There are a couple of issues with John Tonje and the NBA and both are silly. One is that he only has one year of real tape, at Wisconsin. Colorado State he was good but not great and he was injured at Missouri. NBA Scouts are going to pay special attention to how he plays and performs in the combine because of this lack of years of tape.
The other problem is that the NBA is obsessed with young potential. Tonje is NBA-ready in terms of age, and now he has to showcase that his talent is there, too. He's already checked off two important boxes for NBA scouts and is moving up mock drafts. His measurements came back excellent, and his shooting was really good, top-5.
John Tonje shot 72% in the first day of the NBA Draft Combine
The combine participants were put through a run of shooting drills, and Tonje was in the top-5 with 72% shooting from all over. Mark Sears from Alabama was the best at 83%, followed by Chaz Lanier from Tennessee at 77%. Then, the participants tightened up a bit at 72-73%.
This will go a long way to helping Tonje continue to move up the NBA Draft boards. He needs to show that he's NBA-ready and at least a role player for NBA teams. His age is what it is, and NBA teams won't want to spend years developing him. These teams will want someone of his age who's more ready to go.
Right now, Tonje is projected to be a mid-second-round pick. He was projected to be around 40-45 overall in the NBA Draft, but that number has already moved up from the middle forties to the earlier 40s. We will see if the rest of the skills and scrimmages have evaluators and analysts moving him up even more.
The 5-on-5 scrimmages are today, and you can watch Tonje perform on ESPN2 and ESPN+. Here's the "how to watch guide."