Dallas Mavericks Projected to Land 2 Arizona Wildcats in Latest NBA Mock Draft
The 2024 men's basketball season is underway, and the Arizona Wildcats are looking to make another deep run in this year’s upcoming NCAA tournament.
As they play through the winter and into March madness, professional scouts will be watching multiple players in the program led by head coach Tommy Lloyd.
In a recent NBA Mock draft done by Bleacher Report, multiple Wildcats were projected to be selected in the full two-round preview. Arizona, which is ranked 11th in the country in the preseason polls, had five players projected to go in the 59 picks next summer.
In the most recent mock draft, two Arizona Wildcats have an opportunity to team back up as they were both predicted to land with the Dallas Mavericks.
KJ Lewis, a sophomore guard from EL Paso, Texas, was projected to join his home state team with the 35th pick of this recent mock. The 6’4” guard is coming off a freshman season where he averaged six points and three rebounds a game but is expected to see more playing time this season for the Wildcats.
“KJ Lewis wasn't a reliable enough shooter last year to generate serious one-and-done interest. But the eye test saw a capable spot-up threat who can improve with more minutes.
Complementing his outstanding defensive tools/quickness, passing flashes, and athletic finishes with a capable three-ball would be noteworthy,” writes Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. “His role shouldn't change much from last year with Caleb Love back and Jaden Bradley coming in. The lack of creation shouldn't matter if he makes more shots—teams will view Lewis as more of a stopper, energizer, and off-ball finishing weapon.”
The idea of seeing him have more of an impact already started to take flight in the team’s blowout season-opening win against Canisius. Lewis put up 14 points and played 22 minutes, four more than his average last year. It will be interesting to see if he continues to receive meaningful playing time as the program heads into conference play at the turn of the new year to help boost his draft stock.
The mock predicted two Wildcats guards would head to the Mavericks, as Jaden Bradley was also selected to go to Dallas with the team’s 53rd pick in next year's NBA draft. The junior from Rochester, New York had a solid last season for the Wildcats after transferring from the Alabama Crimson Tide. He averaged seven points and shot 46 percent from the three point line across 20 minutes per game.
“Jaden Bradley shot well and combined for 38 points in Arizona's three NCAA tournament appearances last season,” writes Wasserman “The Wildcats lost Pelle Larsson to the Miami Heat and Kylan Boswell to Illinois, opening a door for Bradley to become a primary ball-handler (with Caleb Love) and build on last year's stretches of scoring and shooting improvement. Rim pressure, pesky defense and a good looking pull-up should have already earned Bradley a spot on preseason draft lists.”
Like Lewis, he stepped up in the first game of the season, scoring 15 points in 23 minutes. With the team as deep as it is this season, efficiency is going to be a key factor to pay attention to from these players who are looking to make the next step into NBA stardom. Bradley began his season shooting 70 percent from the field. That type of play is exactly what will be needed when he gets his opportunities on the court.
The two guards and the rest of the Wildcats will have another chance to improve their NBA draft stock when they return to action on Saturday at the McKale Memorial Center against the Old Dominion Monarchs.
