We are within a handful of days of the 2020 Draft. It’s almost unbelievable.

The group of wings in this class is not that bad, as long as you are fully aware of what you’re getting and adjust your expectations to what could be reasonably expected of them.

Introduced below are the top 10 wings, based on ESPN’s top 100, headlined by the maddening but quite talented Anthony Edwards. 

The stats cited in this post were researched at our own stats’ database, hoop-math, barttorvik.com and NBA.com/stats/.

Anthony Edwards (ranked 2nd on ESPN’s top 100)

Edwards attempted 505 shots last season, which is the third highest mark on ESPN’s top 100. His .473 effective field goal percentage is a bottom 15 mark within the same group.

The six-foot-five wing-sized slasher is primarily an isolation scorer who mostly looks to launch jumpers off the bounce. His 371 total shots away from the basket is the third-highest mark among those on ESPN’s top 100 who played in the NCAA last season, as he took just 26.5% of his live-ball attempts within close range.

Watching him play, it’s fairly clear he’s naturally inclined to play as a gunner. It looks bad on the spreadsheet, but his highlights do generate a lot of interest in his potential as a shot maker who can buy a basket outside the system.

He has a smooth pull-up package, proving himself capable of getting shots off the dribble via crossovers, step-backs, hang dribbles, jab steps, crossing over between the legs, stopping on a dime and stepping through, often fading away on his jumpers to get an extra layer of separation.

But his shot selection is tough to stomach. Edwards shot just 29.6% on those 371 attempts away from the basket, which is the sixth-worst mark among those on ESPN’s top 100 who played in the NCAA last season. His average of 0.721 points per dribble jump-shot ranked in the 42nd percentile.

The hope is that time and a more space-oriented environment will push him towards getting downhill a lot more often in the pros.

He is not super shifty and hasn’t yet developed a tight handle but has some shake, displaying remarkable ankle flexibility on a nasty low crossover, besides the fact his large frame for a perimeter player helps him play through contact well.

The 19-year-old has flashed very appealing explosiveness at the rim. He can go up with power off one foot in traffic, averaging 1.02 dunks per 40 minutes and 6.5 foul shots per 40 minutes last season.

Edwards is not an advanced finisher at this point of his development but flashed a little bit of versatility to his finishing and some dexterity going to his left hand around the goal – converting 61.7% of his 102 layups last season.

He is fairly raw in pick-and-roll, having not yet developed a whole lot of the craft for manipulating his man through the screen and mostly looks to get to his spots to launch a jump-shot.

But much like his work in isolation, there are highlights of impressive shot making, as Edwards nailed 39 unassisted three-pointers in 32 appearances in his one year at Georgia. His average of 1.48 such makes per 40 minutes is the second-best mark among those on ESPN’s top 100 who played in college.

As a passer, he’s essentially the textbook definition of a mixed bag. There were promising reads launching crosscourt passes to the opposite end on occasion, but he was just as prone to missing the roll man entirely. He assisted on 17.9% of Georgia’s scores when he was on the floor but on a lousy 1.05 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Off the ball, Edwards is only a capable open-shot shooter at this point, missing 71.1% of his of his catch-and-shoot jumpers and having not yet shown any sort of versatility to his release in terms of being able to make shots on the move.

On the other end, he can’t defend much.

Given his combination of physical profile and athletic ability, Edwards should be expected to be a very good defender when he’s fully engaged but that wasn’t really the case in his lone NCAA season. The commitment just wasn’t there.

In his best moments, when he properly applies his physical talent with enough effort, Edwards looks good. He bends his knees to get down in a stance, reaches around for strips, has several lateral slides in him to stay in front out on an island and against handoffs, defends with his arms up near the rim to wall up and boxes out his own man.

But it’s just as common to see him standing upright in a soft stance and either getting blown by from time-to-time or giving up after a couple of slides. Despite his frame, it’s rare to see him playing with enough physicality to leverage his strength into chesting up to contain dribble penetration through contact.

Edwards offers no versatility on defense at this point of his development and hasn’t shown to be of great help away from the ball, other getting a deflection on rotations against the roll man here and there or jumping a passing lane on occasion.

He collected 14.8% of opponents’ misses when he was on the floor last season, which given his combination of size and athletic ability, is actually unimpressive.

Full scouting report: https://basketball.realgm.com/analysis/259672/Prospect-Report-Anthony-Edwards-Of-Georgia

Deni Avidja (4th)

Avdija was named MVP of the 2019 U20 European Championship, leading Israel to a title in home soil, while playing against competition on average a year-and-a-half older than him.

He was the primary shot creator on the team, averaging 22.7 points per 40 minutes on 28.6% usage and assisting on 27.6% of Israel’s scores when he was on the floor.

In his first full season as a pro, the 19-year-old managed to earn a rotation role on a strong Maccabi Tel Aviv team, which had one of the deepest rosters in Europe and was a favorite to make it to the Euroleague Final Four, if not for the pandemic making it impracticable to finish the season. He got to appear in 59 games and logged 1,284 minutes in the Euroleague and the Israeli BSL, both leading marks on ESPN’s top 100.

It’s important to mention his role was different in each competition.

On the domestic front, the six-foot-seven wing had more freedom to operate on the ball and act more as a difference maker in help defense, similarly to what he had shown with the Israeli National Team in youth tournaments.

But among Europe’s elite, he was more of a 3&D wing who took half of his shots from three-point range and simply focused on executing the scheme on defense.

Avdija looks the part for what the league looks for in a combo forward these days, though there is cause for skepticism regarding what level of impact he’ll truly offer.

The Beit Zera native is a good off ball defender, not only trustworthy to execute the scheme but capable of making an impact in help defense.

His awareness is probably his biggest asset, as he’s a regular presence near the rim, on hard rotations off the weakside and stepping up to the front of the rim as the last line of defense when he’s the lowest man to the baseline.

His average of 1.2 blocks per 40 minutes last season is the eighth-best mark among perimeter players on ESPN’s top 100 and his 21.7% defensive rebounding rate is a top five mark among the same group.

His knack for making an impact in the hidden areas of the game really stands out, as he is adept at switching on the fly to make up for breakdowns against people movement, scramming guards out of big men on rolls into post position and shadowing mismatched post-ups to hunt for an opportunity to intervene and maybe make a play on the ball at the last second.

Despite his 220-pound frame, he’s not that physical defending on the ball and doesn’t profile as the sort of ace defender who can check the most threatening wing ballhandlers in the near future.

He was asked to pick up bigger players on switches quite a bit towards the end of the season and showed glimpses of being able to hold up against different types, but he can’t get over a screen at the point of attack and isn’t quick enough to make an impact chasing in pursuit.

Avdija looks more promising checking bigger players, especially considering his age, as he has impressed with his tenacity attempting to front the post to deny an easy entry pass and with his employment of his length to challenge easy feeds. He also held his ground his reasonably well when the ball did get entered and showed a good deal of toughness to boxout bigger players.

On offense, Avdija is a good ballhandler in transition and his grab-and-go abilities figure to translate to the NBA. The versatility of his passing on the break stands out, as he has shown dexterity on outlet passes, bullet passes in between the defenders transitioning back, throwing darts to a shooter sprinting to the wing or the corner and tossing a skip pass to a trailing joining the offense late.

He has shown in the junior ranks a knack for creating for others out of the pick-and-roll noteworthily well, not just acting a basic operator who can deliver to the roll man over the top or on drop-offs but flashing the body control to mix in change of speeds and putting the defender in jail, as well as engaging the last line of defense properly before delivering well-timed bounce passes and wraparound passes.

There’s skepticism Avdija is a threatening enough scorer to operate on the ball in the NBA but he did have a good year operating off the bounce last season. His 65% two-point shooting on 217 such attempts is the fifth-best mark on ESPN’s top 100.

During the Israeli BSL’s 37-day sprint to finish the season after the pandemic break, Maccabi dealt with a number injuries to key players and Avdija was relied on a little more heavily as a primary ballhandler and secondary shot creator. He averaged 19.2 points per 40 minutes in 12 appearances, helping lead Maccabi to the title and earning MVP honors along the way, becoming the youngest MVP in league history.

Avdija doesn’t have a particularly quick first step but showed some speed with the ball on a straight-line for someone his size, able just go around bigger players while turning the corner or getting downhill in the pick-and-roll, if guarded two-on-two.

He also did well while playing through contact, having returned from the pandemic break noticeably stronger. He was able to maintain his balance and his momentum forward through contact, showing attention to detail to tuck the ball to protect it in traffic, to get to the basket in a position of strength.

Avdija hasn’t yet developed much in terms of dribble moves or side-to-side shake but has broad shoulders that suggest he’s likely to add even more bulk as his body develops, making it possible he could develop into a wrecking ball-sort of driver.

He can go up with power off one foot with a head of steam behind him and unleashed an euro-step to weave his way through the crowd at one point but has generally acted as more of a two-foot leaper in traffic. Avdija is more of an up-and-down leaper than someone flexible enough to hang or adjust his body in the air on the regular but showed some versatility to his finishing with a runner off a behind-the-back move, underhanded finishes around rim protectors and finger-roll finishes off that euro-step.

But while his development as a shot creator in lower levels offers some potential for him to become more than just a shoot it-or-move it floor-spacer, odds are Avdija is still more likely to operate primarily off the ball in the NBA.

But in that role, he is more of a shot taker than a shot maker for now, as Avdija hit just one third of his 183 three-point shots last season, at a pace of 5.7 such attempts per 40 minutes.

More concerningly, he has struggled from the foul line for years, casting doubt over whether he even has the touch in place for a jump-shot to be built upon. According to our database, between all of his appearances with Maccabi and the Israeli National Team, both at the junior level and in the pros, Avdija has shot just 58% on 402 free throws over the last three years.

Full scouting report: https://basketball.realgm.com/analysis/259303/Prospect-Report-Deni-Avdija-Of-Maccabi-Tel-Aviv

Isaac Okoro (7th)

Okoro arrived at Auburn as the 40th ranked prospect in the 2019 high school class but is now the seventh-ranked prospect on ESPN’s top 100 and a lock to end up drafted in the lottery.

The surprising part about his rise to prominence is that it’s not driven by evidence (or at least glimpses) of potential on offense, which tends to be the priority for most teams picking at the top of the draft.

He was not tasked with shot creation responsibility at Auburn and shot poorly away from the basket. The 19-year-old does have impressive numbers in terms of getting to the rim unassisted but for the most part they were compiled via attacking scrambling defenses.

Okoro has shown enough to be viewed as an isolation stopper on defense, though; the sort of wing who could become strong enough and just about quick enough to check the most threatening wing ballhandlers in the league.

He bends his knees to get down in a stance comfortably, has as many lateral slides as needed in him to stay in front one-on-one and shows somewhat impressive lateral quicks to stay attached if shook side-to-side.

Against power-based similarly sized players, the six-foot-five wing has proven himself physical enough to leverage his 225-pound frame into chesting up and containing dribble penetration through contact – allowing just 0.48 points per possession in isolation, which ranked him in the 90th percentile in the NCAA last season.

He has shown glimpses of being able to crossmatch onto smaller players as well and generally with the same level of effectiveness. Okoro works to go over a screen at the point of attack and though he struggles to navigate a pick cleanly at times, given his frame, he most often manages to recover quickly back in front if aided by a big man who can stop the ball.

Off the ball, he’s shown to be a good help defender, active and attentive to his responsibilities coming across the lane in help defense and stepping up to the front of the rim as the last line of defense. He is not only a willing charge drawer but also a quick leaper off two feet to challenge shots via verticality or block a shot more regularly than just on occasion, as he’s averaged 1.1 blocks per 40 minutes so far this season.

Besides blocking some shots and challenging them via verticality at the rim, Okoro has also made a few preventive rotations that discouraged opposing drivers from taking it all the way to the basket from time-to-time. That sort of awareness suggests he can maybe develop into a big wing who can steal minutes at center in the future, which can be of great value for a league that has increasingly toyed around with the idea of giving up on the concept of a center over the last few years.

On the other end, the simplest path for him to contribute on offense is via spot-up shooting but that’s the most underdeveloped aspect of his skillset at this point of his development, as Okoro missed 71 of his 95 shots away from the basket last season.

His release does not seem particularly broken or anything but when you brick shots at such a high volume, it probably means you need all sort of adjustments to become consistent enough for the opponent to start guarding you. The touch looks good enough for him to be expected to improve with some better guidance and more directed focus into what will probably be his swing skill in the pros, but he has hit just two thirds of his 132 foul shots, which raises some skepticism over whether that’s really true.

When an opponent overreacts and gives him the chance to attack a closeout, Okoro managed to get all the way to the basket, relying on his strength to maintain his balance and his momentum forward through contact or by mixing in the occasional spin move to maneuver his way through traffic – taking 61.1% of his live-ball attempts at the rim, while averaging 6.0 foul shots per 40 minutes.

Though he hasn’t shown a particularly versatile arsenal as a finisher, Okoro is an explosive leaper off one foot with time and space to go up and has impressed with his touch around the basket, especially with his left hand – converting his shots at the rim at a 67.8% clip, with 69.3% of his 101 makes unassisted.

Full scouting report: https://basketball.realgm.com/analysis/257346/Prospect-Report-Isaac-Okoro-Of-Auburn

Patrick Williams (9th)

Williams is the second-youngest player on ESPN’s top 100, only turning 19 at the end of August.

There wasn’t much of a workout circuit this year because widespread travelling is bad during a pandemic but some of the athletic marvels in this class still started rising late in the process just the same, as the higher-ranking officials in most organizations start getting caught up as the draft nears, and Williams is one of those. He’s now ranked ninth on ESPN’s top 100 and based on Zach Lowe’s comments on last week’s podcast with Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz, Williams has become the most talked-about prospect in this class.

The six-foot-eight, 225-pound wing has prototypical size for a combo forward, stood out defending big wings in college and proved himself tough enough to matchup against true big men regularly, besides impressing with his impact as help defender as well.

He stood out with his activity, reactions, instincts and quickness rotating off the weakside coming all the way across the lane or stepping up to the front of the rim as the last line of defense, leveraging his long strides to cover a lot of ground and leveraging his six-foot-11 wingspan into making plays in the passing lanes.

His 3.6 steals + blocks per 40 minutes leads all perimeter prospects on ESPN’s top 100, though his 13.8% defensive rebounding rate is somewhat disappointing for someone his size.

On the ball, Williams is technically sound, bending his knees to get down in a stance, sliding to stay in front of similar-sized players and chesting up to contain dribble penetration through contact. The expectation is that he can become physical enough and agile enough to check the most threatening wing ballhandlers in the pros.

He crossmatched onto bigger players and spent some time as one of the biggest players on the lineup as well, and exceled by fronting true big men in the post and boxing them out physically, even if he is not the quickest reacting to the ball off the rim himself.

When he switched onto smaller players on occasion, Williams didn’t look as capable. There were flashes of intensity and smarts using his length in ball denial, but he struggled one-on-one, regularly getting beat on the first step out in space and lacking the lateral agility needed to hang with shiftier types.

On the other end, the Charlotte native seemed at his most threatening near the rim, via cuts and crashing the offensive glass. He took 40.9% of his live-ball attempts at the rim and finished there at a 62.4% clip, with 41.5% of his makes assisted and another quarter coming off putbacks. Given his ability to play above the rim as a target for lobs, there is potential for him to become a rim runner in the pros, though Florida State didn’t use that way.

Williams is underdeveloped and inconsistent as a shooter, unable to go through his mechanics with good enough fluidity to get catch-and-shoot’s off in volume and over effective closeouts – missing almost two-thirds of his 123 shots away from the basket last season.

He is not even much of a shot taker at this point of his development, with his 24.2% three-point rate standing out as a bottom three mark among players I classified as wings on ESPN’s top 100, though he did hit 62 of his 74 foul shots, 83.8%, suggesting the touch to serve as a foundation for a more capable three-point stroke is in place.

Williams looked a tad more capable, if still a bit stiff, pulling up off the dribble when he handled the ball on the side of the floor, either attacking a closeout or out of a ball reversal or running a side pick-and-roll off a handoff, though the ball still didn’t go in much.

He is capable but not especially effective at getting all the way to the basket, neither against a set defense nor against a scrambling defense, ending his lone NCAA year with just 18 unassisted makes at the basket that were not putbacks. Williams shot just 52.8% on his 53 non-dunk finishes around the goal as well.

He has a background as a point forward in lower levels but had a 0.58 assist-to-turnover ratio in his one year at Florida State

Full scouting report: https://basketballscouting.wordpress.com/tag/patrick-williams/

Devin Vassell (11th)

The first round of this year’s draft will feature many players who were underrated in high school but ended up rising to prominence after some time in college. Vassell is one of those players, once the 200th-ranked prospect in the 2018 high school class but now likely to end up picked in the lottery after 63 appearances across two years at Florida State. 

He was listed at six-foot-seven by Florida State but that seems more of an ambition than a reality, similarly to what it did with Terrance Mann, who is now listed at six-foot-five in the NBA.

The 20-year-old is a curious prospect, in the sense that he projects as a floor-spacer in the pros but tended to operate more as a wing-sized slasher that didn’t get all the way to the basket a whole lot in college.

He nailed 41.5% of his 106 three-point shots last season, a top 15 mark on ESPN’s top 100, and his average of 1.22 points per catch-and-shoot jump-shot ranked him in the 68th percentile in the NCAA, but on just 4.9 such attempts per 40 minutes, while taking just 36.1% of his field goal attempts from long range – a pedestrian three-point rate for someone who profiles as a shooter. There were glimpses of versatility to his release, but that’s not how he was used at Florida State.

There is also the matter of a video clip circulating this past month of Vassell working out a completely different release to the one he showed in college. He’s said he was just goofing around in that clip but there are concerns of Vassell becoming the next Mikal Bridges, a player who shot fine in college, even if with a long release, and then opted to completely rework his shooting motion upon arriving in the pros.

While he showed a ton of smoothness operating off the bounce, not just attacking out of ball reversals and against closeouts but on middle high pick-and-roll against a set defense too, Vassell had just 18 unassisted makes at the rim in 862 minutes, averaged just 1.81 unassisted makes from mid-range per 40 minutes and assisted on just 11.2% of Florida State’s scores when he was on the floor.

He scored on 26 of his 28 dunk attempts but missed on 20 of his 44 layup attempts. His average of 1.2 dunks made per 40 minutes is the fourth-best mark among perimeter players on ESPN’s top 100, while his average of 1.1 layups made per 40 minutes is the fifth-lowest mark within the same group.

On the other end, the Georgia native contributes the most as a weakside defender and did well executing the scheme, both in terms of flying around to create events and making an impact in the hidden areas of the game.

His average of 3.3 steals + blocks per 40 minutes ranks third among perimeter players on ESPN’s top 100. He mixes it up on scrums, boxes out whoever is close by and can chase the ball off the rim fairly well as well – collecting 15.5% of opponents’ misses when he was on the floor last season.

Vassell is more uneven on the ball. He is not physical enough to chest up and contain dribble penetration through contact against true wings due to his slight 180-pound frame and not quick enough side-to-side to stay in front of smaller/shiftier players out in space, struggling to get skinny going over screens at the point of attack, though he’s shown glimpses of impressive effort hustling in pursuit to block a shot from behind.

Full scouting report: https://basketballscouting.wordpress.com/tag/devin-vassell/

Aaron Nesmith (13th)

Nesmith had his second year at Vanderbilt cut short in half due to injury.

But by that point, he had shown enough to establish himself as the top shooter in this draft class, not just because of his insane three-point percentage but also due to his insane three-point rate and his shot profile, as Nesmith has shown a ton of versatility to his release and projects as the most valuable type of shooter – the one whose gravity can be leveraged all over the floor.

The six-foot-six sniper nailed a jaw-dropping 52.2% of his 115 three-point shots this past season, at a remarkable pace of 9.2 such attempts per 40 minutes. His 56.1% three-point rate ranks fourth among players on ESPN’s top 100, behind only Isaiah Joe, Justinian Jessup, and Louis Olinde.

He nailed 41% of his 290 three-point shots in his year-and-a-half at Vanderbilt, at a pace of 8.1 such attempts per 40 minutes and 58.5% of his live-ball attempts being launched from beyond the arc.

Nesmith has a tremendous approach: catching it on the hop, fully extending himself for a high release and launching with a quick trigger. He still needs to dip for rhythm but it’s not that pronounced and it appears to be more related to power transference and being able to have the ball get to the basket rather than a lack of dexterity being able to adjust to passes that don’t come to his shooting pocket.

His footwork adjusting his base off movement is impressive as well, as is his fluidity escape-dribbling into a one-dribble pull-up against flyby closeouts, and offered Vanderbilt the flexibility of getting him looks not just on basic spot-ups but also off dribble-handoffs, snaking his way around pindown screens, sprinting through elevator doors, jogging around staggered screens, drifting to the corner and popping to the three-point line as the inside screener in Spain pick-and-rolls.

The 21-year-old can put the ball on the floor, take it all the way to the rim on a straight-line drive and act as a threat to score on speed layups, even showing some comfort going to his left hand around the goal, but generally does not go up with power off one foot in traffic and struggles as a rim-level up-and-down finisher – converting just 55.8% of his 52 shots at the rim this past season, with over a quarter of them assisted too.

Nesmith showed a knack for taking smaller players into the post from the time-to-time but other than that, he doesn’t figure to be a shot creator on the ball in the pros.

He contributes the most on the defense as a help defender who puts in the effort to execute the scheme and looks to make himself a presence near the rim with a good deal of proactivity.

It’s important to point out that he is not an elite athlete and wings in college are usually not part of elaborate defensive schemes, so his average of 1.0 block per 40 minutes does not stand out in the spreadsheet but video of his work on defense reveals a prospect with potential to be a real plus, presuming he gets good coaching in the pros.

That said, he’s prone to get caught ball watching on occasion, his impact in the passing lanes (1.2 steals per 40 minutes in 1,428 NCAA minutes) is somewhat disappointing for someone with a rumored six-foot-10 wingspan and he is quite prone to getting blown by on closeouts.

Nesmith is also not consistently active mixing it up on scrums and boxing out whoever is close by, though he does assist the rebounding process by crashing the glass – collecting 13.5% of opponents’ misses when he was on the floor last season and 17.2% the year before.

On the ball, the Charleston native gets in a stance, slides and contests as well as he can but lacks the physicality to contain dribble penetration through contact and can’t get over a screen, thus not profiling as someone capable of holding up well enough against the most threatening type of scores in the pros.

Full scouting report: https://basketballscouting.wordpress.com/tag/aaron-nesmith/

Tyrese Maxey (14th)

Maxey is a tough player to label. He was more of a lead guard in high school and AAU and given his six-foot-one stature without shoes, measured at the 2019 Nike Hoop Summit, he is likely to be viewed as more a point guard prospect in the pros. But he was sort of an off-guard in his one year at Kentucky.

And off the ball, the just-turned 20-year-old struggled. Maxey seems like a capable enough shooter on spot-ups but missed 70.8% of his 113 three-point shots and averaged just 0.75 point per catch-and-shot jumper in the half-court, which ranked in the 20th percentile in the NCAA.

He has a very low release, launching the ball from almost in front of his face and needing to rely on a quick trigger and great elevation to be able to get his shot off prior to most closeouts, as he’s not able to launch his shots over them.

Odds are the Dallas native will go back to being more of a ballhandler moving forward, though.

He was an aggressive pull-up shooter this past season and looked good pulling up in rhythm when the on-ball defender when under the screen in pick-and-roll, even looking comfortable going to his left, but is not as efficient on wild stop-and-pop pull-ups early in the shot clock, taking long range bombs off jab-steps or side-stepping into pull-ups without shaking his defender enough to keep him from contesting the shot in his personal space.

Maxey shot just 35.7% on 129 two-point shots away from the rim last season and hit just four unassisted three-pointers in 1,068 minutes in his one year at Kentucky.

He is a willing passer on the move, especially off drawing two to the ball on a drive, but hasn’t yet shown particularly noteworthy court vision in pick-and-roll, though there were glimpses of impressive instincts in transition, in terms of tossing up lobs on the run and finding trailers with crosscourt passes on occasion – assisting on 18.7% of Kentucky’s scores when he was on the floor last season, with a 1.48 assist-to-turnover ratio to boot.

Maxey often struggled to create separation to pull-up in isolation but exceled at attacking scrambling defenses and getting all the way to the rim a fair amount. He has a quick first step off the catch, not just off a shot fake to try dragging his defender out of position on a closeout but curling around a pindown screen and turning on the jets off a dribble-handoff as well.

The Texan was particularly impressive maneuvering his way through tight spaces – taking 31.1% of his live-ball attempts at the rim and earning 4.5 foul shots per 40 minutes, neither mark spectacularly elite but both solid enough considering the lack of spacing Kentucky often dealt with.

Maxey flashed explosive leaping ability off one foot in traffic but most often operated as a below-the-rim finisher and had just seven dunks in his 31 NCAA appearances.

He did show a fairly diverse bag of resources to score among the trees with either hand and converted 64.6% of his 99 layups, which was the fourth-best mark among wings on ESPN’s top 100 who played in college last season.

On the other end, Maxey might go either way.

When locked in, he can lock up similarly sized players – chesting up to contain dribble penetration through contact and contesting pull-ups in the opponent’s personal space.

But it doesn’t happen often enough to make you trust him as the primary defender on a killer opposing point guard.

Given his height, his 198-pound frame and unspectacular six-foot-six wingspan, Maxey will almost certainly need to guard the point of attack in the pros. But to fill that role well enough, he will need to improve his motor, as Maxey often struggles to get skinny navigating over picks and, though he hustles in pursuit on occasion, he’s yet to show any real potential to impact a play from behind.

Off the ball, he doesn’t offer much of a contribution executing the scheme, neither in terms of flying around to create events, with his average of 1.5 (steals + blocks) per 40 minutes ranking as the seventh-worst mark among wings on ESPN’s top 100, nor in terms of making an impact in the hidden areas of the game.

Full scouting report: https://basketballscouting.wordpress.com/tag/tyrese-maxey/

Saddiq Bey (17th)

Bey was once the 137th-ranked prospect in the 2018 high school class. Two years later, he’ll be a first-round pick in the 2020 draft.

The six-foot-eight wing had a fair amount of shot creation responsibility in his second year at Villanova but figures to be more of a floor-spacer in the pros.

His .451 three-point percentage last season is the fifth-best mark on ESPN’s top 100. His average of 3.0 three-point makes per 40 minutes is tied for the 10th-best mark among the same group and his average of 1.31 points per spot-up possession ranked him in the 98th percentile in the NCAA.

He has shown some versatility to his release, able to nail some long-range bombs jogging around pindown screens and relocating on offensive rebounds, but for the most part he projects as more of a spot-up shooter in the immediate future. His balance on catch-and-shoot attempts seems a bit unorthodox but the overall approach looks projectable.

The 21-year-old handled the ball in middle high pick-and-roll in college but projects as more of a fit for side pick-and-rolls within the flow of the offense in the pros. He hasn’t yet developed a tight handle or dribble moves and doesn’t have a quick first step, much speed with ball or side-to-side but can mix in change of pace and apply hesitation moves to put his defender in jail.

Bey has good body control to stop on a dime and maneuver his way around for an overextended finish but doesn’t put much pressure at the rim as a ballhandler. He was unassisted on 74.2% of his makes at the rim but his average of 1.9 such makes per 40 minutes is only a mid-table mark among perimeter players ESPN’s top 100 who played in the NCAA last season, his 24.8% free throw rate is a bottom 10 mark among the same group and he shot just 57.1% on 84 non-dunk finishes at the rim.

Bey can make basic reads in pick-and-roll, mostly in terms of hitting the roll man over the top, but hasn’t yet shown anything particularly impressive in terms of court vision. His 10.1% turnover rate stands out as a top 10 mark in this draft class, though.

On the other end, Bey puts in the effort, bending his knees to get down on a stance and sliding as well as he can, but lacks the physicality to chest up and contain dribble penetration against similar-sized players, the side-to-side quickness to stay in front of smaller players on crossmatches or switches, and pure strength to hold his ground against bigger players in the post.

His awareness and activity in help defense is pleasing but he is not a threat to fly around and create events in volume, neither at the rim nor in the passing lanes.

Full scouting report: https://basketballscouting.wordpress.com/tag/saddiq-bey/

Josh Green (21st)

Green lost status in his one year at Arizona.

He was the eighth-ranked prospect in the 2019 high school class but now seems likely to end up drafted in the bottom third of the first round.

Measured at six-foot-four without shoes at the 2020 NBA Combine, the Australian profiles as a small 3&D wing but struggled to make shots away from the rim – missing 68.6% of his 191 such attempts last season.

He looks like a good shooter, pulls the trigger with confidence, and nailed 36.1% of his 83 three-point shots in Tucson, but at a pace of just 3.6 such attempts per 40 minutes. His 28.8% three-point rate stands out as one of the 15 lowest marks among perimeter players on ESPN’s top 100.

Green hit a few quick bombs off drifting around the wing to sustain proper spacing but hasn’t shown a ton of versatility to this release in terms of taking shots on the move.

When he did command a hard closeout, the soon-to-turn 20-year-old exceled at attacking the basket out of triple threat position. Green is very smooth putting the ball on the floor off a shot fake or straight out of a ball reversal. He has an explosive first step and a good deal of speed with the ball on straight-line drives.

The IMG Academy alum is an explosive leaper off one foot, can hang or adjust his body in the air to double clutch around rim protectors and finish through contact, besides flashing some exotic finishes on occasion like a wrong hand-wrong foot layup.

As a straight-line driver, and at times a cutter, he took 61.1% of his live-ball attempts at the rim and converted them at a 67.8% clip, with just 30.7% of them assisted. His touch on non-dunk finishes left something to be desired, though, as Green shot 24-for-26 on dunks but just 52.9% on 70 layups.

On the other end, the Sydney native has shown to be a tenacious defender on the ball. He bends his knees to get down in a stance, has quick lateral slides to defend out in space, leverages his 210-pound frame to contain dribble penetration through contact and reacts quickly to contest pull-ups with urgency.

That said, Green doesn’t seem to be quite big enough to check the most threatening wing ballhandlers in the NBA, thus profiling more of a potential point of attack defender.

He is not very adept at getting skinny to navigate over screens at the point of attack but hustles in pursuit and can contest shots from behind effectively with his eight-foot-seven standing reach. Given his quickness and the consistency of his effort, Green might develop into someone who can guard smaller players on the regular and supplement jumbo shot creators while keeping the lineup tall across all positions.

Off the ball, he didn’t impress with his instincts executing the scheme or making an impact near the rim but was quite energetic flying around to make plays in the passing lanes. His average of 2.0 steals per 40 minutes is a top 15 mark among perimeter players on ESPN’s top 100.

Full scouting report: https://basketballscouting.wordpress.com/tag/josh-green/

Leandro Bolmaro (22nd)

Bolmaro is widely viewed as the top-ranked prospect with European ties born in 2000.

Last season, the six-foot-seven combo guard split some time between Barcelona’s senior team, with whom he logged 171 minutes in the Spanish ACB and the Euroleague, and its B squad, with whom he logged 241 minutes in the Spanish LEB Plata (Spanish third division).

With Barcelona’s senior squad, the 19-year-old was a benchwarmer who got most of his opportunities in garbage time or as a minutes-eater when the team was short at lead guard on a given game – averaging just 11.4 minutes per game in his 15 appearances. He acted as a caretaker point guard who triggered offense in the half-court and had some opportunities to create within the flow of the system but was mostly told to space out to the three-point line to get out of the way.

With the B squad, a U23 team, the Argentinean was primarily a swingman in order to accommodate small ball handlers Brancou Badio, Juani Marcos and Lluis Costa but still had a lot of responsibility as a shot creator against a set defense – logging 27.6% usage rate while averaging 26.8 minutes per game in his nine appearances in the Spanish LEB Plata.

Bolmaro averaged 22.2 points per 40 minutes on 54.3% true shooting against third division competition and elevated the level of the team, which won seven of the nine games he participated in but just seven of the 17 when he wasn’t there.

He has above average height for someone with potential to be developed as a lead guard but has an underdeveloped frame at this point of his development. As is the case with most teenagers logging minutes among the pros, the Cordoba native struggled with the physicality of the game and thus offered very little on defense.

His 178-pound frame ranks him as one of the 10 lightest players on ESPN’s top 100. He’s also rumored to have a six-foot-eight wingspan, which would rate as below average for someone his height.

With the change at coach, with cult hero Saras Jasikevicius taking over at Barça, there was hope Bolmaro would have a more consistently role this season. That has sort of been the case over the first couple of months, as he’s logged 152 minutes over 14 appearances, at the time of writing. But Bolmaro has struggled so far, with a .300 effective field-goal percentage and a 21.2% turnover rate.

Full scouting report: https://basketballscouting.wordpress.com/tag/leandro-bolmaro/