2018 NBA Draft: 5 under-the-radar power forward prospects
By Max Holm
1. Killian Tillie — Gonzaga
As we’ve taken a look at two freshmen, a senior and a junior, we turn to a sophomore who might be the most underrated forward in the nation. Tillie shined in a small role, like Zach Collins a year ago. Unlike Collins, Tillie is staying at Gonzaga and is poised for more minutes and a breakout year. Tillie may have been born in Paris, France, but he’ll have many more Americans and draft enthusiasts knowing his name soon enough.
Like Collins, Tillie played in limited minutes, which makes his per-40 numbers pretty crazy. Per-40, Tillie averaged 13.7 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.4 steals. In addition, and this really unlocks a lot of the intrigue into his game, he shot 48 percent from 3. It was a small sample size (only 23 attempts), but he also shot almost 78 percent from the free throw line.
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We’ll see if those were flukes this year in a bigger role, but oh man, if they’re for real? Tillie has great size at 6’10” and could turn into a two-way force. If you’re looking for a breakout candidate who can not only take over his team and conference, but also possibly shoot onto draft radars, Tillie is your guy.