The Maryland basketball team has a ton riding on the draft status of Melo Trimble.
Trimble has to make up his mind by Wednesday and choose whether he wants to keep his name in the NBA Draft pool or return to College Park for his junior season.
Trimble had been issued a fair amount of criticism through the draft process, so it’ll be interesting to see what he ultimately decides.
During the NBA Draft Combine, Trimble struggled at times, especially in Thursday’s five-on-five scrimmage. He drew mixed reviews from many national pundits, including ESPN’s Jeff Goodman who said Trimble would benefit from another year of college.
Trimble had his final NBA workout with the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. The Hawks are interesting because of Atlanta’s logjam at point guard and some mock draft have slated teammate Diamond Stone there at No. 21.
ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla spoke to the Glenn Clark Radio Show last week and had some reservations about Trimble staying in the NBA Draft.
“If he (Trimble) came back and played his last two years at Maryland, he’ll likely go down as one of the Terps all-time great guards along with guys like John Lucas and Juan Dixon,” Fraschilla said.
Fraschilla identified quickness and strength as the two main areas that Trimble could stand to improve if he were to return to Maryland for another year. Trimble struggled in the Pan-American Games last summer and suffered through periods of inconsistency during his sophomore season.
Once upon a time, Trimble had the strong possibility of being the highest Maryland player drafted in the 2016 Draft. However, now it’s not a certainty that he would even be drafted if he gets his name in draft pool.
Trimble isn’t currently listed in DraftExpress’ latest mock draft. The site does have Robert Carter (No. 44), Jake Layman (No. 49), and Diamond Stone (No. 33) going in the second round.
Trimble is being hurt by the fact that this is a very deep class when it comes to point guards.
Among those who are projected to go in front of Trimble are Kris Dunn (Providence), Demetrius Jackson (Notre Dame), Dejounte Murray (Washington), Gary Payton II (Oregon State), and Tyler Ulis (Kentucky).
Obviously, it only takes one team to value a player more than others at a position and they may reach for him. However, it would be a very big chance for Trimble to take.
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Over the past two seasons, it’s clear that Trimble is a very smart and talented basketball player that has a future in the NBA. Now he just needs to decides if he wants to take the plunge or sharpen his skillset with another year at Maryland.