With the NCAA Final Four occurring in Indianapolis, Indiana, this weekend, plenty of attention will be on the teams, their coaches, and players, including multiple NBA Draft prospects.
Among them are Arizona’s Brayden Burries, Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, and Illinois guard Keaton Wagler, who will take the court against the UConn Huskies. The latter of these teams received plenty of attention based on how they achieved their March Madness win to get to the Final Four, coming on a Braylon Mullins buzzer-beater shot to defeat Duke in an upset comeback, 73-72.
Mullins is originally from Indiana, playing his high school basketball in Greenfield, Indiana, so he’ll have a lot of family, friends, and fans there watching him as spectators. These games might also attract NBA Draft scouts, who are seeing various players in person to determine if they might be interested in them for their respective teams.
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The question is: Will Braylon Mullins stay or leave UConn for the NBA Draft? Based on all the evidence leading up to this point, the answer seemed to indicate he will go, and that amazing shot against Duke put him more in the spotlight, with some comparing his three-pointer near half-court to a Steph Curry-like shot.
There have been projections for Mullins to go to the NBA Draft since the UConn season began, as it unfolded, and projections continued throughout the postseason tournaments. His draft stock initially looked to be higher, but a stretch of underwhelming performances, including a generally cold shooting effort against Duke, seemed to have him lower than initially projected.
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The current ESPN best available players list has Mullins at No. 14 in terms of best college basketball players available, should he enter the NBA.
Several other NBA mock drafts suggest that Mullins could go around the No. 17 pick, with the team at that spot, up in the air until the draft order is officially decided. A mock draft at Heavy suggests that Mullins will end up going 17th overall to the Toronto Raptors.Â
A Tankathon mock draft suggests the 6-foot-6 shooting guard is going to the Charlotte Hornets at that No. 17 spot, joining a team featuring Liam McNeely, another one-and-done UConn star who played under Dan Hurley. The Hornets also feature sharpshooter Kon Knueppel from Duke, who is on track to win NBA Rookie of the Year.
Mullins got into UConn’s starting lineup after an early-season injury and only missed playing time later due to concussion protocol. He was UConn’s fourth-leading scorer with 11.9 points per game, also grabbing 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and a steal per game.
He is the team’s best free-throw shooter, hitting them at 88.6 percent, but his three-point percentage is just 32.8 percent, which is lower than that of multiple teammates, including Silas Demary Jr. and Alex Karaban.
As mentioned, the major knock against the freshman is that his inexperience and lack of overall performance for UConn this season may have lowered his draft stock. A higher draft position could be possible, should he return to UConn for another season after this, but NBA teams draft on potential, too.
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Mullins has generally shown speed on the court and a quick release, plus long range, as seen in his epic shot against Duke. His current draft projections suggest as high as No. 14 to lower in the NBA Draft’s first round, but he’d definitely go higher than any UConn teammates if he leaves.
If UConn wins the championship, Mullins already has the spotlight from his legendary shot to beat Duke in the Elite Eight, and it would probably push him to go to the NBA. However, subpar games and losing without claiming a championship under Hurley might motivate him to return to UConn for another season in search of that elusive NCAA title as he improves his game and draft position.
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