2020 NBA draft profile: International prospect R.J. Hampton

R.J. Hampton’s weaknesses: Defense

Hampton wasn’t exclusively guarding point guards, his height and wingspan allowed him to cover 1-3 in the NBL (in the NBA he might struggle with some small forwards.) The Breakers were fifth in defensive rating – yes, the NBL only has nine teams but they were only 0.2 from being third.

Hampton wasn’t burdened with the toughest assignment every night – he was capable of defending his man to the best he could as an 18-year-old but teams hunted him. Hampton was forced into switches against the elite guards in the NBL, that’s where the trouble began.

Getting caught on screens is one of the biggest issues, especially when he’s an off-ball defender chasing shooters around. These skills come with time but the tunnel vision of Hampton when following the ball — and not looking forward to screens is a difficult improvement to fix in an open gym. The man to man defense isn’t perfect but there’s the promise, like any draft prospect. He has the tools of being an intelligent and quick defender, as mentioned 6’5” height, 6’7” wingspan, and hops like bugs bunny.

He’s prone to jump on a pump fake and sometimes misses the scouting report, Hampton was going under screens during a game against John Roberson IV – one of the best shooters on the planet if you didn’t know.

There have been defensive lapses — one particular example was Hampton was switched onto a big and forgot to box him out once the shot went up from the arc and allowed an easy put-back, or just losing a man on a fast break.

The best way for Hampton to prove is to put on weight and be in a situation where he can be held accountable, or continue his development as a team defender which was a surprising positive with Hampton this season.

the development has been a key reason why NBA teams have fallen in love with Hampton, so where will he land? And what has he done to climb up mock drafts?