Is CU’s Wright good enough to play in NBA?
Kiz: There’s no way, no how Colorado would’ve won 22 games and earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA basketball tournament if point guard McKinley Wright IV had not chosen to withdraw from the NBA draft to return for his senior season. We all know the Buffs will go as far in the tourney as Wright takes them. But if you were a general manager of an NBA franchise, would you take Wright in this year’s draft?
Keeler: March is for guards. Senior guards, especially. Wright is carrying the flag for generations of great Twin Cities point guards, a group that includes Khalid El-Amin (UConn), Tyus Jones (Duke), Lawrence McKenzie (Oklahoma, Minnesota) and Siyani Chambers (Harvard). It’s a pretty cool little club, one where the stars have a couple things in common: First, all of them, at one point or another, helped get their teams to the Big Dance. Second, none of them were very big, physically. If I’m an NBA general manager, there’s no question I’m calling Wright and his reps. He’s good enough. Am I drafting him? Given the current setup, probably not.
Kiz: In college sports, we like to believe the name on the front of the uniform counts more than the name on the back. But that’s simply not true. We are a starstruck nation of sports fans. Our starry eyes come out during March Madness, where one-and-done phenoms get way more of our attention than teams built the old-fashioned way, with the savvy provided by student-athletes who hit the books for four years instead of hiring an agent ASAP. Wright is the perfect player for coach Tad Boyle’s program. But as a pro prospect, he’s flawed.
Keeler: It’s just like quarterback in the NFL — if you don’t fit a certain physical profile first, some GMs (cough, John Elway, cough) tend to scratch you off their lists right away. Tankathon.com’s big board lists Wright as its No. 48 prospect available and mocked him as the No. 49 pick to Dallas. NBADraft.net’s Top 100? No Wright. NBADraft.net’s mock? No Wright. The major three scouting knocks on the Buffs’ point guard are his frame (6-feet, 196 pounds), his 3-point shooting (33.1% at CU) and an occasional brain-camp with the ball. Although Wright has cut his turnover percentage (giveaways per 100 plays) significantly over the years, from 22.0 as a sophomore to 18.6 as a junior to 13.4 as a senior.
Kiz: From the first time he laced up his sneakers for CU as a freshman, Wright was not afraid of the big moment. But where I’ve seen the most growth in his game is the confidence to take a jump shot, as well as drive to the hoop, with the game on the line. Undersized point guards who aren’t quick as lightning do not play major minutes in the NBA. But with a draft choice late in the second round, I would take a shot on Wright, because there’s winning in his genes.
Keeler: Tell you what: If I land a pick later than 50 in the NBA Draft, I might bite. You love the intangibles. Dude’s strong. Has absolutely no fear. Guards like a hungry piranha. (Career points allowed per 100 possessions: 99.4, right in line with Jones’ 99.2 at Duke in 2014-15.) 3-and-D guys can stick at the next level. And I can think of another smallish Midwest point guard who had some wonks doubting his size and durability as a pro. That Monte Morris guy turned out all right, didn’t he?