2. TyTy Washington Jr.
My personal favorite pick, TyTy Washington Jr, is one of the only “true point guards” in this year’s draft. Whether that has to do with true point guards becoming somewhat of a dying breed or just a lack of talent at the position this year remains to be seen.
In recent years, there seem to be fewer and fewer facilitators coming right out of the draft and more of the “heavy, on-ball scorers with good playmaking skills” archetype that eventually develop into someone who can get you seven-plus assists per game.
So even though Sahvir Wheeler is operating as the primary point guard for Kentucky this season, that doesn’t mean TyTy doesn’t have point guard upside. In some ways, he’s similar to his fellow Kentucky-alum and current Knicks’ standout, Immanuel Quickley.
Quickley took the backseat to Tyrese Maxey when it came down to playmaking duties and operated more as an off-ball scorer, but as we have seen in recent weeks, IQ is developing into a better playmaker by the day.
Washington Jr. is averaging over 13 points per game and is shooting 37% from long-range this year. He’s an explosive, dynamic weapon on the offensive side of the ball and teams picking in the 7 to 15 range are going to be really into what he brings to the table.
I’d really like to see what he could look like with a bit more of an expanded role on the ball at the next level because he’s shown flashes of elite-level playmaking. What he’s proven as a freshman when playing off of the ball has been super encouraging and will likely show that he’s far from just a run-of-the-mill secondary ball-handler.