Kentucky Basketball: Is Malik Monk a potential top five NBA Draft pick?

After Malik Monk’s dominate game in Kentucky basketball’s recent win, does he have the potential to be a top five NBA Draft pick?

It’s only December, the second month of the college basketball season. Conference play hasn’t started, and most importantly, we haven’t seen anyone perform on the biggest stage that is March Madness.

But Malik Monk’s dynamic 47-point performance against North Carolina in front of 47 NBA scouts has us thinking about the 2017 NBA Draft and his potential stock.

Twitter has already labeled Monk as the future number one overall draft selection and the next NBA All-Star, but where does the 6’3″, 200 pound freshman’s stock truly stand?

Does he really have number one overall pick potential? Is he the complete player NBA front offices are searching for? Is he even the best pro prospect on his team?

These are all questions that will be answered over the next few months as Kentucky dives in SEC play, takes on Louisville and Kansas in non-conference match-ups and competes in the NCAA Tournament. However, we have already seen flashes of brilliance and possible question marks that will positively and negatively impact Monk’s standing as a future pro.

By simply watching Kentucky’s games against North Carolina and Michigan State (their two biggest games of the season thus far), you can tell that Monk is a natural scorer. He can shoot from the perimeter, has an on-point middle range jumper and is virtually unstoppable in the open court.

Monk is so athletic that he is capable of attacking the basket off straight line drives and can finish at the rim over length.

Monk has also shown that he is a very coachable player. Coming out of high school, he had the reputation of a “gunner” and a young prospect who had a very poor shot selection. A month into his college career, John Calipari has helped Monk improve his basketball IQ and has helped him become more of a team oriented player.

He’s never going to be a player that ever drops 10 plus dimes in a game (only averaging 2.4 on the year), but he has shown the ability to move the ball within the confines of the offense. Making better decisions with the basketball is one of the main reasons why Monk’s stock is rising rapidly.

On the flip side, there are some issues that stick out in regards to the next level. Monk is only 6’3″ and doesn’t have long arms. That limits his versatility on the defensive end and he may struggle when attacking players that are taller and have similar athleticism in the NBA.

Those are not correctable issues, but Monk’s shaky ball handling skills is something that can certainly improve. Against North Carolina, Monk showed flashes, putting Joel Berry II on skates on a fast break in the second half.

So where does this put Monk in the 2017 NBA Draft? Draft Express currently has Monk being selected 5th overall, just ahead of Jayson Tatum and Jonathan Isaac. However, this mock draft was created before Monk’s absurd game against UNC on Saturday.

In my opinion, if Monk continues to score at this high of a rate (he hasn’t finished in single digits in any game yet this season), it’s almost impossible for him be selected anywhere outside of the top five. A player with Monk’s natural scoring ability doesn’t come around very often.

The problem is that there are so many elite NBA prospects in college basketball this season that it’s tough to project how his stock will look compared to the other freshman five months from now. Monk may not even be the best pro prospect on his team – De’Aaron Fox is a better all around player – showing truly how deep the 2017 NBA Draft pool is. If Monk was in the 2016 NBA Draft, I don’t think there would be any debate regarding whether or not he was a top three pick.

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