Identifying The Swing Skills In NBA Draft Prospects: Part One

Taking a look at the swing skills in select NBA Draft prospects.

When evaluating NBA prospects, it’s important to remember that they aren’t finished products. Teams are drafting the foundation of a player and are tasked with developing them to their fullest potential. For a lot of these prospects, their proficiency in a specific skill can single handedly define their outcome as a player. Some swing skills are easier to improve upon than others. Some players have displayed more indicators of untapped potential in a swing skill than others. Let’s take a look at some swing skills of select prospects:

Anthony Black: Catch & Shooting

Black possesses many traits that can easily help NBA teams instantly. He’s a great slasher, passer, and defensive player as a 6-foot-7 ball handler. As a result, the Texas native averaged 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists in his freshman season at Arkansas. 

However, as someone who doesn’t necessarily have enough scoring talent to be a big-time NBA ball handler, he’s going to have to spend a lot of time without it. To do so efficiently, it’s essential that he develops a 3-point shot off the catch, or opposing teams will exploit this weakness by helping off of him. He made just 28 shots from behind the arc this season at a clip of 30.1%, so he has some work to do. 

Black has solid touch at the rim and shoots a solid 70% at the free throw line, so there are some indicators of shooting potential there, but nothing to write home about.

Brandon Miller: Strength

Miller is currently the favorite to go second overall in this year’s draft class. After the stunning freshman campaign he put on last year at Alabama, it isn’t hard to see why. The 20-year-old averaged a whopping 18.8 points and 8.2 rebounds while making 106 triples.

 However, to reach his full potential as a top pick, Miller will have to be a lethal scorer inside the arc as well. He struggled in this area at times throughout the year. Oftentimes, the 6-foot-9 wing tried to create space to finish at the rim by plowing through defenders. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the strength to do this successfully at this point. This will need to be addressed for him to succeed at the highest level, for his other athletic deficiencies are much harder to improve upon.

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