Filipowski, Brazile, and Shannon highlight recent Draftables risers

Kyle Filipovsky no doubt heard a whisper. They started at the Nike Hoop Summit and continued through his first few months at Duke as many people wondered aloud if he could match his tally in the top five recruits. Well, 8 games into the season, and those whispers have turned into crickets. Filipovski was not only Duke’s most consistent rookie, but also their most consistent player, hitting double figures in all 8 games and also rebounding at a very high level. Even how Derek Lively as well as Daric Whitehead recently returned to the roster, Filipovsky’s role has only grown as he played over 30 minutes in each of Duke’s three Phil Knight Legacy games last week, after only exceeding 26 minutes once in Duke’s first five games. In terms of defense, there will still be questions about how he moves the ball, given that he is not an ultra-mobile or natural rim protector. But there has also been clear progress since the first evening, both in terms of his angles and ability to contain dribbling penetration. Offensively, many still refer to him as a shooter, and while his shooting has shown steady growth over the years, he is still much more of a playmaker than he is credited for his size, and even has some passing ability that has yet to emerge. come to the fore this season. In short, he returned to the conversation about the lottery.

All the talk was about Arkansas freshmen going into the season, but Nick Smith started on the injured list and Jordan Walsh as well as Anthony Black moving on to slower starts, it was Trevon Brazil who had the most buzz in the NBA at the start of the year. He started with a 21-point, 12-rebound game that showed off both his athleticism and face-up prowess. While it has had its rise and fall since then, there have been flashes of the same versatile potential, including dunk against South Dakota that went viral. Arkansas is still a team trying to define everyone’s roles, especially with Smith just back in the roster, so it will be interesting to see if Brazil can establish any sort of consistency. But there’s no doubt that he’s already taken his stock to the next level with a new combination of size, physicality and footprint potential.

Terrence Shannon was on the draft radar for several years but just didn’t rise as much as expected in three seasons at Texas Tech. After moving to Illinois in the offseason, the situation changed a lot. A high-level athlete with quality positional size on the wing, at first, his shooting and general ball skills required the most work. He had consistent success in these areas at Tech, but his overall productivity declined between his sophomore and junior season. This year he’s bringing it all together. He essentially doubled his stats in six games, going from 10 points, 2 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game as a junior to 20 points, 3.8 assists and 6.2 rebounds this year. At the same time, he even improved his efficiency, rising from 45.5% to 54.4 from the field and from 38.4% to 47.1 from behind the arc. He may not be able to maintain such a high shot count right now, but the point is that he is showing shots and an overall offensive package to take them to the NBA level while maintaining the same physical profile and correlating with defense.

42^th a promising player in last year’s 247Sports Composite ranking, Jett Howard has proven to be ahead of schedule since joining his father’s program in Michigan. The Wolverines entered the year with some unexpected holes in the middle of the roster after both Caleb Hustan as well as Moussa Diabate left after the freshman seasons, and Howard made the most of the opportunity. He is averaging 15.2 points per game and has established himself as the team’s top scoring threat on the perimeter. Hunter Dickinson inside. However, the matchup of shots and wing size is what makes him so intriguing by NBA standards. At 6ft 7in, he has good wing size and near-clean release on his jumper. He’s hit multiple triples in each of his first six games this season, displaying the tough shots we’ve seen in high school as well as an improved understanding of how to get his looks in the flow. At the same time, there were some signs of a very real defensive potential. Overall, it’s become clear that NBA raters need to know his name right now.

Speaking of trainer’s sons and clean shooters… If you don’t know the name Tucker Devriestime to learn it. Because NBA scouts definitely have it. Drake’s 6’7 sophomore started the season on the R2 roster as a potential runoff candidate. But after six games into the season, he looks like one of the best shooters in college basketball this year. He shoots 45.5% from three and 92.1% from the free throw line. His release is as pure as these numbers are impressive. He just has the perfect punch. While the gravity he possesses as a strut, combined with his 6ft 7in wing size, is something NBA scouts are excited about, he is much more than just a shooter in Drake. Playing under his father, Devries became one of the most consistent goalscorers in the country. His season high is 29. His season low is 14. In all four other games, he has either 21 or 22 points. There are some sporting and defensive question marks that still need to be answered, but he has a non-zero chance of making it to the first round if he continues like this.