2017 NBA Draft Big Board 3.0
30. PG Shake Milton, SMU
Height/Weight: 6-5, 195 lbs
If we’re making these rankings based on physical tools alone, Milton would be slotted much higher. Standing at 6-5 with a whopping 7-foot wingspan, Milton’s frame is incredibly well-built for a potential point guard at the NBA level. The concerns simply emerge when you analyze how he utilizes those physical tools from game to game.
Milton’s most pressing issue heading to the NBA is going to be consistency. He struggles to remain aggressive on the offensive side of the ball at times, and is a somewhat streaky shooter from deep — tallying a percentage of 31 thus far in his sophomore campaign. He’s more of a scoring-oriented point guard as it stands, and is a slithery scorer with ample upside, it’s just a matter of producing on a nightly basis.
Defensively, Milton has all that tools to excel as well. His size and wingspan set him up to be fully capable of guarding either backcourt position, and his athleticism is at a high enough level to translate immediately to the NBA. Once again, the concern here boils down to consistency. His effort isn’t always at it’s best, and he needs to iron out some of his fundamentals on the defensive end in order to excel in the NBA.
29. SG Melo Trimble, Maryland
Height/Weight: 6-3, 192 lbs
Oh, how the giants fall. Trimble was largely considered a lottery talent entering last season, only to drop to near-irrelevancy in a campaign plagued with inconsistency. Now the undersized two-guard has some sizable ground to make up in regards to his draft stock, but the potential is still there to pan out as a nice piece at the next level.
Trimble’s proverbial bread and butter lies on the offensive side of the ball, as his perimeter scoring is among the most prolific threats in college ball when he’s on. Through 6 games with the Terps this season, Trimble is averaging over 23 points per contest, and shooting above 50 percent from the field as a whole. He has an innate ability to change speeds and find shots on the offensive side of the ball, and if he can continue to operate at the level he currently is, I expect his stock to rise around the board.
Whether or not he proves himself capable of switching over to the point guard position at the next level could also have a fairly large bearing on where his draft stock falls heading into 2017. He hasn’t shown the utmost development as a passer, and therefore projects more as a shooting guard for the time being — a concern given that he barely measures out at 6-2.5 with a 6-2 wingspan. He’s an incredible scoring spark in just about any scenario, but it’s how the remainder of his game develops that will determine his slot on draft night.
28. C Thomas Bryant, Indiana
Height/Weight: 6-10, 241 lbs
As one of the largest fallers on this big board, Bryant has tumbled from the high teens to the low 20s. Standing at 6-10 with a strong frame, the physical tools aren’t what’s holding Bryant back — it’s his ability to piece together the different abilities he has into a workable game on a nightly basis. We’ve seen some improvement in terms of offensive versatility, but he’s still consistent outside the paint, and has defensive woes to boot.
Being the high-energy player that he is, there should be several easily-transferable aspects of his game in regards to the NBA. He can rebound the ball at a high level around the basket, and his defensive concerns at the very least aren’t caused by a lack of desire. He’s willing to go after the ball and match the highest levels of physicality around the basket, and that’s likely his calling card heading to the next level for the time being.
Bryant has showed flashes of shooting the ball from deep — a huge, huge development in his game — but it’s not necessarily something teams in the NBA can rely on yet. He’s hitting 1 per game at the moment, but that may be an unsustainable pace, and his lack of polish elsewhere is still a major limitation. He also wanders into pointless fouls and defensive mishaps on a regular basis, and needs to make some major strides in that respect to project as a solid defender at the NBA level, even if his energy is far from lacking.