After an injury-riddled junior year, Marcus Sasser took the country by storm, earning honors as a consensus All-American and the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year. As a senior, Sasser averaged 16.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.2 BPG, and 1.6 TOPG on splits of 44/38/85. Below is his full scouting report:
Name: Marcus Sasser
Height/Weight: 6’2/196
Wingspan/ standing reach: 6’7/8’3 ½
Hand size: 9 ½
Position: Guard
Pre-Draft team: Houston
Tools: P&R ball-handling, shooting, defense
Pros:
- Excellent at getting to his spots around screens
- Quick handles
- Good speed & burst
- Outstanding shooter, both spotting up and off the dribble
- Great frame with long arms
- High motor
- Excellent defensive footwork with quick feet
Cons:
- Needs to get better at staying under control/getting his legs under him on off-balance shots
- Injury history
- Will be 23 as a rookie
- Doesn’t make advanced reads as a point guard
- Can throw too many ducks to bigger teammates
- Must improve overall efficiency, especially from 2
Summary:
Marcus Sasser is a premier defender with a great frame, a high motor, and good shooting ability.
At the Combine and throughout his whole pre-draft process, Marcus Sasser’s 3 point shooting ability has wowed teams. Already being one of the top in-season shooters, shooting 46% on catch & shoot 3s this year, teams are sold on Sasser’s shooting ability. Even though he is underwhelming as a shooter off the dribble from 3, the touch projects well for him to grow into a good shooter off of screens and after pump fakes.
While Sasser isn’t a true point guard, lacking high-level playmaking ability and an overall ability to run an offense currently, he makes up for this with high-level defense. With a strong motor, long arms, outstanding footwork, and positive lateral quickness, Sasser should comfortably be able to guard both guard slots at a high level, and not be a liability against wings.
Overall, Marcus Sasser is an impressive NBA-ready guard with high defense, off-ball shooting, and an overall feel for making both his team and his teammates better when he is on the floor. Since he had less than 10 shots off of cuts in his entire tenure at Houston, it will be interesting to see how he finishes off of off-ball sets at the rim off of cuts with NBA spacing, which could be a swing skill. Regardless, his ability to be a 3&D guard should have value if used right.
Similar to: Jared Butler/Immanuel Quickley blend
Projected draft range: 22-40
Expected role: Two-way backup combo guard
Unplayable if: Unlikely to be unplayable because of two-way ability, but how he handles being a non-point guard will determine how many minutes per game he plays
Exceeds expectations if: Off the dribble shooting improves, and good ball-handling ability turns into more point guard skills with NBA tempo, spacing, and scheming.
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