Is West Virginia’s Juwan Staten An NBA-Caliber Point Guard?

For the past two seasons, the Big 12 has been widely regarded as the most competitive conference in all of college basketball, and for the past two seasons, West Virginia’s Juwan Staten has been considered the best point guard in the best conference in the country. In both 2014 and 2015, Staten was an All-Big 12 First Team selection, along with honors on the All-Big 12 Defensive Team in back-to-back seasons.

In terms of your ideal college floor general, Staten meets all of the qualifications, but with his time on the hardwood in college now behind him, is Staten an NBA-caliber point guard?

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The majority doesn’t seem to believe so.

It’s a rare sighting to find Staten included in most 2015 NBA mock drafts. Of the six mock drafts I looked at to determine where the experts had Staten slotted after his senior season at WVU, the only one he made an appearance on was at nbadraft.net, where he was projected to go 59th to the Atlanta Hawks. Draft Express, which is a premier NBA Draft prospect analysis and projection website, lists Staten as the No. 91 overall prospect.

In theory, this would require an additional round in the draft and some for Staten to hear his name called.

But how does someone who’s been selected as the top point guard in such a highly competitive conference for two straight seasons struggle so mightily to garner NBA attention and consideration?

In the case of Staten, one of the most apparent criticisms and question marks surrounding his ability to successfully transition to the NBA is something that is completely out of his control with his less than ideal size, as noted by David Ray of nbadraft.net:

"A small stature is Juwan’s biggest setback when looking to translate to the NBA … He is just 5’11.5’’ tall in shoes, and his wingspan is decent for someone his size, but is still only 6’3’’ … His quickness will help make up for some of these issues, but he’ll be one of the smallest guards in the league if he lands on an NBA roster …Mar 26, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Andrew Harrison (5) guards West Virginia Mountaineers guard Juwan Staten (3) during the first half in the semifinals of the midwest regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports"

For someone with Staten’s ability, size doesn’t seem like a convincing enough knock to steer NBA general managers away from taking a chance on him, even as a late second rounder. And where the size argument against Staten crumbles comes when you consider his 6’1” height is just as tall, if not taller, than notable NBA point guards such as Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo, Kyle Lowry and Kemba Walker.

Another factor that unquestionably comes into play with Staten’s draft stock sitting so low is the fact that he’s a 22-year-old senior. Staten being 22 will serve as a red flag in today’s NBA simply because you can’t pin the term “upside” to him.

Considering Staten didn’t necessarily dominate at the college level and took a statistical step back across the board from his junior season, not having the upside and potential of an extremely raw and unpolished 19-year-old that an NBA development coach can mold into a perennial All-Star will place Staten farther down the line behind many younger options.

But on the other hand, Staten does have plenty to offer, should an NBA GM bring him aboard. He’s a natural leader, which is evident by his vocal and authoritative displays nearly every time he walks the ball up the court.

If there’s one thing that can’t be taught and makes every NBA GM and head coach salivate, it’s a point guard that naturally knows how to lead a team, and Staten has proven he can do this down the stretch is very meaningful moments.

Staten’s extremely crafty with the ball and has proven he can separate himself from a defender and find his own shot with ease, which has often led to easy mid-range jumpers and clear paths to the basket.

Although it’s far from being his strength, Staten improved from beyond the arc as a senior, hitting 36 percent of his 58 attempts, which was another knock on Staten throughout his career, although, it likely wouldn’t affect his shot at making an NBA roster.

Playing in Bob Huggins’ up-tempo, press style defense has transformed Staten into an extremely well-conditioned athlete and the intensity he’s played with for the past few seasons on both sides of the ball is something that NBA teams must take note of. This same style and system Staten was under served as reinforcement to his competitive nature and attack-first mindset.

Additionally, Staten is a much more explosive than he’s typically given credit for, which is just an added bonus for a guard that has become a great manager of the game.

If you put aside his limited stature and the possibility that he doesn’t develop too much more in the pros, Staten certainly sounds like an NBA caliber point guard to me. It would be a stretch do assume he’ll end up as a starter anywhere, outside of potential short stints on rebuilding teams, but one way or another, Staten is too polished of a floor general to not find himself on an NBA roster next season.

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