Wendell Carter too absolutely stands out as an elite prospect who's probably not getting the hype he deserves with Ayton/Bagley/JJJ/Bamba in this class too. But man... dude just does everything on the court. He's an impact defender as a rim protector with the size/strength to hang with the big boys down low. He's got the lateral quickness to switch onto the perimeter, which is almost a necessity to be an elite big man defender in today's NBA, at both the 4 and the 5. Having a +7.7 DBPM is a fairly insane defensive impact.
He didn't take a lot of 3s, but hit them at 44% on 42 attempts. I don't see him being a "create off the dribble" kind of shooter, but he'll be extremely effective as a spot-up guy.
He's an excellent rebounder with a great understanding of how to use position and his body. This is important as he's not an overwhelming athlete, but still remains extremely effective on both the offensive and defensive glass. Matched Bagley in rebounding production this year.
Offensively, he's got really great feel and touch around the rim and has an effective face-up game/jumper, and can get to the rim. Assortment of nice post moves/footwork. Surprisingly, he actually had a BETTER FT rate than Bagley this year at .507, which is absolutely elite. He's more of a 1-2 dribble offensive threat then makes his move rather than having the ability to create off the bounce.
Maybe the most surprising is the AST rate at 13% playing on a team with so many quality offensive players on it. That to me shows he's more than just a "make the right pass" guy and his playmaking can be something to be developed at the next level.
Probably the only "knock" is he isn't an overwhelming great athlete like some of the other bigs in the draft. But he's got great size/length and he plays with extremely high BBIQ when on the floor that it's not noticeable at all. And it's not like he's a bad athlete by any means, but he's just not on the same tier as Bagley/Ayton/JJJ/Bamba. And similar to Mikal Bridges, he's not going to have the same offensive upside as Ayton/Doncic/Bagley/MPJ etc.
I wouldn't be shocked if Carter is one of the 3 best players in the draft in 5 years. He's just so quality at everything on the court. I see him as an absolutely ideal fit as a 5 in today's NBA with the ability to play the 4 in "big ball" lineups. The Al Horford comparison is thrown around in a lot of mocks and to me, that seems like a pretty apt comparison for a ceiling.