Michigan's Nik Stauskas Not Thinking About NBA Draft Position Right Now, But It's Definitely Been On His Mind
By"He knows all he has to do is keep his nose to the grindstone for another couple of months, and there's a really good possibility he might be able to go pro," Nik Stauskas' father, Paul, told SI.com earlier this. "He's working really hard to achieve that."
That may be true, but whether Michigan's leading scorer can make it out of the second round of next year's draft could be a grindstone for another nose (you get what I'm trying to say).
ESPN's Chad Ford lists the 6-foot-6 guard from Ontario as the 44th best prospect in next year's draft, good enough for the no-man's land that is the second round. NBAdraft.net doesn't even think he'll get picked in 2014.
Two years from now, however, nbadraft.net believes Stauskas will improve himself enough in a less heralded draft for an early second round pick. That class will be headlined by Jahil Okafor (heading to Duke), former #2 overall pick Emeka Okafor's cousin. Jahil isn't your Dwight Howard-Anthony Davis-Nerlens Noel-Andrew Wiggins freakish athlete searching for a more nuanced offensive game. He's already got old man moves with the body/big hands to execute them. What he doesn't have, according to his mix tapes and scouting analysis, is elite athleticism. Compare him to a longer version of former Buckeye and current Celtic Jared Sullinger (having a solid year with the C's with averages of 13 ppg and 8 rpg, but shooting just 43 percent).
Stauskas' father may have been overcome by his son's/his son's team's recent performance. During their eight-game win streak he's averaged 18.6 ppg (right on his season mark) though over his last three games he's put in 23.3 ppg while also contributing nearly 5 assists and over exactly 5 rebounds per outing.
"I apologize for my father's comments, he doesn't know what he's talking about," Nik Stauskas told the Detroit Free Press. "I haven't really thought anything about that yet and we'll just address that after the season."
The below video documenting Stauskas' journey from high school star to hot shot college freshman might disagree with his last statement.