A projected top 5 pick, could Obi Toppin be the most explosive prospect in the 2020 NBA Draft?
He’s cunning like his game. If one says Obi Toppin isn’t the most explosive prospect in the 2020 NBA Draft, that person would have to rethink, reemphasize, and hope to rebound from an illegitimate statement of that caliber.
Toppin, the 2020 AP College Basketball Player of the Year, is ready to do more than posterize his opponent. Above all, the 6-foot-9, do-it-all power forward from the University of Dayton could share hugs and flowers from a lottery selection before other draft hopefuls pick their blooming buds.
Ninety-four feet long and 50 feet wide. That’s the prototypical measurement of a college basketball floor. And, how long does it take to lay a hand on Toppin before he slashes through the lane? Twenty seconds at most, and then, SLAM. It’s over. Just ask everyone in the Atlantic-10 last season. But Toppin, among the top NBA draft prospects and considerably a top-five pick, shouldn’t fall into the cracks of a late first-round choice. Why? Examine his dominating days at Dayton.
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Draft scouts speak delectably about Toppin’s offensive upside. He shot a confounding 63 percent from the field during the 2019-20 season and posted a 39 percent 3-point average.
Additionally, Toppin set a Dayton record with 190 dunks last season, leading the nation in dunks, and had the best field-goal percentage of any Division I basketball player in the previous five years who averaged 20 points per game. Obi’s penchant for scoring showed early on as a redshirt freshman, but after being named Atlantic-10 Rookie of the Year, Toppin knew the hand on the clock was ticking. It’s still beating into tonight’s draft.
That flower bouquet with hugs could become a reality tonight if Toppin goes within the first five slots. Notably, one of Toppin’s most significant assets is scoring in the pick and roll game. When you have a young kid possessing robust strength like Obi, with a high basketball IQ in a pick and roll situation, any NBA coach marvels at those fulsome attributes. And, most of the NBA coaches who’ve had the opportunity to scout Toppin during pre-draft workouts would probably mention a similar disclosure.
Experts say Toppin is the best screen setting player in years. Offensively, his stellar ball-handling skills should be sufficient for NBA experts in terms of evaluation purposes with a cup of confidence. But throughout the evaluation process, Toppin was deemed NBA ready predicated on physicality and natural characteristics coming out of high school. With the body-frame of a mack truck, the 22-year-old is primed for a monstrous rookie season.
Will Toppin be picked in the first three slots in tonight’s draft? Hopefully, Obi will pick his blooming buds between slots one and three when he hugs mom and dad.