John Petty was a top 30 recruit out of high school, and lived up to the hype at Alabama. A 2 time All-SEC member, John Petty finished his senior season at Alabama averaging 12.6 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 2 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.6 BPG, and 2 TOPG on shooting splits of 42/37/73. For his career at Alabama, Petty had shooting splits of 42/38/70, with 44% from 3 as a junior. Below is his full scouting report:
Name: John Petty
Height/Weight: 6’6/ 186
Wingspan/ standing reach: 6’9 ½ / 8’7 ½
Hand size: 9
Position: Wing
College: Alabama
Tools: Shooting, off-ball defense
Pros:
- Excellent jump shooting success; great rotation on shot
- Excellent athlete
- Good change of direction
- Capable of making a drive and kick
- Capable live-ball passer with both hands
- Good vision and improved passer as an upperclassman
- Quick to make the extra pass
- Good off-ball defender
Cons:
- Awkward Lower shot mechanics- feet flail, shoots from hip on free throws
- Lacks great feel for the game (jump passes, bad at reading defenses, and makes poor general fundamental mistakes)
- Shot happy- can kill the offense at times
- Poor ball-handling ability
- Often waits too long to decide to shoot or not; allows for defenses to close out
- Not a very good finisher at the rim
- May need to add some strength
Overall:
John Petty is a high-level shooter that can also offer perimeter defense skill, passing, and athleticism as a cutter. Petty is a shooting threat as both a simple catch & shoot option anywhere on the floor, and off of dribble hand-offs (DHO) . As a passer, Petty offers value making the extra pass out of spot ups, finding teammates in transition, and out of simple drives to spot up shooters. When Petty doesn’t have the ball in his hands, he can run off of screens on the 3 point line, as well as cut to the basket. While his finishing and cutting numbers this year were not great, Alabama’s point guard play was not up to the standards he had beside him last year in Kira Lewis Jr. I give Petty the benefit of the doubt as a cutter in the NBA, simply because of both spacing and NBA guards making him better at his mediocre areas.
Defensively, Petty improved his off-ball defense a lot in his 4 years at Alabama. He went from getting lost easily as a lowerclassman to reading plays before they happen as a senior. As an on-ball defender, Petty’s upside is hit-or-miss, with an unknown specific wingspan (but a known positive wingspan), and comes down to his ability to stay disciplined on crossovers and handle contact on drives.
Similar to: Damion Lee, Justin Holiday
Projected draft range: 45-undrafted
Expected role: 3&D wing with an ability to pass, preventing him from ever being a chucker or black-hole offensively
Unplayable if: Defense doesn’t translate, and overall subpar feel for the game limits his impact on a nightly basis, negating his shooting.
Exceeds expectations if: Shooting translates, and defense is at least neutral, while possibly adding multiple assists per game. As long as his shots are falling and he can be a reliable team defender, he should stick in the NBA.
Shot chart:
