Exclusive Official 2020 Draft Thread

he’ll be good for at least 4 wins.

 

No Scrubb... CJ Elleby who I know absolutely nothing about.

 

Steal of the Night

 

We are up

 

who

 

Allen Crabbe?

 

They want to clear cap room for 2021.

 

This means they know Hood is leaving or just depth pick / insurance if they cannot re-sign him.

 

This kid is OK, watched him play a couple times; really the only player in Pac 12 that impressed me playing against Ducks. I forgot all about him til now.

 

Olshey didn’t want no scrubb.

 

LOL We went from "Neil IS GOING TO DRAFT SCRUBB AT 16!" To CJ Elleby at 46 haha

 

Forgot about this guy. But yes he had some very good games.

 

Statistical profile
Elleby had slightly differing freshman and sophomore seasons, in which his shooting efficiency dipped from year one to two in tandem with an uptick in shot volume. He went from 17.1 points on 14.0 shot attempts per 36 minutes in 2018-19 to 19.9 points on 16.8 attempts per 36 minutes in 2019-20, but married that with a minor slide from 53.1 TS% to 51.9 TS%. Across both campaigns, he shot 44.3% from two, 36.7% from three, and 74.9% from the free throw line.

NBA projection
Strengths


Charles James “CJ” Elleby is a 6’6”, 200-pound shooting guard who can space the floor and handle the ball for stretches. He averaged 32.2 minutes per game in 64 contests, and was a major focal point for the Cougars’ offense over the last two seasons.

While he possesses a good enough handle to get himself free for shot opportunities, his most projectable offensive skill is his spot up shooting. If he can dial back his overall usage — 28.2% for his career — and become more consistent moving without the ball and finding open areas of the court, he can put that catching-and-shooting skills to great use at the next level.

He is among the best in the country when pulling from deep when the defense isn’t yet set in semi-transition, like below.

Elleby was more than just a spot up guy at the collegiate level, however. He kept afloat a poor Washington State offense that ranked 140th and 182nd in adjusted efficiency per Kenpom with his control of the offense.

He used his dribble to navigate into the paint at times and keep defenses from sitting on his jumper. This allowed him to draw contact and get to the line at a decent clip with a career FT/FGA rate of .307. In addition, he finished fairly comfortably with either hand around the rim.

Still, he more often chose to pull up and shoot off his live dribble. He can create space with his crossovers and step backs like in the clip below.

While didn’t show a ton playmaking for others, a career mark of 2.73 assists per game undersells his passing ability a bit, as he can whip impressive passes around with either hand. Unfortunately, those passes found the hands of teammates on a sub-.500 team in conference for each of the last two seasons, which helps to explain that gap in production.

Elleby has a great motor on the defensive end. He can be seen constantly on his toes with his head on a swivel and practically dancing around when locked in on defense. He is a willing and productive helper all over the court, ranging from sideline to sideline when needed. For these efforts, he managed to cause a good bit of havoc at 2.3 steals plus blocks per 36 minutes over his career.

 

He’ll chip in on the boards, as well, using his great activity to pull down 8.4 rebounds per 36 minutes, including 1.6 on the offensive side. For his accomplishments in his sophomore season, Elleby was named to a spot on the 2019-20 All Pac-12 team. All in all, Elleby has shown flashes of all the tools required of a complementary player in the 3-and-D mold at the next level. If the consistency and decision-making can continue to improve, he may surprise some people as a true NBA contributor going forward.

AD
Weaknesses

CJ Elleby’s shooting numbers dipped in sophomore season, as detailed above, in large part because his shot selection can swing wildly from game to game and even possession to possession. He doesn’t do a good job finishing in traffic or shooting while closely contested and can quickly toggle into chucker mode if his shots aren’t falling.

Similarly, Elleby is not a particularly good finisher in the paint, shooting just 44.3% on two-point attempts across two seasons. He doesn’t possess a floater or a push shot in his arsenal, and generally only looks comfortable pulling up in full jump shot form from anywhere outside the restricted area.
Another drawback is that he’s just not a good pick and roll ball handler at a paltry 0.725 PPP — points per possession, per Synergy — on 80 possession in career. NBA teams ask their wings to orchestrate side pick-and-rolls more and more these days, and Elleby didn’t quite rise to this task in college.

He’s not an overly physical defender, and can get caught deploying a type of matador defense and fail to sacrifice his body for stops.

 

Often hanging out the passenger side of his best friends ride