Draft Profile: Cole Anthony
Position: PG (North Carolina)
Age: 20
Height: 6 ft 3 in
Wingspan: 6 ft 5 in
Weight: 190 lbs
The Sales Pitch: Don’t let Roy Williams’ shitty offense cloud your judgment. Looking at Cole’s stats without context is a recipe for disaster, especially given the limited sample size — even more limited than a normal short sample size 30-game season, since he missed a big chunk of games while hurt. Cole is a physical guard who offsets his lack of functional explosiveness with fully formed advanced handles, fully formed plus shooting, and a habit for getting into the paint. All of his best skills play up with more spacing, including his elite tough shotmaking. His team shot below 30% from three aside from him and constantly played two true big men. You know when he didn’t really have to worry about spacing? Iso situations, where he was elite by points per possession, making NBA-type shots regularly with ease. Or in the EYBL circuit in high school, where he dominated for two years. Lastly, you don’t have to worry about defensive effort and IQ, be it rotations, weak side help, rebounding, or getting physical — he does little things to make up for being only 6-foot-3, and that is how all the best short guard defenders ply their trade.
Check out The Strickland’s 2020 NBA Draft Big Board here!
Elite Traits/Skills: None. Key word “elite.”
The Devil’s Advocate Argument: He should be dominating given his alleged pedigree as an “elite” recruit older than his peers. Sure, he scored 29 points per game in Nike EYBL as a high school senior, but he was a year older than everyone else. The year before that he scored 14 PPG in EYBL, a pedestrian number. What do you think LaMelo Ball, Killian Hayes, or Kira Lewis would do if they all played college next year instead of going to the NBA? Guarantee you they would put up numbers far better than Cole did this year, shitty spacing and all. His numbers weren’t mediocre: they were horrible, and contrary to what people say, the eye test matched the numbers. Cole rarely found easy baskets. Everything was hard makes for him while playing future pharmacists and teachers, because he doesn’t have useful functional athleticism in the half court. Perfect combo dribbles and sidestep jumpers, all to score on teachers’ assistants — what is he going to do vs. NBA defense? Lastly, Duke’s Tre Jones looked like John Wall blowing by him for an entire game. If you can’t bother Tre Jones, you’re not gonna keep any NBA guards — much less NBA wings — in front of you.
The Misconceptions: Cole Anthony is An ExPlOsiVe AtHLeTe! He can jump high in transition or with a clear runway, but he’s not particularly explosive in a crowd. He’s also not blowing by you with explosive first step quickness. His best athletic trait is probably his strength, not anything to do with jumping or speed. If he becomes a big-time scorer it will be because of his shooting and his guile, not him being particularly athletic.
Important numbers:
50%: His TS%
89%: His high HS/EYBL FT%
8%: His insanely low percentage of assisted shots at the rim
95th: His elite NCAA points per possession in Isolation percentile
Knicks Fit: The Knicks badly need a lead guard, but if you are picking Cole, you are hoping that whatever mojo (or physical gifts) he had in high school will be returned to him upon gracing MSG. He would immediately slot in as the best ball handler and shooter New York has and would give the Knicks a backcourt that gets to the line at a high rate. Even if he improves his instincts, he will likely remain a liability on defense, and might not have the team-floor-raising facilitation skills that offset his flaws.
Educate yourself on some other potential Knicks: Killian Hayes, LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Onyeka Okongwu, Devin Vassell, Isaac Okoro, Patrick Williams, Grant Riller, Obi Toppin, Aleksej Pokusevski, Deni Avdija, Kira Lewis Jr., Tyrese Maxey, Tyrese Haliburton
