K.J. McDaniels Scouting Report

Profiling the forward from Clemson.

Between Jabari Parker, T.J. Warren, and Rodney Hood the ACC has been stacked with elite wing players this season, and Clemson forward K.J. McDaniels is another player that belongs in this group. The junior out of Birmingham, AL is somewhat of a similar story to NC State product T.J. Warren this season. Despite having limited talent around him, McDaniels stepped up as the clear leader and catalyst in Tigertown this winter and led Clemson to a respectable season thanks to his brilliant performance.

Aside of Andrew Wiggins, there may not be a wing player in this draft that is more athletic than McDaniels. The physical attributes do more than enough to pass the eye-test, McDaniels is 6’6” and features an ideal frame and long arms. The Clemson ace is as explosive as they come; he boasts implausible jumping abilities that can really get the crowd to jump out of their seat.

Watching McDaniels operate as a scorer is a joy because he can get the ball through the hoop in numerous ways. While he is more than capable of knocking down open jumpers, McDaniels primarily relies on getting to the hoop. It’s near impossible to stop him in transition, he knows how to crash the glass and push the ball up the floor efficiently. McDaniels excels on straight-line dribbles to the rim, he’s so difficult to stay in front of. Once he gets to the bucket he’ll either finish in traffic, or if he doesn’t he’s great at drawing fouls and getting to the charity stripe. This season McDaniels shot right at 5 free throws per contest, and he converted on 84.7 percent of those. Throughout the season McDaniels averaged 17 points a game which ranked sixth in the ACC despite playing on one of the worst offensive teams in the country.

As much potential as McDaniels has an offensive player, I believe he can be even better on defense. We’ve established that he’s an elite athlete, and with his long wing-span it should be very difficult for opposing SF’s to get past him at the next level. In fact, there hasn’t been a wing player to enter the draft in years that can block shots like McDaniels can. As a sophomore McDaniels finished with 2.1 blocks a game, ranking best in the ACC, and he followed that up with 2.7 blocks a game as a junior which also led the conference.

McDaniels is a very good rebounder for a small forward, his final tally of seven rebounds a game ranked him a respectable tenth in the ACC; he also ranked ninth with 77 total offensive rebounds on the campaign. So whether it’s blocking shots, putting the ball in the hole, or snatching down a rebound you can expect McDaniels to continuously make plays around the rim.

Just like any other young prospect, McDaniels has plenty he needs to work on. I would really like to see McDaniels improve his ball-handling, shooting, and ability to facilitate. Due to being Clemson’s only consistent threat offensively all season, McDaniels was often times the main focus for opposing defenses and he lost the ball too much when driving to the rim. As far as shooting goes, he’s not bad he could just get more consistent there especially when it comes to three pointers.

There’s a lot to like in McDaniels as a player, he was a “late-bloomer” so to speak in college, and he actually started out playing a lot of power forward.  He has a lot of growing and learning left to do, but his physical skills are off the charts. The potential this young man possesses is immense; he will comfortably be selected in the first round and could have a shot at sneaking into the lottery.

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