NBA Draft 2020: Stock risers and fallers from beginning of the season

Matthew Hurt – Falling

Coming into the season, Hurt was rated as highly as a lottery pick player. But at the Champions Classic on opening night, he was quickly awoken by the physicality of Kansas, making only 1 of 5 two-point attempts and grabbing only two rebounds.

Since then it’s been an up-and-down year for the freshman from Minnesota. He’s had strong showings against the likes of Central Arkansas, Winthrop and even Stephen F. Austin. But those high have been overshadowed by the lows. After a scoreless first half against Georgetown, he was benched for the remainder of the game. The night before, he was held to just four points by California.

The common theme from Hurt’s play is his constant struggle with the physicality. He is making less than half of his two-point attempts and has only attempted 14 free throws in nine games, which is less than ideal for a power forward. He doesn’t add much as a rebounder, grabbing less than four per game. Defensively, he isn’t quite fast enough to switch onto guards and his lack of weight allows for him to be posted up by bigger opponents.

Hurt has slipped into the late first round-early second-round range, but that’s kind of egregious to me. I think he is miles away from actually contributing on an NBA floor at this point. He is a plus shooter from deep, but that is his only translatable skill right now. I think he is at least a two-year college player but with an elite recruiting class coming in for Duke, Krzyzewski might push him out the door prematurely. Hurt’s ability to score inside, rebound, and defend will be crucial for not only his stock moving forward but the Blue Devil team’s success as well.