Washington Wizards draft prospect highlight: Obadiah Toppin
By Keith Cork
The Washington Wizards are projected to have the 9th pick in the 2020 NBA draft. Obi Toppin has been mentioned quite a bit, so here’s a closer look.
“With the 9th pick in the NBA draft, the Washington Wizards select Obi Toppin from the Unversity of Dayton.”
SF/PF. 9. player. College Stats. Pick Analysis. Dayton. Obi Toppin. 142
That could very well be what we hear on June 20, 2019, where the Washington Wizards currently have a better than 50 percent chance to land the 9th overall pick. The consensus right now is that Toppin will fall to around the 13th pick of the draft, so he should be available.
Obi stands 6’9″ tall and weighs in at about 220 pounds and projects to play the swing position or power forward position at the NBA level.
Bio:
Obadiah “Obi” Toppin was born in Brooklyn and raised in Bushwick. He’s the son of street baller “Dunkers Delight,” who also played basketball in the ABA.
Younger Obi attended the University of Dayton for three years where he was redshirted in his first year for being academically ineligible. Last season he lead the team with 14.4 points per game and a 21-12 record, winning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year honors.
He was the first freshman to make the first team All-Atlantic 10 since Lamar Odom and won Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Week seven times. Obi actually opted for the NBA draft following the 2018-19 season but withdrew and opted to return to Dayton.
This season, he’s playing even better, so it was a good choice as he’s seen his draft stock steadily rise. He’s leading the Flyers again with 20 points per game, and has led them to a conference-leading, dominant 29-2 record. They’ve won 20 games in a row and sit at 4th in ESPN’s most recent NCAA men’s basketball power rankings.