounder. "What's great is as long as you're playing, now you control your destiny instead of someone else, how they play," said Coach Scott Drew ahead of the tournament.
Here are some things to keep an eye on for these two stars:
Consistency, consistency
Yessoufou boasts some of the greatest performances of the year for the Bears, but his shooting lacks the reliability NBA teams are looking for.
"Non-playmaking wings typically need to be threatening or reliable shooters, making Yessoufou's three-point stroke an important swing skill," notes Johnathan Wasserman on Bleacher Report.
This is an easy fix for Yessoufou; he will have open looks beyond the arc this week; he just needs to hit them. If Yessoufou can knock down about 40% of his threes, expect a dramatic bump in the draft order.
Carr development
Cameron Carr has been the Bears' best scorer throughout the season, averaging 19.2 points a game. He is an explosive player who has high upside at the next level for a secondary scorer.
For his draft stock to improve, he will need to improve his game in areas other than scoring. He has the length and athleticism to be a fantastic perimeter defender, but Cameron has yet to put it all together.
One has to think Carr could be flying around the court, tipping more passes, and blocking more shots, but he hasn't yet. If he can add a strong defensive dimension to his game, he will be a much safer pick higher in the draft order.
A stat to keep an eye on for Cameron Carr is turnovers. On the road, he averages 3.0 turnovers; if he were a pure shot creator, this would not be as big of a problem, but he only averages 2.3 assists.
Cameron is a fantastic shooter (39% from deep), but he still needs to develop with the ball in his hands. He is a shaky passer and needs to improve shot selection.
If the prospect can polish up these parts of his game, he will also see a large improvement in his draft stock over the coming weeks.
Bennett is an undergrad student at Baylor University, studying journalism on the sports track. He is from the DFW area and grew up playing and watching sports, which inspired him to pursue sports writing.
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