Maryland basketball’s Melo Trimble did not have a good showing at this year’s NBA Draft Combine and has fallen completely out of the Draft Express mock draft, as of Sunday afternoon.
At the beginning of the year, Trimble tinkered between being a late first-round pick and an early second-round pick. But as the season progressed, his stock continued to fall further back into the second round of the upcoming NBA draft. Before this week’s combine, the point guard was projected to be drafted with the 38th pick, according to Draft Express.
Because he has not hired an agent, the second-team All-Big Ten guard has until May 25 to decide if he wants to come back to College Park.
“Right now I’m still leaning towards keeping my name in the draft,” Trimble said in an interview with CSN Mid-Atlantic. However, he has acknowledged several times that he is still weighing his options and plans to wait before making his final decision.
Surprisingly, it does not matter where the Upper Marlboro native gets picked, as long as he is drafted.
“I would be happy to be early second,” Trimble told SNY. “You look at players in the league like Isaiah Thomas and Draymond Green; they were in the second round.”
Trimble would be the only returning starter in the 2016-2017 season if he were to return, which could steer him further toward staying in the draft. Rasheed Sulaimon and Jake Layman played their final seasons of NCAA eligibility, while big men Robert Carter Jr. and Diamond Stone have both declared for the draft and hired agents, making them ineligible to return at the collegiate level.
“Yeah, it makes it a lot harder … You’re not going to have any starters come back at all,” Trimble said. “For me to be the only starter coming back, it’s going to be something difficult.”
Most analysts agree that Trimble should return to Maryland after seeing his overall performance decline from his freshman year. The key component in Trimble’s transition to the NBA is his three-point shooting, which plunged from 41.2 percent to 31.5 percent. Trimble’s shooting woes were apparent especially during conference play, where he seemed to have lost a spark in his game. Despite his shooting decline, Trimble’s continued to pass the ball well, increasing his assist totals from 3 per game to 4.9.
Trimble’s struggles were seen during the 5-on-5 scrimmages on Thursday and Friday. Yet, Trimble’s shuttle and agility drills ranked him second-best among point guards at the combine. Take that with a grain of salt, though. Numerous projected first-round picks did not participate in the combine due to injury or fear that it would lower their draft stock.
Trimble met with several teams at the combine, and is scheduled to meet with Indiana, Milwaukee, San Antonio, Atlanta, and Philadelphia, according to SNY. The NBA Draft will take place June 23 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
