Final UNC NBA Draft Preview: Where Will Cole Anthony Go?

Point guard has slipped in recent mock drafts

Cole Anthony was one of the top recruits in the nation when he entered UNC last season, but injuries kept him off the court for a long period, and an unsuccessful season from a win-loss standpoint have combined to hurt his stock.

There’s also been a rumor among NBA teams (which Armando Bacot refutes in the above video) that he wasn’t a good teammate at Carolina.

As a result, each new crop of mock drafts seems to have him slipping lower, from a lottery pick to the 14-15 to the 17-21 range at the start of the week.

Sports Illustrated’s latest 60-pick mock draft has him at his lowest spot ever, going No. 26 to the Celtics. That’s five spots lower than SI had Anthony in its previous incarnation of the mock draft.

Jeremy Woo said of Anthony, “According to league sources, Anthony interviewed with multiple teams picking outside the Top 20 over the past few days. His stock has slipped to the point where it’s unclear if he has a safe backstop in the first round, but it would still be a surprise if he fell much further than this.”

Woo also said that, at his current draft slot, Anthony could end up making a team look very smart. “All things considered, this is an intriguing buy-low opportunity with Anthony,” he wrote.

Brandon Robinson, who graduated from North Carolina last season, and graduate transfers Justin Pierce and Christian Keeling are also eligible to be drafted, but projections have them getting bypassed in the two-round draft.