We currently have 12 freshmen ranked on our Big Board right now. On Saturday, 10 of those 12 were in action. The other two played Sunday. NBA scouts and GMs were out in full force to take in a bevy of great games -- Kentucky versus Missouri, Kansas versus Texas, Duke versus Syracuse, Cal versus Arizona and Indiana versus Michigan.
After watching all five games, I spoke with several NBA scouts and GMs who were in attendance to get an updated look on most of the top freshmen on our Big Board. I wasn't as concerned about their performance this weekend as I was about where they stand, overall, in the eyes of NBA teams.
Here's a look at which freshmen in our Top 30 are helping or hurting their draft stock right now.
Chad Ford's Top 100 | Big Board 6.0 | Mock Draft 2.0
THE BIG 4
Joel Embiid, C, Kansas
After scoring in double figures in every game since Jan. 11, Embiid scored just eight points Saturday against Texas. While he struggled a bit against Texas' big, physical front line (Embiid has been cleaning up on the undersized front lines in the Big 12 this year), the arc for Embiid couldn't be clearer. Virtually every week his grasp grows tighter on the No. 1 pick. His fluidity in the post combined with his significant defensive abilities have every team in the league drooling. He is the favorite to go No. 1 right now.
"He wasn't great on Saturday," one league executive said, "but you still saw so many positives. His footwork is outstanding. He moves like a guard. He doesn't back down. He's making mistakes, but all ones that are very fixable. I love him."
Andrew Wiggins, G/F, Kansas
Wiggins had scored 56 points in his past two outings before being limited to just seven points on 2-of-12 shooting against Texas on Saturday. That was the bad news. The good news is that Wiggins continued to show he's going to be aggressive, played great defense and actually upped his 3-point shooting percentage to 37 percent for the season. He's prone to have these inconsistencies, but scouts love that he actually took 12 shots.
"He's playing so much better," one GM said. "He's becoming aggressive. He's playing with more poise. He missed a lot of shots on Saturday, but many of them were good shots that just didn't go down. He's going to have to get better at finishing around the basket in traffic, but lately he's been playing like the Wiggins we knew in high school. I think he's still very much in the running for the No. 1 pick. If I were choosing between him and Embiid, I don't know what I'd do."
Jabari Parker, F, Duke
Parker got off to a great start to the season, then hit a major rough patch when Duke started ACC play. Lately he has been playing better, and we saw a little bit of both the good and the bad Saturday versus Syracuse. Parker shot just 6-for-16 from the field and continues to struggle with his jumper. Five of his six field goals were dunks. But that's the good news. With Parker's jump shot struggling, he has been more aggressive at getting to the rim on both ends of the floor.
"Jabari was never considered a great shooter coming out of high school," one GM said. "It's his overall game that we loved. I think it's a blessing in some ways that he's not making his jump shots. It's forcing him to do other things and Jabari can score in a lot of ways. I don't think he was as good of a shooter as he looked in the first half of the season, and I don't think he's as bad as he's looked in ACC play. Split it down the middle and I think that's about right. He's going to be a very good NBA player. Embiid and Wiggins have more upside and I'd probably take them first. But after those two are off the board, I think you'd be crazy to pass on Jabari."
Julius Randle, PF, Kentucky
Randle rebounded from the worst game of his career last Tuesday at LSU, to post one of his best in SEC play (18 points, nine boards, three steals -- remember that) against Missouri. Randle was aggressive, put the ball on the floor and looked for his shot. He still shows his struggles against long, athletic players, but he works so hard and is so agile, he has proved he can compensate.
"I thought he looked great on Saturday," one scout said. "It was one of the best games I've seen him play and one of the best games I've seen Kentucky play all year. He's obviously helped when other guys are getting it going on the team and everything isn't falling on his shoulders. I don't love him as much as I did before the season, but I think he's still worthy of a top-five pick."
THE LOTTERY PICKS
Aaron Gordon, F, Arizona
Gordon's offensive woes continued Saturday against Cal. He's just 9-of-37 from the field in his past three games. But Gordon makes up for it with so much hustle and energy that he makes a major impact on the game anyway. He had 13 rebounds and six assists against Cal and was everywhere.
"He's stuck between positions and I think we're going to have to embrace the fact that ideally, he's a 4 in our league," one scout said. "Now that Brandon Ashley likely is out the season, he'll move to his natural position and I think that will help his stock. Once he gets stronger, I think he'll be fine there. He's so quick, plays the game the right way and plays so hard, he's going to be really good. But you have to understand what he is and what he isn't."
Noah Vonleh, F/C, Indiana
Vonleh had another typical game Sunday -- 10 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks. He's not as polished as the five players ahead of him on this list, but many scouts feel his upside might surpass both Randle and Gordon, especially if he's going to keep making 3s.
Tyler Ennis, PG, Syracuse
Ennis has been the highest riser on our draft board and proved why scouts are so high on him with some clutch plays down the stretch for Syracuse. Ennis handles himself like a fourth-year senior. His instincts between scoring and distributing just can't be taught.
"If you were to ask me right now whether I'd take Ennis over Kyrie Irving, I think it's Ennis," one GM said. "He does all the things that help a basketball team win basketball games. You can pick him apart on individual flaws, but I would take this kid right now and trust him to run my team. I think there's very few freshmen you could ever say that about."
James Young, G/F, Kentucky
If there was one player about whom every scout was buzzing Saturday, it was Young. Young scored 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting and was 4-for-7 from 3. He was the engine that got Kentucky's offense going early and with his shot beginning to fall with a lot more regularity is moving back into the conversation as a potential top-10 pick.
"When Young plays like he did on Saturday, he's a top-10 pick," one scout said. "He tries to do too much and can get overwhelmed. But when he plays in a rhythm, he's really good."
Zach LaVine, G, UCLA
LaVine has been in a major slump lately. He's hit just 3 of his past 17 shots and just one of his past eight 3-pointers. In a loss against Oregon State on Sunday, he also turned the ball over four times. LaVine clearly possesses upside, but he has struggled enough in conference play that it might warrant another year at UCLA before he's ready for the NBA.
THE REST
Wayne Selden, G/F, Kansas
Selden mostly has taken a backseat to Embiid, Wiggins and Perry Ellis. But against Texas on Saturday, with everyone else struggling, he looked the part of a projected lottery pick, scoring 21 points for the Jayhawks. More games like that from Selden could boost his stock back into the lottery.
Jabari Bird, SG, Cal
Bird got off to a great start, but an injury has slowed him a bit and he's slowly getting back into the swing of things at Cal. He played 19 minutes against Arizona and took just three shots. He clearly is trying to figure out how to get back into his rhythm. If it doesn't happen soon, he probably falls out of our Top 30.
Andrew Harrison, PG, Kentucky
After getting off to a very slow start, Harrison has shown flashes that he can be the type of player that NBA scouts hoped he would be. His 14-point, four-assist performance against Missouri might have been his second best of the year behind his big game a few weeks ago against Tennessee.
"He's getting better," one scout said. "He was so lost at first. I'm not sure he's a point guard, but I think he can learn to become one. He's at his best when he's hunting for his own shot. For all the talk about bad body language, he's hung in there and he's starting to play the way he's capable of playing."