27. A.J. Lawson, Shooting Guard
Current Team: South Carolina
A player that is off to a solid start through the 2019-20 college basketball regular season that could continue to steadily rise up draft boards is the South Carolina Gamecocks sophomore 6-foot-6 shooting guard AJ Lawson. South Carolina could be an NCAA Tournament contender this season just thanks to the breakthrough of Lawson.
Lawson already has his player efficiency rating up to 26.8 (which is almost a 10 point jump from his freshman season) and his production is much more well-rounded than last year. He’s averaging 16.0 points per game, 3.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists so far this season. He’s also getting to the charity stripe much more often and hitting his free throws at a clip above 82 percent.
All the trends are pointing in the right direction, beyond a somewhat cold shooting start from deep, for Lawson through his sophomore season. Keep that up in the production department and the insane physical tools and quickness off the first step from Lawson will continue to win over NBA scouts.
Passing and creating off the dribble should continue to be works in progress for Lawson. He doesn’t have that many more assists this season than he did last for the Gamecocks. Those will be marked areas of improvement.
But Lawson should also work on his on-ball defense and positioning on the floor since he looks to be a net-neutral presence on that end at the moment.