It was no surprise.
Sun Devil freshman standout point guard Jahii Carson has entered his name to get a draft projection from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee.
So what does this mean? Not much of anything honestly. It is not a declaration of draft status. It’s common for players who may even sniff the second round of the draft to at least go through this procedure.
Basically, the committee analyzes the player and tries to pinpoint where, if at all, he may be selected in the upcoming NBA draft. Once they make a determination, the player is notified by April 15. That player then must make his choice to stay in college or go to the NBA by the next day, April 16.
NBADraftExpress.com has Carson currently projected to go 25th overall in the 2014 draft. They rank him as the 56th best prospect overall.
Really, it’s a slim chance the committee even thinks he would be selected this season. Important to also remember is that a player really needs to strive for the first round as to get at least some guaranteed money. Second round picks have a very dismal outlook in general.
Carson has some major refining to do next year if he does return to ASU. Although his jumper came on strong toward the end of the year and he had some great stretches of few turnovers, he still has some rough edges to smooth out, such as free throw shooting, to break into the lottery. NBA teams will want such a small ball handler who has the propensity to get to the rim to excel at shooting from the charity stripe. It’s promising that he is projected at 25 next years because that would leave him fairly close to the lottery already.
NBA Draft Express also has Carrick Felix going as the final pick of the 2013 draft to the Miami Heat. Note that the Suns would currently hold the 26th pick if the season ended today.
