Jawun Evans NBA Draft Outlook

Coming off a stellar sophomore season, Jawun Evans decided to forgo his junior and senior seasons and officially declare for the NBA Draft. While there was a glimmer of hope that Evans might return to Stillwater for one more year, the standout point guard officially signed with ASM Sports this past Wednesday, ending his amateur status and slamming the door on a college return.

Evans averaged 19.2 points, 6.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game in the 2016-2017 season and was named First-Team All Big 12. There is no doubt that Evans was a special talent at the college level, but how will he fair in the pros and where will he likely get drafted?

Let’s look at the latest mock drafts from around the web.

Draft Express #26 - Brooklyn Nets

NBADraft.net #38 - Boston Celtics

Heavy #30 - Utah Jazz

Bleacher Report #28 - Los Angeles Lakers

Forbes #22 - Toronto Raptors

Evans is very similar to Lowry in that he is a strong scorer, playmaker and defender and would be an excellent fit north of the border. He averaged 19.2 points, 6.4 assists and 2.1 steals for the Cowboys this season and could benefit greatly from learning behind Lowry. He shot just 43.8% from the field and and 38% from long range, but Evans relied more on getting to the basket than he did on long-range shooting. Throw in a remarkably unselfish approach to the game, and he could be a diamond in the rough come draft day.

SB Nation #29 - San Antonio Spurs

Small but mighty, Evans quarterbacked the nation’s most efficient offense this year. Anyone who saw him face Michigan in the first round of the NCAA tournament knows how good he is.

ESPN’s NBA draft guru, Chad Ford, has Evans ranked as his number 37 overall prospect and 7th ranked PG in the class of 2017. He projects Evans as a “Late First Round Pick”

Positives

Terrific floor general : Excellent court vision : Elite ball handler : Excels at getting to the rim : Solid shooter : Tough : Good on the ball defender

Negatives

Lacks elite size for position : Just an average athlete

At a quick glance, most draft boards have Evans projected as a late first round/ early second round type of prospect. The type of player that you wouldn’t build a franchise around, but one who could be a very serviceable backup point guard and in the right position has the skill to be a starting point guard in the NBA.

Selfishly, I would love to see Evans in an Oklahoma City uniform and think he could backup Russell Westbrook for a Thunder team in desperate need for a playmaker in their second unit. For Evans, I would be really happy to see him go to the Spurs with the 29th pick and develop under Popovich in San Antonio. Tony Parker is almost 35 and Patty Mills will be 29 this summer. I think Evans would excel in the Spurs system and this seems like an ideal landing spot for him.