2020 NBA Draft profile: Devin Vassell will be a lottery pick, but there are concerns

NBA Draft profile on Devin Vassell, highlight his strengths and weaknesses

It’s been quite the meteoric rise for Devin Vassell. The former three-star recruit played sparingly as a freshman – averaging 4.5 points in under 11 minutes per game, with zero starts – before emerging as the leading scorer on a deep Florida State team during his 2019-20 sophomore campaign. Vassell wasn’t even on the NBA draft radar, but now he’s entrenched in the top half of the first round and pushing the top 10 on most big boards.

So how will his game translate to the next level?

The main case for Devin Vassell as a starting-caliber NBA wing rests on his 3-point shooting ability. It’s definitely his most translatable attribute, and as we’ve seen with players like Davis Bertans and Duncan Robinson, this superpower can paper over other key weaknesses.

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He’s just 6-foot-6, but Vassell’s high release – uncorking from above his head – and quick-trigger allows him to launch heavily contested catch-and-shoot triples. When you put this with his overall proficiency (41.7% on 168 career attempts), you get a guy who has the potential to boost an offense without even possessing the ball (in other words, gravity).

At the same time, I’m not entirely convinced that Vassell will be that type of bomber in the NBA. Most of his shots were right on the line – including many from the corners – and he only made a few off-the-dribble. His two-motion mechanics don’t come across as versatile (in terms of flying around screens J.J. Redick-style), though Florida State’s offense wasn’t too imaginative as far as off-ball movement goes. The free-throw numbers (72.0% on 93 career attempts) add another layer of concern. If his shooting isn’t as airtight as it seems, then suddenly the appeal of Devin Vassell as a prospect becomes greatly diminished.

Vassell’s growth on offense has been impressive, and while he attacked the paint more aggressively as the season progressed, I don’t see him ever being an on-ball player in the league. He simply lacks the explosion or lateral quickness to beat defenders one-on-one – his go-to: a right shoulder turn-around jumper.

It’s true that he was usually situated on a cramped floor with the Seminoles (two bigs near the lane), but Vassell doesn’t compensate for these physical limitations with any sort of craft, either. He’s a straight-line driver with a basic handle – usually only countering with spins – and didn’t flash any of the creative finishing tricks that lie in the toolkit of other vertically-challenged guards.

Unless he’s an outlier shooter in the Khris Middleton/Joe Johnson-mold, relying on a steady diet of these long-twos and floaters/leaners just isn’t viable in the NBA. Vassell also doesn’t possess much passing vision – the blinders seemingly come up once he commits to his move (it’s also hard to play-make for others when you don’t ever force help). Running him off the line is usually a win for the defense.

Even if Devin Vassell isn’t destined to be some kind of star initiator, he could still carve out a nice career for himself. Wings who can shoot and defend are always in demand around the league (Trevor Ariza has made over $100 million in his 16 years). The problem is that I don’t see him fulfilling the “D” aspect of “3-and-D.”

As a team defender, Vassell is truly a menace. He’s extremely active, using his go-go gadget arms to snatch jumpers of unsuspecting shooters and devour passes like he’s Petey Piranha. I don’t necessarily view him as a savant the way much of draft twitter does, but he’s definitely going to add value in this area to whatever team drafts him. These aren’t just reckless gambles; Vassell will stunt and recover from breath-taking distances, anticipate rotations before anyone else, and fly in from the perimeter to chip in on the defensive glass.

In the words of John Wooden:

"“Activity shouldn’t be mistaken for achievement.”"

While this over-eagerness can burn him from time-to-time, Vassell should fine-tune these havoc-wreaking tendencies with experience and coaching. That said, his lanky frame and below-average bounce often leave him powerless on the interior, which sheds some light on his ultimate downfall on that end of the floor.

In terms of matching up one-on-one, Devin Vassell is going to be in for a rude awakening once he arrives in the NBA. There are a vast group of wings (Robert Covington and Otto Porter Jr. come to mind) who excel as off-ball helpers as compared to on the ball. The difference is that these guys can competently guard most of the non-star players (being 6’8”+ also helps), whereas Devin Vassell will likely be roadkill.

Even at the college level, these deficiencies were apparent. Vassell isn’t a quick-twitch player, to begin with, and his tight hips prevent him from sitting down in a defensive stance – often turning and chasing instead of sliding horizontally with guards as a result. The majority of forwards will have either a speed or a strength advantage, or both. I struggle to find a single position that Vassell will be able to handle, so the thought of him in a switch-everything scheme is quite shuddering.

He clearly has the smarts, but the lack of fundamentals or athleticism makes it that untenable. The only question to me is whether he winds up a complete sieve or merely below-average. I can’t stress it enough: NBA players with any kind of scoring ability are going to be licking their chops.

Perhaps I’m underselling the odds of Devin Vassell taking a leap. After all, he’s already made a habit out of surpassing expectations. Once upon a time, Klay Thompson was viewed as a defensive-minus, but that changed after countless hours of hard work and landing in the right ecosystem. He’ll get stronger to be sure, and maybe the 41.7 percent from deep is the true marker of his shooting prowess.

And even on a team stacked with long, dynamic athletes, Vassell’s effort level stood out – sprinting out in transition, crashing the boards (he has a nose for the ball), making heady cuts and rotations. Positional scarcity is an important consideration here as well.

Taking all of this into account, I see the most likely outcome for Devin Vassell being a solid bench wing on a good team, one who doesn’t typically close games unless he’s feeling it from deep or the match-up calls for it.

I just have too many concerns about his defense and overall athleticism to project him as anything more, though being a 40 percent-plus shooter from 3 would change that. Overall, I’d be fine taking him towards the back-end of the lottery, which makes me lower on him than the general consensus. We’ll see how he stacks up to some of the other wings in this class, but as of right now I’d slot Vassell a tier below Isaac Okoro.