A rare fifth year breakout success story, Hunter Tyson earned All-ACC honors in 2023, as well as doing well at all three major pre-draft events: Portsmouth Invitational, G League Elite Camp, and the NBA Draft Combine. As a fifth year senior, Hunter Tyson averaged 15.3 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.1 BPG, and 1 TOPG on splits of 48/40.5/84. Below is his full scouting report:
Name: Hunter Tyson
Height/Weight: 6’8/209
Wingspan/ standing reach: 6’9 ¾/8’9
Hand size: 9
Position: Forward
Pre-Draft team: Clemson
Tools: Shooting/off-ball ability, feel for the game,
Pros:
- Quick footwork on jumpers with deep range
- Able to hit shots off curls and movement
- Good finisher at the rim
- Good athlete that can finish above the rim
- Generally mistake-free player with a great turnover rate (97 Turnovers in 5 years)
- Good motor
- Communicates well on both ends; always talking
- Good rebounder
Cons:
- Lacks discipline on the perimeter against shooters; can be a frequent flyby victim
- Loses balance too easily defensively
- Slow recovery ability defensively
- Can get swallowed up in screens too easily
- Low block rate
- Lacks much ball-handling and thus self-creation ability
Swing Skills:
- Defensive liabilities
Summary:
Hunter Tyson is a shooting-oriented forward that has a strong feel for the game with a good motor and a great approach to the game that leads to mistake-free basketball.
Defensively, while his on-ball skills are negatives, he has intangibles that help him negate shortcomings physically. With a strong feel for the game, he knows where to be and does a good job of communicating & pointing teammates where to be. However, his shortcomings are detrimental in some ways: he jumps easily and finds himself being a victim of pump fakes as he comes from afar, he can be a victim to quick crossovers off of change of direction, and thus he also has a slow recovery time & ability. He also gets swallowed in screens, making him a liability in the pick & roll. How easily these weaknesses get minimized in game by coaching will determine his impact, and how many minutes he gets in the NBA.
Offensively, it is rare to see Hunter Tyson make mistakes with the ball in his hands, recording under 100 turnovers for his entire five year collegiate career at Clemson. High-level shooters can put themselves into troubling situations at times, whether it be with ball security, lack of understanding of the game which can hinder them getting to the right spots at the right time, or simply make bad passes or panic out of pressure situations. Luckily for Tyson, none of these apply to him, which gives him one of the highest floors among non-first-round shooters. As a movement shooter with quick footwork, and quick footwork to get set and square to the rim, Tyson’s shot feels translatable given its speed and clean & repeatable mechanics.
On top of his outstanding shooting, Hunter Tyson also is an efficient and intelligent cutter with athleticism and craftiness to finish through and around traffic at the rim. With NBA spacing, as well as teams’ defensive emphasis often focusing on shooting first, Tyson could benefit even more to have his elite cutting percentages cleanly translate to the NBA from Clemson. He has underrated explosion, which could help him win plays at the rim his peers cannot win at the same spots.
Overall, the Hunter Tyson sell is that he is an outstanding finisher, dynamic and versatile shooter at an ideal size, and he has a desirable feel for the game. If the team that takes him on can either improve or hide his defensive shortcomings, he could be one of the steals of the draft as an efficient off-ball forward/wing.
Similar to: Ryan Broekhoff
Projected draft range: 45-58
Expected role: Mistake-free shooter with a great feel for the game.
Unplayable if: Defense holds him back too much, and finishing doesn’t translate.
Exceeds expectations if: Hunter Tyson doesn’t need to do too much out of his wheelhouse to translate or exceed expectations; having his off-ball prowess translate cleanly from his fifth year to his NBA career would be a significant win in of itself, especially if his defensive shortcomings can be relatively hidden.
Miscellaneous Synergy Stats:
Cuts: 24-31 (77%; 95th percentile)
Jump shot: 95-239 (39.7%;1.14 PPP, 89th percentile)
Catch & shoot 3s: 71-188 (37.8%;73rd percentile)
Off the dribble 3s: 12-20 (60%)
All off the dribble jumpers: 20-44 (45.5%; 95th percentile)
Videos:
Shot chart:
