Best Draft Prospects: Point Guards

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
May 30, 2013

Best Draft Prospects: Point Guards

Trey Burke

Burke is undersized, but he excels in the NBA's bread-and-butter play, the pick-and-roll. His ability to score and create for others is expected to make Burke the first point guard off the board.

Michael Carter-Williams

Carter-Williams enters the draft with natural playmaking skills and the kind of size few point guards can match. He will need to work on his ball handling -- his high dribble would be easy pickings for some of the NBA's better defensive point guards -- and his jump shot is streaky. But Carter-Williams is brilliant in transition and has the raw tools with which teams can work.

Dennis Schroeder

Schroeder "is a miniature [Rajon] Rondo," according to an Eastern Conference scout. At 19, he has natural point-guard instincts, excellent speed and an improving jump shot. Several teams in the 20s would love for Schroeder to fall.

Shane Larkin

Larkin's size (a shade under 6 feet) is a concern in a league where supersized playmakers are becoming the norm. But he is a phenomenal athlete -- he topped the draft combine in the three-quarter-court sprint (3.08 seconds) and vertical leap (44 inches) -- and is an excellent ball handler who projects to play well in the pick-and-roll.

Pierre Jackson

Jackson took a risk recently when he showed up in New Jersey at an organized group workout composed mostly of second-round-level picks. But he was one of the best players at the workout, impressing with his speed and half-court efficiency. He's in the mix as a late first-round pick.

Ray McCallum

The Horizon League Player of the Year averaged 18.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals last season while playing for his father, Ray McCallum. NBA talent evaluators want to see McCallum improve his jump shot, as his 32.3 percent shooting from three-point range last season was his best in three years at Detroit.

Nate Wolters

Wolters already has great patience and feel for playmaking in pick-and-roll situations. He lacks explosiveness but has good size, elite ball-handling skills and the ability to make unorthodox runners and floaters. He improved his shooting from 38.8 percent as a freshman to 48.5 percent as a senior.

Lorenzo Brown

Brown has good size and passing ability, having averaged 6.3 assists as a sophomore and 7.2 as a junior. But Brown has to become more of a shooting threat after hitting only 20-of-76 (26.3 percent) from three-point range as a junior and making a total of 64 three-pointers in 101 college games.

Myck Kabongo

Kabongo is playing catch-up with NBA scouts after missing 23 games last season because of an NCAA suspension for accepting impermissible benefits and offering false statements during the investigation. He struggled with his shooting and turnovers in the 11 games he did play in 2012-13, but he also averaged 14.6 points, five rebounds and 5.5 assists.

Phil Pressey

Pressey is a standout playmaker who uses his quickness to compensate for his lack of size. But he shot only 37.6 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from three-point range, and he committed 3.5 turnovers in 33.9 minutes.