Stop us if you've heard this before, but all eyes are on Henri Veesaar and North Carolina.
Veesaar transferred in from Arizona and he was an All-ACC player for the Tar Heels and Hubert Davis last year. Since then, Davis has been fired, but Michael Malone was brought in and the new UNC head man is hoping that Veesaar will return to Chapel Hill for one more season.
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However, the expectation is that Veesaar is going to test the NBA Draft waters and see what kind of a grade he gets. If he remains a second-round option, he'll probably make his way back to the ACC powerhouse. However, in a new NBA Mock Draft from Kevin O'Connor, he has Veesaar going No. 29 overall to Cleveland, sneaking into the first round.
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"Veesaar is an agile big with real shooting touch, connective playmaking and baseline big skills with the ability to set screens and catch lobs," O'Connor wrote. "He also offers rim protection and is a locked-in help defender. He might not even enter the draft, as he remains undecided. But if he does, it’d make perfect sense for the Cavaliers to scoop him up since he could operate as a big man next to either Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley."
If Veesaar ends up being a lock to be a first-rounder, sure, Carolina fans will give him their blessing to say goodbye to this team and get ready for his next journey. However, if he's a second-rounder, then the door must be swung wide open for him to make an easy call and dominate at the college level once again.
There have been several mock drafts where Veesaar has been a second-rounder, but this new one from O'Connor sure has changed things up a bit. If anything, it might have UNC supporters a bit more worried that Veesaar may not don a Carolina jersey next season after all. Things are unknown there for now, but a decision from the talented big man is expected soon.
Remember, though, that even if Veesaar does enter his name into the NBA Draft, he has until late May to go through the process and then pull his name out if he chooses to do so. It feels like a coin flip at this point on what he might do, but it's something the Carolina faithful are following quite closely. If Veesaar is in the lineup next year, UNC would no doubt be a Top 20 team. That's a big if at this time.
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