Illinois Basketball: NBA mock draft still has two Illini getting selected

The Illinois basketball team is likely to have at least one player selected in the 2023 NBA Draft.

This is something that hasn’t happened too often as of late. The last Illini selected in the draft was in 2021 with Ayo Dosunmu going in the second round with pick No. 38. The next most recent player drafted was Meyers Leonard back in 2012. So, we have had two players go in the NBA Draft in the past 11 years.

Illinois might be able to double that number in the 2023 NBA Draft, though. We have a couple of players in Coleman Hawkins and Terrence Shannon Jr. who have declared for the draft but, I believe, both have kept their eligibility by not hiring an agent.

A recent NBA mock draft has Illinois basketball players Coleman Hawkins and Terrence Shannon Jr. both getting selected

There have been numerous mock drafts produced over the past few months, and I keep an eye on them because, well, it is fun to see Illinois players involved. It doesn’t happen often, and even though mock drafts are complete speculation, I like to see where everyone has our players.

In a recent mock draft published by HoopsHype, both Hawkins and Shannon are getting selected. I think, if they do get picked, we are looking at the middle-to-late second round as almost a near lock. I don’t see either of these players going in the first round or really early second round on any mock draft anymore.

The HoopsHype mock draft is different. They compiled 10 different mock drafts and averaged out where each player would be selected based on those mock drafts.

Shannon is the first Illinois player off the board. The average from HoopsHype puts him at No. 44, which is a 6-spot drop from their last ranking. If he would land at this spot, Shannon would be going to the San Antonio Spurs.

This would be an okay landing spot for Shannon. The ups would be that he could get discipline and coaching from one of the best to ever do it in Gregg Popovich. The downside would be the fact they have a bad roster, so Shannon might not do too much winning in his early years.

Hawkins would then be selected with an average that puts him at No. 49, which is a 10-spot drop from his previous ranking. This would have him, roughly, landing with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Draft positions are always changing, but this would be a good landing spot for Hawkins. The Cavs could use someone who stretches the floor with three-point shooting. Hawkins could pull out a big man so players like Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell can drive the lane. I would like to see Hawkins in Cleveland.