Draft Profile: Devin Vassell
Position: SG (Florida State University)
Age: 20
Height: 6 ft 7 in
Wingspan: 6 ft 10 in
Weight: 195 lbs
The Sales Pitch: The only straightforward lottery pick in the draft. A rangy wing who shot over 40% from three with over 200 attempts in two years (including 40% on above-the-break threes), and arguably the best defender in this draft. Vassell is a chaos engine, genius-level help defender who gets steals he has no business getting and more blocks than many bigs, and is a strong isolation defender too. Already an entirely different athlete than he was as a senior in high school and finishes above the rim regularly now. A 2-star recruit when he came to FSU (AKA Defense U), he developed into a stud; the work ethic is clearly strong. Solid finisher, smooth midrange shooter, passing flashes, rarely makes bad decisions on either end. If his handle and passing never develops he’s a plug-and-play 3-and-D sniper with a high floor; if he develops his handle and passing, you’re talking the kind of role player who has more impact than some one-dimensional, high-points-per-game-type players. The Knicks already passed on Mikal Bridges for the shiny object once — they shouldn’t do it again.
Check out The Strickland’s 2020 NBA Draft Big Board here!
Elite Traits/Skills: Off-ball/help defense and defensive IQ. Really good catch-and-shoot and transition player — not quite elite, though.
The Devil’s Advocate Argument: The difference between Vassell and Daymean Dotson isn’t as much as you would think. Some would say that despite a high 3P%, he shoots only low 70s from the line and doesn’t really shoot off movement or off the dribble a ton from deep, so there’s an argument that he’s closer to a good — and not great — shooter. If he’s in the NBA shooting 36% from three on four attempts a game... well, you can find that in the G-League, so you better hope he can either shoot more threes or shoot them more efficiently. He almost never gets to the line, and has hardly any flashes of hidden handles, so he’s behind the curve compared to other wings who have made the leap from role player to stud. Miss me with the upside argument. Don’t confuse the boring pick with the smart pick.
The Misconceptions: A bit of a wonky misconception here, but I think some analytics may mis-project his 3-point skill because of his “low” FT%. He has a little hitch in his form at the line that goes away during live basketball, so he’s probably closer to an elite shooting prospect than some models may project.
Important numbers:
.221: His low free throw rate.
7%: His combined steal and block rate, a very high number for a wing.
44%: His 3P% in conference games over two years.
35: His total turnovers in two years, spanning 1200 minutes. He has more total assists in his career than turnovers, more made threes in his career than turnovers, more steals in his career than turnovers, and more blocks in his career than turnovers.
Knicks Fit: Vassell would slot in perfectly between whoever ends up playing point guard and RJ Barrett. He’s a perfect perimeter complement to RJB and Mitchell Robinson on defense and on offense and would bump RJB to his natural small forward position. He’s also a sorely-needed top-end help defender. Doesn’t solve the Knicks’ [lack of] lead ball handler problem, but sometimes the medicine you need ain’t the one you want.
Educate yourself on some other potential Knicks: Killian Hayes, LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Onyeka Okongwu
