ESPN: NBA mock draft (#37. Daniel Oturu)

[BleedGopher]

per ESPN and RandBall:

Which prospects are rising and falling in the 2020 NBA draft? And what are the potential lottery teams likely to do with their selections?

Now that we're past the NBA trade deadline, the draft picture is starting to take shape. There are already nine teams with at least an 89% chance to end up drafting in the top 10, according to projections via ESPN's Basketball Power Index (BPI), and there are 13 teams with at least an 83% chance to be in the lottery. But there have still been plenty of changes to draft projections, including multiple players rising in the top 10.

Let's run through our new mock draft for both rounds, highlighting nine players who have moved significantly.

NBA mock draft: New top-10 picks, risers and fallers

Here are our new NBA draft projections for 2020, with movement throughout the top 10 after the trade deadline.

www.espn.com

ESPN’s mock has Tre Jones — Tyus’ brother, formerly of Apple Valley and now of Duke — going No. 30 overall with the last pick in the first round. And it has Gophers’ big man Daniel Oturu going No. 37 overall early in the second round to Sacramento.

Oturu is of particular interest because what the sophomore does will have a major impact on the Gophers’ in 2020-21. Givony writes of Oturu:

“Players at age 20 who produce at Oturu’s level are clear NBA prospects, but the value of players in his mold has dipped, which might relegate him to the second round. With Minnesota appearing likely to miss the NCAA tournament, Oturu might consider returning to college, fine-tuning his skills and trying to enter the NBA on a higher note next year.”

NBA mock draft: Wolves take Kentucky guard; Oturu goes in 2nd round?

Plenty of curiosity is left in this local basketball season, with the Timberwolves regrouping post-trade deadline and post-All Star break to see what their reconfigured lineup can accomplish in the final 29 games and the Gophers men's basketball team trying to shake off Sunday's damaging loss to...

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[Gophs24]

yes please!

 

[bonin21]

Better draft class next year. Might need to go now.

 

[Gopherlife]

Better draft class next year. Might need to go now.

The other side of the argument is that he does have some areas in which he still has significant room for improvement, such as strength, ball handling, and passing. If he made improvements in those areas, I think his draft stock would improve in spite of a better draft class.

It's unfortunate that the Gophers don't have a capable backup for him this season, in multiple ways. One thing a capable backup would have done is that it would have allowed Oturu to spend more time resting during the games. He has really played a lot of minutes, which has also inflated his stats. If he played a number of minutes similar to other players at the PF/C positions, he might have a few less points and rebounds per game, which might be just enough to force him to stay around for one more year.

 

[Just Gopher It!!]

The other side of the argument is that he does have some areas in which he still has significant room for improvement, such as strength, ball handling, and passing. If he made improvements in those areas, I think his draft stock would improve in spite of a better draft class.

It's unfortunate that the Gophers don't have a capable backup for him this season, in multiple ways. One thing a capable backup would have done is that it would have allowed Oturu to spend more time resting during the games. He has really played a lot of minutes, which has also inflated his stats. If he played a number of minutes similar to other players at the PF/C positions, he might have a few less points and rebounds per game, which might be just enough to force him to stay around for one more year.

To withstand an 82 game regular against grown azz men, he needs to put on another 10 lbs and get more muscle in his upper body.

I think he'll come back and should enter the draft so he can get the evaluation from the NBA personnel.

He'll only be better next year!! All-American