There's still a slim chance Tubelis withdrawals & comes back to Arizona

[KansasCityCats]

It's rare but not h likely for a senior to be a kid first rounder like Buddy Hield, Grayson Allen, Taurean Prince, Cam Johnson, Duarte or most recently: Ogbaji.

His outside shot and defensive improvements would definitely be the difference in draft stock and hopefully he hears that feedback from scouts over the next couple weeks.

(We know you aren't rooting against Tubelis...ha).

[arxpert]

A senior be a lottery pick?
That is something that is VERY hard to come by!
His age and lack of expanded skill set is going to limit him.
Add in that this expanded gameplay would only be for one season, and it might hurt him even more.
Scouts may wonder if this was a lightning in the bottle situation, or would he be able to continue this at the next level?
It can cause a lot of pause on his draft stock, but all it takes is one program to fall in love with him.

When is the last time a senior went in the lottery?
Wasn't it Duarte from Oregon in 2021?
He transferred, but he was like 23 or something like that?
That was the 13th pick, so he BARELY made the cut.

(I just realized I sound like I am rooting against Tubelis, but I promise I am not lol)

I think there will be more examples of players aged 20-25 hitting the NBA in the lottery simply because the lottery is not big enough unless you truly know it's a lock. NIL is getting bigger and bigger. The guaranteed money involved is causing a purpose to stay in College as long as possible until you get as much information about your stock. We may see the NBA Lottery start to become mostly "older" players outside of the top 2-5 going forward.

Footnote -

Not a Pacers fan, but their team is really on the rise.

Duarte is usurped by Mamba Mathurin currently, but the Pacers really have something big brewing. Halibuton, Hield, Mathurin, Myles Turner, Duarte, TJ McConnell, Andrew Nembhard, Isaiah Jackson, Jalen Stix Smith, and they will probably have the #7 pick this year too. (technically rostered Gabe York too...)