Chicago Bulls: 5 underrated prospects to watch at 2021 NBA Combine

Underrated prospects to watch for the Chicago Bulls at the combine: Matthew Hurt

There was a point in time when the Duke Blue Devils former elite five-star recruit and sophomore power forward Matthew Hurt was considered a sure-first first-round draft pick. A rocky true freshman campaign in Durham, NC, largely doomed most chances that Hurt had of being a first-round draft pick, let alone a lottery selection, last year.

Hurt did have a pretty remarkable level of improvement during his sophomore campaign, which puts him in a spot to challenge to be a late first-round draft pick in this class. More likely, though, Hurt will be an early to mid-second-round draft pick in 2021 given the strength at his position around this spot on the board.

The honors of the ACC’s Most Improved Player and All-ACC selection went Hurt’s way last season, and deservedly so. Hurt averaged a career-best 18.3 points per game, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists while shooting 55.6 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Strengths surrounding Hurt’s game that could appeal to the Bulls include his strong spot-up shooting ability and the ability to create off-the-dribble. But Hurt oftentimes struggles to jostle position down low, and there’s a lot of questions surrounding his defensive ability.

Hurt likely would not help any of the defensive woes that the Bulls experienced at times in the frontcourt this season, so that would be the main downside to drafting him. Some of these question marks could be answered for Hurt in the draft combine with a strong showing.

That would definitely help his case in this draft class.