NBA Draft 2013: Shabazz Muhammad could be in danger of dropping from lottery

Muhammad was once the nation's top high school prospect. He's now at risk for not being selected in the lottery.

By Scott Coleman@scottcoleman55 May 17, 2013, 10:40am EDT

This time one year ago, many experts felt Shabazz Muhammad could be the No. 1 overall pick at the 2013 NBA Draft. With the draft now a little more than a month away, there is talk that he could fall out of the lottery.

As Muhammad and the rest of the 2013 Draft hopefuls began interviews, workouts and scrimmages at the combine on Thursday, questions were raised about UCLA's freshman forward. There's no denying he can score the basketball, although he did not do much else during his time in Westwood.

One executive said, on the matter of Muhammad dropping in the draft, "I'm not saying it happens. But I wouldn't be surprised."

Another front office member said it was possible he fell out of the lottery.

In addition to having a reputation of being a chucker with the ball in his hands, there are other reasons to be concerned about Muhammad. For one, he's not a very good teammate. Or at least there's video evidence to suggest he isn't. Every player in the league wants to shoot the ball; if Muhammad is unwilling to distribute the ball on the offensive end, he isn't going to see much time in the floor.

There is also the issue of him lying about his age. While he led most to believe he was 19 years old, it was discovered he's actually 20. This may not seem like a huge deal, but considering he was more physically mature than most of the players he dominated in high school, questions about his true ability against equal competition have to be raised.

Muhammad still has more than a month to get his stock trending in the right direction, but as of now it seems the nation's former top high school recruit could be in for a long draft night.