Michigan Wolverines basketball saw two former players — Franz Wagner and Isaiah Livers — chosen in the 2021 NBA Draft, but there are more future pros on the current roster as well.
Freshman center Hunter Dickinson, the 2020-21 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, declared for the draft this offseason but pulled his name out ahead of the deadline. While announcing his return, Dickinson revealed that he intends to depart Michigan following the 2021-22 campaign.
However, his name is not appearing on any of the four prominent early 2022 mock drafts that have been released since the conclusion of Thursday night's event, now that publications are already focused on next summer (it's important to note most are only projecting the first round). He has a full season ahead of him to prove he's NBA-ready, but it doesn't appear his stock is, at least right now, much higher than it was this offseason.
"Hunter was not a top-100 guy for me even if he had declared this year," The Athletic's Sam Vecenie wrote while responding to a commenter who was surprised to not see Dickinson's name. "Really good college player, but think honestly there are better guys in the Big Ten even."
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The Wolverine with the highest stock is freshman guard/forward Caleb Houstan, a 2021 five-star recruit who just arrived on campus after helping Team Canada earn a bronze medal in the FIBA U19 World Cup this summer. His showing in Latvia boosted his stock into the top-five, according to some.
ESPN.com's Jonathan Givony, SB Nation's Ricky O'Donnell and Yahoo Sports' Krysten Peek all have Houstan going No. 5 to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"Michigan has some big shoes to fill at forward this upcoming season with the loss of Franz Wagner and Isaiah Livers to the pro ranks, and it’s hard to imagine a better freshman for the job than Caleb Houstan," O'Donnell wrote. The 6’8 Canadian wing is the latest lottery prospect from Florida prep powerhouse Montverde Academy, and offers a clean projection into any level of the game because of his skill as a shooter and perimeter defender."
"Juwan Howard has the No. 1 recruiting class coming in, led by Houstan," Peek wrote. "Houstan has a great feel for the game and can shoot the ball well from 3-point range. He has a high release on his jump shot that is virtually impossible to guard."
Meanwhile, the aforementioned Vecenie project Houstan to come off the board at No. 7 overall.
"Houstan is just an easy translation to today’s NBA," he wrote. "At 6-foot-8 with reasonable length, he has about as clean a stroke as you’ll find. He attacks closeouts well off an advantage and makes good passing decisions. On top of that, he’s a good defender who takes that end of the court seriously.
"Even though Houstan may not be an outstanding athlete, he’s obviously what NBA teams are looking for today, and I’d expect this Canadian to be a lottery pick because of it. He’s also on the younger side for the class with a 2003 birthday."
ESPN mocked Michigan redshirt junior incoming guard transfer DeVante' Jones, the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year, to go to the Detroit Pistons at No. 58 overall in the second round. He did not appear on The Athletic's list of "20 more names," but it's important to remember there are 30 picks in each round and that it's entirely possible that he would show up if there was a full-draft projection from the publication.
No other Michigan player has showed up in mock drafts to this point.
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