OJ Mayo – 2008 NBA Draft Profile
June 19, 2008 by Stephen Kersey
Filed under NBA Draft Prospects, NFL Player Analysis
OJ Mayo is one of the most exciting players available in the 2008 NBA Draft. Mayo is a combo guard who excels at scoring. While he has the potential to buy some minutes at point guard, Mayo’s biggest strength in the NBA will likely be his ability to score the ball.
Mayo entered the college basketball season as perhaps the most highly regarded prospect in all of college basketball. But at USC Mayo struggled a bit and his draft stock began to drop. But as the season went on, Mayo’s stock began to rise once again.
Now it’s looking more and more likely that Mayo will be the third player off the board. While Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose will likely go first and second, Mayo is the clearcut leader in the race for the third pick.
As far as fantasy basketball is concerned, Mayo has the upside to be a player similar to Gilbert Arenas. Mayo should be able to score right away in the NBA and he’ll get decent enough assist numbers. The thing to worry about is how efficient he will be in his rookie year. There’s a good chance that Mayo will struggle with field goal percentage and turnovers, which could make him a risky pick in fantasy basketball in 2008.
Check out this OJ Mayo video previewing his selection in the 2008 NBA Draft:
Being from Cincinnati, I am a little bias to OJ Mayo. However, I am going to have to agree and say, that he will struggle in his rookie season. I don’t see him dominating at all.