Jaden Springer In Depth Scouting Report/Breakdown
18 year old 6’4, 204 pound guard out of Tennessee.
Averaged 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists on 46.7% fg, 43.5% 3, 81.0% ft.
Strengths
The first thing that stands out about Springer is that he is one of the youngest players in the whole draft. This youth makes him a player with unlimited potential and room to grow. As an athlete he is one of the best in the class. While his athleticism does not stand out in one specific area he is an all-around athlete who is impressive in all areas. The best part in his athletic toolbag is that he may be the strongest guard in this class. This strength is shown when he is driving which is probably the best part of his game at the moment. He is great at using his body to bounce off of defenders and finish. His footwork also helps a lot in this area where he uses strong rip throughs and hop steps to create space for himself. He also really showed off his burst here which is some of the best in the class, he uses his quick first step to blow by defenders putting them in jail and then uses his fantastic touch to either finish with a floater or strong layup at the hoop. More on that touch he has some of the best touch in the entire class and that is shown by these really tough finishes where uses his fantastic body control to keep himself balanced and then his great touch to finish. That body control is huge because mixed along with his strength it causes him to be able to finish these awkward, off-balance shots a lot better than almost anyone else his size can do. He also showed off some impressive handles while going downhill frequently using these very nice in and outs to create space then mixed with his burst it can really make him a challenging player to stick in front of. If he can continue to raise his levels as a ball-handler which he did throughout his year at Tennessee he could truly become one of the best drivers in the league. While he's not nearly the vertical athlete that someone like his teammate Keon Johnson is who has some of the best bounce in all of the draft class he is a pretty strong athlete frequently jumping off of 2 feet and having powerful dunks. His in-between game is something that impressed me a lot as even though the mid-range jump shot has been something that has continued to get devalued over the years I still do feel it as a valuable skill and while it's not perfect he does have some intriguing skills there. He showed an impressive ability to stop on a dime frequently using jump stops to freeze his defender and then pull up for jump shots where yet again he showed his advanced level of touch. This ability to be a very solid mid-range shooter allows him to be a very good 3 level scorer which is something that is still a very valuable asset to have in the NBA. In a pick-and-roll heavy league like the NBA it could be something he uses often after running off of screens and if a team is playing drop coverage he can punish them. Jaden also excelled as a transition player becoming one of the best in the entire nation having a fantastic percentage in transition where he yet again shows off his great athleticism by frequently beating people down the court with his great speed. He also made some split-second decisions in the fast break to get his teammates easy baskets that I was really impressed by. Throughout the year he really grew as a playmaker he averaged 2.9 assists but that got up to 3.6 assists over his last 16 games where he started to show off some really really impressive passes that you just didn't see from him earlier on in the year. While passing is never going to be his calling card for him his threat as a driver really opens up the game for his teammates and as long as he continues to show off the vision to hit those guys it could become a very valuable part of his game. I'm excited to see how he can continue to improve as a playmaker because his touch and ability to make tough passes took big leaps. Though he will likely not be a primary ball-handler at the next level and will be more of a combo guard I like some of the signs I saw of him in the pick-and-roll where he showed off some impressive ability to get downhill and then hit the roll man or the weak-side corner. While that 43.5% number is very very attractive he still needs to improve as it is only on 1.8 attempts per game so there's definitely questions about how sustainable it is. His jump shot is not perfect, it's a bit of a rigid shot even though I do like the flick of the wrist. If he can raise himself to the next level as an outside shot maker where he showed some signs of being able to hit these tough step back 3 then he could become an elite shot creator. His high free throw percentage does give me confidence that this 3 point shot can hold up well, I don't think it's going to be above 40% in his rookie season but with him continuing to put the work in to improve it I do think he can be a 38 or so percent shooter. His defense is yet another strong suit where he showed off his great athleticism as he uses his strength and his lateral quickness to be a guy who is a real pest on the defensive side of the ball, this gives him great versatility being able to guard multiple positions because he's not overwhelmed by bigger players. He had some really good moments on switches not being fazed at all, guarding bigger players by using his low center of gravity to force them into tough shots. Just like many other aspects of his game you saw him continue to get a better understanding of the game and we saw this in the pick-n-roll especially where he did a much better job of navigating around screens getting skinny to not force his team into switches as the year went on. Physical attributes and smarts on the defensive side of the ball are very important to why his potential is so high, another big reason for why he has so much upside on that side of the ball is that he has one of the highest motors in this entire class. He plays incredibly hard on the defensive side of the ball, frequently making high effort plays. His ability to be of a defensive playmaker due to the fact that he's great in the passing lane really helped his game a lot as well on the offensive side of the ball because this gave him an opportunity to show off his chops as a fast-break player where he was generating his team easy points on a frequent basis. As a whole his off-ball defense is very impressive. We see a lot of players that are good in the passing lanes but not that great as an overall team defender but he is very aware of where to be at all times. His help defense and rotations really impressed me as well which continued to show his advanced understanding of the game. He is just one of the most athletic players in this entire class and very well-rounded on both sides of the ball making him a great prospect.
Weaknesses
Jaden has one big issue for me and that is he has a tendency to take a lot of suspect shots. Sometimes when he does not create space he resorts to taking some ill advised contested shots when instead he should either pull the ball out and reset the offense or pass to a teammate. He has a really annoying tendency to go for really tough shots out of the post when space is not created. While he has some nice moves to go to he will need to continue to expand his handle so he can create more space instead of going for these very tough shots. Improving his feel and skill as a creator will be key to his success as a player. I really want to see him become more aggressive as at times he faded into the game and deferred to his teammates when can take over games. His reliance on being a strict two foot jumps led to some problems when if he had the versatility to jump off one foot as well then a lot of his finishes would be much easier. I want to see him be a bit more finesse oriented as instead of being agile he would barrel downhill with seemingly not much of a plan. While his playmaking took big steps, it’s far from perfect. There are still plenty of moments where he is clearly uncomfortable as a playmaker. A lot of really bad passes where he forces things that just are not there as well as some bad timing. This is something I think will come with time as he has more experience under pressure. He did have some moments of gambling in passing lanes and being a bit jumpy on defense as well.
What I Rate Him As A Prospect
Top 5-10
Where He Fits Best
OKC Thunder: I think him and Shai would compliment each other really well, which should be their main goal. The defense of him and Dort would be awesome as well.
Golden State Warriors: Bringing the Warriors a combo guard who can bring both immediate and long term production to their team would be huge.
Comparison
Malcolm Brodgon
Marcus Smart
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