What do you guys think about Jerel McNeal?
Defensive roleplayer in the NBA, but can thrive in that role--he's well conditioned, has excellent lateral quickness, reasonably good strength, and very good athleticism to help his cause. Imposes that athleticism with his very good stealing ability, and he's actually an underrated shotblocker for someone his size as well--but part of the reason his intrigue has been less in seasons past was that he lost a chunk of his rebound rate and stole the ball less this season, although to his credit he cut down on his crazy foul proneness in the past. But for someone who probably has to make his name as a defensive stopper, that doesn't really bode well for him.
Offensively he's not that impressive--he's never been a very good 2-pt shooter throughout his career, and although he shot near 40% from deep this year on a high number of attempts it might potentially be a fluke, because he couldn't shoot them well at all in the past. He doesn't get to the line as much as you'd like for someone of his athleticism, but to his credit he's trying to develop a jumpshot--he drastically increased his three point attempts this year and became more of a spot-up player, and thus reduced his turnovers (which had been a real problem in the past). Probably a mechanical offensive player in the NBA. That brings up another problem--he doesn't have great ballhandling skills, and his court vision is on par with SGs, so he'll probably never be a point guard.
Overall he's just a niche player with limited upside. Like Paul Harris, has to find a place as a defensive stopper. Has a more guard-oriented game with more shooting range than Harris does, but doesn't exert his athleticism as much either. They're probably on the same level as 50s picks, but IMO Harris brings a level of unorthodox toughness/uniqueness that I appreciate more.
---------------------------
The bigger story might be with his counterpart, Dominic James. He's a very small player (accentuated by lack of wingspan), but has excellent speed and a very good vert, which he uses in offensive rebounding and steals. Once billed as a 1st round pick after a good freshman year, he never really developed his jumper at all, and this year the efficiency might have been his worst--he opted to take 40% of his shots from three point land, despite shooting <30% from there, and slumped down to a horrific 46% from the free throw line, which combined with his diminutive frame effectively killed his draft stock. Sad based on his past hype as well as the fact that he's a fairly good passer (not great, but good), but really seemed to lose confidence in himself--he took far less control of the offense and as mentioned, his shooting, which was never good to begin with, went to hell.
