NBA Comparison: Charlie Ward

Strengths: 1st Team All-American selection, DeVonte Graham, is perhaps the most experienced college point guard in the draft field this season … A crafty scorer … Possessing a high quality outside jump shot, Graham shot .40% from deep as a senior, and sported three point percentages over 40% for three of his four years at Kansas … Devonte has shown the ability to shoot both off the dribble, and as a spot up shooter … Graham has consistently shown his capability to extend his range out past the NBA line as well … His long range shooting will certainly translate to the current NBA landscape … Graham is also well adept at running the pick, and roll and is excellent at throwing lobs in P/R situations … After playing off the ball much of his first three seasons, Graham showed he could really operate as a point guard during his senior season … His assists rose to 7.2 per contest, while still only turning the ball over 2.8 times per game … Devonte’s ability to control the game while being ball dominant paired with his experience playing next to high volume shooters such as Frank Mason, Josh Jackson, and Wayne Selden makes him a versatile option for an NBA franchise … He’s perfectly adept to helping his teammates shine, but as he showed his senior season, he has the skills to up his game when needed (17.2 ppg in 2017-2018) … At 6’2” and with a seemingly long wingspan for his height, Graham isn’t a large point guard, but he certainly is big enough to be considered solid sized for an NBA one … His defense was often overlooked, but is a heady player on the defensive end who can really make life tough for his opponent … In the NBA, he won’t be asked to carry nearly the offensive load he did at Kansas, and I feel he’ll be a capable NBA defender against the majority of NBA point guards … He tallied 197 steals while at Kansas, and has always been effective in the passing lanes due to his high overall basketball IQ … A competitor, who shows a willingness to challenge teammates to raise their level of play in big moments … Graham is a high quality leader, and individual, who is mature and ready to enter professional basketball from a personal standpoint …

Weaknesses: Devonte Graham, while possessing decent size and length, is still a little thin for an NBA guard … Listed at 185 pounds, he could stand to add some strength … Athletically he’s average, showing good quickness, and the ability to get off the ground, but he’s not a standout by NBA standards … Could be taken out of games mentally if he gets frustrated … A poor shooting start in games potentially means he will stop looking for shots and instead look to distribute the ball instead … This strategy, while unselfish, often hurt the Jayhawks who at times struggled to find scoring during 2017-18 … Only shot .40% from the floor in his senior season, but this is more due to the massive offensive burden he took on for the Jayhawks … I suspect his shot selection will improve in the professional ranks when he’s not asked to do so much for his team … While showing improvement every season in college, Graham turned 23 years old in February and therefore is likely not to be viewed as a player with much upside left to develop … His age is likely to effect his draft stock …

Overall: Devonte Graham is an experienced point guard with a high level shot from outside … He can play on or off the ball, is adept in the pick and roll, and has the maturity to needed for professional basketball … Those things alone make him an appealing player to look at to help add depth to your lineup … He’s a player of average positional size and athleticism … That paired with his age will hurt where he get selected, but many prospects in this draft don’t have the amount of NBA translatable skills Graham possesses … A likely role player, Devonte will certainly be in the mix in the 2nd round this season, and has the ability to stick with a team given the right opportunity …

Notes: First Team All-America (2018) Big 12 Player of the Year (2018) All-Big 12 First Team (2018) All-Big 12 Second Team (2017) All-Big 12 Honorable Mention (2016) …  Won 4 Big-12 regular season titles, 2 Big 12 tournaments, played in 3 Elite Eights, and one Final Four … Originally committed to Appalachian State before de-committing, and playing a post-graduate year at Brewster Academy …

David Ray 5/10/18