2020 NBA draft profile: Iowa State guard Tyrese Haliburton
By Matthew Way
Tyrese Haliburton weaknesses
Like with many supremely smart players, Haliburton’s basketball intelligence has perhaps developed due to his lack of great athleticism. He’s certainly not a stiff, but the lack of explosiveness does manifest itself in his game.
Haliburton spends a lot more time probing the defense rather than driving aggressively into the paint. His passing isn’t affected because he does that at such a high level, but not getting into the paint consistently does limit his scoring a bit. He averaged only two free throws per game as a sophomore in 36.7 minutes after shooting less than one free throw per game as a freshman in 33.2 minutes. Not getting into the paint consistently simplifies defending him as a scorer. Lacking offensive diversity could make life rather difficult in the NBA against much better defenders.
His lack of athleticism also limits his individual defense from time to time. While he’s an adept help defender, Haliburton could struggle to stay in front of quicker NBA guards. His length may allow him to shift down and guard wings, but he will probably have to put on some weight to handle larger wings in the post. That, of course, could hamper his explosiveness further. Going to a team with a strong strength and conditioning team with a clear vision for his role will be important to Haliburton.