2023 NBA Draft odds: Trayce Jackson-Davis underdog to be first-round pick despite stellar collegiate performance with Indiana Hoosiers

Some of the best players in college basketball history have played at the University of Indiana, and big man Trayce Jackson-Davis put up huge numbers in his four seasons in Bloomington to match -- if not surpass any -- alum. Yet Jackson-Davis is not expected to be a first-round pick in Thursday's 2023 NBA Draft. On a yes-only first-round prop at DraftKings, Jackson-Davis is +300.

The 6-foot-9, 245-pound Jackson-Davis averaged 20.9 points (second in Big Ten) on 58.1% shooting (third), 10.8 rebounds (second), 4.0 assists (seventh) and 2.9 blocks (first) per game this past season to be named consensus All-American and first-team All-Big Ten. Purdue center Zach Edey, who decided to withdraw from the draft, beat him out for Big Ten Player of the Year.

Jackson-Davis was Indiana's first consensus All-American since Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo in 2013 and the first player in the last 25 seasons to average 20/10/4/2 in a season. He had the highest single-season scoring average at Indiana since Eric Gordon (2008), highest rebounding rate since Steve Downing (1972) and highest block production since Dean Garrett (1988).

The big man holds school records for career rebounds (1,143) and blocks (270), ranks third in points (2,258) and double-doubles (50) and is one of five players in Big Ten history to record 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. How is he not a first-round pick?

Well, he could be. But Jackson-Davis is a classic NBA tweener and didn't make a single 3-pointer at Indiana – and all three of his attempts came in the 2021-22 season. He is ranked as the No. 29 overall player on the CBS Sports Big Board. FanDuel gives Jackson-Davis +1200 longshot odds to be a top 20 pick. Only one CBS Sports mock draft had him going in Round 1,at No. 25 to Memphis, but the Grizzlies traded that pick to Boston in the Kristaps Porzingis deal on Thursday. ESPN's main mock has Jackson-Davis going No. 32 to Denver. That makes a world of sense, as the champion Nuggets can afford to take a chance. 

The NBA is all about what you might do in the league as opposed to what you've already accomplished. That's why Jackson-Davis may not go in Round 1 despite a spectacular career at Indiana, plus the fact he's already 23. For comparison, Jalen Hood-Schifino, 20, is a first-round lock and given an over/under draft position of 14.5 even though he had nowhere close to the impact Jackson-Davis did last year as a freshman – although Hood-Shifino was Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

The Los Angeles Clippers currently hold the final pick of the first round. The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor has Jackson-Davis going there as depth behind Ivica Zubac. 

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