My Two Cents: Don't Worry About Nojel Eastern's NBA Decision

Purdue junior Nojel Eastern entered his name into the NBA draft process, but he can return to Purdue — and most likely will — because his game still needs improvement.

Tom Brew | Apr 29, 2020

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — There’s no reason for panic among Purdue basketball fans over the news that Nojel Eastern applied for entry into the NBA draft.

There’s no way he stays in the draft. Zero. Zip Nada.

He’s just not ready.

You can’t fault the 6-foot-7, 225-pound junior from Evanston, Ill., for entering the process though, because that’s the purpose behind being able to enter the draft without hiring an agent. That way, after getting all the feedback he needs from NBA voices that he can respect, he can pull his name back out and return to Purdue for his senior season.

Fast forward to June 3, the deadline for staying in the draft, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Because all these NBA teams will tell Eastern the same thing that we all already now.

He is definitely not ready.

Parts of his game certainly are. He’s probably the best defender in the Big Ten, and he can proficiently guard four positions very well. That talent already translated to the NBA, too, and there’s no denying it.

But when it comes to offensive skills, Eastern’s still a long way off from having the game that can earn him an NBA roster spot. He’s not a good shooter, from the three-point line or even in the mid-range, and the numbers bear that out. He's an embarrassment at the free throw for someone his size who has the ball in his hands as often as he does.

He needs another long summer of work — and some adjustments to his shooting technique — for his game to improve.

He’s had some moments on the offensive end, of course, but they were few and far between this past season. He averaged only 4.9 points per game, which was NINTH on a Purdue team that struggled to score most of the season.

It took Eastern 11 games before he scored in double figures — he did that at Ohio on Dec. 17 — but that only happened because Matt Haarms was out with a concussion and Eastern was forced back into the starting lineup.

He had only four double-figure scoring games all year. Two of them came back-to-back — Jan. 18 and Jan. 21 in losses to Illinois and Maryland — and then happened because he was really looking for his shot in both of those games. He took 26 shots in two games, making 13 of them. He also had 14 in the Feb. 18 loss at Wisconsin on 12 shots.

But there were too many times where he simply disappeared on the offensive end. The end of the season was proof positive of that. In Purdue's last three games, wins over Indiana and Iowa and a tough overtime loss in the season finale, Eastern played a combined 88 minutes — and scored a grand total of FOUR POINTS.

Those aren't NBA numbers. and that's not NBA film.

Nearly 150 players have entered their name in the NBA draft process. There is a G League Elite Camp (May 17-19) and an NBA draft combine (May 20-24) that surely will be canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Any interviews with teams will be done virtually. There is, in other words, to real way for Eastern — or any player, for that matter, to impress NBA scouts and executives any further. Any opinions they have based on game film and prior scouting will have to stand.

Purdue finished 16-15 on the season and had a losing record in the Big Ten. (USA TODAY Sports)

There is no denying his defensive skills, of course, and he is a very good passer, both on the perimeter and when he has the ball in the post. He did lead Purdue in assists this year.

But the shooting woes will always hover over him like a nasty dark cloud. And here's why.

He has never developed a 3-point game, which is a problem in this day and age. During his freshman year, he made 3-of-9 attempts from long distance — and he hasn't made one since. He was 0-for-4 as a sophomore and 0-for-3 this year, and all were basically afterthoughts. That needed to become part of his game, and it never did.

He's also a horrible free throw shooter. His form is really bad — and you have to ask, why hasn't that ever been fixed? — and there was regression there, too. He was 20-for-46 as a freshman (41.7 percent), which is awful, but he was much better as a sophmore, making 65-of-100 attempts. Then, this year, was back to awful, making just 16-of-36 attempts, good for just 48.5 percent.

Maybe some guys never become proficient three-point shooters, but, to me, that's never an excuse to be a sub-50 percent free throw shooter. They are FREE for a reason. You can basically practice free throws on your own, any time and anywhere. And if you have a form issue, there are coaches being paid a lot of money who can help you fix it.

So don't get caught up in the NBA talk. He'll be back. The bigger picture, to me, is when he comes back, how much better will he be as a senior? Purdue needs his defense, needs his passing, needs his leadership.

So if he's going to play, he needs to play well — on both ends of the court. A summer of hard work improving that shot — at every level — is mandatory. And just like everything else, that's a wait-and-see issue right now.

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