In one play, behold a future NBA player. General managers often can’t

Players further west of the Mississippi River get overlooked in an industry shaped by East Coast media. The state of Oregon can be used as a case study on picks such as Boston’s Payton Pritchard.

Diamonds in the rough: Ten players (see below for second five) who NBA GMs may want to consider drafting, with three to declare in a year or two. Team UCLA is a steady source for talent. Seven of the pictured players will have played in this years’s NCAA tournament.

NBA general managers need help drafting players after the first 15 picks are chosen. Below are 10 prospects who deserve a look.

It’s hard to know whether some scouts are lazy, incompetent or suffering from information overload, but every year a guy like defensive stalwart Dillon Brooks (Houston Rockets) falls to the mid second round or, even worse, is not taken at all, as was the case with Gary Payton II and Drew Eubanks of Oregon State, as well as Oregon’s Chris Boucher, all NBA veterans with more than six years of experience.

East Coast talking heads, along with media behemoth ESPN, play a role in obscuring talent as foreign to them as a cowboy bar in Laramie, Wyo. How many features on Cooper Flagg (Duke) need to be scripted, and couldn’t The Athletic of The New York Times fly a reporter out West for a change? It might do a writer good to break the Bristol, Conn., to Grand Central Station commuter train routine.

The state of Oregon can be used as a template for a study on skill that slips through gaps between Metro-North railroad cars, rush-hour hangouts for New York-area sports journalists. How many teams would now draft Payton Pritchard higher than 26th? Not just a three-point shooter, he rebounds well for a 6-foot-2 guard, is never hurt and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.3/1, sixth best in the league. The possible 2025 Sixth Man award winner had equally profound stats at tournament-solid UO so excuses shouldn’t be made. As with the Boston Celtics, the rich get richer. Denver, Boston and Miami consistently draft well.

NBA general managers and their mercenaries play it safe, drafting players from storied schools like Duke, Connecticut and Kentucky, but for every Kyrie Irving, there are several selected each year from like programs who ride the bench and are soon out of the league. Great college basketball coaches with ‘systems,’ as NFL scouts derisively like to say, don’t always produce stellar pro talent. Coaches like Rick Pitino will their teams to win.

On occasion, a future NBA player can be seen in as little as one play, as with Oregon State’s Brent Barry, who had a 14-year career. A stick thin redshirt freshman at the time, he niftily shifted the ball from one hand to the other while in flight at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Ore., converting a tricky drive that would make his dad proud. Future NBA All-Star point guard Terrell Brandon did similarly his first UO home game, finishing a fast break by selling a pass to the right before smoothly cross-stepping over for a left-handed layup, all in one motion. Hello, Mac Court.

A good cut of the following prospects will make the NBA. Two or three won’t—despite meriting a shot—and none will likely be a star, but that’s the point. Come June, GMs look to round out rosters with low first and second-round picks who bring good value and potential, with an occasional picked over nugget like Brooks still on the table. Most others will see spot roles as players who also augment team chemistry during practice. Big men like Oregon’s undrafted N’Faly Dante (Houston Rockets) are out there. The LA Lakers could have used him.

States like Colorado, Washington and Oregon produce more NBA players than folks realize, and UCLA is an ever reliable source.

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Dadan Thomas, Jr., UNLV, 6-foot-1 sophomore point guard: 15.6 points, 4.7 assists

Thomas gets to the free-throw line through paint-area jump-stops and pump fakes that get defenders off balance. His game resembles a gritty New Yorker’s. He will improve from long distance, a skill that can wait. Point guards often dip their sophomore year when the word is out. Opinionated TV commentator Quinn Buckner, a champion point guard, is quick to say guards can’t be projects when drafted, something the Las Vegas native won’t be. A recent transfer portal entry, he would be wise to go to a school like UCLA. In a year or two, he might be something special.

Kwame Evans, Oregon, 6-foot-9 sophomore forward: 6.1 points, 4.4 rebounds

At UCLA, Bill Walton was the master of rebounding the ball at its highest point before turning in mid air and whipping an outlet pass to a darting teammate. Cat-quick Kwame Evans, who plays longer than 6-9, has been a Walton-like understudy the last few weeks, getting praise from a coach (Dana Altman) who is stingy on compliments. It’s not so much what Evans is now. When his offense comes around, watch out. At this point, his value rests in lateral perimeter defense and snatching high-bouncing rebounds.

Dawson Garcia, Minnesota, 6-foot-11 senior forward: 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds. Second team All-Big 10.

From jump hooks to long-distance set shots, Garcia can flat out shoot, employing pump fakes and jab steps to free himself. He lit up UO with 31 points against center Nate Bittle. Garcia’s inside-outside game should translate well in the NBA. At 234 pounds, he’s got bulk down low yet nimbly roams beyond the arc. The 15-17 Gophers underperformed all season so Garcia didn’t get much press. He would fit nicely into diverse offensive schemes.

Jackson Shelstad, Oregon, 6-foot sophomore point guard: 13.2 points, 2.7 assists

Shelstad’s shot sweetly curls twine, with textbook rotation. When he’s on, the West Linn, Ore., native resembles a pure shooter. As Pritchard did, he has withstood Dana Altman’s barking, done to encourage steals and apt ball distribution. Jet quick, he’s added a fluid step-back jumper, again like Pritchard, his childhood buddy. Shelstad has won games with crunch-time shots. He will only get better.

Nique Clifford, Colorado State, 6-foot-6 senior guard: 19.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists. Mountain West Conference tournament MVP

Athletic and a sound scorer, Clifford shot poorly in the No. 12 seed Rams’ win over Memphis today but contributed through rebounding, assists and unselfish play. For a guard who averages 10 rebounds a game, that’s par for the course.

Dylan Darling, Idaho State, 6-foot-1 sophomore point guard: 19.8 points, 5.7 assists, 3.4 assists, 1.7 steals, Big Sky Player of the Year (2025)

Darling’s dad, James, was a mean NFL linebacker for nine seasons. Go ahead and put two and two together. Sometimes it doesn’t matter if you’re six-foot-one. Especially if you can shoot and pass and are Big Sky player of the year. He could easily enter the transfer portal, but maybe Darling would do well to light it up in Pocatello. The Bengals this season went .500, a gargantuan improvement for them. Darling is the type of player who could go under the radar.

The UCLA roster: Fourteen Bruins are in NBA this season. As of the 2024–25 season, 106 former UCLA players have played in the NBA. Last season, Miami snagged Jaime Jacquez with the 18th pick, a deal.

Graham Ike, Gonzaga University, 6-foot-9 senior power forward: 17.1 points, 7.5 rebounds.

The unequivocal star at Wyoming three seasons ago, Ike is an old-school back-you-down forward who thrives in half-court sets. If he were ‘back to the future,’ he would fit right in with Wes Unseld. The 250-pound power forward is not going to wow teams with supple fade-aways but is a vastly improved free-throw shooter. He has complemented Gonzaga’s team-oriented philosophy, on display in last night’s blow-out victory over Georgia. If he can stay healthy, Ike will make the NBA.

Caleb Love, Arizona, 6-foot-4 senior guard: 16.6 points, 3.5 assists

NBA scouts have a tough time reading Arizona guards. Five years ago it was Nico Mannion, lauded all season until he wasn’t. Three seasons ago, it was Benedict Mathurian. Critics knitpicked about his jump shot but shut their mouths after he was named to the All-NBA rookie team as an Indiana Pacer.

Now it’s Caleb Love’s turn. An enigma, he’s shot 38 percent from the field but some games has looked every bit an NBA player, draining contested shots. Expect him to be hands-off with some draft-day teams. In the right system, though, he could be a steal of a pearl.

Hayden Gray, UC-San Diego, 6-foot-4 senior point guard: 11.2 points, 3.2 steals. 2025 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Finalist, 2025 Big West Defensive Player of the Year

After recording no steals and 10 points on two-for-eight shooting against Michigan last night, Hayden Gray has little chance of getting drafted. However, scouts and pundits are fond of relying on one game to define a player. The 6-foot-4 point guard led the nation in steals. That’s not easy.

Augustas Marčiulionis, St Mary’s College, 6-foot-4 senior point guard: 14.3 points, 6.1 assists. Two-time WCC Player of the Year

Marčiulionis has an X-factor working for him: The Lithuanian is the son of FIBA Hall of Fame player Šarūnas Marčiulionis, one of the first multi-season NBA players from Europe. A word to learnèd: Sons of NBA players strive to emulate their fathers and generally get it done. Augustus is not as sculpted as his dad but is plenty strong to go to battle as a point guard—and he’s a two-time WCC player of the year. Gonzaga plays in the same conference.

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