Louisville Basketball: No Cards Listed in Top 60 Prospects for 2019 NBA Draft

It’s way too early to look forward to the 2019 NBA Draft. Sports Illustrated released their top 60 prospects, and no Louisville basketball members were listed. We think they got that wrong.

Shortly after a professional sporting league’s annual draft takes place, sports nerds like myself begin grazing through the next years data just for fun. With the 2018 NBA Draft just a little over two weeks past, I’ve already begun looking at who might be the next can’t miss prospects in 2019.

So have plenty of other outlets.

Sports Illustrated released their top 60 prospects for the 2019 NBA Draft, featuring soon to be freshman at Duke, R.J. Barrett at number one. While looking through the other 59 prospects on the list, I quickly noticed that there was no Louisville players featured, and honestly I wasn’t shocked.

While heading into the 2017-18 season many thought that Ray Spalding, and Deng Adel would have big seasons, and go on to be drafted, only the former did. But the one guy that was featured on nearly every mock draft for 2018, was VJ King. King had an okay season, but didn’t take that Donovan Mitchell style leap that we all imagined he would. Granted, losing your head coach just week before practice begins, and playing for a brand new, inexperienced interim coach, probably stunted his growth a bit. Still, we never saw the five star talent emerge for Louisville.

When looking at all the changes that have taken place in the program this offseason, particularly with Chris Mack, you’d have to think several players on the 2018-19, could be ready to take big steps forward and potentially leave for the 2019 NBA Draft.

A lot of fans will down play that, because look at how they played in 2018. But with a new head coach in Chris Mack, who has put guys like Edmond Sumner, Semaj Christon, and Jordan Crawford into the NBA during his time at Xavier, guys like VJ King, Jordan Nwora, Malik Williams or Darius Perry could be ready to make the jump.

Out of that group, there are two guys who stand out to me.

Malik Williams

Malik Williams leaving after his sophomore season for the NBA seems like it would be an extreme long shot at this point and time (thanks captain obvious). But hear me out.

We all remember the hype that the 5 star, 7’0 “unicorn”big man came into Louisville with. Williams was one of the best big men in the class of 2017, showing an elite ability to dominate inside the paint and out, having a game that looked a lot like Kevin Durant. Williams had ball handling abilities, a nice back to the basket game, ability to pull up off the dribble, and of course his knack for knocking down three pointers.

At his size, those skills are all rare, and for that reason that’s why they make him the perfect type of breakout player.

Yes, last season Williams struggled at times to find his footing in the Louisville lineup. Though he started in 12 contests, playing in 32 total, the 7’0 big man averaged just 3.8 points, and 2.4 rebounds per game, shooting a mediocre 54% from the field, and 32% of from deep (not bad for a big guy). His playing time was limited, as he wasn’t quite ready to contribute on the glass or defensively, forcing Interim Coach David Padgett to play the more experienced Anas Mahmoud and Ray Spalding.

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What should be encouraging was Williams development throughout the season, though he struggled with bad defense (mostly due to a lack of size to play in the ACC), and racking up bad fouls, Williams got tougher (so it seemed) towards the end of the season, showing glimpses of what could be in 2018-19. The big man also spent the majority of his time outside of the paint, and though that is a strength of his, more than half of Williams field goal attempts were three pointers.

In year 2, Williams will get a new skill trait from head coach Chris Mack that he didn’t display much of in 2017-18, which is toughness. Xavier’s big men, though undersized, were all always some of the toughest SOB”s in the Big East, and were constintely at the top of the “dirty” statistics (shot blocking, rebounding). Williams is already benefitting from the new strength progams being installed by Louisville strength coach Andy Kettler, and with that should bring a new found confidence to spend more time inside.

Williams will also need to add shot blocking, inside scoring, rebounding, and most importantly a mid-range game, to an already beautiful set of outside skills. If he’s able to add those areas to his game, he could be ready to make a Chinanu Onuaku-esque jump in year two at Louisville, catching the eyes of NBA scouts in the process.

Jordan Nwora

It seemed like after every game that Jordan Nwora received a DNP-CD last season, fans were left more confused than the time before. That’s probably because when he did play, Nwora showed the ability to be one of the best perimeter threats for the Louisville basketball program.

As I pointed out back in April, after Nwora made his intentions known of returning to The Ville for his sophomore season rather than transferring, in only 28 games played last year, Nwora led the entire team in three point shooting percentage at 49%, and was fifth in three’s made. In 2018-19, Nwora will be the team’s leading three pointer, if given the opportunity, no doubt about it.

What makes him an NBA caliber prospect is his size, 6’8, 215 pounds (which will likely be about 220,225, by the time the 18-19 season rolls around), which is ideal for a stretch four in today’s NBA, paired with his ability to shoot. While last year was a small sample size, Nwora showed that he has the ability to be an elite (and I mean ELITE) 3 point shooter in the ACC.

Nwora is the ideal power forward in a Chris Mack system (think Kerem Kanter in 17-18, Trevon Blueitt) as he is able to play outside (4 out 1 in) while being able to guard a traditional power forward or small forward on defense. Just like Williams Nwora will have to show some better resiliency and toughness when out on the floor, but if he does, he could be ready for a national breakout type of season.

If you need more proof, just look at the success Nwora has been having while playing for the Nigerian National Team in the FIBA World Cup. Over just three games, Nwora has averaged double figure points, and rebounds, even putting up a 36 point performance against Mali (also put up , breaking the Nigerian national team’s scoring record at just 19 YEARS OLD.

Jordan Nwora's 36 points today is the most points ever scored by a Nigerian player in a major tournament, surpassing Ike Diogu's 31-point mark (which he achieved twice). pic.twitter.com/3hhfjQRZ5t
— D’Tigers | Nigeria Basketball (@NigeriaBasket) July 1, 2018

This kid is special, and NBA GM’s and Scouts should be salivating over the potential matchup night mares he could present at the next level. While he still has quite a bit of room for improvement, we could be talking about Nwora as a first round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft come next June.

V.J. King

At this same time last season when NBA Draft outlets were looking at the “Way Too Early 2018 NBA Mock Drafts” V.J. King was a guy who was listed as a mid-to-late round prospect on just about every single one of them. If you didn’t know this by now, a lot can change in a year.

But after an up-and-down season in 2017-18, King was a guy who began to have a lot more questions than answers. But don’t count out the former five star recruit, and McDonalds All-American, especially this season.

After two years of working as a magician, showing a unique ability to disappear in games, King is ready to take a big step forward under the tutelage of new head coach Chris Mack. King’s biggest issues in his first two years on campus, was his confidence. Though he had shown through high school, and on the AAU circuit that he could score at an extremely high level, as a slashing forward with pull up ability, that seemed to vanish during his first two seasons.

While shot selection was a huge culprit of that, King also dealt with being pulled quicker than most as a freshman, and for an inexperienced head coach without much player development abilities. King at times, showed that he could have big influences in games, even taking over if needed, but more times than not, King faded into the background, while guys like Deng Adel did their thing.

This season, King will return as the most all-around talented player, with the most experience, which should allow him to finally make the jump that fans and coaches have been waiting for since 2016.

Mack has coached some extremely talented wings, but none have been former 5 star recruits with the natural abilities and intangibles of King. If Mack could catch Trevon Blueitt to be an all-american, there’s a lot of faith coming from my end in Mack and his ability to get King to where he needs to be.

Many are tabbing King as a potential national break out player in 2018. After loosing their top four scorers, King will be the guy for the first time in his career, and as FanSided’s Busting Bracket’s points out, everything King needs, Mack brings to the table.

King brings NBA wing size to the table, at 6’7 with a 7’0 wingspan, and if he is able to score at an elite level, while displaying potential as a 3-D type player, he could be someone who shoots up draft boards through the season.

It’s way too early to start breaking down the 2019 NBA Draft, which makes it the perfect time for outlets to break down the 2019 NBA Draft (perfect logic right?), and the fact that no Louisville players are being talked about as potential draftees shouldn’t be surprising, at least for now.

We’ve seen what Chris Mack is capable of during his time at Xavier, turning several mid-level, three star recruits into All-Americans, and doing a whole bunch of winning. Mack will have a super talented group, full of potential, but will need to work his magic in order to get these guys playing at the level their capable of.

Next: Which Grad Transfer will Make the Biggest Impact this Season?

If that happens, Jordan Nwora, Malik Williams, and VJ King are all guys who could be ready to leave Louisville for the NBA Draft.