The declarations are coming in by the day. And in this day and age. It’s not about who opts in for the Draft. It’s who doesn’t. And also who opted in but who clearly aren’t ready.
Today’s NBA hopefuls that have declared are UCLA power forward Kevon Looney and Kansas’ guard/forward Kelly Oubre Jr.
Oubre Jr., a 6’7″ forward, averaged 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds as a freshman for Kansas. But those numbers are brought down by a slow start in which he failed to score in double-figures until a 23-pont outburst against Lafayette on Dec. 20. From that night through the end of the regular season, Oubre Jr. averaged 11.3 points and 6.3 rebounds with 32 steals in 22 games.
Oubre Jr. was ranked No. 14 overall on SI.com’s latest NBA draft Big Board.
An active athlete at 6-foot-9, Looney, 19, had been considering several top representation firms and will be in strong contention to become a lottery pick in June.
As the Pac-12’s Freshman of the Year and member of the conference all-first team, Looney scored 11.6 points and grabbed 9.2 rebounds per game. He helped lead UCLA to the Sweet Sixteen where the Bruins lost to Gonzaga.
DraftExpress have Looney at 20, which I agree with. 15 should be his best bet. And for Oubre. Even though he has a decent upside. I find him too raw. I think he should’ve stayed at Kansas for another year. But I said that about the last Freshman to come out of Kansas. Andrew Wiggins.
Now don’t get it twisted, Oubre is not Wiggins. But I can see the potential of Oubre.
