1. Jaden McDaniels, Power Forward
Current Team: Washington Huskies
The Washington Huskies basketball program tends to churn out a serious amount of talent of late into the NBA Draft. In the last four NBA Drafts alone, the Washington basketball program sent the likes of point guard Markelle Fultz, shooting guard/small forward Matisse Thybulle, and guard DeJounte Murray all in the first round.
This year, the top prospect coming out of Washington should be the former five-star recruit and Federal Way, WA, native power forward Jaden McDaniels. The Chicago Bulls are starting to see a possible positional need emerging at power forward since the former Arizona Wildcats product Lauri Markkanen is off to a very slow start this season.
This season was an important marker in the development of Markkanen too. A slow start of this nature is a very bad sign for Markkanen for the path of his progression in the NBA.
The other top big man coming out of Washington for the 2020 NBA Draft should be a fellow former five-star recruit and 6-foot-9 center Isaiah Stewart. But McDaniels is a more prototypical NBA stretch-big man that NBA scouts would be seeking out in the modern day. The lengthy 6-foot-9 and 200 pound forward is shooting around 44 percent from the field and 37 percent from three-point range so far through his freshman campaign.
McDaniels is also averaging 14.3 points per game, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists so far this season. He’s showing up faster than expected on the defensive end of the floor too with 0.9 blocks per game and 1.2 steals. The 92.6 defensive rating registered by McDaniels thus far is a very nice surprise.