The day the Oregon basketball players find out their future destination has nearly arrived.
Bryce Taylor, Malik Hairston and Maarty Leunen will be waiting to see if an NBA team calls their name at Thursday night’s NBA Draft. All are expected to be second round selections if they are chosen.
Since their final college season ended in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the trio have been working out with goals of being picked.
The draft kicks off at 4 p.m. at Madison Square Garden in New York and goes through 9 p.m. in the two-round draft.
Mock drafts have listed the three Oregon players all over the draft board. Some have listed one or two of the three drafted.
It’s a drastic change from last spring when mock drafts, following Oregon’s run to the Elite Eight, had the 6-foot-4 Taylor listed in the first round, as Taylor was brimming with confidence going into his senior season.
The senior season failed to live up to the team’s high expectations. The team struggled to make its way into the NCAA Tournament, where the Ducks lost in the first round to Mississippi State.
Taylor needed to build up his draft stock once again. Individually, his statistics fell from his breakout junior year to his senior year in scoring, rebounding, assists and shooting percentage.
After the season ended, the trio went into individual workouts, before going to the Orlando Pre-Draft Camp. Orlando, remember, is where former UCLA point guard Jordan Farmar put together a strong performance that launched him from a likely second-round selection into a first-round pick with a guaranteed contract.
“We just hope that all three of us will get drafted or at least have a chance to make a team so that we can make our dreams come true,” Taylor said in a media gathering following a workout with the Portland Trail Blazers in June. “It’s an exciting time for all of us, and I’m just hoping all of us do well.”
Taylor has spent much of the last month crisscrossing the country for individual workouts and trying to leave a good impression.
“You want to put your best foot forward and give your best effort,” Taylor said. “This essentially is a job interview and you want to make the best impression possible ’cause this might be the only time they see you (before the draft).”
In looking at a variety of Internet mock drafts, DraftExpress has Hairston going No. 45 to the San Antonio Spurs and Taylor going No. 56 to the Seattle SuperSonics. NBADraft.net has Taylor joining Aaron Brooks in Houston with the No. 54 pick. ESPN NBA Draft guru Chad Ford has the Dallas Mavericks picking Hairston with the No. 51 pick.
Ford writes under his choice that “Hairston is solid in virtually every area of his game and is one of the few players left in the draft who could come in and contribute immediately.”
The Draft Review has Hairston a Portland pick at No. 55 and Taylor going to Detroit at No. 59.
Maarty Leunen has been listed as a possible selection in earlier mocks but may go undrafted.