Lawson finding his name on 2020 mock drafts

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL

The 2019 NBA Draft just wrapped up and the college basketball season is still over five whole months away from starting but one Gamecock finds his name on a few NBA mock drafts for next season.

As the national pundits put out their "way too early" looks at next year's draft, a few are putting AJ Lawson as a late first-round pick.

Both ESPN and Yahoo Sports have Lawson listed as the No. 27 pick in next year's draft, which would be the Denver Nuggets' pick if the draft order stays the same as this year's.

Also see: Weekend baseball, basketball notes

ESPN praises Lawson and a few other rising sophomore saying they add "quite a bit of depth to the backcourt class and representing the most likely candidates to surge up draft boards as sophomores like Ja Morant and Jarrett Culver did in 2019."

Yahoo! was also incredibly complimentary of Lawson, saying he's a "natural scorer who should get plenty of touches this season. Lawson can defend positions one through three with ease."

Lawson tested draft waters this year but ultimately came back for his sophomore season and is expected to be one of the focal points in South Carolina's offense next year.

As a freshman, he played in 29 games with 28 starts before being limited the last few weeks of the season with an ankle injury. He finished averaging 13.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game with an offensive rating of 98.4, 106 in SEC play only.

Also see: Insider notes from Saturday's final day of football camps

He'd earn SEC All-Freshman honors and is in the race to be an All-SEC player his second season on campus.

The 6-foot-6 guard is currently with Team Canada's U19 team playing in a few exhibition games to gear up for the FIBA U19 World Cup which starts June 29 in Greece.