The date and procedures surrounding it are currently a mystery, but eventually the 2020 NBA Draft will happen and two Spartans could hear their names called in the first round.
That’s according to NBC Sports’ Rob Dauster’s latest NBA mock draft that has both Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman Sr. as first round picks. Dauster has Winston being taken 23rd overall and Tillman at 26th.
Of Winston Dauster writes, “Winston did not have the season many of us expected him to have as a senior — understandably, given the death of his brother in November — but he still put up All-American numbers for a team that won a share of the Big Ten regular season title. He was playing his best basketball down the stretch, and he still have the highest basketball IQ of anyone in this 2020 NBA mock draft. He’s an elite passer and shooter that thrives in ball-screens. Yes, the defense and athleticism are concerns, but we said the same thing about numerous point guards that have made careers out of being backup point guards. Winston is the next in that pipeline.”
He says of Tillman Sr., “I may be out on a limb here, but I truly believe that Tillman is worth a first round pick, especially in this year’s draft class. There’s really two reasons for this: For starters, he is a terrific passer. No one in college basketball is better than making the right play in a 4-on-3 scenario when the defense traps a pick-and-roll ball-handler than Tillman. But he is also an excellent defender that can really read the game. Talk to people around the Michigan State program and they’ll tell you he ran everything defensively. It was his voice that teammates heard. Now, the major question mark is his size. At just 6-foot-8, can he defend fives? Is he quick enough to play the four? If we knew for a fact that the answer to both of those questions would be ‘yes, and he can do it very well,’ I would have him slotted as a top 20 pick.”
The NBA Draft is currently scheduled for June 25, but that could be changing due to the season being on hold amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Tillman, a junior, has entered his name in the draft, but is keeping his options open so that he would be able to return to school if he so chooses.
