What Do Quincy Pondexter's Draft Prospects Look Like?

Staff writer Anthony Cassino takes a look at Quincy Pondexter’s prospects for the upcoming NBA Draft.

by Anthony Cassino – Staff Writer

Quincy’s up-and-down career at UW has certainly given a roller-coaster ride to his draft prospects. He came in with many thinking he was a potential one-and-done player, and was electric at times as a freshman. He lost the favor of scouts as a sophomore, moved back onto their radar as a junior, then impressed with his play as a senior.

What the mock sites say: NBADraft.net has Pondexter going with the 36th pick to Sacramento, which would be cool for him. It’s close to his hometown of Fresno and he’d reunite with Huskies Spencer Hawes and Jon Brockman.

Draftexpress.com likes QPon more, slotting him as the 22nd pick to the Thunder – a nightmare for myself, as it would clash my hatred of the Thunder with my love of Quincy Pondexter.

What he needs to work on: Simply put, he needs to become a better shooter. At the next level he’s going to have to show that he can hit the three to be a major contributor. He shot it well as a senior, but 35% in a small sample isn’t going to win anybody over, especially when you add in the NBA’s longer three-point line.

He’d also be helped by showing that he can handle the rock. At UW he always had a Justin Dentmon, Isaiah Thomas, Venoy Overton or some combination thereof on the floor with him, so Quincy never really needed to help handling the ball in the full court. It’s a skill he may or may not have, he just hasn’t had the opportunity to display it.

Why isn’t he playing in postseason tournaments?: Pondexter’s stance is that he’s going to take some time to recharge before hitting the gym hard, so he’s skipping Portsmouth and other opportunities to showcase his skills. It looks like he’s already formulated a plan with his family as to what they’re going to do. But remember that he hasn’t signed with an agent yet, and once he does, things may change.

I think it’s a good thing that he’s not playing in the NABC All-Star game though. Those kind of games make nobody look good: the players are generally just trying to impress people, which leads to ball-hogging and turnovers from guys trying to make too many flashy plays.

Final thoughts: The genral feeling is that Quincy is likely a late-first or early-second round pick, though that could rise or fall depending on how he looks at the NBA Combine and in his individual workouts. There’s also the possibility that one team falls in love with him and he jumps quite a bit, some say even as high as the tail end of the lottery.

I wouldn’t get my hopes up for that. Odds are he’s picked somewhere in the 20-30 range, which will be good for Quincy, as he’ll get to play for a contender, work on his game, and adjust to the NBA.

Also of note, if Quincy falls into the second round, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for him. Due to the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, first round salaries are slotted and non-negotiable, something that doesn’t apply to players drafted in the second round. It’s not uncommon at all for players drafted at the end of the first round to make less money than players drafted in the second round.

Thanks for coming!