Three Bruins stand above the rest in achieving their professional goals this offseason, according to the latest mock draft from Sports Illustrated.
No. 3 UCLA men’s basketball (10-2, 2-1 Pac-12) opened its season by playing multiple high-profile games and taking down the likes of Villanova, Marquette and Colorado in the process. NBA scouts have been watching closely all along, with most of the attention sparking during the Bruins’ Final Four run in 2021, and now a handful of UCLA stars are being mocked to get drafted in the 2022 NBA Draft.
Guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., guard/forward Peyton Watson and guard Johnny Juzang were all a part of Sports Illustrated staff writer Jeremy Woo’s latest 2022 NBA mock draft on Thursday.
Debuting on the mock draft as a late-first round prospect was Jaquez. The Chicago Bulls already have several UCLA alumni on the roster this season with Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball leading their backcourt, but in this mock draft, one more Bruin would be heading to the Windy City.
Slotted in at No. 28 overall, Jaquez could move even higher up the list if his scoring totals rise. Through 12 games, the junior has averaged a career-high 13.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals a night. In UCLA’s victory over Marquette back in December, Jaquez scored a season-high 24 points and led the way in a defensive effort that ended with the Bruins’ winning 67-56.
Here is what Woo had to say about the Bulls drafting Jaquez:
While Jaquez hasn’t fully broken out the way some hoped, he still has quite a few fans around the league, and has attractive role-player traits that should keep him in the discussion in the late first round. He’s tough, productive, known as a hard worker, and has enough size to spend time at both forward spots. Jaquez still needs to prove he can be a more consistent jump shooter, but he’s had encouraging flashes on that front. He’s the type of player who is easy to envision finding a way to fit in, considering his versatility on both ends of the court and his strong intangibles. A big second half would enhance his first-round candidacy, but his body of work likely won’t be the issue. There’s some debate about Jaquez’s upside, but he feels like a fairly safe pick in this range.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are the next team on the board at No. 29, and Woo has them taking Watson at the tail end of the first round as well.
Even though Watson has played the eighth-fewest minutes on the Bruins, his raw potential is showing on the court and NBA teams have been watching what he can bring since high school. Entering UCLA as a five-star recruit, there is still hope that the 6-foot-8 forward’s athletic ability will boost his professional prospects even further up the draft boards.
Watson has averaged 4.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.8 blocks per game in 12 appearances this year. Against Bellarmine and Oregon, Watson scored in double figures – proving his shot-making ability at the college level – and coach Mick Cronin and praised him for his defense and rebounding several times as well.
Woo discussed why the Thunder would select Watson and how he could improve his draft stock before June:
Watson has hardly had any opportunity to make an impact at UCLA, with Mick Cronin essentially mothballing him on a team that features seven upperclassmen. It’s become a difficult situation for NBA teams to get a handle on, and Watson is one of several underperforming but talented freshmen who have struggled, leaving his first-round candidacy in flux. He’s a gifted scorer and athlete but has lagged behind a bit defensively, which has made it much harder to earn minutes. At this point, there’s simply not much on tape to draw conclusions from. The hope remains that Watson might gain more of a foothold in the rotation in the second half of the season, and teams will be eager to learn more about him in the predraft process, regardless. For now, he projects as a long-term development swing in this part of the draft.
Juzang is projected to be the third Bruin off the board, and if Woo is correct, he’ll barely make the cut.
The Phoenix Suns are projected to end up with the No. 58 pick, and Woo has them selecting Juzang. The former March Madness hero came back to school for his true junior season in an effort to improve his stock, but flirting with the 2022 Mr. Irrelevant title is probably not what he had in mind.
Juzang’s scoring ability has never been in question since he transferred from Kentucky to Westwood, but consistency on both sides of the floor have been persistent question marks. Juzang is currently averaging career-highs with 16.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists per game, while shooting just below his 2021 averages at a 44% clip from the field goal.
If Juzang can lead UCLA to another Final Four run and help the Bruins reach their potential, the NBA could be calling his name much sooner than at the back-end of the second round.
There is still time for more UCLA players to make their way into NBA mock drafts as well, with seniors Jules Bernard, Cody Riley and David Singleton all possibly in their final years on campus. Bernard, especially, has emerged as a scoring threat this season and Cronin has recently been claiming the guard will be an NBA player in the near future.
Follow Royer on Twitter at @thebenroyer
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