No. 5: Simisola Shittu (Vanderbilt)
Simisola Shittu and the Vanderbilt Commodores had a really interesting season. Vanderbilt added two five-star recruits in Shittu and Darius Garland, but with Garland, who is a projected lottery pick, missing significant time with injury and an overall weak roster, they went 0-18 in SEC play this past season.
Shittu, who tore his ACL in 2017, had some concerns coming into the season, but had a decent freshman campaign. Shittu averaged 10.9 points and 6.7 rebounds on the season. Despite his raw upside, he isn’t projected to be drafted in next month’s draft, and if he does get picked, it will be somewhere in the second round.
He’s still just 19 years old, though, which is why he would be a good pickup for a team as an undrafted free agent. He can develop in the G-League for a few seasons and learn how to play with professionals. He’ll need to improve his shooting and defense at the next level.
I’m not sure if the Hornets would look at Shittu, but like I said, he has upside and is worth a gamble. It wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up getting a two-way contract from an NBA team during the 2019-20 season.