Baylor NBA Draft Profile: G James Akinjo
James Akinjo played at an All-American level and leaves college with a decorated career across three different top-tier programs.
Unfortunately, Akinjo will have to overcome a lot to find his way to an NBA roster.
That's not to count out Akinjo, because he was integral and outstanding (there is a difference) this season. From everything assistant coach John Jakus said to ESPN, Akinjo bought into everything Scott Drew wants in his program and Akinjo took on a leadership role right away, even when there were questions about his attitude and his leadership (playing for three college programs will do that to you.)
It is clear Akinjo’s lower back injury was serious enough to keep lesser players on the shelf and while it affected his shooting, he did everything to help his team win and retain an All-American level of play.
Even with all that grit and ability, you won’t find Akinjo’s name on the NBA mock draft boards.
His build and streakiness don’t project well for the NBA.
Akinjo stands at only 6’1” in a sport where much taller guys are becoming better and better ball handlers. There is nothing Akinjo really does at an elite level, but he’s a really solid all-around player at the college level.
He has shot just at 38% from three in his career, which is not going to buy him minutes in the NBA and, on top of that, he’s a feast or famine shooter. That three-point percentage dropped from 40% to 29% from 2021 to 2022, due in no small part to his injury, and in the six games he shot 7 threes or more, he hit 50% in a game just once.
Basically, when he was forced to shoot, his production dipped dramatically.
As a playmaker, Akinjo doesn't get enough respect. While not Rajon Rondo or Kyrie Irving who were similar heights in college, Akinjo could still facilitate even when defenses made him one-dimensional.
What didn’t help Akinjo or his team, however, was his difficulty to maneuver traffic and finish at the rim. There were also times when he struggled to get Baylor’s big men involved, stalling the offense out on the perimeter, as Jakus mentions to him in that same ESPN piece.
Defensively, Akinjo battled but was nothing special. When being a fringe prospect, it’s so important to not be a defensive liability.
He can’t improve his size, but if he improves his defensive ability, he can find a role as a backup point guard who won’t lose you the game when the superstar takes a rest.
Best Case: Shane Larkin
Call us crazy, but Akinjo should get a legitimate shot on an NBA roster. For all the deficiencies, the guy plays hard and he always produces. Even against other prospects, he stands out. His size and repertoire remind me a lot of Shane Larkin, even though Larkin was a first-round pick. Larkin plays overseas now, but he carved out a decent few years in the NBA, almost exclusively backing up the team’s point guard in New York, Brooklyn and Boston. He appeared in at least 45 games in all his NBA seasons and averaged more than 20 minutes a game in two of those years. He was a decent playmaker and shooter that kept the game sober. I think Akinjo’s college game actually most represents Kemba Walker’s with toned-down explosiveness, but having an NBA career like Larkin’s is nothing to sneeze at.
Worst Case: Jacob Pullen
Pullen was a star for some good Kansas State teams of the early 2010s, and his game resembled Akinjo’s quite a bit. Pullen was a high-volume shot guy and loved to take jumpers no matter how they were falling that day. Like Akinjo, he usually made just enough shots and just enough plays on an off day that you couldn’t take him out, but could also win you a game by himself on a good day.
Pullen, too, was undersized (6’0”) and went undrafted. He got one shot with the 76ers in 2017-18, seven years out of college, and only appeared in three games. His career was mostly spent in the D-League and in Europe, still kicking it in Slovenia. The NBA is about the best of the best, so if Akinjo can’t be elite in at least one facet of the game, he might be on the same path. No shame in that.
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Covering Baylor for Inside The Bears and the Locked on Baylor podcast. You can follow me for more Baylor content at @realcamstuart on Twitter. Originally from Rockland, Massachusetts and a Baylor alum, so I might mix the occasional bias and/or Boston sports tweet in there every once in a while.