2. Tyrese Haliburton, PG
Player comparison: What Lonzo Ball & Michael Carter-Williams were supposed to become
Apart from RJ Barrett who seems to be doing just fine in the NBA as of today, the New York Knicks have not drafted correctly in the most recent years. They selected two back-to-back unproven prospects in Frank Ntilikina and Kevin Knox, a pair of selections that haven’t exactly panned out just yet.
Instead, they might need to go with a more proven option at that point guard spot and Tyrese Haliburton is exactly that. The sophomore guard out of Iowa State has risen tremendously throughout the past year, making a strong case as to who the best player in his position is.
Unfortunately for him, the Cyclones announced about a month ago, that he would miss the remainder of the season with a fractured left wrist. Distressing as this news may be, Haliburton will not miss the major tournament due to its cancellation and will be good to go in a few months.
Moving on to his endless list of upsides, Haliburton boasts an incredibly balanced all-around game, bound to help any rebuilding team find its identity.
Perhaps the most eye-catching aspect of his game is the percentage at which he shoots the basketball. He is a 50.4 percent shooter from the field, to go along with his 41.9 percent shooting from behind the arc and 82.2 percent from the charity stripe.
Thus, Haliburton racks up a true shooting percentage of 63.1 percent. That is the highest among all non-big men prospects for the 2020 NBA Draft.
Even though the NCAA and the NBA are two different worlds, to put things into perspective, there are only 11 players with a true shooting percentage higher than Haliburton’s. Out of those 11, only two of them are guards, Seth Curry and J.J. Redick, meaning that Tyrese is in some elite shooting company.
https://twitter.com/CycloneMBB/status/1236760699352858624?s=20
Coming up with glaring weaknesses in Haliburton’s game would not be an easy task to do. Perhaps the fact that he doesn’t attack the basket as often as some of his peers, though that is a plus, given his out-of-this-world shooting abilities.
To be frank, Haliburton might have to gain a few pounds of muscle as guarding NBA-level point guards could end up troubling him. He is a proven elite defender in the NCAA, averaging 2.5 steals per game, a stat none of his competitors even come close to.