UNC Basketball: Trio of Tar Heels on the rise in latest NBA mock draft

A trio of UNC basketball players is climbing NBA Draft boards.

Fans of the North Carolina basketball program are hoping to see all four college-eligible Tar Heels back in Chapel Hill next season. I’m not ready to say yet whether or not that will happen, as there are still some decisions to be made among those most likely to leave school early for the opportunity to play professional basketball.

One Tar Heel that has seen an improvement in his NBA Draft stock is Brady Manek, a former four-year Oklahoma Sooners starter that used his Covid year of eligibility to play at North Carolina under first-year head coach Hubert Davis. Manek was outstanding in his role with the Tar Heels this season and has risen to the middle of the second round according to the latest from our friends over at NBADraft.net.

They’ve got the fifth-year senior going at No. 46 overall to the Detroit Pistons. The 23-56 Pistons have a lot of holes and could certainly use all the shooting they can get their hands on, especially when it comes with a 6-foot-9, 230-pound frame like Manek’s. He scored 15.1 points per game on 49.3 percent shooting overall and 40.3 percent beyond the arc.

A pair of Tar Heels who continue to shoot up draft boards but have not yet used all of their college eligibility is Caleb Love and Armando Bacot. Love averaged 15.9 points, 3.6 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting a greatly improved 36 percent from three-point range and 86.3 percent at the free throw line. Bacot anchored the North Carolina frontcourt all season long, scoring a team-high 16.3 points and pulling down an outstanding 13.1 rebounds per game.

To say that Love and Bacot are cornerstones of a UNC team that won 29 games and fell just shy of a national championship would be an understatement. North Carolina fans are obviously hoping to see the dynamic duo back in Chapel Hill next season but recent draft projections certainly put that into question.

Love is all the way up to No. 33 (Indiana) in NBADraft.net’s latest 2022 mock draft, just three spots outside of the first round. It stands to reason that if Love can cement himself as a first-round draft pick, then he will likely give a long look at leaving school for the NBA this summer. If Love can continue to gain consistency in his improving offensive skill set, there’s no reason to believe he can’t work himself into a considerably more favorable draft position over the next couple of months.

Bacot isn’t as high as Love or Manek, but he has worked himself into the 48th (Minnesota) overall projected pick in the draft. Although he still has room for improvement, the junior big man has made incredible strides during his time at UNC and is now one of the nation’s best rebounders. He’s also shown a tremendous amount of heart and toughness, things that all NBA coaches and general managers love to see. Whether or not Bacot can improve his draft position enough for him to be comfortable making the jump from college to the NBA is yet to be seen.

We’ll continue to follow the trio of UNC standouts in the coming months and keep fans apprised of where we think they’ll end up next season.

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