By ADAM ZAGORIA
While all the focus in the NBA Draft world is on Thursday’s Draft Lottery for 2020, the 2021 draft may actually have more star power.
One player who could go No. 1 a year from now is Jalen Green, the 6-foot-5 guard out of Prolific Prep (CA) who opted to forego college and sign with the NBA G League Select team.
Former NBA and UCLA guard Darren Collison has been working out with Green in his native California and proclaimed him a future star.
“He’s a franchise-changing player,” Collison said. “He’s a great kid who only wants to get better. His work ethic is through the roof. What I love about Jalen is he’s extremely humble for his stature
“He reminds me a lot of Paul George.”
Jalen Green been putting in WORK with NBA vet Darren Collison 🔥 (via @ProsVision1)@JalenGreen @Darren_Collison pic.twitter.com/RZRdhrpsYB
— Overtime (@overtime) August 16, 2020
Three projected lottery picks in 2021 per ESPN.com are now with the G League Select, No. 2 Green, No. 4 Jonathan Kuminga and No. 12 Daishen Nix.
Another player with a big upside on that team is 7-foot-2 Kai Sotto, a native of the Philippines.
“I think Kai, with a lot of bigs in the NBA, has the ability to play like [Nikola] Jokic,” G League coach Brian Shaw, a three-time NBA champion, said Sunday in a Zoom call with reporters.
“Based on the film I saw, he can shoot outside. He can be a facilitator where you can put him on top of the floor and do dribble hand-offs just like Jokic.”
Despite forgoing college, all of the G League players will have the option of earning their college degrees through a program at Arizona State.
“When they come through our program and they do make it to the NBA, we’ll still pay for them for four years of college through a program in Arizona State if they every wanna finish their education,” Shaw said. “So that’s what a lot of people don’t know.”
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram
