Seniors Buddy Hield, Kris Dunn feel 'more mature' ahead of NBA draft
NEW YORK -- The NBA Draft is filled with 18- and 19-year-old hopefuls who spent one or two years in college.
Ben Simmons, the presumptive No. 1 pick by the 76ers on Thursday, fled LSU after one season. Brandon Ingram, who is being pegged to the Lakers at No. 2, also left school (Duke) after his freshman campaign.
But there sat Buddy Hield and Kris Dunn on Wednesday at the Grand Hyatt, confident that their complete stays at college polished their game and helped them grow as they get ready for the biggest day of their professional lives.
Hield, who wowed with a sterling shooting performance in March, graduated from Oklahoma with a degree in human relations. Dunn, a point guard at Providence, was destined to be a high selection in last year's draft, but it was important to him that he graduate, and he accomplished the goal this spring (he majored in social sciences).
Both players are projected in Paste BN's latest mock draft to go in the top 10; they're also the only ones in that top 15 who graduated.
"I feel like me and Kris are more mature," Hield, a 22-year-old native of the Bahamas, told Paste BN Sports. "To get to this point, college was a huge distraction. Coming into the real world, I feel like being more mature, taking on life by itself, we have a lot of people around us, a lot of family around us to take care of us, so I think we have a lot of experience."
Hield believes he's more pro ready because of it, and it's hard to argue. The shooting guard was little more than an afterthought on draft boards before he exploded in his senior season with a 45.7% shooting clip beyond the arc.
Dunn didn't help his stock tremendously by staying, but he believes the move to stay in college paid dividends all the same.
"I just feel like I've learned more coming back my second year," Dunn, a 22-year-old point guard, told Paste BN Sports. "I only played one full year of college basketball, my junior year, so I felt like I needed to learn more; mature my mind, mature my body. And try to improve my skills.
"This year I felt like I was comfortable and I was really ready. It made this process a lot easier. If you want to say it's an advantage, I guess you could say that."
Both men handled media questions with aplomb, and it's clear they aren't fazed by the bright lights. Many of the men who will be selected Thursday hail from other countries (such as projected top-10 pick Dragan Bender), but Hield has already made the transition to the U.S.
"I came out of The Bahamas and I came out of my shell and coming from a different culture I had to adapt," said Hield, who listed the Pelicans, T-Wolves, Lakers and Suns among the teams he privately worked out for. "If you want something so bad in life you have to learn to adjust, man. You have to suck some stuff up. You want something, you go get it."
Dunn went to high school in New London, Conn., and stuck around in New England for college. He would love the opportunity to play for his hometown Celtics, who he grew up rooting for, and it could happen with Boston owning three first-round picks.
"I'm glad I got my college degree, I'm glad I made my family proud," Dunn said. "It helped me mature as a person -- mentally, physically. I got to work on my body, become stronger, learn the game more. I feel like I'm a great student of the game.
"Just to connect with the people, just to be a college kid one last time before I start this crazy lifestyle of ours."