When junior shooting guard Michael Frazier II and sophomore center Chris Walker both left Florida this spring to declare for the NBA Draft, it raised some eyebrows.
But fast-forward a few weeks, and the draft stock of both Frazier and Walker appear to be on the rise. ESPN.com NBA draft analyst Chad Ford has Frazier (37th overall, Philadelphia 76ers) and Walker (45th overall, Boston Celtics) projected in the second round in his latest mock draft projections. And both Frazier and Walker were invited to the NBA Draft combine this week in Chicago.
ESPN.com college basketball analyst and NBA draft analyst Fran Fraschilla said he could see both Frazier and Walker going in the second round. Fraschilla had a chance to watch the 6-foot-1o Walker play one of the best games of his career in person, a game in which Walker had 12 points and 5 rebounds in a 71-65 loss at Kansas.
“I saw him at Kansas,” Fraschilla said. “I saw him on tape. I still think he’ll get drafted because of his size and athleticism, they are a lot of guys in this draft because of their age and their let’s say, the fact that they are not polished players, that are going to be drafted and redshirted. So many of these guys right now are not ready to play meaningful NBA games.
“There will be a team in the second round that sees the 6-foot-10, the athleticism and may take a chance. I actually saw glimmers of hope this year in the tape I watched and when I saw him in person. I could see him easily going anywhere from 40 to 60.”
Fraschilla is less bullish on the 6-foot-4 Frazier, whose 3-point percentage dropped from 44.7 percent as a sophomore to 38 percent as a junior due to being the increased focus of opposing scouting reports.
“He’s a small shooting guard in terms of prototype NBA size,” Fraschilla said. “He’s shown at times obviously that he’s a streak shooter. He probably had a better sophomore year than he did this year. So I think he’s going to get an opportunity whether he gets drafted or not. Whether you go to Las Vegas or Orlando you’re going to see Michael Frazier on somebody’s summer team. And then like anything else, it won’t matter where he got drafted or if he got drafted. He’ll just be able to prove to people in the league that he can play in the league.”
Other notes:
– A report out of the Lincoln Journal-Star suggested that former Florida assistant coach Rashon Burno
could land at Nebraska as an assistant under Tim Miles. But in a text on Tuesday, Burno said he has yet to make a decision on his future plans.
