NBA Draft 2015: Top 5 undrafted players available – SB Nation
There are still talented players available after the 2015 NBA Draft.
Every year, the NBA Draft runs through 60 picks of American college basketball players and foreign-born pros — and every year, there are still talented basketball players available after the draft.
Here are the top five undrafted players available after the 2015 NBA Draft.
Cliff Alexander, PF/C, Kansas
Alexander’s fall is maybe the most precipitous in the entire draft. He was projected as a lottery pick before ever reaching Kansas, where he was supposed to team with first-rounder Kelly Oubre to make Bill Self’s Jayhawks dangerous in 2014-15. But Alexander never broke into Self’s starting lineup to stay, and then an NCAA investigation into his amateur status prematurely ended his Kansas career. With that cloud over him and a less than thrilling season of play on his record, Alexander’s stock was damaged entering the pre-draft process — but few thought he would go entirely undrafted. He’s still got a big body and the talent to be an NBA player, but Alexander’s NBA career now must run through undrafted free agency.
Michael Frazier, SG, Florida
Frazier drew some skeptical looks when he chose to leave Florida for the NBA Draft after a disappointing junior season marred by injury, but he was still one of the best shooters in college basketball over his three-year career, and the increasingly three-happy NBA does have 30 teams that could use shooters. His problem, though, is that he may be little more than just a shooter at the NBA level; if Frazier can get hot in summer play, maybe he finds a roster.
Aaron Harrison, SG, Kentucky
Harrison was one of the heroes of Kentucky’s surprising run to the 2014 NCAA Tournament final, hitting clutch threes throughout the Wildcats’ charmed existence in March Madness. The 2015 edition of Kentucky, though, found Harrison doing things less efficiently than freshman Devin Booker, and without the on-ball skills as a creator possessed by his brother, Andrew — who did get drafted — that March magic wasn’t going to compensate for his relatively inefficient game.
Robert Upshaw, PF/C, Washington
Upshaw was going to get drafted on talent and potential alone, if he was going to get drafted at all: His most impressive production was prodigious block totals at Washington, and he didn’t even make it to February before being dismissed by the Huskies this season. If any player is likely to follow the path of a player like Hassan Whiteside, who emerged from obscurity after years spent figuring out his life, it’s Upshaw, but going undrafted makes that harder.
2015 NBA Draft
Christian Wood, PF, UNLV
The wiry Wood likely needs to add weight before becoming an NBA regular. That said: He averaged a double-double at UNLV as a sophomore, occasionally looking better than first-round pick and teammate Rashad Vaughn.
Other notable undrafted players:
- Jonathan Holmes, SF/PF, Texas
- Vince Hunter, SF/PF, UTEP
- Mouhammadou Jaiteh, C, France
- Terran Petteway, PG/SG, Nebraska
- Chris Walker, PF/C, Florida
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