What can teams expect from the UCLA guard?
The UCLA sophomore shooting guard did an about-face and decided to enter the draft after all, enriching an already deep draft. This isn’t that surprising after putting up impressive numbers all year, plus teammates Kyle Anderson and Zach LaVine are also abandoning ship. Immediately upon entering the draft Adams could be one of the first shooting guards taken in the 1st round.
There are no question marks surrounding his position in the NBA. He is undoubtedly your prototypical 2 with classic size of 6’5″ and 220 lbs. Summarily, Jordan Adams is an opportunistic scorer capable of heating up quickly at any time. Built like a bowling ball (think Eric Gordon), Adams uses his size, strength and length to get tough buckets via bully ball, complete with an underrated low post game. Adams isn’t just a bruiser, he also possesses excellent touch and moves intelligently without the ball via crafty cuts.
Adams is a good if not great shooter but nothing in his mechanics seriously suggests that the latter is unobtainable. He has solid form, a quick release and looks comfortable shooting from anywhere on the floor. He is particularly effective with his feet set but needs some work shooting off the dribble or off of screens; again he looks more than capable of improving in those areas. Adams has a knack for finishing tough lay ups and uses his body in the post well to create turnarounds or seal off his man for an easy deuce. His offensive game is decidedly old school as he has an almost Joe Dumars-esque way of bodying his defenders to create shots.
Fortunately Adams is able to score well using a combination of touch, skill, and savvy because athletically he’s working with a short deck. He is decidedly an under the rim player and he doesn’t change direction very well or quickly. Although he isn’t a speed merchant he offsets this weakness partially by being a constant mover on offense and reading the defense well. Adams is also pretty strong for a SG as evidenced by his solid offensive rebounding for his position. Unfortunately Adams has questionable conditioning and is a bit thick for a SG which may limit his quickness and defensive effort. If Adams shows up to workouts and the combine in much better shape like Draymond Green did it should be a serious boost to his draft stock.
Defensively Adams is a mixed bag. He averaged 2.6 steals per game — eye popping numbers for sure, but much of that came at the expense of gambling too often. He is not a defensively sound player and has a tendency to get beat by his man. There is potential for him to be a solid individual and team defender despite his lack of lateral quickness thanks to his long arms, especially if his conditioning and fundamentals improve. Also dragging Adams’ stock down are his lackluster handles for a SG which really limits his ability to create his own shot and slash to the basket.
Adams is far from a sexy pick but his production can’t be ignored, with his 17.4 PPG, 36 percent from three, and 5.3 rebounds per game. At the very least, the team that drafts Adams is getting a well-rounded player capable of being a solid rotation guard, with a ceiling of being a low-level starter. Adams understands the game well and if he can improve his body, hone his shooting, and improve his handles (all very doable), he will have serious All-NBA rookie team potential if he lands in the right spot. Lastly, Adams is fairly young for a sophomore and won’t turn 20 until July, which could be a deciding factor in a lot of GM’s minds. This is a deep draft with a lot of interchangeability from the end of the lottery to the second round so penciling in where Adams should go is practically impossible. Suffice it to say, he should be a late first rounder at least but could slip into the second if he looks out of shape.
Player Comparison: A hybrid of James Harden and Jordan Crawford without the handles or explosive athleticism of either.
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