Before his draft night obligations with Stadium, basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla joined Wednesday’s KSR show to share his thoughts on Kentucky‘s draft prospects. Fraschilla spoke by phone with Tom Hart, who hosted Wednesday’s show, for a brief conversation from New York about what Fraschilla sees in Big Blue Nation’s favorite draft-eligible players.
On Reed Sheppard
KSR’s conversation with Fraschilla began with his analysis of Kentucky’s top two prospects, Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham. They’re the only two former Wildcats invited to the green room and expected to be drafted tonight, so Fraschilla spoke at length about both guards.
On Sheppard, he began by calling the one-and-done sharpshooter the best shooter in any NBA draft class in quite some time.
“It’s incredible the year he had and the efficiency with which he shot the ball,” said Fraschilla. “And then he’s shown that he’s an athlete, and he’s shown that certainly off the ball defensively, he’s got great awareness.”
Fraschilla added that Sheppard’s stock is helped out by a unique draft class in that none of the prospects are surefire picks.
“Because this is such an unusual draft with so much uncertainty, obviously Reed is going to hear his name called very high and possibly as high as three to the Rockets. The comparison I’ve had from people is Mark Price, who was a great player for the Cleveland Cavaliers, you know, a TJ McConnell, but he’s a much better shooter. And so I think Reed is going to be a happy man tonight because he’s going to go up, you know, certainly in the top 10.”
One weakness in Sheppard’s game? Fraschilla believes Sheppard will need time to adjust to passing against the length of the NBA.
“I think pick-and-roll passing will be something that he’s going to have to get better at. Now, he didn’t have a ton of reps this year, in part because he and Rob came off the bench, but there’s a lot to work with there. In the NBA, when you have a shot-maker like that it really opens up the floor.”
On Rob Dillingham
“I honestly think Rob Dillingham might be, inch for inch, the most skilled player in this draft,” Fraschilla said of Kentucky’s other projected lottery pick. “I really believe that. At 6-foot-2, he’s got a Kyrie-like handle. That’s the first thing. Now Kyrie is the standard. But the things he does with the basketball with his speed are incredible.
Frachilla loves Dillingham’s shot-making, too. To emphasize that point, he shared the stat that Kentucky had the best three shooters in the draft on the same team. It still hurts to hear out loud.
From there, Fraschilla explained that he sees more sixth-man potential in Dillingham, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“When you look at Lou Williams, who played a long time in the NBA or Jamal Crawford, who had an incredible career, both of those guys were in that 6-2 and under range, and they were dynamite players off the bench. Now, Rob might not like me saying this because he’s going to be a very wealthy man tonight, but he is your ideal second-unit scorer where when you look at the Mavericks series against the Celtics, they had nobody when Kyrie and Luka went out in that second quarter, and the Celtics were able to boat race them at times.
“I think Rob Dillingham is going to be a prolific scorer, and I think in time, like the best-suited spot for him is as a dynamite sixth man. That doesn’t mean he can’t be a great scorer as a starter, but I love his talent. And the other thing about him is he does not ever shy away from big shots.”
On Antonio Reeves and Justin Edwards
Fraschilla expects Antonio Reeves and Justin Edwards will wait until Thursday’s second round to hear if either of their names is called. Still, he won’t be shocked if Reeves is on an NBA roster in October, or if Edwards sneaks into the back of the first round tonight.
“Antonio is a known commodity. He’s been around forever. He’s gonna get his AARP card soon,” Fraschilla joked. “But quite seriously, one thing Antonio does is he shoots the ball… You guys are quite aware of what he accomplished at Kentucky.”
Fraschilla called Edwards more of a “wild card” because Edwards’ game wasn’t fully developed in Lexington last season for whatever reasons.
“Justin is a kid that, coming into Kentucky, many people thought would be a top-15 pick. And it’s not out of the realm of possibility that somebody at 28 or 29 or 30 could take him in the first round, but I think that he’ll probably be a second-round pick.
“A lot of upside because he’s got that wing size and skill and he can shoot it. Maybe he’s going to take a little bit longer road to the NBA than, say, Sheppard and Dillingham, but you know, certainly a kid with NBA talent that’s probably going to have to be cultivated a little more than the two young precocious guards.”
Hear Tom Hart’s interview with Fran Fraschilla
Catch Fraschilla around the 40:00 mark of the first hour here.
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