The NFL draft might be the story of the week, but the NBA draft will be here much sooner than it seems. With UNC star Caleb Wilson officially putting his name in the draft, there's a lot of excitement about what the former Tar Heel star will do during his NBA career.
There's still plenty of time before NBA teams have to make a decision on what they want to do with guys like Wilson, but according to the latest, it seems like there's a push for him to be the second overall pick. He proved during his time in college that he can be one of the best players in the country at any given moment, and at times, was probably the best player in the world.
In a recent mock draft, Wilson went second overall to the Atlanta Hawks, a new team for the 6-foot-10 North Carolina star.
"Front office executives around the NBA increasingly believe Wilson could be the second player taken in June’s draft. While his exact spot won’t be clear until after the Draft Lottery, once each pick is determined, some teams value the high-flying North Carolina freshman above the more ground-bound Cam Boozer from Duke. Others view Wilson as having similarly high upside as Kansas guard Darryn Peterson with dramatically lower downsides due to Peterson’s availability concerns.
"If there’s one thing the Hawks could use it’s an athletic big to pair in the frontcourt with Onyeka Okongwu, or serve as an alternate lone big on the floor. And Wilson is arguably the most gifted athlete in the draft class. He's 6-10 with springs for legs, and when he's flying above the rim, finishing through contact and chasing down everything in his area code, he looks like a future cornerstone," Kevin O'Connor wrote.
The Hawks are one of those teams that can probably take Wilson and feel good about it. They're in a position where they can contend even if he doesn't develop as quickly as they like. For some other teams in the top five, they probably need Wilson to be a star immediately, and that's a tough test for any college kid.