NCAA Basketball: Biggest takeaways from 2019 NBA Draft combine

Combo-forwards

Darius Bazley, New Balance

Bazley accepted an internship with New Balance this year, opting to follow an untraditional route instead of enrolling at Syracuse or playing in the G League, two options that he had initially considered before settling on abstaining from competitive basketball for a year. Bazley’s case is strange one, since he wasn’t viewed as a consensus one-and-done talent, but yet, here we are. At 6-9 with intriguing athleticism and fluidity as a point-forward, Bazley landed in Chicago with considerable buzz and intrigue with regards to how he’d fair against heighted competition after not setting foot in a competitive setting since high school.

Well, it turns out that he’d fair pretty damn well, recording 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three blocks and one steal on 8-of-13 shooting (2-of-4 3PT) from the field. Thursday’s game wasn’t ideal, as he showed some tunnel vision and hesitancy as a ball-handler, but hs was much better on Friday and gave NBA teams a worthwhile look at his talent. Bazley’s shot has a relatively long gather and slow release, but it didn’t give him much trouble in either game, as he hit a few pull-ups and a tough turn-around fade-away in the post.

Defensively, Bazley showed flashes of great timing and coordination, blocking Jordan Bone twice in transition and swiping at the ball whenever defending the point of attack. His foot speed looked good at times, but at other points he would get blown by; plus, his strength (208 pounds) needs to improve if he’s going to defend wings and smaller bigs in the NBA. Bazley’s amatuer reputation as a point-forward looked more and more viable in an NBA setting, with his unique fluidity and ball skills at his height manifesting in some impressive dribble breakdowns and isolations that led to decent looks for himself and/or others.

If he can add muscle and hone in skills and decision-making, he’s a legit first-round talent as a 6-9 combo-forward — he’s skinny, but his 7-0 wingspan and 8-11 standing reach are great for a small forward and solid for a power forward — who can create for himself and others. He has a long ways to go, but he showed real glimpses at his upside. Whether or not this upside is truly attainable is up to NBA teams to figure out. The second round is all but locked in as his floor on draft night, with his appearance at the combine piquing the interest of the NBA at just the right time. Momentum is undoubtedly on his side.

Oshae Brissett, Syracuse

Consecutive seasons of inefficient (sub-50.0 TS%) scoring within Syracuse’s muddied offense didn’t make Brissett much of an NBA prospect outside of a solid frame (6-8 height, 7-0 wingspan, 8-8 standing reach, 203 pounds) and good athleticism as a combo-forward. He’s nota  shooter (30.7 3PT%), nota good finisher (50.8 FG% at the rim for his career, a historically awful conversion rate), doesn’t pose as a real self-creator, wasn’t tasked with creating for others (1.3 APG) at Syracuse, and does little for the Orange outside of rebounding and defending in their zone.

This all makes his performance in Chicago all the more surprising. He wasn’t great, to be sure, but he bounced back from poor shooting (3-of-10) on Day 1 with a strong 4-of-7 outing on Day 2, recording a total of 20 points, nine rebounds and two assists in 49 minutes.

The oddest development of them all was his performance as a passer. He made several sharp passes to his teammates, although they often didn’t result in made shots (a result of poor shooting from most participants), including a difficult kick-out from the baseline to an open teammate (who passed up an open look), a mid-air dump-off pass out of the short-roll, and even a dump-off pass after running a pick-and-roll as the ball-handler.

How much stock should NBA teams put in his performance in Chicago? It’s hard to say, but he certainly did enough to make teams notice him. Having a small two-day sample outweigh two seasons of average play shouldn’t be expected, but we’ve seen recency bias work in powerful ways before, so it could be enough to swing Brissett into the second round conversation (although he’s more of a two-way target, at best, given his total body of work).

He could return to school, but after putting up two duds in consecutive seasons, he may be better off making the jump to the pros now — I’m not so sure there’s much else he can prove while at Syracuse. It seems like he’ll be making his decision by the end of the month, so in the meantime, he’ll be clawing for as much feedback as he can possibly get.

Jalen McDaniels, San Diego State

After a throwing up a dud (one point, three rebounds, two steals, 0-of-3 FG) on Thursday, McDaniels bounced back to the tune of 13 points and seven rebounds in 32 minutes on Friday, hitting 6-of-12 field goal attempts and flashing his potential as an NBA small forward with some nifty handles on the perimeter, completely dusting Miami’s Dewan Hernandez on one drive to the bucket.

His 192-pound frame is still dreadfully thin for a 6-10 forward which contributed to some of his struggles, but the flashes warrant early-second round attention, with room for upward mobility if he impresses in private workouts. Some mock drafts and big boards have him slated as a late-twenties talent, and although his frame is a serious concern, his mid-range shooting, footwork, fluidity and potential switchability on the defensive end make him a decent bet to go somewhere in the 25-40 range.

Jaylen Hoard, Wake Forest 

Going 6-of-16 from the field, Hoard finished his time in Chicago with 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and a pair of stocks, not doing anything unforeseen except for a few nice passes. He struggled to shoot it from the perimeter on his few attempts (1-of-4), was blown by whenever tasked with defending quicker guards out in space, and largely scored from cuts and drives to the hoop, with his athleticism standing out whenever he attacked closeouts. Hoard is one of several prospects considering a return to school and could benefit from working on his raw skill level.

Teams are attracted to his 6-9, 213-pound frame and great measurements (7-1 wingspan, 8-10 standing reach) and bouncy athleticism as a combo-forward who could potentially defend multiple positions and spread the floor, but his skill level must catch up to his physical traits before he’s ready to contribute to an NBA team. Returning to Wake Forest isn’t a bad idea, although he could still get drafted and stashed overseas, since he is a native of France (an idea floated by writers elsewhere).