Portland Trail Blazers draft profile – Tyrese Maxey
Chris Phillips
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PNWS continues our series on Portland Trail Blazers’ potential 2020 first-round draft picks. Today it’s Kentucky freshman guard Tyrese Maxey.
The 2020 NBA Draft will be interesting because it lacks the depth and high-end talent from the past several years. This year the Portland Trail Blazers have the 16th overall pick. Currently, the league is holding a virtual combine for prospects. It will run through mid-November, wrapping up a few days before Draft Day on November 18.
Today we look at guard Tyrese Maxey from the home of one-and-dones, the University of Kentucky. As a freshman last year Maxey put up some good numbers for the Wildcats. He averaged 14.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 0.9 steals per game for a team loaded with talent.
He may be my favorite guard in the draft that will most likely be available to the Portland Trail Blazers. If you’ve stayed inside your house all year (I don’t blame you) then you may not have been aware that Maxey lit it up at Madison Square Garden in his first college game. The Garland, Texas native put up 26 points and 5 boards against top-ranked Michigan State University.
Pros
Having no fear of a big game or big stage is something that can’t be taught. Some players have it (Damian Lillard) and some players don’t (Paul George).
Maxey is 6-3, 200-pounds with a 6-6 wingspan. He’s got a quick release, with the ability to shoot off the dribble. Maxey’s strong muscular frame allows him to absorb contact during his creative playmaking and drives to the lane.
When he does get into the lane, Maxey’s able to hit the floater, toss up a lob or make his patented one-handed push shot. He shot 83 percent from the free-throw line. As the progressed, Maxey showed more confidence in his outside shooting.
Cons
The second-team All-SEC player is a “tweener.” Maxey isn’t a natural point guard and is a little undersized to play shooting guard in the NBA.
His outside shooting wasn’t very good, connecting on just 29.2 percent from three-point range last year. Maxey struggles to create in isolation, so no one will ever confuse him for James Harden. He tends to run hot and cold, from game to game. After opening night at MSG, Maxey scored only nine points against Eastern Kentucky.
He has the Rudy Gay shooting mentality of attempting difficult shots, when he could pass the ball or work a little bit harder to get a cleaner look. It wouldn’t shock me if CJ McCollum or Dame imparted some of their scoring prowess on Maxey. There appears to be no glaring shooting imperfection in his shot, so it’s surprising his spot up-shot is so poor.
Verdict:
Maxey has drawn comparisons from Cuttino Mobley to a smaller Tyreke Evans to Tyler Dorsey. This makes his draft stock a little volatile. One thing Maxey showed during his one college year is that he can score when he gets hot and he can win his team a game.
As the Portland Trail Blazers starting backcourt gets closer to being out of their prime, it would make sense for management to finish the backcourt of the future with Maxey and Anfernee Simmons.
Related Story: Saddiq Bey draft profile
If the Blazers can’t get Saddiq Bey then the #2 guy on their board should be Maxey. With his current game and mentorship from the dynamic duo of McCollum and Lillard, Maxey’s game should grow and get better.