The majority of early selections in the NBA Draft are at least partially built around projecting what a player may become in the future, sometimes choosing to roll the dice with their development rather than their present day skill set. I understand why a team selecting in the Top 10 picks of an NBA Draft would rather use their pick on a young prospect with huge upside rather than a player whose ceiling might not be that of NBA All-Star but could be a starter on a very good team.
I’m here to put forward my list of Ten Guys that I believe will have impacts in the NBA and when they take a look back in 5 years when every sports media personality ‘redrafts’ the 2024 NBA Draft class, all of these guys will be in the forefront of that discussion, or at least thought of in a positive light based on their professional careers up to that point.
Devin Carter
- 6’2” / 195 lbs.
- Age: 22
- Guard
- College: Providence Friars
| YR | GP | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | BLK | STL | TO | PTS |
| 23-24 | 33 | 35.3 | 47.3 | 37.7 | 74.9 | 8.7 | 3.6 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 19.7 |
Surprise, Surprise, the one and only Devin Carter is on this list. Carter has comprehensively dominated very single pre-draft workout and interview that he’s taken part in and give basketball credence to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s motto of “send location,” to anyone who wants to challenge him. Carter has skyrocketed up the respective draft boards of teams and analysts after showcasing his incredible athleticism to the tune of setting the NBA Draft Combine record for the 3/4 court sprint and tying for the top mark in both the vertical and standing vertical as well.
You won’t find a guy more competitive than Devin Carter in this draft class. That is a fact. He has proven he can shot the ball from deep, even if he does so with it scraping the rafters, and his defensive instincts are instantly transferrable to the next level.
NBA Comp: Derrick White
I was between Derrick White and Jrue Holiday as a comp for Carter but he’s really a mixture of both guys. The defensive instincts and ability to block shots as a guard more closely resemble White’s game but his athleticism reminds me more of a young Holiday.
Stephon Castle
- 6’6” / 215 lbs.
- Age: 19
- Wing
- College: UConn Huskies
| YR | GP | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | BLK | STL | TO | PTS |
| 23-24 | 34 | 26.9 | 47.2 | 26.7 | 75.5 | 4.7 | 2.9 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 11.1 |
You won’t find many (if any) 5-star Freshmen like Stephon Castle who will willingly take a lesser role for the betterment of their team. Castle came to UConn as number 9 ranked player in the 2023 class by 247Sports. Castle was fifth on the team in field goal attempts during the Huskies run to a second consecutive National Championship but much like the NBA Champion Boston Celtics, he excelled at playing team basketball to achieve a common goal.
Castle is a tremendous defensive player with size that is ready to play against NBA bodies. Standing at 6’6” and weighing 215 pounds, Castle is going to be a hassle for opposing point guards to defend if he does slide into the one for whichever team selects him. His shooting needs to catch up to the rest of his game but he had stretches during the season where you could definitely see the ability is there. He shot 75.5% from the free throw line so it doesn’t look to be about mechanics but the more reps he gets, the more comfortable he will become to carry more of a scoring load for a team. In the meantime, he’ll still be able to defend the hell out of opposing ball-handlers.
NBA Comp: Jaylen Brown
Much like Castle, Brown struggled with his three-point shot (29.4%) in college at Cal but the rest of his attributes were already there. Castle has a better handle than Brown did coming into The League which should help with whatever role he takes on for his respective team.
Reed Sheppard
- 6’2” / 187 lbs.
- Age: 20
- Guard
- College: Kentucky Wildcats
| YR | GP | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | BLK | STL | TO | PTS |
| 23-24 | 33 | 28.9 | 53.6 | 52.1 | 83.1 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 12.5 |
Reed Sheppard’s shooting numbers at Kentucky are ridiculous. Shooting 52.1% from three is just dumb. I was actually surprised that his attempts weren’t higher than 4.4 a game based on his accuracy. The NBA style of play will absolutely see those attempts skyrocket. He rebounds well and passes well but perhaps the one statistic that stuck out to me the most was his 2.5 steals per game, which was good for the 8th most in the entire country last season. He also tied Devin Carter for the highest vertical at the combine with 42 inches, so I guess the two questions I had about him (having not seen a ton of Wildcat games) were answered about his defense and athleticism. He’s a little undersized but his elite ability in other aspects more than make up for that.
NBA Comp: Kirk Hinrich
I originally thought that Sheppard would be much easier to find an NBA comp for, but the high efficiency shooting, prowess for steals, good court vision, and go-go gadget legs were a tricky handful of traits to find all in one place. I saw Kirk Hinrich being mentioned as a comp here and there and it fits about as well as any other play could without making it a hybrid comparison with two players. He’s shorter than Kirk but people might’ve forgotten how good he was over his 15 (!) season in The Show. Hinrich was named to the All-Rookie First Team and a 2nd Team All-Defense. His All-Rookie Team may have been the best All-Rookie Team of All-Time:
Four Hall of Famers and Kirk Hinrich.
Ryan Dunn
- 6’6” / 216 lbs.
- Age: 21
- Wing
- College: Virginia Cavaliers
| YR | GP | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | BLK | STL | TO | PTS |
| 23-24 | 34 | 27.5 | 54.8 | 20.0 | 53.2 | 6.9 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 8.1 |
Ryan Dunn’s defensive highlights are insane.
His offense absolutely needs to catch up to his defense but man, oh man, is that defense something special.
NBA Comp: Andre Jackson
Jackson was a better passer coming out of college but the skill sets beyond that are very similar. They both look like they have springs implanted in their calves and both need to develop offensively to see significant time in the NBA.
Baylor Scheierman
- 6’6” / 205 lbs.
- Age: 23
- Wing
- College: Creighton Bluejays
| YR | GP | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | BLK | STL | TO | PTS |
| 23-24 | 35 | 36.8 | 44.8 | 38.1 | 87.6 | 9.0 | 3.9 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 18.5 |
I hated whenever the Providence Friars would play against Scheierman and the that’s the sign of a good player…when other team’s fans can’t stand playing against them. Scheierman is a really well-rounded player who does everything well on the floor, making his teammates better and seemingly always making the right basketball play. He can fill it up and drain it consistently from deep but more importantly, he has that drive to win every single battle. You can tell he’s one of those guys who hates losing more than he likes winning.
Baylor is the only player in Division I history to finish his playing career with 2,000+ points, 1,000+ rebounds, 500+ assists, & 300+ made three-pointers.
NBA Comp: Deni Avdija
Kevin McCullar Jr.
- 6’5” / 212 lbs.
- Age: 23
- Wing
- College: Kansas Jayhawks
| YR | GP | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | BLK | STL | TO | PTS |
| 23-24 | 26 | 34.3 | 45.4 | 33.3 | 80.5 | 6.0 | 4.1 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 18.3 |
McCullar seems to have been forgotten about since he went down with a season-ending injury late in the season but he was no doubt the best player on Kansas up to that point. He took his game to an entire different level offensively once he transferred from Texas Tech. He was the known primarily for his defense at Texas Tech before heading over to Kansas where he opened eyes by carrying things offensively for the Jayhawks. McCullar was named a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist in three straight seasons and finished 11th all-time in steals in the Big 12.
There’s always a guy like this who gets picked in the late first/early second round by a team that is already good based on where they are selecting and becomes a rotational piece right when he steps on the floor.
NBA Comp: Malcolm Brogdon
He is a Malcolm Brogdon clone.
Carlton ‘Bub’ Carrington
- 6’4” / 190 lbs.
- Age: 18
- Guard
- College: Pittsburgh Panthers
| YR | GP | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | BLK | STL | TO | PTS |
| 23-24 | 33 | 33.2 | 41.2 | 32.2 | 78.5 | 5.2 | 4.1 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 13.8 |
Bub Carrington is the player I’ve seen the least (outside of the ACC Tournament) of those in this list. He is still just 18 years old and has risen his game several levels throughout his sole season at Pitt. He was a completely different player at the end of the year than he was at the beginning, adjusting to the college game and finding his confidence to lead a team of older teammates. Plus, Bub is such a great name (yes, I know his first name is actually Carlton).
NBA Comp: Spencer Dinwiddie
Honestly, I could see the largest variance of outcomes for Carrington but I think Dinwiddie is a good middle ground.
Dalton Knecht
- 6’5” / 204 lbs.
- Age: 23
- Wing
- College: Tennessee Volunteers
| YR | GP | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | BLK | STL | TO | PTS |
| 23-24 | 36 | 30.6 | 45.8 | 39.7 | 77.2 | 4.9 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 21.7 |
Dalton Knecht is a dude. He hit close to 40% of his threes on 6.5 attempts per game, increasing his outside shooting percentage from 36.1% to 38.1% to 39.7% over his three years in college. His defensive abilities certainly to jump out at you but he’s in there to score and score he will.
NBA Comp: Tyler Herro
These guys are tough shot makers who don’t care how well you guard them, they’ll get a shot off.
Cam Spencer
- 6’3” / 205 lbs.
- Age: 24
- Guard
- College: UConn Huskies
| YR | GP | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | BLK | STL | TO | PTS |
| 23-24 | 40 | 32.8 | 48.4 | 44.0 | 91.1 | 4.9 | 3.6 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 14.3 |
Cam Spencer is a less athletic Reed Sheppard with the fire of a thousand suns burning within him. Spencer can talk trash with the best of them and back it up as well. He isn’t a liability on defense but I believe he’ll need to get a half step quicker in order to get off his shot consistently at the next level but his high release point offsets some of that as well. You want a guy like Cam Spencer on your team.
NBA Comp: Max Strus
Smart players who can shoot it and fill it up when called upon.
Terrence Shannon Jr.
- 6’6” / 225 lbs.
- Age: 23
- Wing
- College: Illinois Fighting Illini
| YR | GP | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | BLK | STL | TO | PTS |
| 23-24 | 32 | 34.0 | 47.5 | 36.2 | 80.1 | 4.0 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 23.0 |
Terrence Shannon is way too good of a player to drop to the second round. If he falls that far, some team is going to be ecstatic that a player of his caliber is available to select.
NBA Comp: Jordan Clarkson
Honorable Mentions: Jared McCain (Duke), Tyler Kolek (Marquette), David Jones (Memphis), & Josh Oduro (Providence).
The Morning Hangover 