2021 PBA Draft Analysis: The Potential DRAFT STEALS!

Why are fans still glued to the television or their smart phones even though the top three picks are already announced?

One reason is that they want to see the guys that they are very high about and that they believed to have the potential to be the steal of the draft.

In this draft and the way the narrative is being written, I can see four guys that are mocked in the first two rounds that may end up outplaying their potential draft placement by a lot. 

Yes, my four best candidates as the steal of the draft.

#4 James Laput
Jericho De Guzman, Maurice Shaw, Sam Eman and etc. Those are cautionary tales in drafting a player because they are giants, even though they have not shown anything. 

I think, what makes Laput different at this point is that there are already strong talks that he works hard in improving his game. Strength will be a problem for him but he is also very long to compensate. I also saw some glimpses of the other skills like post-move, passing, screening and etc.

#3 Alec Stockton

It is easy to find a point guard who scores a lot, who can make passes, who can make good decisions and who is smaller than 6'feet in the Philippines.

What is hard to find is a 6'3, who works very hard on defense. That is Alec Stockton in my eyes. If you have him as your point guard, you will also have a  player who is capable of switching to wing players and will have size advantage against the majority of the point guards in the league. 

#2 Taylor Browne

We only have highlights to see how good this guy is but man, he looks really good. He could be an incredible three-point shooter. If that translates, Browne could be a valuable commodity in the league.

I do not think he has elite athleticism but that may have led him to develop off-ball skills that are hard to find in the PBA. His off-movement three-point shooting is superb. He can run through three-to-four screens and then take a pass and then make a tree, right away. 

#1 Troy Rike

I think I am the biggest believer in Rike. By the looks of it, it seems like Larry Muyang, Santi Santillan and Ben Adamos have over-taken him, in the middle-of-the-pack bigman options.

I still think that Rike is the best out of the bigman option after Malonzo and Oftana. Yes, he is not that strong. Yes, he may not be capable of handling physicality at this point. But, he is already working hard on the small stuff.

And physically, I think he has the physique structure to build up muscles that will be the answer to the questions of his games. And he has been shooting three-pointers for than five years now. He is the center that I am most confident to develop an above average three-point shot.

And if he does, it will be a game-changer. Just look at Justin Chua.