Tahaad Pettiford - NBA Mock Draft Roundup 1.0

Pro Comparison: Devonte' Graham

Tahaad Pettiford had a needle-moving NBA combine, measuring a 6'5.5" wingspan, jumping 42 inches and lighting up Wednesday's scrimmage with 23 points and eight assists. While his shot fell off on Thursday, his talent still popped relative to the other nine players on the floor. The ability to spots, shoot and leverage his elusiveness into playmaking made Pettiford look like a change-of-pace offensive bench spark at the least.

Pettiford is one of the the biggest names to watch during the combine from a college basketball perspective. He might be the best guard in the country next season if he returns to Auburn for his sophomore year, but his electric scoring ability just might be enough to get a team to take him at the end of the first round. Pettiford is incredibly shifty with the ball in his hands, and is a threat to pull-up with his jump shot any time he approaches the three-point line. He shot 36.6 percent on 191 attempts from deep this year, with nearly 45 percent of those attempts being self-created. Pettiford just effortlessly creates space with the ball in his hands, and that's alway going to be a valuable skill even if he's undersized for an NBA guard (listed at 6'1) with limitations as a defender and rim finisher.

If Pettiford were 6-foot-5 or 6-foot-6, he'd probably be going in the top five of this draft. He was a second-unit chaos agent on a geriatric Auburn team, but as the season progressed, it became glaringly clear that he was the most talented player on the roster. One could argue that Pettiford's ability to shoot and pass the ball out of a live dribble, both beyond the arc and with some functional artistry and flair in the midrange, is in the same tier as Dylan Harper's. But to play a primary role on a competitive team at his size, he'll need to be a bulldog when guarding the ball and a technician with your feet and decision-making in the paint on offense. If the Suns trade Kevin Durant and retool around Devin Booker, they could give Pettiford plenty of reps so he can blossom in that direction.

Pettiford is a combo guard with a sniper's touch, raining 3s and lethal floaters while flashing playmaking savvy and a bulldog mentality on both ends. But his smaller size means he'll need to clean up his shot selection and decision-making to max out his game at the next level. In Orlando, those flaws could be masked since he'd have size in the backcourt next to him with Jalen Suggs and length across every other position.