Uncertain Whether Quade Green Will Hear Name Called in NBA Draft
The NBA draft takes place on Thursday in Brooklyn, just 100 miles from his family home, but Quade Green still can't be sure if the two-round pro basketball talent grab will involve him or not.
It's hard to find the Philadelphia native and the former University of Washington and Kentucky point guard on many mock drafts coming in, with therookiewire.com one of the few, ranking him 50th among the 60 picks.
For sure, there's a Green on every list as a lottery pick, but that's Jalen, not Quade, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard from Merced, California, who went from high school straight to the G-League last season.
The Huskies' Green has been left to try and convince NBA scouts that, at barely 6-feet tall, he's not too undersized and that last season's disastrous 5-21 Husky team was an anomaly.
In recent weeks leading up to the draft, Green has traveled to Sacramento to work out for the Kings, but otherwise he's been under the guidance of a private trainer.
He has an 83-game college sample for NBA scouts to study, with 40 outings coming at the UW. He averaged 15.4 points and 3.6 assists per game for the Huskies last season, earning All-Pac-12 honorable-mention honors.
While once a 5-star recruit who plays with plenty of grit, prospective employers might question his commitment. He couldn't hang onto his starting job at Kentucky and transferred out rather than win back his position. He found an ideal spot at the UW, playing with current pros Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels, only to let his grades slip and become ineligible for half a season.
Stewart and McDaniels, both 6-foot-9 freshman forwards for the Huskies, were selected 16th and 28th overall in last year's draft by the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves, respectively.
Draftexpress.com sizes up Green as an average shooter off the bounce who, because of his size, might have trouble passing over the top of a defense.
Yet his toughness and ability to play an up-tempo game give him a chance to draw a long look from a pro franchise, whether it's as a late second-rounder or as a free agent.
While Green is left in a quandry, cross-state Gonzaga is expected to have three players drafted from its national runner-up team, with Jalen Suggs, Corey Kispert and Joel Ayayi possibly all going in the opening round. Evan Mobley, a 7-footer from USC, is considered a surefire lottery pick and the first Pac-12 player to be selected.
The NBA draft begins at 5 p.m. PT at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, coming nine months following last year's virtual and pandemic-delayed event.
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