BYU Basketball: 2020 NBA Draft profile for forward Yoeli Childs

NBA Comparison – Georges Niang

If Childs is looking for someone to model his NBA game after, he doesn’t have to look much further than his local team, the Utah Jazz, and their backup forward Georges Niang.

Niang, like Childs, was a highly-productive, decorated forward in college at Iowa State. He did most of his damage with the ball in his hands, taking about 15 shots per game his senior year – nearly identical to Childs’ output at BYU.

However, in order for Niang to find his role in the NBA, he had to adapt his game and become a more efficient player without the ball in his hands, as well as a borderline elite three-point shooter. Childs has proven he can knock down threes, but he’ll need to be able to move without the ball and hit shots off passes if he wants to carve out a similar role at the next level.

Childs is already a better shooter than Niang, who shot 37.5% in college from beyond the arc, but Niang has more face-up skills. If Childs wants to have a similar role (Niang averaged six points on 40% three-point shooting in 14 minutes per game last year) he’ll need to learn how to play off the ball and develop more of a face-up game in the post – skills he no doubt can develop over time in either the G-League or as a deep bench guy.

Childs is also a better leaper than Niang, and could turn into a more well-rounded player at the next level, but his best chance of being a solid NBA regular is to knock down shots and move well without the ball in his hands – skills Niang developed to near-perfection in his first three years in the NBA.