Pitt's Bub Carrington Ranked Top 10 Prospect

Pitt Panthers star freshman guard Bub Carrington ranked in the top 10 for the Top 100 NBA Draft Propsects from The Athletic.

Jan 23, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard Carlton Carrington (7) after a victory against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at McCamish Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers star freshman guard Carlton "Bub" Carrington has improved stock a lot since the end of this past season, as critics see him as one of the better players in the NBA Draft.

Sam Vecenie of The Athletic ranked Carrington No. 8 on his NBA Draft Top 100 Board for hisNBA 2024 Draft Guide. He also picked him to go No. 12 overall as a lottery pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in his latest mock draft.

He placed Carrington in Tier 4, or "Starter/All-Star Tool Swings" for players ranked No. 6-15.

Vecenie loves Carrington's ability to pull up from anywhere and create his own shot, especially from behind the arc or mid-range.

His efficency on his pull-up shot is something that separates him from other prospects. Carrington scored 7.4 points per game off pull up jumpers, second in Division I behind Oregon State's Jordan Pope, made 50.9% of his pull up shots, with only four Division I players shooting better, and made 32.2% of his pull up 3-pointers, making more of them than all but 20 Division I players.

Carrington also shoots well working off of screens and on handoffs. This makes him a player that Vecenie believes will succeed at the next level.

He also likes Carrington's passing ability, as he can pick out any teammate and give them good opportunites to score, as well as his lack of turnovers, just 1.9 per game.

Vecenie noted Carrington deaccelerates well in iso situations, as well as his knack of getting out of spot-ups and scoring. He also sees Carrington as someone who will grow as a defender.

Some things he sees as weaknesses for Carrington are his lack of explosiveness compared to other guards and his inability to get to the rim consistently with success. He only shot under 50 half-court shots at the rim on the season, averaged fewer than 1.5 attempts per game and made just 50.9 percent of his shots at the rim.

He also wants to find out if Carrington can play off the ball, as he only made 32% of his 3-pointers off the catch. He also wants to see him improve on defense, which will require him to use more than his length to stop NBA guards.

"Carrington does a lot of things that NBA guards are asked to do at an extremely high level," Vecenie wrote as a summary. "He is a real dribble-pass-shoot threat with awesome ball- screen instincts as one of the youngest players in the class. He is a tremendous shot-maker as a pull-up scorer already. As a passer and playmaker, he sees the court well and clearly knows how to read the defense. I’m a buyer on him as a shooter off the ball long-term, too. It’s hard to be this good of a shooter in college as an 18- year-old pull-up threat and not become a real spot-up guy. I don’t think he’s quite as quick as someone like Coby White, but there are a lot of similarities with their games coming out of college. I also think there are similarities with White with what should be expected of Carrington in terms of timeline.

"I don’t think he’ll be all that successful in the NBA in his first year. He will likely be inefficient if he’s asked to play serious minutes. He’s still growing into his frame and struggles to generate easy shots for himself. But if he’s given time and a runway for the first two years, continues to make strides on defense and keeps working on his shot prep off the ball, I think he’s going to be an incredibly successful pro. It took White until the end of his fourth year to be able to efficiently and effectively attack NBA defenses. Then this season, his fifth, he was a 21-point-per-game scorer in his final 60 games. Carrington needs some time to develop, but I would feel good betting on his starter upside."

Carrington does have some NBA Draft analysts picking him to go in the late lottery, attributing what he's done during pre-draft workouts and individual team meetings. 

He will also go to the green room at the NBA Draft with his family, as they await his likely First Round selection.

Carrington had an excellent performance at the NBA Draft Combine, which put him on the radar for a number of draft experts and scouts.

He ran his 3/4 court sprint in 3.28 seconds, ranking sixth best. He also finished ranked tied 12th best with a maximum veritcal jump of 36.5 inches.

Carrington showed off his shooting prowess throughout those drills as well. He shot 21-for-30, 70%, off the dribble, 19-for-25, 76.0%, side-by-side and 20-for-25, 80%, on spot up shooting, all best marks at the combine. He also shot 13-for-25, 52.0%, in the 3-point star drill, tied for eighth best. 

He starred for the Panthers last season, earning All-ACC Rookie Team honors, the first Panther to do so. 

Carrington started all 33 games for Pitt, averaging 33.2 minutes, 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, respectively, while shooting 41.2% from the field, 32.2% from 3-point range and 78.5% from the foul line.

One of his best games came in the season opener, as he scored 18 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out 10 assists in the win over North Carolina A&T, becoming the first Panther to have a triple-double in their debut in program history.

If he does go in the First Round, Carrington would serve as the first Pitt player to go that early since Steven Adams did so when the Oklahoma City Thunder selected him with the 12th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Carrington would also become the first Panther to earn an NBA Draft selection since the Atlanta Hawks took Lamar Patterson in the Second Round in 2014.

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