2021 NBA Draft Profile: Brandon “BJ” Boston Jr.
Once projected to be a top-five pick, a very underwhelming freshman season saw BJ Boston drop into the second round conversation. Could he be a bet worth taking for the Knicks?
Position: Shooting guard, University of Kentucky
Age: 19 (9/28/2001)
Height: 6 ft 7 in (w/ shoes)
Wingspan: 6 ft 11 in
Weight: 185 lbs.
Strickland 2021 Big Board Rank: 25
The Sales Pitch: The draft’s fallen star. Came into the year at Kentucky with the hype of being a potential top five pick. Everything went wrong, but don’t let him fall too far — he still has an undeniable combination of height, wingspan, splashy 3-point shooting, and ball handling. It may not have translated into box scores, but give him some time to develop his frame enough to handle the physicality of the league and he’s still a great bet to succeed as a role playing, two-way shooting guard. Not many NBA players with his height, shooting, and handling fail, especially put in the proper role — something Kentucky and their zero point guards or perimeter creators didn’t do for BJ.
Elite Traits/Skills: None. Pretty good shooter, not elite though
The Devil’s Advocate argument: Can his frame develop enough to handle the physicality of the league? He’s not some baby, he’ll be almost 20 on draft day and he has a narrow-shouldered frame and a high center of gravity. If he couldn’t handle the physicality of the SEC with the ball on a string and a good jumper, is he really a good bet to do so vs. NBA guys? What’s Cam Reddish without the impressive defense? Is that even an NBA player? In a normal draft I wouldn’t mind taking a late flier on him, but the strength of this class is in the 20-40 range. Take a better gamble.
The Misconceptions: That he was a bad shooter at Kentucky. He got off to an awful cold stretch to begin the year, but shot over 40% in his last bunch of games. His mechanics remain crisp, and with a bit of core development that shot should translate smoothly, even if nothing else does about his game.
Important numbers:
42%: His 3-point percentage in February and March, his last ten games
35/30/79: His slash line on the year
31%, 49%: The percentage of his shots which were at the rim, and his FG% at the rim
2.5%: His STL%
Knicks Fit: *screams, frothing at the mouth* KENTUCKY AND CAA!!!! Jokes aside, if the Knicks feel like taking a gamble in the late first or early second, you can do worse than a tall, long, defensively-sound 2 guard who can shoot and has low-hanging bio-physiological gains to be had.
