4 NBA Draft takeaways from State Farm Champions Classic

1. Cassius Stanley is Duke’s best NBA prospect

I have to be the first to admit that I didn’t have Cassius Stanley atop my list of Duke guards that I wanted to evaluate, let alone players overall.

That’s how well he ended up playing against Kansas.

Stanley put up 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting overall, including a 3-pointer in transition that woke up the Duke bench.

But that play wasn’t all that he did to wake up his teammates.

He was all over the floor, constantly sprinting back on defense and getting ahead of his opponents in transition. His energy and motor were unmatched by anyone on either team and it showed in his efficiency and overall performance.

I have my doubts about his overall status from a scouting standpoint. One of his turnovers resulted from arguably the worst crossover attempt of the night and he looked much better when he was able to score and make plays within the flow of the offense, not forcing anything in isolation.

Stanley isn’t a playmaker or isolation bucket-getter by any means, but when he’s free to do what he does best, he’s an athletic specimen at the guard position who can make the lives of those around him easier.

It’s easy to see him in that kind of supplementary role at the NBA level, so given that his game has the greatest chance to translate right away I’m putting him at the top of Duke’s draft board of prospects after their first contest.