The draft lottery is wrapped, the combine is in the rearview and NBA prospects from all over the world are in the workout phase leading up to the draft.Teams across the league are doing their due diligence on this year's class, bringing in players for group and individual workouts, as well as interviews.With the draft about a month away, upperclassmen who may have been underestimated initially have these few weeks before the draft to prove themselves.Those with the best chance to do so will follow the draft order below: Justin JacksonNorth Carolina junior and recent NCAA tournament winner Justin Jackson was the No. 10 high school recruit in Scout.com's 2014 class.But after two solid, though uninspiring, seasons with the Tar Heels, Jackson decided to come back for his junior campaign in 2016-17.And it's a good thing he did. Jackson grew into a bona-fide college star this season. His three-point percentage jumped nearly eight points (29.2 to 37), he posted a career-high 18.3 points a game, and won ACC Player of the Year."Last year [in college] was just a translation of the work I put in on the offseason," Jackson said at this year's combine, per Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders. "And I've tried to keep that going as time has gone on. I've continued to do that and tried to continue getting better each and every day."If that improvement really is continuing through this predraft process, Jackson could secure himself a spot in the lottery (DraftExpress currently has him going 14th).Teams are often wary of upperclassmen. The 20- or 21-year old dominating college kids is less impressive than the 18-year old doing it. But Jackson may be one of those rare exceptions.As previously stated, he came into college with a great pedigree. And although Jackson's numbers didn't jump off the screen in his freshman and sophomore seasons, some of the advanced metrics suggest he could've made the jump if he really wanted to.Among freshmen with at least 1,000 minutes in the 2014-15 season, Jackson's Box Plus-Minus ranked eighth, per Sports Reference. With the exception of Melo Trimble, every player ahead of Jackson on that list is in the NBA. Derrick WhiteColorado senior Derrick White's draft stock could be impacted heavily by what position teams think he'll play. DraftExpresshas the 6'5" playmaker listed as a "G/SG," but if he can convince teams he's a legitimate point guard, his future becomes a lot more interesting.Even as the league transitions toward position-less basketball, a 6'5" 1 with a 35 " no-step vertical leap is tantalizing. In fact, the game going position-less might help his stock. With that size, he should be able to defend either guard spot, and maybe even some 3.On the other end, he can run an offense, as evidenced by his 4.3 assists per game at Colorado, and his borderline dominant play in the five-on-five action at the combine. DraftExpress' Mike Schmitz was so impressed by White in that portion of the event, he called him his "Top prospect in five-on-five for me."If White continues to show an ability to play point in workouts with individual teams, it wouldn't be surprising to see one of the many teams with multiple first-rounders take a shot at him in the 20s.Jordan BellJordan Bell gave himself a real shot at first-round consideration after showing off an impressive blend of size, speed and athleticism at the combine.Bell stands 6'8 " in shoes, with a6'11 " wingspan. He ran the shuttle in 2.83 seconds (fourth-fastest at the event) and registered a 38" max vertical leap.As they often say, those are the kind of physical tools that can't be taught.What can be, though, is an ability to shoot. And despite never really showing that at Oregon, he broke it out at the combine, per Schmitz:If he can show off a reliable stroke from the corners, Bell is suddenly a very intriguing option as a backup big.
Click here to read full news..
