Colorado Buffalos point guard Derrick White might be the best senior in the Draft. That is a dirty word, but White has some ready-made skills to contribute.
The Orlando Magic’s need for a point guard in the upcoming NBA Draft is. . . an uncertain one.
The going logic is the team needs to upgrade from Elfrid Payton and could use their top pick to do so. Of course, the Magic could pass on a point guard and look to draft a point guard later in the Draft. But, then again, they have D.J. Augustin on the second year of a four-year deal to come off the bench.
The Magic’s point guard situation is far from settled but also kind of settled if the team wants it to be.
Add in Orlando’s desire to grab someone who can help fairly immediately, and some of the point guard options seem to dry up. But there is still plenty of talent, even late in the first round and early in the second round if the team wants to go with a point guard.
This is not the time to take a risk. And that would seemingly mean looking for a veteran player who slipped in the Draft because the Draft is a futures game and college seniors are seen as having less potential and upside.
And then there is Colorado Buffaloes guard Derrick White.
He played only one year at Division I at Colorado but was a Division II All-American at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. There he put up solid numbers. The question was whether that would translate to the higher level.
It did. White averaged 18.1 points per game and 4.4 assists per game. He shot 39.6 percent from beyond the arc and posted a 57.8 percent effective field goal percentage. Those kinds of numbers get a player on the NBA radar. Albeit, for White, at the back end.
A strong NBA Draft Combine and showing at the seniors-only Portsmouth Invitational Tournament further cemented White’s place in the NBA Draft pecking order.
It has White clearly in the crosshairs for the NBA and for a potential steal in the second round or late first round. Here is a player who proved himself in the difficult Pac-12 and, despite being a bit of a late bloomer, seems ready to contribute fairly quickly.
He has to be as a senior. But he has the scoring chops, leading Colorado in scoring to lead the team to the NIT last year (where the Buffalos lost to the UCF Knights). He scored 30 points in that finale against the Knights. So that loss was not for a lack of his trying.