2016 Prospect Profile

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Measurements from 2014 Nike Skills Academy – Murray did not attend the NBA Combine.

34 games, 33.5 MPG, 16.1 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 4.4 APG, 1.8 SPG, 3.2 TOV, 41.6 FG%, 28.8 3P%, 66.3 FT%

Murray is expected to be a mid to late first-round pick.

In a Feb. 3 95-83 win over Arizona State, Murray finished with a game-high 34 points to go with 11 rebounds, six assists, one block and one steal. He shot 10-for-14 from the field and 14-for-18 from the free-throw line.

He has good size for either point guard or shooting guard. He plays very fluid, almost snake like. He can get above the rim and isn’t afraid of contact inside. He has good instincts and is electric in transition. He’s an above-average ball handler, although some of his moves are a bit unorthodox. He did a great job of attacking passing lanes on defense, leading to nearly two steals per game. Athletically, he’ll be fine and has an extra bounce to his step, keeping defenders on their toes.

Murray needs to add weight, but his frame looks like it will allow that. He relies  a lot on his floater, which is very good, but that’s a hard shot to consistently be great at. He looks for his own shot too often, not something you want out of a point guard. He’s very turnover prone, coughing it up 3.2 times per game. Sometimes he needs to just do less. His biggest challenge in the NBA will be to get a consistent jump shot. Defenses would just let him shoot in college and that won’t change at the pro level unless he improves. He has the tools to be a good on-ball defender, but didn’t show much of that in college.

I kind of wish Murray would have stayed in school another year. Watching him on film, you get some of those, “OMG, he did what?!” moments. You also get a fair share of, “OMG, what is he doing?!” moments.

In time, he can be good. But is he a point or shooting guard right now? He played PG last season, but turned the ball over too often and wasn’t a great distributor. If Murray doesn’t get on the floor much during his rookie season, probably likely, he should work hard to improve his jump shot. If he can hit down a midrange shot, he’ll be dangerous offensively. Right now, defenses can sag off of him.

He’s been rising on draft boards and I can see a team that can afford to be patient taking him.

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2016 NBA Draft Profile | Dejounte Murray

No measurements available – Sabonis did not attend the NBA Draft Combine

36 games, 17.6 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 1.8 APG, 61.1 FG%, 76.9 FT%

Sabonis is rising and is expected to be a late-lottery pick.

His best game of the season came in a 102-94 road win over San Francisco on Jan. 2. Sabonis finished with 35 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and one steal. The big man shot 12-for-16 from the field and 11-for-14 from the free-throw line.

Sabonis is a crafty power forward. He can run the floor, is super competitive and is sound when it comes to fundamentals. He’s very efficient offensively, has solid footwork and a nice shooting touch. His passing is off the charts for a power forward. He should be able to stretch the floor a little bit more with time. If a defender closes out on him too fast, he has the ability to drive by. He has great court vision and generally knows what’s going on at all times. He might be the best pure rebounder in the draft despite not being as big as other post players.

He’s somewhat predictable when he gets on the block. Chances are he’ll go over his right shoulder, so he’ll have to mix things up. He’ll need to get stronger. His lack of strength could limit how good of a rebounder he is early on in his career.

He’s not one to protect the rim and he’s not the most athletic defender. He’ll have to find crafty ways, much like he did in college, to stay in front of quicker players. 

I’m growing to love Sabonis, but that might be more because he is the son of Arvydas. He doesn’t have great size, but he has the will, which was on display when he took it to Jakob Poetl in the NCAA Tournament.

The most appealing thing about Sabonis is the fact that he brings it all, all the time. You’re never going to question his work ethic. His rebounding ability has to do with his hustle and knowing where to be at the right time, similar to former Wolves' forward Kevin Love. I could see him getting picked anywhere from 7-15, but there’s a real good chance we’ll look back five years from now and wonder why he wasn't picked higher. He’s a great passer and I could see him developing into a Pau/Marc Gasol type of post player. I can see him being that guy who does the dirty work who other teams might not like. But  whatever. He’s a Sabonis. What does he care?

2016-nba-draft-profile-domantas-sabonis

2016 NBA Draft Profile | Domantas Sabonis

28 games, 31.1 MPG, 14.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.7 APG, 39.8 FG%, 37.2 3P%, 69 FT%

Luwawu is expected to be a mid to late first-round pick.

Against Zadar, Luwawu finished with 29 points while shooting 10-for-17 from the field and 7-for-9 from the free-throw line. He also added nine rebounds and five assists.

In a game against Sutjeska, he finished with a solid all-around game, scoring 19 points, while hauling in 13 boards and dishing out six assists.

He played on a team at Mega Leks that has experience in developing NBA players. The team produced Nikola Jokic, who was a bright spot for the Denver Nuggets this season.

Luwawu has shown signs of improvement, going from seven points per game two seasons ago to 15.5 points per game last season. He has the body of a two-way NBA player who plays very smooth and fluid. He can get above the rim and while he hasn’t been a super consistent outside shooter in his career, he did hit 39 percent of his 3-point shots last season. He’s a decent off the catch and his biggest strength offensively is probably his court vision. He’s an excellent passer and can dish the rock with either hand.

Defensively will probably be his bread and butter early. He’ll be able to guard all three perimeter positions and when he’s fully engaged, he can cause turnovers in a hurry.

He’s not a great ball handler yet and really has trouble reading defenses, something that probably has to do with him not playing the highest level of basketball yet. He’s a great passer, but he does make some poor decisions offensively, leading to reckless turnovers. Finishing at the rim has been an issue for him, even though he can get there almost at will. 

I’ll be honest, I don’t really know much about Luwawu. When watching film, though, you get the Nic Batum vibe. That’s not exactly an original take considering Batum was also French, but here we are. Like Batum, it looks like Luwawu will have the ability to be a solid two-way player. At the very least, he should be solid defensively right away.

As always with overseas players, this pick will be a risk. Mario Hezonja, for example, is a more talented player and had plenty of adjustments to make last season with the Orlando Magic.

The key for a team will be to let Luwawu learn at his own pace and keep his confidence up. That tends to be the main issue with talented European players coming over to the NBA.

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2016 NBA Draft Profile | Timothe Luwawu

6.5 percent body fat, 7’9” standing reach, 6’5.5” wingspan

35 games, 35.9 MPG, 15.8 PPG, 4.7 APG, 3.5 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 45.1 FG%, 33.1 3P%, 81.3 FT%

Jackson is projected to be a mid to late first-round pick.

Jackson’s best game came on Nov. 13 against Saint Francis in an 87-49 Notre Dame win. Jackson finished with a game-high 27 points to go with eight rebounds and three assists. He was efficient, shooting 10-for-14 from the field, 3-for-5 from the 3-point line and 4-for-6 from the free-throw line.

Jackson led Notre Dame to the Elite 8 last season, and his leadership skills were on display. He was clutch late in games. He isn’t tall, standing at about 6-feet, but the dude is incredibly strong, athletic, powerful and quick. And for a smaller guard, he can get up. During his junior season. He shot better than 40 percent from the 3-point line in his sophomore season before dipping to 33.1 percent in his junior season, so we at least know he’s capable of hitting the deep shot. He has good shooting mechanics and his height shouldn’t be a concern in that department because he can elevate. He has a good first step and is very good in transition. He has above-average handles and when he gets low, he can slice through traffic and also has the ability to fight through traffic, unlike fellow undersized guard Tyler Ulis from Kentucky. He has the tools to become a solid defender, even if he didn’t show it in college. For a junior, he’s got plenty of potential, which is sometimes rare with a player his age.

He has a tendency to just kind of stop his dribble when it looks like play could be made. He’s not a natural at the point guard position and isn’t going to fling the ball around like a Chris Paul. He has average vision and misses some open guys at times. Defensively, he really struggled at Notre Dame. At times he just kind of drifted, something coaches won’t allow at the NBA level.

You can never have enough ball handlers and that’s something that helps Jackson. This is a pretty thin point guard draft class. It seems like there’s Kris Dunn and then it’s kind of a guessing game on who will be the next-best player. It certainly could be Jackson. I’m not sure if he has the tools to be elite in the NBA, but I do think he could be a very good scorer off the bench. He’s incredibly explosive and strong for his size. The problem with being 6-foot is that your only option, really, is to play point guard and it doesn’t seem like Jackson feels super comfortable there all the time. He makes some bad reads, but then again, last year was his first year as an NCAA full-time point guard. He previously sat behind current Knicks point guard Jerian Wright.

He’s expected to be a top-20 pick, which seems right and he could go even higher if a team decides it really needs a point guard. He could also fall if teams have Wade Baldwin, Tyler Ulis or even Dejounte Murray ahead of Jackson on their big boards.

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2016 NBA Draft Profile | Demetrius Jackson

5.2 percent body fat, 7’4.5” standing reach, 6’2” wingspan

35 games, 17.3 PPG, 7.0 APG, 3.0 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 43.4 FG%, 34.4 3P%, 85.6 FT%

Ulis is projected to be a mid to late first-round pick.

Ulis’ best game of the season came in an 89-62 road win over South Carolina on Feb. 13. Ulis finished with a game-high 27 points to go with 12 assists and two steals. He shot an efficient 7-for-14 from the field, 3-for-6 from the 3-point line and 9-for-11 from the free-throw line.

It’s worth noting that projected top-7 pick Jamal Murray finished with 26 points.

He was a fantastic leader for one of the best offenses in college basketball last season, despite being less than 5’9. He’s a natural scorer, being able to create offense with a jump shot, or following up with his floater, which is probably the best in the draft. He sets his teammates up well and understands the pick-and-roll. He’s an excellent ball handler and is very quick and shifty. He has a plethora of moves which should make up for his size, including a sick hesitation move and a solid crossover. Everything he does is very under control and almost looks scripted. He’s also an excellent free-throw shooter.

The biggest knock on Ulis is, of course, his size. He’s not a great finisher, and that likely won’t in the NBA with bigger and stronger players defending him. At a buck 50, he’s pretty thin and won’t be bruising anyone on his drives. He’s athletic, but not off-the-charts athletic. He’ll need to find ways, such as Isaiah Thomas, to create offense for himself and teammates. His size is also a concern on the defensive end. Most teams will target him as a post-up candidate, and rightfully so. 

Yeah, he’s short. But did you watch him at Kentucky? The dude can ball. If he had the height of, say Kris Dunn, he’d be a top-5 pick. But he’s not and here we are.

Ulis will probably be a mid to late first-round pick and for a team that needs a backup point guard, he should be at the top of the list. There will be a transition period, obviously. He’s not going to walk in at 5’9”, 145 and start slicing through defenses. But remember, Thomas averaged 11.5 points per game in 25.5 minutes per game in his rookie season with Sacramento. It wouldn’t be a complete surprise if Ulis contributed right away as a backup and at times as a spot starter.

What sticks out the most to me is Ulis’ leadership. He’s a floor general and yes, he was a year older than most players on that Kentucky roster, but he took ownership of that group and it’s something that definitely won’t hurt him at the next level.

I would say that fit really matters, but I’m not sure. Ulis seems like a guy who works extremely hard and will find a way to be successful, despite his size, with any team.

2016-nba-draft-profile-tyler-ulis

2016 NBA Draft Profile | Tyler Ulis

9.7 percent body fat, 9’0.5 standing reach, 7’2.5” wingspan

35 games, 7.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.8 BPG, 59.8 FG%, 60.5 FT%

Davis is expected to be a late lottery pick.

Davis’ best game came on Nov. 23 at home against Eastern Michigan. In the 89-63 win, Davis finished with a bench-high 16 points to go with five blocks, five rebounds and an assist. He shot an efficient 7-for-10 from the field and a perfect 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.

With his body and length, he’s already a very good defensive player. He can block shots and has shown the ability to switch out on wing players from time-to-time in college. He’s a solid rebounder on both ends of the floor. Offensively, there’s some room to grow, but he did average a respectable 16.5 points per 40 minutes, so there’s potential. He a super-great athlete and scouts think he’ll have the ability to stretch the floor as he develops. Probably not all the way to the 3-point line, but maybe to the elbow. He has soft hands and a soft touch. He should be able to be a “lob guy” immediately in the pros. 

He’s raw, so some NBA concepts might not come natural to him. We didn’t get to see much of him at Michigan State, so he doesn’t have as much experience against the “best of the best.” He’s going to need to get stronger, but his frame has plenty of room for that. He doesn’t have much of a left hand at all, and he doesn’t have much for a post game. Defensively, he gets lost when he plays off the ball, which irked head coach Tom Izzo. Early on, stronger players will have their way against him on the block and Davis could see himself get into foul trouble. 

Davis should be able to come in and be productive defensively immediately. He’s extremely long and he had two games with five blocks during his freshman season. Not bad. 

It might actually benefit him that he played limited minutes with Michigan State since that’s what he’ll likely play in his first couple seasons in the NBA.

I wasn’t able to see him test at the Combine, but I was able to talk with him after. He didn’t seem super engaged, but then again, I wouldn’t want to talk to me after a two-hour workout either. He said that he wanted to work on dribbling, which tells you that he’d like to bring his game out to the perimeter. Very intriguing.

He probably should be taken somewhere in the lottery just because of his physical makeup. At the very least, he should be a good defensive big man in the NBA. And his offensive game isn’t as much of a project as most defensive-orientated big men. If a team from 8-12 can afford to wait a year or two before Davis cracks major minutes in the rotation, I think it’s worth the pick. But then again, potential is a very dangerous thing.

2016-nba-draft-profile-deyonta-davis

2016 NBA Draft Profile | Deyonta Davis

5.8 percent body fat, 9’3.5” standing reach, 7’2.75” wingspan

36 games, 17.2 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.6 BPG, 64.6 FG%, 69.2 FT%

In this 74-68 home win over Temple on Nov. 22, Poeltl finished with a game-high 32 points to go with 11 rebounds (four offensive), three blocks, two steals and an assist. He shot 10-for-12 from the field and 12-for-14 from the free-throw line in 36 minutes.

Poeltl was one of the best big men in the country last season, a year after declining to enter the NBA Draft as a freshman. He has great size at 7’1” for an NBA center and his body has plenty of room to fill out. He has great mobility. Not Karl-Anthony Towns-like, but probably better than most centers in the NBA. He is used to a heavy load, being the main man in Utah’s offense last season. He’s exceptional in the paint and can hold his own defensively. For a big man, he has solid vision and can find open teammates. 

Most of Poeltl’s damage will come inside as he’s not really a threat at all from the perimeter or as a jump shooter. Inside, he struggles against defenders that are bigger than him, although he does have good touch inside. He’s a decent rebounder, solid, not great. He improved a bunch from the free-throw line, shooting 44.4 percent in his freshman year to 69.2 percent in his sophomore year, but there's still plenty of work to do there. His draft stock might have taken a bit of a hit when Gonzaga’s Domantas Sabonis had his way against Poeltl in the NCAA Tournament, but it’s probably foolish to overreact from one game.

Poeltl was probably going to be a first-round pick after his freshman season, but instead stayed for his sophomore year, which was probably a solid decision. He would have gotten beat up last season. When it comes to true centers, which is kind of a dying breed, Poeltl is probably the best in the draft. I was down on him after watching him get dominated by Sabonis, but it was only one game. If anything, that game probably helped Sabonis’ draft status, rather than really hurt Poeltl’s.

His trajectory into the NBA is different than most players, as he came from Austria. But his development and improvement since arriving in America should excite scouts. He’s obviously nowhere near his ceiling right now. He might not be an All-Star caliber player, but he should be a very serviceable center who will be an above-average scorer at the next level. He told me at the Combine that he had met with the Wolves, along with 13-14 other teams. Here's what he had to say about his meeting with the Wolves: “I did meet with the Timberwolves,” Poeltl said. “It was my second day. It was, like I said, all the interviews are all about my background, how I got to basketball. That was the main deal with them, too. (Also) getting to know their new coach."

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2016 NBA Draft Profile | Jakob Poeltl

9.7 percent body fat, 8’9” standing reach, 7’1.5” wingspan

35 games, 21.1 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 1.1 APG, 1.0 BPG, 46.2 FG%, 32.9 3P%, 78.2 FT%

Bentil is expected to be a mid-second-round pick.

Bentil came to play in this March 10 74-60 home win over Butler. The forward finished with a game-high 38 points to go with eight rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one steal. He shot an efficient 16-for-24 from the field, 5-for-9 from the 3-point line and 1-for-1 from the free-throw line. The only other Providence player to hit double-digits was projected top-10 pick Kris Dunn.

He took a huge leap from his freshman to his sophomore season and teams hope there’s more where that come from. He has solid NBA size to play the 3 and the 4 and has teams putting the, “Can He Be The Next Draymond?” label on him. He’s mobile on offense and has the ability to hit from deep, although not consistently yet. He can take defenders off the dribble if they are off-balanced. He can pick-and-roll and pick-and pop. He runs the court like a guard, although that might be because he’s looking for a fast break and might explain why he’s not a very good rebounder (more on this later). He has very soft hands and catches pretty much anything. 

Bentil doesn’t have great basketball IQ. He can shoot, but he takes some pretty stupid shots at times, including contested long twos, which leads to an eye roll from every basketball blogger out there. He’s not super explosive and will probably struggle on finishing at the basket early on. He’s not a good defender at all. He looks like he has the ability to switch to smaller players, but it’s more about whether or not he’s interested in doing that. He looks more for his shot than setting up his teammates, something that will need to change as he won’t be the best scorer on whatever team he lands on. When it comes to rebounding, he gets caught watching instead of you know, rebounding the ball.

Bentil’s stats say that he should be a first-round pick and hey, there’s a chance that he does get taken late in the first – especially with every team in the NBA looking for the next Draymond Green. That will probably get most teams in trouble and cause them to reach, but such is life.

He’s probably a little undersized for the power forward position, but the NBA is turning into a positionless league. The big concern with Bentil is whether or not he can ditch his bad habits. The talent is there on the offensive end. But for him to crack a team’s rotation and get on the coach’s good side, Bentil will need to up his effort game defensively and not force dumb shots offensively. He has to tools to be a solid defender, but he just kind of stands there with his hands up sometimes. The shot selection thing should fix itself. Veteran teammates won’t be big fans of a rookie jacking up contested 15-footers.

His game probably won’t translate to the NBA right away, but there is plenty to be excited about with Bentil’s professional future. 

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2016 NBA Draft Profile | Ben Bentil

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