UCLA is off to an 11-2 start to the 2022-23 season, powered by one of college basketball’s very best offenses. At the heart of that offense is fourth-year standout Jaime Jaquez Jr., who currently leads the team in scoring with 17 a night.

Jaquez will head to the NBA after the season, and in Jonathan Givony’s latest 2023 Mock Draft for ESPN, he has the Bruin star going at the tail end of the first round.

Givony has Jaquez being taken 29th overall by the Indiana Pacers, a move that would make him teammates with last year’s Pac-12 Player of the Year, Bennedict Mathurin (Arizona).

A two-time All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Defense selection, Jaquez is gunning for the Player of the Year award this season. He’s off to a strong start in that regard, posting career highs in points (17), rebounds (6.2), steals (1.8), shooting percentage (56%), and free throw percentage (77%).

Jaquez ranks fifth among all Pac-12 players in scoring per game and sixth in Player Efficiency Rating.

He’s a versatile forward who can take bigger defenders out to the perimeter and smaller wings down to the block.

He’s also the oldest player projected by Givony to go in the first round.

Givony also has teammates Adem Bona and Amari Bailey projected to be second-round picks. Bona is projected to be picked by the Pacers at No. 43 while Bailey is slotted as the 48th overall pick by the Sacramento Kings. Perhaps both freshmen would look to return for another year if those projections hold.

There’s still a lot of season left to be played.