A Thinning Field: MIP 99 May Rank

What started as MIP 99 has become “MIP 96” with the departure of some key athletes returning to their respective schools or finding a new home before the upcoming withdraw date. As we continue to inch closer to the NBA draft, we take inventory of an already thinning field.

Rising

 #59 Jake Laravia (Wake Forest) – The junior guard transferred to Wake Forest after two years at Indiana State. The 6-9 guard has great size for his position and has shown he can guard 1 through 4. A player that does a little bit of everything his ability to score and rebound have found him as a late riser on draft boards. Expect Laravia to continue to rise throughout the draft process for his “glue guy” play style.

#61 Vince Williams Jr. (VCU) – A prospect that isn’t getting the type of buzz he seems deserving of, Williams Jr. has all the makings of what NBA teams crave. A guard-forward with ability on both the offensive and defensive end he would fill a “need” for any team in the league. Even though Williams Jr. may start in the G-League, he should continue to see his stock rise with time.

Falling

#27 Jean Montero (International) – Montero is one of the more prominent international guards with first round potential. However, his stock is on a slow decline because of the uncertainty surrounding his ability to play at a high level. Instead of playing with the Ignite or selecting a collegiate program, Montero was a marquee name in Overtime Elite. The league did not track stats and it is hard to grasp Montero’s ability against top talent. He has a chance to prove himself at the combine or risk slipping further into the second round.

#36 Harrison Ingram (Stanford) – Ingram, in my opinion, is more so plateauing rather than falling. A prospect that saw a surge in his stock toward the end of the NCAA season (we had him as high as #19) Ingram has seemed to shake out as a low tier first rounder or even a high tier second. Ingram has tremendous upside as a point-forward in the NBA and may benefit further from the pre-draft process. I expect Ingram to be the next prospect in a long line of draftees developing in the G-League his rookie year, he could prove to be worth the wait.

If you are interested in taking a deeper dive into individual prospects, take a look at our scouting section here!