Washington Huskies freshman point guard Tony Wroten is gaining a lot of admirers among NBA general managers and scouts. After showcasing his skills in front of a national audience against Marquette and Duke last week, Wroten improved an already impressive draft stock.
NBADraft.net currently has Wroten projected to go mid-1st round in the 2013 draft while Draft Express has Wroten going into late first round in 2013 as well.
ESPN.com's Chad Ford thinks he'll rise to the top and is more NBA-ready than North Carolina's Kendall Marshall. See what Ford has to say about Wroten after the jump.
He's tall, has eyes in the back of his head, can get to the basket at will and, when he's focused, he can take over a game. ... Said one top NBA scout, "He's the second coming of Gary Payton." (Via: ESPN Insider)
Ford wasn't the only one praising the talent of Wroten after last week, Coach K also complimented Wroten after his 23-point performance against Duke,
I've watched most of their games and I thought that was Wroten's best performance. ... He was terrific. I even told him. He's a big-time talent, " said Krzyzewski. (Via: Seattle Times)
Wroten has several close Husky fans cringing at his inability to make free-throws (51.9% on the year) and his habit of turning the ball over (4.3 per game).
Despite these flaws to his game, the point guard was almost unstoppable in the second half of Washington's game against Duke and has made several impressive passes no one else in the country is capable of. His NBA stock will only improve as he starts to work on his weaknesses.