It’s no secret that one of the most crucial parts of building a successful sports franchise is acquiring the most talented players possible. For NBA teams, the most surefire way to acquire this talent is with a selection in the NBA draft. Once a year, NBA teams and their fans get filled with the hope that they can bring in a college star who can translate their success to the professional level.
However, in reality, the NBA draft is a very inexact science and one that often leads to players with high expectations failing to live up to them. As an avid fan of the NBA draft, I wanted to determine if it was possible to utilize a draft prospect’s college career to assist in the decision-making process when evaluating their NBA future. This seemed like a great intersection of data analysis and sports for me, and an opportunity to gain new skills along the way.