A “mystery man” only to those that aren’t familiar with his rise in high school, could Shaedon Sharpe present the most intriguing star bet in the 2022 draft class?

Position: SG, Kentucky

Age: 19

Height: 6 ft 6 in

Wingspan:  7 ft

Weight: 200 lbs

The Sales Pitch: He’s got the bonafide, big-timer credentials: rose to No. 1 overall ranked prospect in the high school class of 2022 from relative obscurity in Canada; has a purported 49-inch vertical leap; features a beautiful jump shot that looks like someone uploaded Paul George’s mechanics directly into his brain – including seriously advanced and clean step-back mechanics. One-foot jumping, two-foot jumping, second jump, long arms, lateral agility, a good frame, big hands, touch, a jumper… he doesn’t have tools — he has a toolbox. 

Sure, he didn’t play at Kentucky despite being enrolled there for the second half of this season, but we have enough EYBL and high school tape to go off of for young Shaedon. He shouldn’t be a mystery to any front office. Speaking of age, he’s the second-youngest player in this draft, so what he lacks in collegiate experience makes him all the more moldable for whatever forward-looking team drafts him. He also isn’t afraid of using his tools on defense, and he didn’t coast on his reputation on that end at all before going to Kentucky. Shae is the kind of explosive young stud who you can bring along slowly, with a plan to slowly expand his game outside in, as he gets closer and closer to his ceiling over time. You’re not banking on any particular outlier development, just a steady drumbeat of work and planning en route to stardom.

Elite Traits/Skills: Vertical explosiveness, perimeter shot making

The Devil’s Advocate argument: Shaedon is not a surefire star, and any team that thinks this is a plug-and-play cakewalk to stardom is sorely mistaken. As PD Web articulated in longer form, the downside of Shaedon’s meteoric rise is his role has varied wildly from year to year between role player, star, role player, mega star, and finally bench enigma at Kentucky. Even at his pre-Kentucky peak, he was wholly dependent on pull-up and step-back threes and fast break dunks vs. other teenagers for most of his points. That formula is absolutely not replicable at the NBA level, and we have no proof that he can make a living inside the arc yet, nor create meaningful separation on crossovers or blow-bys. Without that interior game, and without any impressive processing (he’s not bad, but he’s not good in that respect)... are you even sure he projects to be better than say, Ben Mathurin or Quentin Grimes — elite 3-point shooter and shot makers, connective passers, and strong defenders at almost the same size? I’m not. We may have footage of Sharpe, but that doesn’t make him any less risky a proposition. 

The Misconceptions: That he’s some Jalen Green-, Anthony Edwards-like prototype 2 guard. They have similarities, but Sharpe is far more advanced than those two were at age 18 as a consistent perimeter shooter. By the same token, both of them showed much more functional half court off-the-dribble shot creation and ball handling by age 18 than Shaedon did. 

Important Numbers:

63%: His Nike EYBL run true shooting percentage

72%: His Nike EYBL finishing FG% at the rim

35.5%: His 3P% since 2019 on 164 attempts, many of which were self-created

69%: His FT% cumulative from 2019-2021

51/36/70: His slash line prior to Kentucky since breaking out at the Grind Session prep circuit in 2020, about 27 games and almost 800 minutes

Knicks Fit:  Great. He fits in as the type of athletic swingman the Knicks are missing, complementing the uptempo game of New York’s young players with his own elite transition shooting and finishing. He could slot in next to RJ Barrett and take quicker opponents on defense, providing spacing and tough shot creation in equal measure. He wouldn’t need as much usage to develop as some other top picks would either, due to his age, shooting, cutting, and transition play.