USC Basketball: 2018 NBA Mock Draft round up features Trojan first rounders

USC Basketball could see at least two players selected in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft, if predictions from too-early NBA mock drafts prove true.

The conclusion of the 2017 NBA Draft means the arrival of the first too-early NBA mock drafts looking ahead to 2018.

No Trojans were drafted this year, in part because USC is returning almost the entire 2016-17 squad. If the mock drafters are correct, USC Basketball can expect a much more active evening at next year’s draft.

Chimezie Metu is expected to be the crown jewel of USC’s 2018 draft class. Unlike some of his teammates, the 6-foot-9 center never put his name in the draft pool, opting to return for his junior year hoping to make as many strides from Year 2 to 3 as he did Year 1 to 2.

Almost every mock draft out there expects Metu’s decision to pay off with a place in the top half of the draft.

CBS Sports’ Reid Forgrave grades Metu as the No. 12 pick, going to the Dallas Mavericks –assuming he “put[s] together his incredible physical skills and size and turn[s] them into a great junior season.”

Another Trojan appears on the CBS mock draft, but it’s not the player USC fans might expect. With no Boatwright in sight, De’Anthony Melton appears as “a player who will fit just about any team” at No. 18 to the Utah Jazz.

Rob Dauster at NBC Sports also expects Metu to come off the board in the first round, with Melton following soon after. His mock draft features the Trojan center at No. 11 and the young guard at No. 15.

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The Big Lead’s Jason McIntyre expects Metu to land at No. 10 to the Atlanta Hawks where he’ll be “blocking shots and defending and setting screens as a rim roller.”

McIntyre is also one of the few mock drafters to make mention of Boatwright, who he projects to Utah at No. 15.

Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report, meanwhile, settled Metu at No. 16, followed by Melton at No. 18.

Flipping the script a bit, FanSided’s Chris Stone projects Melton at No. 16 with Metu securing a first round selection at No. 28.

USC’s highest ever draft pick was No. 3 overall selection O.J. Mayo in 2008. While it’s unlikely the Trojans will best that record in 2018, they could be in line to add greatly to their first rounders all-time. A total of 11 Trojans have been selected in the first round, including two first rounders in 2009 with Taj Gibson and DeMar DeRozan.