Three-Point Play: Makur Maker, James Bouknight, John Beilein

Today in the Three-Point-Play, a look at Makur Maker as an NBA Draft prospect, the emergence James Bouknight at UConn and should programs be keeping close watch on John Beilein and the Cavaliers?

MORE: Moncrieffe sets decision | Twitter Tuesday mailbag

2020 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position

2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Position

2022 Rankings: Top 75

All winter long, five-star center Makur Maker and those around him have made no bones about his desire to enter the 2020 NBA Draft.

Now, the NBA has said that the 7-footer who currently plays at Hillcrest Prep in the Phoenix area will indeed be eligible. That he’s eligible is no real surprise. The state of California ruled him out for this season citing that he was a senior last year. Thus, he qualifies for the NBA’s rule of being a year removed from his high school class. But, until it was made clear by the NBA, we had to operate thinking that Maker going to college was a possibility.

While Maker could certainly choose to go to college, I don’t see it happening and I haven’t spoken to any college coaches who were investing much time into seriously recruiting him. So, where does that leave him as an NBA Draft prospect? Good question.

Maker has 7-foot size, a big frame to build on, he can run, he can protect the rim and he has potential as a face-up player. All of those things make him a legit prospect and a potential first-rounder. During the 2019-20 season, though, Maker’s performance in front of NBA scouts has been a mixed bag. He’s settled for too many deep jumpers, hasn’t appeared to be in top top shape and never really looked comfortable at Hillcrest. Formerly a top-five prospect in 2020, his ranking has dropped in the process.

I spent Monday checking in with some sources in NBA front offices and they told me that as of now they see him on the bubble of the first and second round. They want to get him in town for workouts, they want to check his medicals and really get to know him off the floor. Generally speaking, though, he’s well liked and most I spoke with feel he’s got a good chance to rise quickly with strong workouts.

Headed into the season, there was quite a bit of buzz coming out of Storrs, Conn., about the ability of UConn’s freshman shooting guard James Bouknight.

The Huskies haven’t had quite the season they were hoping for and it took the former four-star high flyer a little bit of time to settle in, but man is he playing well right now. In fact, the 6-foot-4 Bouknight is currently playing as well as any freshman in America. Averaging a little over 12 points per game on the season, Bouknight has stepped that up during February averaging 20 points per game over his last five outings.

He’s showing that he can put the ball on the floor, that he can cover a lot of ground as a defender and he’s looking like a threat as a deep jump shooter. All along, he’s been a big part of why I really like Danny Hurley and the Huskies to have a big bounceback season next year. The fear now if you are a fan of the program is, has he gotten too good too quick?

Personally, I would lean towards one more year of college being huge for Bouknight’s stock. But, I’ve definitely started fielding calls from teams looking into his background and there’s no doubt that he and those close to him are aware of his rising stock. At a minimum, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him at least test the waters and get feedback.

Bottom line -- he’s an exciting player who has come on very quick and proven to be a legitimate next-level prospect. Assuming he’s back next year, look for him to be pegged by many as one who makes a national name for himself.

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Over the weekend, several reports began to circulate that the Cleveland Cavaliers and first-year head coach John Beilein could soon be parting ways. Maybe it happens in the next day or two, maybe it takes until the end of the season, but reports like those from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst don’t get a green light without legs and NBA sources have said all year that the Beilein/Cavs marriage was headed down a disastrous path.

So, the NBA isn’t likely to work out for him. But, how good of a candidate would he be for a return to college?

Clearly, Beilein can coach and he is an elite evaluator and developer of talent at the college level. He’s taken four different programs to the NCAA Tournament and won almost 750 games. At Michigan, he took the Wolverines to the NCAA Tournament’s title game in both 2013 and 2018. Seems like a layup hire for any of the higher level jobs where there’s been on and off talk about a hot seat.

However, Beilein is 67-years-old and would likely need a few years to get his players in and to change the culture of any program he inherits. Given that and that he’s going to be negative recruited against for how he exited Michigan and for how his NBA time has gone, it’s not as easy as it might seem.

He’s too good of a coach with too much of a proven track record to not take a long look into if he’s available. But, any school hiring him should be doing so with a clear plan in place for when his time is done and they need to be awfully sure he’s planning to invest at least five or six years into turning around a program.