NBA Draft: Profiling the 5 best point guard prospects from the 2020 class
2. Tyrese Haliburton – Iowa State
In a draft without a lot of star potential, teams outside of the top few picks will be looking more for safety than upside, and Haliburton is about as safe of a pick as you can make at the point guard position.
I don’t say this lightly – Haliburton is a genius-level passer. His ability to read defenses, anticipate defensive rotations, and play one step ahead of those rotations combined with his size (6-foot-5) makes him the best passer in the 2020 class by a comfortable margin.
His shot is a little wonky. It’s a set shot that comes out slow and more closely resembles footage from an early-NBA black and white game than a modern NBA lottery pick. But despite those mechanics, the shot is effective. Haliburton shot 42.6 percent from 3 on just over four attempts per game.
He’s an efficient scorer but it’s certainly not a skill that comes naturally for him. He’s not an elite athlete and his ball-handling is basic. This limitation causes him to really struggle in isolation, especially if the defense applies good ball pressure. Additionally, his slow set shot allows defenses to recover and contest his shot even after he’s able to create some space.
Defensively he shows the same impressive instincts as he does on the offensive end, especially when he’s off the ball. As an on-ball defender, he can give smaller guards problems with his length but his wiry frame can be exploited by strong guards and switches on bigger opponents.
While Haliburton will likely never develop into a go-to scoring option, NBA teams will love his versatility. As a freshman in 2019 on a team with more high-level college scoring options, Haliburton as able to show the ability to play off the ball and bring a lot of value as a role player. Pair that with 2020 where he had to burden the entirety of the offensive load while still maintaining his efficiency and you have a guy who should transition pretty seamlessly to a role on an NBA team.