3. Houston Rockets
Jaden Ivey | 6-4 guard | 20 years old | Purdue
Jaden Ivey is the most electrifying man in college basketball entertainment this season, a one-man fast break waiting to happen with explosive speed who is constantly attacking downhill. Even in Purdue’s big-man, post-up offense, Ivey is still the guy who stirs the drink. He found that next gear in his game around mid-January and hasn’t turned it off since. He’s averaging 20 points, 4.5 rebounds and three assists since Jan. 17 and has seemingly made a ton of big plays late in games. Scouts are enamored with Ivey’s athleticism and ability to make things happen on the court, believing that it’ll play up even further once he gets out of Purdue’s drag-it-out half-court offense that always has a man waiting at the rim as a help defender on his drives due to the presence of Edey and Trevion Williams.Ivey does have some work to do in terms of skill. There will be an adjustment period for him operating out of ball screens in the NBA in terms of making the reads and attacking. Defensively, he could stand to improve at the point of attack and out of ball screens. His feel for scoring versus distributing is something that continues to need calibration, and his jumper could stand to just be a touch more consistent. But all of this is fixable. What isn’t fixable are Ivey’s immense tools at the lead guard spot, where he’ll immediately enter the NBA as one of its best athletes. These guys get drafted very high, and he’s one of four guys I would say still have a genuine case to go No. 1 overall (not accounting for Sharpe).
