NBA scout sizes up Adams, Waters, Oni
Three players with local ties hope to hear their names called in the 2019 NBA draft in a couple of months.
It’s possible Jalen Adams, Tremont Waters and Miye Oni all get selected on June 20 at the Barclays Center. It’s possible none of the three get drafted. It’s most likely that two of the three, Waters and Oni, get drafted — though almost certainly in the second round.
It’s also possible that Waters, the New Haven product who just completed his sophomore season at LSU, and Oni, a junior at Yale, could return to their respective schools. Under new NCAA guidelines, both players can hire an agent to go through the predraft process, but still have the option of returning to school if they desire. However, it appears both players are pretty focused on turning pro.
Here’s how one Eastern Conference NBA scout sized up the respective players’ chances of being selected in this year’s draft, and their prospects for the future:
JALEN ADAMS
Adams, the UConn guard who just completed his senior season, will attend next week’s Portsmouth Invitational, a showcase event for college seniors. All 64 players invited to last year’s event are currently playing professionally, though most are either overseas or in the NBA G-League. A few, like another Jaylen Adams (older brother of rising UConn sophomore Brendan Adams) are on NBA rosters.
“I think he’s a bubble guy,” the NBA scout said of Jalen Adams. “Some people like him, some people don’t. I don’t think he’ll be drafted, though it’s not impossible.”
Adams’ name doesn’t pop up on any mock draft boards, though those are hardly an exact science. The 6-foot-3 guard needs to get a little stronger and improve his shooting, but he has the athleticism and ability to score that could get him to “The League” at some point.
He could improve his stock in Portsmouth and be a late second-round pick. More likely, Adams will go undrafted and have to sign with a team as a free agent and fight his way onto a roster — or go overseas.
“He’s a guy that we’d say he’s got to get in the hopper,” said the scout, “and fight his way up through the minor leagues.”
TREMONT WATERS
The New Haven native and former Notre DameWest Haven star announced his intention to enter the 2019 NBA draft pool last week, and it appears he has no intention of returning to LSU. That makes sense, since the program is currently racked in scandal. The fact that Will Wade was reinstated as head coach on Sunday, after having been suspended through the Tigers’ recent NCAA tournament run, may bode well for the team, and for Waters’ possible return. However, the spectre of NCAA
sanctions still hang over the program.
And Waters has had his mind on the NBA for a while now, anyway.
Waters certainly improved his stock with a strong three games in the NCAA tournament, but it remains to be seen whether the 5-foot-11, 166-pound point guard did enough to merit being drafted. The NBADraft.net and Si.com websites don’t have him being selected in the draft, though ESPN.com has him as the No. 49 overall prospect and sixth overall among point guards. (It should be noted that the NBADraft.com site hasn’t been updated since April 4, a day before Waters declared his intentions of entering the draft).
“I like him a lot as a college player,” said the scout. “There’s a lot of questions about him as an NBA guy — size and strength. He’s a great kid, he works hard. (But) I saw him get abused last year by Collin Sexton (the former Alabama star who was taken with the eight overall pick in last year’s NBA draft). That stays in my mind. He tried so hard to be strong against him and it was a joke.”
Still, the scout likes the fact that Waters plays hard, and with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.
“I love his determination, and the fact that people probably told him his whole life that he’s too small. That internal wiring for guys like that a lot times is better than most.”
Still, the scout believes Waters should return to LSU for his junior year. That doesn’t appear likely.
MIYE ONI
The 6-foot-6 Yale guard had a tremendous junior season, earning Ivy League Player of the Year honors and AP All-American honorable mention. However, his final impression wasn’t a good one, going 2-for-16 from the floor and 1-for-10 from 3-point land in a firstround NCAA tournament loss to (ironically) Waters and LSU.
The mock drafts are nearly unanimous in predicting Oni will go somewhere
among the final 10 picks of the second round. Of course, there is no guaranteed money for secondround picks. And while some — maybe 10 or 15 — can get guaranteed contracts, players selected in
the bottom half of the second round aren’t as likely.
Those players will more likely end up in the GLeague, making nowhere near the millions of the NBA and with no guarantee of ever getting a sniff in
the the league.
“It’s tough to pass up a Yale education,” said the scout. “I’d tell him to finish (school).”