NBA Prospects Ranked by Gambling Degenerates

The NCAA Tournament is almost over. Everyone is now an expert on the top NBA prospects after watching a handful of games and knows exactly who would be the Sixers’ ideal player in the draft.

Just in case you’re not one of the everyone’s mentioned above, here are some highly informed rankings for you. What makes these rankings any different? Let’s just say that a few of my circle are degenerate gamblers such as myself, particularly on college hoops. We’ve have pretty much gambled on a college hoops game every day of the season. Therefore, we’ve also watched an amount of college hoops that exceeds most scouts.

Here are the official Jawnville rankings, which are subject to change after the combine:

1. LONZO BALL. For me, this isn’t even close. The kid single-handedly made UCLA a top 10 team. He’s 6-6 at the point. His vision and touch cannot be taught. He makes every pass imaginable. He always finds the open player and puts them in a position to score. Ball gets to the rim at will. Yes, his shot looks awkward as all hell, but it goes in. I hear people saying Ball can’t shoot. I don’t know what they’ve been watching. He actually shoots better from 3-land than Markelle Fultz. He struggled against De’Aaron Fox in the tournament, but that’s as tough as it’ll probably ever get for Ball. Fox is a freakish athlete with length.

What sets Ball apart from the field is his ability and willingness to step up when the Bruins needed it. In situations where UCLA found itself trailing late in games, Ball would often just take over burying threes, penetrating and finding the open man. He’s a gamer.

His dad is batshit crazy, but I’ll take it. The Sports landscape in Philly is a little boring. Lavar Ball could spice it up a bit. Let’s face it, things haven’t been the same since Carl Lindros left town. I could see Lavar Ball collapsing while attempting to run the actual 30 miles or so Rocky run or break a hand trying to knock out the Rocky statue.

2. De’Aaron Fox. As mentioned above, this guy is a total freak athlete. Fox gets to any spot on the floor that he wants to. His speed and athleticism make him almost unstoppable. He’s not always the greatest finisher and his shot is inconsistent, but he’s 19. That will come. Some players never improve their shots. That’s only from a lack of determination. If you saw Fox crying after the loss to UNC, you know he’s got passion and wants to win. I think he’ll put the work in. He’s got heart. Fox breaks down defenders on the regular while being an elite defender himself. He’s got NBA athleticism and skills, but needs to find more consistency in his shot.

3. Jayson Tatum.  Tatum looked like an NBA player playing in college. His frame looks like an NBA type. I don’t know exactly what his wingspan is, but it has to be longer than his 6’8″ frame. His shot seemed to grow more consistent as the year went on. Again, as with this entire list, the freshman will all continue to grow and develop. He should add some needed muscle to his frame. Tatum utilizes a full arsenal of offensive moves including jab steps, crossovers, fade-aways, etc. Tatum doesn’t have blazing quickness but he’s shifty and has good game speed, if that makes sense.

4. Markelle Fultz. This is where I seem to be at odds with most people I speak with or hear on the radio. Fultz seems to be a unanimous pick at #1. That’s understandable because Fultz has shown the ability score at will from the outside or getting to the basket. He’s got the size at 6’4″ and skills to play both the 1 and the 2 in the NBA. Why is he #4 on my list? Fultz disappeared at times. I saw him go long periods of minutes scoreless or just seem disinterested far too often for my liking. I understand he was on a bad team and was often trailing by large deficits, but that’s not a reason to quit or become complacent. He got burned often on defense by either not closing out with any real effort or just becoming lackadaisical and losing his man in the flow of a play.

The Sixers aren’t going to be contenders next year. They may very well lose 50 games, depending on certain players’ health. I don’t want a kid who’s effort depends on whether or not they are in the game or contenders. Gets frustrated and apathetic far too easily. My issue with Fultz is more with his head and body language than with his ability.

5. Josh Jackson. Athleticism, athleticism, athleticism. That sums up Jackson’s skill set at this time. He needs a lot of polishing. This is all on upside potential for me. He’s a lethal slasher now, but nothing more consistently on the offensive side.

6. Malik Monk. Monk can shoot. There’s no denying that. My issue is that he’s 6’3″, doesn’t look to have exceptional quickness, and he struggled at times against elite college defenders. I worry that he’ll struggle finding his own shot in the NBA with his size and athleticism. In the tourney he looked more like the guy who I saw put up 11 than the one who put up 47 vs. NC in December. NC had the taller Justin Jackson face-guard Monk and that pretty much neutralized Monk. Malik just didn’t have the athleticism to exploit the taller and bigger Jackson. I’m afraid you’ll see more of that against NBA talent at the 2 position.

There you have it. Lock it in.

For comparison purposes, I reached out to a few others that I know who gamble and watch as much NCAA hoops as myself. They aren’t as accurate as my rankings, of course, but here are their rankings:

Big Man on Campus @JeffNadu (Check out his Big Man on Campus podcast)

  1. FULTZ
  2. JOSH JACKSON
  3. DEAARON FOX
  4. TATUM
  5. LONZO BALL

The Talented Mr. Hicks (He’s been on the South Carolina Gamecocks’ train all season)

  1. BALL (Fell in love with his passing and vision)
  2. FOX (John Wall Part II)
  3. TATUM (Going to be a stud)
  4. FULTZ
  5. MONK (Could be an explosive shooter or Nick Young)

The Bro

  1. FULTZ
  2. MONK
  3. TATUM
  4. FOX
  5. BALL