Alabama Basketball: Who will be Tide’s next lottery pick?
By Dakota Cox
Alabama basketball has now seen two straight lottery picks.
Alabama basketball has changed the narrative over the past few seasons. In the past, the Tide hasn’t been known for success on the court or in the NBA Draft. There have been outliers like Collin Sexton, but the Nate Oats era has seen consistent success.
Alabama saw Kira Lewis go in the NBA lottery after the 2020 season, but he was seen as a lock to be drafted early. After a year where Alabama basketball won both SEC titles and set program records, it was expected for there to be at least one player drafted. However, Josh Primo surprised many by not only staying in the NBA Draft but also being a lottery pick.
Primo only started 19 games as a freshman and averaged 8.1 points per game. However, he has two massive points on his resume. He’s young, and he’s a great perimeter shooter. That will get you far, and it got Primo into the lottery of the 2021 NBA Draft.
For the first time ever, Alabama has seen players go in the lottery in back-to-back NBA Drafts. Who’s next?
On the current roster, a few names stand out as NBA Draft prospects. Obviously, Jaden Shackelford was close to going in this year’s draft. If he takes steps forward, he should be a strong prospect next season. However, it would take a large jump for him to make it in the lottery.
Jahvon Quinerly is an elite ballhandler. He played on the bench, but Primo proved that starting doesn’t mean much in the eyes of NBA scouts. He became Alabama’s closer with insane perimeter shooting and distribution of the ball. The only red flag on his resume is his age. The SEC Tournament MVP will turn 23 this season, and that will make it hard for a team to draft him early in the first round.
If Alabama were to have an NBA player drafted in the lottery this year, it would clearly be JD Davison. Davison was a five-star prospect with elite athleticism. A year with Nate Oats should help him develop his control and perimeter shooting. He plays like Ja Morant and Russell Westbrook.
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Alabama has great depth on the roster, but Davison has a great shot of being Alabama’s third straight lottery player over three seasons.