Look around almost any NBA mock draft and it’s hard to find Quincy Guerrier’s name. In fact, it’s almost impossible. On March 1, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie placed him at #81 on the NBA Draft Big Board. For context, there’s only 60 players selected in the two-round draft. On March 16, just before the NCAA Tournament began, in his mock draft he wasn’t listed.
Guerrier’s advisor says he will “test the NBA waters,” but they might not find much. The NBADraft.net crew doesn’t have him listed either. If you are scouring, you better find a mock draft with both rounds because the gang at NBC Sports only does the first 30 picks, and he’s nowhere near that high. Tankathon.com updated their board a week ago. Through two rounds, Guerrier wasn’t picked. It has seemed inevitable that Guerrier would leave for the NBA all season, but what if there’s nowhere to go?
None of this is to rain on someone’s lifelong dream. He has dreamt about being in the NBA for years. His improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 at Syracuse proves he can dedicate himself and see results. He helped lead the team to the Sweet 16 by being a go-to factor both scoring and on the glass. Early in the season he had his breakout stretch. But he failed to score 20 points after January 23. Buddy Boeheim took the wheel as the top scoring option in March. Guerrier averaged 14 ppg/8 rpg this season. Hardly the type of stuff that NBA scouts are drooling over. He’ll also be 22 in May. He may leave to play professionally, but the NBA may not be the reality.
Guerrier shot 49.3% from the field and established himself as the focal point of SU’s offense early in the season. A retooled shot keyed that growth and allowed Guerrier to connect more on 3-pointers, too — he made 23 shots from beyond the arc as opposed to three last year. РThe Daily Orange
Ibrahim Appiah, Guerrier‚Äôs high school coach at Thetford Academy in Quebec, told Donna Ditota of the intention to hear what NBA scouts have to say. Thankfully, if he doesn’t sign with an agent he’s eligible to come back to SU. Appiah told The D.O. ‚ÄúSo, it‚Äôs like you‚Äôre losing more by not trying ‚Ķ and the best thing for you is to get first-hand feedback on what they think of you.‚Äù
That’s great. Getting professional feedback on what you need to improve on, or how the league would use you, can only be helpful. But when SU fans are planning on whether to expect Guerrier in uniform next year, it seems crazy to think there’s much of an NBA future for him at the moment. If he’s entering the NBA Draft without much of a guarantee he’d even be selected, that seems like a miscalculation.
