NBA Draft 2016: Underrated Prospects Who Will Rise During Predraft Process

Invites for the NBA Draft Combine have been pouring in. 

As expected, it’s a long list, per ESPN.com’s Jeff Goodman:

NBA draft combine list. I have compiled 59 of the 70 or so guys invited to Chicago combine. Here is working list. pic.twitter.com/O04dhXf4fG

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) May 1, 2016

There are still some notable players on the list who have yet to sign with an agent and will thus have the chance to go back to school if their draft status is not to their liking.

The talent level in this year’s draft class can be best described as “untapped potential.” There won’t be many immediate superstars, but there’s a good number of underrated prospects who could see a spike in their draft stock.

Let’s take a look at some of them.

Patrick McCaw, SG, UNLV

It was a rocky season for the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, one that resulted in failed expectations once again. The one constant through all the drama in Las Vegas was Rebels guard Patrick McCaw.

If there was a list compiled of the best three-and-D prospects in this draft, McCaw would probably be at the top of it. The UNLV sophomore shot 36.6 percent from three-point range last year but took 5.6 attempts per game, the most on the team.

UNLV has long been known as a three-point shooting team, so the average number of attempts aren’t alarming. But McCaw also averaged 2.5 steals per game and 81 total through 33 games. He was the Rebels’ best perimeter defender and the reason why UNLV was competitive during a terrible season.

ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla was certainly a fan of his earlier this year:

Anybody have UNLV’s Patrick McCaw on their All-Defensive Team? 6-7 sophomore guard who is very disruptive.

— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) November 19, 2015

DraftExpress has McCaw going 34th overall to the Phoenix Suns in the second round, nine picks after his UNLV teammate, freshman center Stephen Zimmerman. NBADraft.net has the St. Louis native in the same ballpark at No. 36 to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Make no mistake: McCaw is not just a three-and-D guy. He works well in the pick-and-roll and can also attack the basket and draw contact. He’s not a great ball-handler, so having him go one-on-one with the game on the line wouldn’t be a sound strategy. But at 6’6″, scouts are drawn in because of his size, as one scout told Mike Grimala of RunRebs.com:

The things that stand out when you watch McCaw is his defense and his ability to play the …

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