Where will Daniel Gafford land in the 2019 NBA Draft?

For the first time in four years, the NBA Draft arrives with an Arkansas player having a legitimate chance to be among the 60 picks.

If the mock drafts hold true, though, Daniel Gafford will likely have to wait a while to hear his name called. When he does, he’ll be the Razorbacks’ first draft pick since Bobby Portis went to the Bulls in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft.

After being a projected lottery pick before the season, most experts have the All-SEC big man slipping into the top half of the second round.

It seems that Gafford has fallen behind a few other big men in the pecking order, with Nic Claxton from Georgia, Bruno Fernando from Maryland, Mfiondu Kabengele from Florida State and Naz Reid from LSU projected to be selected ahead of him.

CBSSports’ Matt Norlander and Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo each have Gafford going to the Bulls with the 38th overall pick, while most others have him going two spots later to the Kings at No. 40.

Sacramento makes a lot of sense as a landing spot because Willie Cauley-Stein and Kosta Koufos will be restricted and unrestricted free agents, respectively, this offseason. That means the Kings could be looking for a center.

Likely a first-round pick if he turned pro following his freshman season, Gafford didn’t develop quite as much as NBA scouts probably would have liked as a sophomore for the Razorbacks.

Although he improved his scoring (11.8 to 16.9 ppg), rebounding (6.2 rpg to 8.7 rpg) and field goal percentage (60.5 to 66.0 percent), Gafford saw his production as a shot blocker dip from 3.8 to 2.8 per 40 minutes.

Most of his points came from dunks and layups, as he still doesn’t have much of a jump shot. Gafford also shot below 60 percent from the free throw line both of his seasons at Arkansas. According to Woo, he hasn’t “helped himself on the workout circuit,” either.

However, Gafford has a ton of athleticism that could help him stick around as a role player in the NBA.

The NBA Draft begins at 6 p.m. CT Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It will be televised by ESPN.

SUBSCRIBE to HawgBeat and get access to exclusive prospect interviews, the best recruiting network in the industry, inside scoops on recruiting and team news, videos, podcasts and much more.

Join the discussion on THE TROUGH, the Arkansas Rivals premium message board for thousands of Hog fans.