One of the best scorers in the country the last two seasons, James Bouknight earned all-conference honors in both seasons at UConn in two different conferences. As a sophomore, Bouknight averaged 18.7 PPG, 1.8 APG, 5.7 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 0.3 BPG, and 2.8 TOPG on shooting splits of 45/29/78. Below is his full scouting report.
Name: James Bouknight
Height/Weight: 6’5 / 190
Wingspan/ standing reach: 6’8 / 8’5.5
Hand size: 9
Position: SG
College/ country: UConn
Tools: Shot creation, scoring
Pros:
- Excellent ball handling
- Plus athlete
- Good release on jump shot
- Thrives in quick offense
- Good rebounder for a guard
- Good vision on drives
- Sound defensive IQ
- Good floater as an in-between shot
- Comfortable absorbing contact on drives and jumpers
- Quick feet defensively and strong recovery ability
Cons:
- Needs to speed up and polish jump shot
- Must add weight
- Struggles to fight through screens
- Settles for difficult shots too often
- Needs to reduce turnovers & improve assists
Overall:
James Bouknight is a premium scorer with upside as a tertiary playmaker, mild defender, and as a 3 level scorer. The biggest improvements Bouknight needs to make to become a high-level immediate contributor are to add strength and be more mindful of his shot selection. As a scorer, Bouknight should be able to safely score at all levels: at the rim, mid range, and deep 3. Bouknight is comfortable absorbing contact at the rim, and he uses his quickness and good handle to get to the rim at ease. Bouknight can also hit mid-range jumpers off the dribble and around screens coming off of screens, and he can shoot from anywhere beyond the 3 point line both off the catch and off the dribble. While Bouknight often gets knocked for his low assist numbers and he does need to reduce his avoidable turnover count, he is sufficient in finding cutters and shooters out of his drives, and he can manipulate defenders to open up his teammates. Defensively, Bouknight has quick feet in one-on-one situations, but needs to get better as a team defender. This can best be accomplished by improving at fighting through screens, rotating out of P&R more quickly, and adding strength. Look for Bouknight to be one of the best scorers from this draft.
Similar to: Zach LaVine, Monta Ellis, Collin Sexton, Jeremy Lamb
Projected draft range: 5-10
Best fits:
- Golden State Warriors
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Orlando Magic
- Sacramento Kings
Expected role: High-level scorer; elite second option or mild first option
Unplayable if: Unlikely, but his worst case scenario relies on him being a chucker and a non-playmaking scorer.
Exceeds expectations if: Playmaking improves and he doesn’t settle for bad shots at the next level.
Shot chart:
