Texas Basketball: 3 best 2021 NBA Draft prospects among Longhorns

Kai Jones, C

Definitely the most highly-touted prospect in this draft class among former Longhorns is the former underrated four-star recruit and sophomore breakthrough power forward Kai Jones. The reigning Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year was the most effective player that came off the bench for the most part last season for Smart and the Longhorns.

Jones was solid through and through for Texas last season, developing his game on both ends of the floor. He became a more versatile defender, despite his number of blocks per game regressing compared to his true freshman campaign. And he got more of an opportunity to space the floor from the four or the five.

The offensive box plus/minus for Jones improved from a mark of -0.1 to 4.0 from his freshman to sophomore seasons. And his true shooting percentage made nearly a 10 percentage point jump from the 2019-20 campaign to this past season.

Considering that Jones looks to be a potent big man that can space the floor, put it on the floor and beat opposing defenders when need be and protect the rim, it’s hard to flat his status as having a ceiling of a lottery pick.

More realistically, Jones could be considered a mid-to-late first-round draft pick. There is a chance that both former Longhorn’s power forwards Brown and Jones are taken off of the board in the first round. But there is a much better chance that Jones is a first-round pick when it’s all said and done than Brown.