Tahaad Pettiford may be Association-bound after his March Madness run for Auburn so far.
Pettiford has been 2014-15 Kentucky Devin Booker-esque during the Tigers' road to the Elite Eight, averaging a tad under 20 points through three games, wins against Michigan, Creighton, and Alabama State.
FanSided's Wynston Wilcox believes AU's Sweet 16 win over the Wolverines may have gotten the Jersey City native drafted into the NBA.
In the first round, that is.
"Tahaad Pettiford might have single-handedly gotten himself drafted in June's NBA Draft after his Sweet 16 performance against Michigan. The former five-star recruit and freshman at Auburn carried the Tigers to a 39-17 run and eventually a 78-65 in Atlanta on Friday night," Wilcox wrote.
"What made that run incredible is Pettiford seemed virtually unstoppable. He was getting to the basket with hesitation moves, stunning defenders. He was knocking down three-point shots and even making contested shots."
Wilcox does worry about Pettiford's potential whiplash of going from a non-draft name to an overnight sensation hindering his growth.
"He looked every bit like a player who should go in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft, as he catapults up NBA mock drafts after a stellar performance," Wilcox prefaced before saying, "But was his Sweet 16 showing good enough to raise the eyebrows of NBA GMs?
"Recency bias is a dangerous thing. It could be what gets him drafted, but it could also thwart his development. He is just a freshman and wasn’t a sought-after NBA prospect before the NCAA Tournament."
Ultimately, it's put-up-or-shut-up as an NBA draft pick. Entire draft classes could go without having a single league-shifting talent taken. The league's best player, Nikola Jokic, was picked in the second round.
Pettiford will need to hit timely shots during the pre-draft process and during the early going of his career.
He's already been getting that big-shot experience for Auburn during the 2024-25 season.