The confetti has now long been cleared from the makeshift (and maybe not entirely put-together) floor at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. The Kansas Jayhawks are celebrating their national championship, a well-earned victory for that team that quietly just played well all season.
The NCAA Tournament is never the end-all, be-all for the college prospects entering the NBA Draft. It might be their final statement before their seasons close and it might be the most visibility they get to the wider NBA-watching audience.
The NCAA Tournament certainly leaves a taste in everyone’s mouth as they prepare for and get into the offseason. It is the last impression everyone gets.
With the NCAA Tournament completed, the Orlando Magic and the other teams will be cleaning up their draft boards ahead of the Combine in May.
The next phase of the draft process will begin in late May. Teams are probably already consolidating whatever information they have. But they will be allowed to make contact with players and their representatives in May around the time of the NBA Draft Lottery and NBA Draft Combine on May 17.
The Orlando Magic have done their work there already. The team has guaranteed itself a top-6 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft by virtue of having one of the two worst records in the league. That also means they will have a 14.0-percent chance of winning the top pick and a 52.1-percent chance of getting a top-4 pick on Lottery day.
With the NCAA Tournament over then, our big board is due for a quick refresher. It is hard not to feel impacted a little bit by what happened in the tournament. And with a closer eye on some of the prospects we were able to watch at the NCAA Tournament, we have made a few changes.
We will come back and update the board again when we get closer to the NBA Draft Lottery and look more specifically at the Magic’s needs on that board.
NCAA Tournament (2 games): 15.0 PPG, 14.5 RPG, 31.0% FG%, 33.3% 3FG%
Jabari Smith did not have the best offensive showing in the NCAA Tournament, including scoring just 10 points and making just one of his eight 3-point shots in the second-round loss to Miami. But Smith still seems like the most complete player in the draft class and his body of work speaks for itself.
Auburn did not have proficient guard play and they seemingly went away from Smith during critical moments of the loss to Miami. He is still probably the best shooter among the top prospects and has both the highest floor of any of those players in addition to a high ceiling.
Still, his NCAA Tournament performance will do nothing to solidify his spot as the No. 1 overall pick and likely opened things up to lots of debate over the next few months.