With the first two months of the college season already in the rearview mirror and the all-important conference portion of the schedule taking center stage, this is a great opportunity to check in on five players who have improved their draft stock in the eyes of NBA scouts.
Here's our new mock for both rounds, plus the latest on the big risers.
ESPN's Basketball Power Index was used to project the draft order. Unlike our top-100 rankings, this mock attempts to project which players will end up entering the draft.
Jarrett Culver | So. | SG | Texas Tech
Coming into the year as a projected top-20 pick, Culver has elevated his standing significantly with what has been an extraordinarily impressive season. Forced to shoulder a heavy offensive load on a skill-deprived Texas Tech squad that is 13-1 and ranks as the best defensive team in college basketball, Culver has upped his usage rate to a sky-high 30 percent (fifth among projected collegiate draft picks). Despite being his team's go-to guy, he has nevertheless been incredibly efficient with a true shooting percentage of 65, which trails only Zion Williamson and Rui Hachimura among heavy-usage college prospects.
Culver's shooting percentages (61 percent from 2, 42 percent from 3) are bound to fall as Texas Tech's schedule stiffens, but it was difficult not to be impressed by what he showed in high-profile neutral-court matchups against Duke, Nebraska and USC, plus a road game this week vs. West Virginia.
According to the coaching staff, Culver has grown to 6-foot-6 in shoes and added more than 20 pounds to his frame since arriving on campus, now weighing a solid 199 pounds and boasting a 6-9 wingspan. While not freakishly athletic in terms of power or sheer explosiveness, he has tremendous body control, plays at different speeds and uses long strides and polished footwork to get to where he needs to on the floor. Operating as his team's de facto point guard has forced Culver to break free from a somewhat passive style he at times fell into. His excellent pace, high basketball IQ, unselfish approach and ability to see over the top of defenses to find teammates creatively gives him nice potential as a playmaker at the NBA level.
Culver's jumper -- particularly off the dribble -- is still a work in progress. His release is fairly slow, and he doesn't always look as confident as you might expect, still passing up some open looks, but it's tough to argue with the results. He has plenty of time to continue to improve here as he enters his 20s.
While there are plenty of executives who are enamored with Culver -- comparing him to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander -- not all NBA scouts are on board with the idea of him being a lottery pick, even as it remains difficult to find even a handful of players who are having better seasons. Some teams question how much of his production is a product of a terrific situation and whether his methodical style will translate to the pace of the NBA, saying he may end up being more of a Josh Hart-style role player than a potential star playmaker. Culver has done a great job of silencing his critics with big performance after big performance and has now moved into the top 10 of our board, as he looks like one of the few players you can project as a sure starter with plenty of room to grow.
Admiral Schofield | Sr. | SF/PF | Tennessee
While much of the attention for Tennessee's 12-1 start has rightfully gone to Grant Williams, Schofield is also having a notable season. After starting his college career shooting 30 percent from beyond the arc as a freshman, the 6-6, 241-pound forward has turned himself into a 47 percent marksman as a senior, making big shot after big shot all season long -- many of them coming from NBA range and even off the dribble. He has sped up his release and flashed some ability to shoot off movement. He's making tough spot-ups with a hand in his face thanks to his high release and is demonstrating extreme confidence.
Schofield sees almost all of his minutes at small forward, which might not always be the case in the NBA, where his mammoth frame could serve him well as a small-ball power forward, and his weaknesses may be better hidden. He's a little undersized and not the most fluid or natural athlete, but his physicality, aggressiveness and competitiveness will serve him well. He plays the game with a real edge that is tough not to admire. That same toughness translates to the defensive end, where he plays with a terrific motor and uses his strength and length to slide on the perimeter. He has plenty of multipositional versatility.
Some scouts question how much Schofield's clunky, power-ball style and average feel will hold up and whether he might become a one-dimensional player at the NBA level given his poor rebounding, steal and block numbers and paltry free throw attempts. He has been able to keep those notions at bay to an extent with some extremely memorable performances against top-10 teams in Kansas and Gonzaga, which will likely stick with NBA folks considering how well-attended those games were. He'll have plenty more opportunities to continue to improve his stock playing for one of the best teams in college basketball.
Turning 22 in March, Schofield has some limitations and might not have the same upside as the younger and flashier wings in this class, but he looks ready to step in and contribute from day one. His work ethic, toughness and winning pedigree will surely bode well, giving him a chance to hear his name called in the first round.
Bruno Fernando | So. | C | Maryland
After going through the NBA draft process last year -- when he received a second-round grade and a laundry list of things to work on -- Fernando has shown progress. His offensive skill level has improved, his rebounding numbers are way up and he has been able to stay on the floor longer by fouling less. Maryland didn't notch any significant wins in nonconference play but has started the Big Ten 3-1 and should be in position to return to the NCAA tournament with steady play, which will depend heavily on what the team is able to get from Fernando.
Standing 6-10 with a 7-4 wingspan, a 9-1 standing reach and an incredible body with impressive mobility, power and explosiveness, Fernando has comparable dimensions to those of Jarrett Allen, Derrick Favors and LaMarcus Aldridge, according to our extensive measurements database. Simply put, he is an athletic marvel who is in the elite 1 percent of all basketball players on the planet from a physical standpoint.
Maryland has begun to run more offense through Fernando and has gotten some interesting results. He has nearly doubled his assist rate while showing flashes of being able to create for himself in a straight line with nimble spin moves and fluid body control. He also has knocked down a handful of jumpers with solid shooting mechanics. He has good hands and impressive quickness getting off his feet for lobs, and he's capable of bulldozing through most opponents at the college level thanks to his shredded frame.
We watched Fernando go through an extensive shooting workout the night before last year's draft combine in Chicago and came away impressed with his potential as a floor spacer. He still isn't quite confident enough to take the open 3-pointers available in games, instead preferring midrange jumpers, but expanding his range out to the NBA line doesn't look like an impossible task considering his free throw touch (73 percent in college) and what we've seen in practice settings.
Fernando is still a work in progress in a number of important facets. He's a poor decision-maker (21 percent turnover rate), and his overall production and efficiency drop significantly when going up against better competition. Most concerning is how little impact he has on the defensive end of the floor, where his poor awareness, instincts and basketball IQ are demonstrated far too frequently. Fernando gives up deep post position too easily, bites on every shot fake, takes poor angles on pick-and-rolls, gets lost off the ball constantly and looks extremely limited switching onto ball handlers outside the paint. His fundamentals are poor and his intensity level fluctuates regularly, as he simply doesn't know how to operate at maximum intensity without fouling. There are real questions about whether his skill level offensively makes up for what he will likely give up defensively in the NBA. Can he become respectable enough as a defensive presence while continuing to polish his offense?
Fernando will be a fascinating case study to follow this season in order to evaluate just how much the NBA has fallen out of love with traditional big men. There is little question that a player in his mold would have been a top-20 player or maybe even a lottery pick 10 to 15 years ago. Is there still a market for players like this? Fernando is an athletic freak with elite measurements who plays relatively hard, but he still needs to show he can impact winning, something he has a chance to do over the next couple of months. For now, he has moved into the early second round of our draft board.
Chuma Okeke | So. | PF | Auburn
As NBA scouts express their disenchantment with the selection of star-caliber players available outside of the top of this draft, they are increasingly expanding the pool of prospects they are monitoring to instead try to find role players who can fill specific holes on their rosters. One of the guys who has caught their eye -- as either a 2019 or 2020 draft candidate -- is Okeke, who has taken a big jump from his freshman to sophomore seasons.
Still far from a finished product, Okeke gives his team tremendous lineup flexibility with his versatility and outstanding physical tools. Now listed at 6-8 but sporting a 7-foot-plus wingspan, a 233-pound frame and a reported 8-11½ standing reach, Okeke has comparable measurements to those of Josh Smith, OG Anunoby and Ed Davis. This should allow him to slide between any of the front-court positions in the NBA and even allow him to play some small-ball center as he continues to add strength to his terrific frame.
Very much a role player for 11-2 Auburn, Okeke is utilized in a variety of off-ball situations -- picking and popping, diving off the ball, executing basic passes, spacing the floor from the corner, posting up on occasion, attacking closeouts and dishing out of short rolls. Okeke's skill level in general is just average, as he is a rudimentary ball handler who is mostly a straight-line driver and barely gets to the free throw line, but there's a nice framework to build on long-term.
His solid feel for the game is reflected in his strong assist-to-turnover ratio, and he appears to have made significant strides with his jumper, hitting 38 percent of his 3s. This is notable since he was far from being a perimeter threat during his high school and AAU days, shooting just 6-of-34 in the 31 games logged by Krossover. He has good shooting mechanics and a reasonably quick release, even if he remains on the streaky side.
Okeke's primary value in the NBA lies in his potential to develop into a multipositional defender who can switch onto guards and wings while also capably putting a body on big men when needed. This is somewhat of a work in progress, as despite his terrific playmaking stats (2.9 steals, 1.9 blocks, 8.6 rebounds per 40 minutes), he isn't always quite the lock-down guy you might expect, being a little spacey at times off the ball and still needing to ramp up his level of physicality and toughness.
Okeke is in a tremendous development situation at Auburn and will have every opportunity to prove himself as the starting power forward on the No. 12 team in the country. He could certainly get some looks in the late first round this year, but he may be able to maximize his stock in 2020 if he can become a more consistent player on both ends of the floor. He's the type of versatile forward almost every NBA team is looking for, and it will be interesting to see how he fares in SEC action after being somewhat inconsistent through his first 13 games.
Marcos Louzada Silva | Born: 1999 | SF | Franca (Brazil)
Few prospects are having better statistical seasons than 19-year-old Brazilian Marcos Lousada Silva, who goes by Didi. Through 19 games, he is averaging an impressive 26 points per 40 minutes while shooting 67 percent from 2 and a scorching 37-73 (51 percent) from 3 in just 388 total minutes. Not known as a shooter early in his career, Didi is making a 3-pointer every 10 minutes he plays, a notable improvement buoyed by the fact that he's also hitting 82 percent of his free throws. He has helped Franca -- far from the biggest club in Brazilian basketball -- to an 11-2, first-place record while winning the FIBA South American League championship over Argentinian Instituto de Cordoba last month, his team's first title in 27 years.
Didi's explosion hasn't gone unnoticed by people in Brazil, as he earned a call-up to the senior national team in the fall following an excellent showing in the FIBA Under-21 South American championship, and he has since carved out a rotation spot in the last FIBA window, where he played against the Dominican Republic and Canada. It is pretty clear that he has jumped to the top of the ladder in Brazil as the most promising young prospect in the country -- at a pretty opportune time, as his contract with Franca is set to expire at the end of the season.
He has solid physical tools, standing around 6-6 with long arms, a projectable frame, big hands and fluid athleticism. He's not a freak athlete, but there are certainly some things to work with considering how rapidly his skill level appears to have improved over the past few years. His ball-handling ability and overall feel for the game are still works in progress, as he's mostly relegated to straight-line drives and is best operating within a confined role where he's not asked to create too much for himself or others due to his high handle. With that said, he's done a nice job of playing within himself this year and is posting a solid assist-to-turnover ratio while playing extremely efficient basketball.
It will be interesting to see how he responds once his scorching shooting inevitably comes down to earth, as it's likely unsustainable for him to be making over 50 percent of his 3s (and nearly 70 percent of his 2s) on such a high volume. He doesn't have the most natural shooting stroke, as he sports a slow release on his spot-up jumper with a significant ball dip and somewhat clunky form on his pull-up. The ball comes out of his hand nicely, and it's tough to argue with the results, but there is clearly still more work to be done.
While Didi's offense has been what has popped off the page, defense is where he earned his playing time initially and became one of the rare teenagers to see minutes in the Brazilian league. He's very competitive on this end of the floor, using his solid length and lateral quickness to defend any of the backcourt positions, particularly point guards, which is interesting at the NBA level. His lack of experience and average awareness shows up here at times, especially off the ball, but his upside here is intriguing given his youth.
While he isn't an elite NBA prospect due to his skill and feel shortcomings, there is a lot to like about what Didi is showing this season in Brazil. His productivity, solid physical tools and reportedly strong approach to the game -- combined with the shortage of wing players in the NBA -- makes him someone teams will want to learn more about heading into June. Didi is still eligible to play at the Nike Hoop Summit in April in Portland, and he would be a very interesting player for the NBA to invite to the Global Camp in June, where he would have a chance to cement his standing as a potential second-round pick.
It's possible that the 2020 draft might be a more realistic target for him than 2019, especially with the impending free-agent status that might allow him to make a jump to a better scouted league in Europe this summer.