NBA Comparison: Robert Covington/James Jones

Strengths: Bigtime shooter with prototypical size and athleticism for an NBA combo forward at 6’9 and with a 7′ foot wingspan … Excellent size, and has added intrigue in today’s NBA with the versatility to play as a small ball four … Shooting is his most intriguing asset … Showed a lot of improvement at the free throw line during his three years in college (72.5% as a freshman, 82.4% as a sophomore, 92.7% as a junior) …. While he isn’t a volume scorer at this point, he is very efficient at knocking down the shots he does take … Career 40% 3 point shooter, including two years over 42% from deep … Sets his feet well on catch and shoot opportunities, allowing him to get his shot off quickly and on balance … Doesn’t turn the ball over a lot (although this is partially because he doesn’t look to create a lot) … Is comfortable playing a role and creating space for those around him … Late bloomer … Seems to have untapped athleticism that he doesn’t utilize on a regular basis … Very smooth athlete with the ability to explode and make plays in the open floor … Despite being just 205 lbs, has an excellent frame with broad shoulders and should be able to add 15-20 lbs over time without losing any mobility …

Weaknesses: Needs to gain more confidence in his abilities and become a more aggressive athlete … Does not rebound the ball particularly well despite his size advantage … Could use more aggressiveness and assertiveness to become more effective … At times, doesn’t appear to understand what he’s capable of … Does not track the ball well off the rim, resulting in poor positioning for rebounds … Not a big assist guy, doesn’t create many looks for himself or his teammates … Many times doesn’t even look at the rim on the catch, missing opportunities to take an open shot … Often tries to drive laterally, but doesn’t have the handles or quickness for that to be effective for him … Drives looking primarily to pass, particularly to perimeter players spotting up … Should look to play with more energy at all times … Gets pushed around by smaller players on a regular basis … Doesn’t always cut with the urgency needed to get open … Tends to give too much room defensively on the perimeter … Despite giving space, is still prone to getting beat off the bounce by opposing wings because he gets too high of a center of gravity … May need to refine his mechanics to speed up his release on his jumpshot, as he sort of brings the ball down beside his head prior to shooting … Can work on becoming a more vocal leader … Perimeter skills are a work in progress. Can stand to improve as a ball handler and passer …

Outlook: Trey Murphy III is an interesting case, as he has an NBA skill in his shooting, but spent last year playing in a Virginia system that did not fit or capitalize on the type of player that he is or could become … perhaps he was hidden to a degree in the hopes that he would return for his senior year. Wishful thinking … He is a player that at the moment gives you very little outside of shooting, but the potential is there for him to expand his game considerably … He should benefit from the more open offensive systems at the NBA level and feel emboldened to take more shots early in the shot clock … However, he will need to develop more aspects of his game in order to make the transition … The hope is that he can develop into a 3-and-D player, but so far he has not shown the ability to play the type of defense required to fill that role … He goes long stretches of games in which he doesn’t impact the game in any discernible way … His play style is similar to James Jones or Robert Covington in that he can play a role and knock down jumpshots, but until he can fill out the other parts of his game, it may be hard for him to carve out a significant role at the NBA level …

Notes: Measured: 6’7.5”barefoot,  6’9.25” in shoes, 8’9.5” standing reach, 206.0 lbs, 7’0.0” wingpsan at the 2021 NBA Draft Combine … Transferred to Virginia for his junior year after two productive seasons at Rice …

Eric Yearian 7/7/21