Draft Comps for the NBA's top ten prospects of 2019
- Jonathan Ennis
- May 31, 2019
- 6 min read
This years NBA draft feels really top heavy. We are probably drafting role players with every pick after three but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the awesome play of these guys in college, or speculate on just how they're going to fit in NBA roles. Let's take a look at the perspective top ten in the draft.
Let's get this out of the way.... Bol Bol has no draft comp. Somedays he looks like Rudy Gobert forgot how to rebound, other days he looks like Karl-Anthony towns likes playing defense... but one thing is certain I'm terrified of injuries on this kid. with that in mind I'm going to say he's prospect number eleven for the sake of this experiment so I can ignore him, not because I actually think there are ten prospects that will or should go ahead of him.
#10- Jaxson Hayes, PF/C, Texas, 6'11" 220 lbs.
Hayes is a really intriguing prospect from the point of view that we have no stinking clue what role he fills after this year. The obvious high tier comparison to him is Clint Capela. That Capela comparison is the problem with where people see Hayes. Their Physicals are almost identical. Clint was super raw coming out of Switzerland as a teenager and the same should be expected of Jaxson. Capela has been able to use his huge motor and freakish athleticism to push the envelope of what a rim running center can be in the pace and space era of the NBA. If he follows this blueprint to a "T", Hayes will fill a similar role to Capela where against some teams he's going to look like the most dominant force on the court and against other teams he won't be able to be viable for more than 20 minutes.
#9 Nassir Little, F, North Carolina, 6'7" 220 lbs.
Naz is about as raw as they come. Perhaps no player in college basketball saw their stock drop as much as he did over the year though. This season we saw those lofty Kawhi Leonard comparisons evaporate more than his playing time for Roy Williams. He turned it on at the right time and provided a big spark off the bench for the Tar Heels in the tournament. We caught a glimpse of what he can be defensively in last years Nike Hoops Summit when he did a fantastic job of slowing down *Spoiler Alert* this years projected Number one pick Zion Williamson but that was defiantly the best point of his amateur career. Right now expect him to fill a role similar to what we have seen Jalen Brown fill as a guy who uses his athleticism to fill a role and depending on if his shot is falling that night can give you a lot more.
#8 Coby White, G, North Carolina, 6'5" 185 lbs.
Coby White gets the obligatory "this guys hair reminds us of Dr. J but nothing else in his game does" comment from me here. Honestly he's probably my most underrated player here. So many teams have a hole for a back court player that can be either a primary or secondary playmaker but has the shooting ability to not gum up the spacing. He's what the Nuggets have tried to make Jamaal Murray (somewhat unsuccessfully). He's what you want out of that point guard spot alongside a ball dominant two and would be a perfect fit alongside Devin Booker or Zach Lavine where they can relinquish some of those passing duties without worrying about the spacing suffering.
#7 Jarrett Culver, G/F Texas Tech, 6'6" 195 lbs.
Culver caught a break at the combine where he measured a legit 6'6" after being listed at 6'4" over the course of his two years as a Red Raider. He's coming off a National Championship game appearance and showed that he's a capable defensive player who can create some midrange looks for himself. His three point stroke is probably killed the idea that he's going to turn into some Jimmy Butler/ Kawhi Leonard level three and D star. Maybe his stroke improves and he becomes a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope level shooter who can also create a little more off the dribble for himself. With all that being said Jimmy Buckets himself was not much of a three point shooter coming out of Marquette and isn't a volume guy now so don't count out some front office convincing themselves that Culver is going to take the same path.
#6 Darius Garland, G, Vanderbilt, 6'2" 174 lbs.
Let's get this out of the way... DARIUS GARLAND IS NOT THE NEXT KYRIE IRVING. Ok, are we clear now? Good! Darius Garland is going to be pretty good though. He's not nearly the creator inside that Irving is, was, and will be but he's got a three point stroke that should have teams in the 3-8 range in need of a lead guard salivating and it appears that the health concerns aren't all that big even after missing most of the year at Vanderbilt. Look for Garland to really fill an undersized two guard role as he did have more turnovers than assist in his small sample size in college. His shooting stroke and tight handle give me all sorts of Lou Williams vibes though so he'd be a really solid take.
#5 Deandre Hunter, G/F, Virginia, 6'7" 225 lbs.
You know what's always said that turns out untrue in the draft every year? "This guy who played at Virginia is going to be a lock down defender because he was awesome under Tony Bennett." Malcom Brogden, Justin Anderson, Joe Harris, and Mike Scott all came into the league expected to be defensive savants and they all underperformed. But you know what all of them with the exception of Anderson did? They kept shooting the lights out in the league! Anderson is the worst three point shooter of the group and he's still a career 31% shooter after barely being over that in college. Hunter shot over 40% this year and if he plays like a three point sniper with a bit of an overrated defensive reputation well you've got Robert Covington right there! that's not a bad get in this draft so a team looking for wing depth shouldn't think twice about grabbing the 3-iest of the 3-n-D wings at the top of the draft.
#4 Cam Reddish, F, Duke, 6'8" 218 lbs.
Ok let's check this guy against my comp Rudy Gay... 6'8"? Check! Freakishly long arms? Check! Questionable playmaking when around other shot creators? Double Check! Can't figure out why they aren't better at defense? Check! And finally..... Make weird medical decisions? ... Cam just now decided to have core muscle surgery because a team told him he needed it at his physical... Rudy refused to wear contacts even though he knew it would help his three point shooting and decided to wait for an offseason to have LASIK; and you know what? His shooting got immediately better! CHECK! CAM REDDISH IS RUDY GAY JR. CONFIRMED!
#3 RJ Barrett, G/F Duke, 6'7" 203 lbs.
RJ is the most frustrating player for me in the draft. His skill level is leaps and bounds the best of any player in the draft. One minute you're looking at him going "Wow I'm watching T-Mac play again am I an eleven year old sitting in Toyota Center watching him cook the '6ers and falling in love with this wonderful sport called basketball?" Then the next moment he reminds me of Demar DeRozan if he just shot threes more and bricked them... If RJ gets that three pointer figured out he may be in that James Harden scoring mold by the time he's 27. If he doesn't he'll be Demar... which isn't bad and is still worth a top three pick but feels underwhelming. When he's inclined to he's shown he's probably the second best passer in the class too, hence the T-mac thing, but he falls into the midrange chucker concept too much.
#2 Ja Morant, G, Murray St. 6'3" 174 lbs.
Is he Russell Westbrook...? Nah! Is he John Wall? Not really.... D'Aaron Fox? That's the right build but that may be selling his playmaking a little short... Ja is Ja! He's really good. He's a really talented playmaker and if a certain Sooner turned Hawk wasn't in the league he may be the best rookie passer to enter the league since John Wall. His shot looks weird, he's turn over prone and he plays defense like the guy who is stuck guarding the 6th grade girl in pick up "we all know I could do something to make sure she doesn't score but I'm just not going to." He's got freakish athleticism that we've only ever seen in a handful of guards and he seems to balance scoring and playmaking in a way we haven't seen out of a prospect since Deron Williams so he's made a massive case for himself here.
#1 Zion Williamson, F/C Duke, 6'7" 285 lbs.
Let's get this out of the way Zion is the most hyped prospect in years. You'd have to go back to the Anthony Davis, Tim Duncan, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon style to find someone who held a stranglehold on the Number one Prospect spot like he has now. Stylistically he plays like college Charles Barkley ate Larry Johnson and Blake Griffin. It was a little weird at times in the tournament to watch Duke play their games with the second shortest player in the lineup as their 5 but his strength and vertical leap made him about the most effective player at that position in D-I hoops. It remains to be seen if he's going to continue to play as a more post oriented player in the NBA or if his limited height will relegate him to a 4 who occasionally slides over to the 5 but he's a beast who everyone knows should be picked here.
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