NBA teams may be coming around on Kyle Guy. That’s the read from a review of several updated 2019 mock drafts.
Before declaring for the 2019 NBA Draft, Guy, a 6’2”, 175-pound shooting guard and two-time first-team All-ACC selection at Virginia, wasn’t showing up in any mock drafts, presumably the question on him being his size.
And now: he’s showing up consistently in second rounds, as high as 36th, in the most recent BasketballInsiders.com rendering.
According to my sources, he hasn’t grown any since declaring, and for his sake you hope he’s still in the 175-pound range, since his game is running off screens and getting jumpers off with one of the quicker releases you’ll see.
Whatever question there is about Guy, it’s not about his ability to ball. Of the four NBA prospects from the 2019 national champ, Guy is the most finished product.
He actually improved in 2018-2019 after being named to the All-ACC first team as a sophomore, boosting his field goal percentage from 41.5 to 44.9, his three-point percentage from 39.2 to 42.6, and his effective field goal percentage from 51.2 to a team-best 58.5.
A key for Guy has been his ability to get into the lane, and be effective there. As a freshman, Guy shot just 36.7 percent on shots at the rim, according to Hoop-Math.com, and just 14.6 percent of his shot attempts were at the rim.
This past season, Guy shot 66.7 percent on shots at the rim, and had increased the percentage of his overall shots being at the rim all the way to 20 percent.
Of note: his percentage of shots at the rim that were unassisted, i.e., created by himself off the dribble, was 70.5 percent.
De’Andre Hunter had a greater volume of shots at the rim – 34.8 percent of his overall shots were at the rim – but his percentage of shots at the rim that were unassisted was a little lower than Guy’s, at 67.0 percent.
What I’m saying there: Guy, for a 6’2”, 175-pound three-point shooter, is more than a 6’2”, 175-pound three-point shooter.
And now, at least some in the NBA are seeing that for what it is.
Story by Chris Graham
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