2018 NBA Draft: 5 things to watch in the Sweet 16

As the Sweet 16 rolls around in the NCAA Tournament, there’s plenty to watch for among 2018 NBA Draft prospects left playing.

Well into March, the NCAA Tournament is a harsh reminder that it’s really hard to win with mostly freshmen talent. We’ve seen the likes of Trae Young, Jaren Jackson Jr., Mohamed Bamba and DeAndre Ayton all crash out early. While exceptions like Duke remain, it’s no coincidence that older teams stay alive longer for the most part.

Despite some early exits, the remaining players offer plenty from an NBA Draft outlook. From the aforementioned loaded Duke team to Villanova’s senior sluggers, there are enough prospects to go around. Zhaire Smith has been an interesting late riser and his Texas Tech is still dancing. So are Robert Williams and Texas A&M, as well as Jevon Carter and West Virginia. Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is playing as well as anyone in the country for Kentucky.

We should not be looking for empty stats in a single-elimination game in March. What we should be searching for are matchups. Now, every game won’t match up two prospects who play the same position. However, we can take more from translatable head-to-head battles than a top-10 pick putting up 30 on a double-digit seed.

So before the Sweet 16 gets underway and brackets get busted even more, here are five things to watch from an NBA Draft perspective. Unsurprisingly, there’s a stronger focus on players with a chance to go high in June’s draft.