Chicago Bulls: 4 2020 NBA Draft targets trending up heading into New Year

2. Obi Toppin, Forward

Current Team: Dayton Fliers

It’s not just Dayton Fliers 6-foot-9 and 220 pound sophomore big man Obi Toppin that is trending way up at the moment. Dayton is winning more games than expected and building a pretty strong NCAA Tournament resume through their non-conference slate. Toppin’s emergence in his second year in college is a big reason why.

Toppin is averaging 18.8 points per game, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists while posting a 31.6 player efficiency rating and 2.6 win shares in just 12 games played this season. He’s also shooting 61.8 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from three-point range. That three-point shooting percentage is actually down for Toppin compared to his numbers from last season (better than 43 percent from downtown).

The strides that Toppin made on both ends of the floor this year is showing up clearly in his advanced numbers. His player efficiency rating is sparkling, but his offensive rating (126.8) and defensive rating (90.3) are both improved from his freshman season. He also has an outstanding box plus/minus rating of 12.4.

The turnover and block rates are both trending in the right direction so far this season for Toppin too. His block rate is up just shy of five percent and his turnover rate is down to 12.5 percent. Better vision and rim protecting abilities are both still highly sought after from big men in the NBA in the modern day.