Pacers draft options: West Virginia’s Jevon Carter

The second-round is a crapshoot in the NBA draft. But Jevon Carter could be as close to a sure thing as you can get for the Indiana Pacers.

Looking around at 2018 NBA mock drafts around the internet, you can find West Virginia guard Jevon Carter in a lot of places. Some have him not getting drafted. Some have him going in the early second round. Either way, there is not a consensus on how talented Carter is, or how much potential he has.

Look no further for the answer. Carter is good right now. And he has a future in the NBA.

The proof is in the pudding. Carter’s college stats do a lot of the talking for him, but we can talk about that in a minute. First, let’s talk about a recent report that mentioned something that Carter’s WVU coach, Bob Huggins, recently brought to light about Carter’s draft workouts:

"“Guys have canceled because of him,” Huggins said. “They’ve had their agents call and cancel when they found out J.C. was going to the workout.”"

So, to get this straight, other prospects won’t work out with Carter at times because they are afraid they will look bad in the workout and fall in the draft. What more needs to be said about the guy’s defense than that? He is literally scaring other dudes away.

That speaks volumes of his prowess on D. His tenacity is unrivaled amongst other prospects. He is tough and gritty. And most of all, he isn’t “just” a defensive beast.

During his senior season at West Virginia, Carter performed tidily on offense. He poured in 17.3 points per game and dished out 6.6 assists. He shot 39.3 percent from three-point range and 85.8 percent from the free throw line. And he did all that while exerting crazy effort on both ends of the floor, making it more impressive.

He played defense like a maniac. Huggins defensive system at WVU involved a heavy full-court press at many times, and Carter executed it perfectly. He snagged 2.85 steals per game, good for fifth in the nation, and he made life hell for his matchup every night.

For example, he did a terrific job containing probable lottery selection Trae Young:

When Young tried to get a sliver of space to rise up and shoot over Carter, he met a similar fate:

Carter was the recipient of the NABC Defensive Player of the Year and the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year as a result of his efforts during his senior year. And that is just the tip of the iceberg for his trophy case. Let’s keep going.

• 2018 Associate Press All-American 2nd Team
• John R. Wooden Award All American Team in 2018
• 2018 Senior CLASS Award
• Academic All-American of the Year in 2018
• 2018 preseason All-Big 12 team

And in the statistical achievements department, Carter has cemented his place in the history books:

• West Virginia career steal leader
• WVU single-season steal leader (112 in 2018)
• West Virginia single-season assist leader (246 in 2018)

Carter was a beast everywhere on the court. Defensively, he shut down tough matchups, and now he scares guys away from even participating in pre-draft workouts with him. Offensively, he is efficient and a solid enough passer to be a floor general. Overall, he’s supremely impressive.

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There are reasons why someone like this isn’t projected to go very high in the draft. At just 6’1 with a 6’4 wingspan, Carter is pretty small even for a hooper. He plays bigger than that, but it is concerning at the pro level. He probably won’t ever be able to use his incredible defense on multiple positions and will likely be limited to only shutting down opposing point guards.

Additionally, Carter will be 23 when the next NBA season tips off. His potential to grow is substantially lower than someone who is 19 or so since they will have four additional years of their life to mature and grow with NBA coaches. Even if a younger player isn’t as good as Carter right now, organizations will likely believe they can groom a youngster to be as good as Carter by the time they reach age 23.

So, he’s short and he’s old. Those are Carter’s negatives. Note that neither of those things are truly on-court skills, though. And that is what could make him such an appealing prospect to teams later in the draft. He could be solid right now.

Next: Bates-Diop, DiVincenzo, and Milton headline Pacers pre-draft workouts on Friday

The trouble with Jevon Carter is this: 23 might be too early to draft him. But he might be off the board by pick 50. Finding a way to acquire a pick in the 30s might be the only way the Pacers can get him. Is giving up assets to get Jevon Carter worth the risk? I think it is. The guy can flat out play.