This was bound to happen, and it’s easy to predict that four different names could actually be thrown into the pot when it comes to who truly will be the top pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
As Jabari Parker continuing to produce and perform at a consistently high level for Duke, Wiggins has struggled somewhat to figure out his identity in college.
Wiggins struggles to attack and be aggressive at all times. The struggles of Wiggins now have NBA scouts switching their allegiance according to Chad Ford.
Wiggins: Wiggins continues to face harsh scrutiny, especially after a tepid performance in the Battle 4 Atlantis and career-low six points against UTEP. But he’s recently looked the part of the No. 1 pick again, scoring 22 points against Colorado and 26 against Florida. Wiggins has become more aggressive taking the ball to the basket and took a total of 17 free throws in those two games before having another off game against New Mexico on Saturday. Given that scouts are primarily concerned with his lack of aggressiveness, that’s a very good sign if he can start doing it consistently.
Parker: The longer the season goes on, the more scouts are switching their allegiances to Parker as their favorite to go No. 1. He’s a scoring machine. He has a high basketball IQ. He can play multiple positions on the floor, and his lack of elite defensive abilities combined with the occasional struggle against long, athletic defenders are the only real knocks on him at the moment.
Parker is a walking stat sheet at this point in his career, putting up 22.1 points per game, to go with 7.8 rebounds as well. It’s clear at this point that Parker is the one ready to play in the league at this point in time.
The bet will have to be placed by the GM or team that believes in Andrew Wiggins potential to be great over time.