USC Basketball: Isaiah Collier Selected Surprisingly Low In Expert's 2024 Mock Draft
As the 2023-2024 college basketball season gets underway, prep for the NBA Draft is in full swing.
USC Trojans guard Isaiah Collier, who is projected to be drafted as high as No. 2 by some analysts, is slotted in at 8th on Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman's most recent mock draft.
Here's what his rationale was:
With Boogie Ellis and potentially Bronny James, Isaiah Collier should be in a good spot to play to his strengths as a downhill driver and setup passer.
He'll convince scouts on his penetration scoring and playmaking based on his combination of ball-handling, positional strength and vision. Whether he emerges as a consensus top pick or a divisive prospect will come down to his shooting and turnovers.
Collier's jump shot looked better last year, though he doesn't elevate much on his threes, and his decision-making could use some fine-tuning. But at this stage in this particular draft, it's reasonable to think there could be lottery interest in a 6'5", 210-pound lead guard who possesses unteachable facilitating instincts and competent shot-making skill with set jumpers or runners.
Wasserman clearly isn't as high on Collier as other analysts are, but he comes from a place of valid criticism.
Collier's jumper is a legitimate concern, and as someone who is expected to initiate an offense, not having the ability to shoot the 3-ball is a major issue.
From an Xs and Os standpoint, it's a lot harder to operate an efficient pick-and-roll at the NBA level sans a jumper, as defenders can just go under the screens set for you.
This hurts the ball-handler, as they can't use the screen as well to create a lane to the hoop, but it also hurts the roll-man, whose passing lane would be bottled up due to the defender playing that as opposed to the ball-handler.
In the NBA currently, the only elite point guard who can't shoot the 3-ball at a reasonably high level is Ja Morant, as his other-worldly athleticism is his primary calling card.
Collier could operate similarly, but he'd need to be in the right system with solid spacing, coaching, and free rein over an offense.
This was also published before USC's opening game against Kansas State, where Collier was excellent.
Time will tell, but he seemingly has a great work ethic and could definitely add a jumper to his game, as tons of guards have over the years.
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