One of the country’s best shooters and an excellent role player next to star Jaden Ivey, Sasha Stefanovic emerged on NBA Draft radars as a senior at Purdue. On the year, Stefanovic averaged 10.4 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 3 APG, 0.4 SPG, 0.2 BPG, and 1.1 TOPG on shooting splits of 39/38/87. Below is his full scouting report:
Name: Sasha Stefanovic
Height/Weight: 6’5/200
Wingspan/ standing reach: N/A
Hand size: N/A
Position: Wing
Pre-Draft team: Purdue
Tools: Shooting, feel for the game
Pros:
- Quick release on his jumper with minimal dip
- Can hit movement 3s
- Deep range on his jump shot
- Excellent off-ball mover
- Good feel for the game on both ends
- Hard to rip on movement shot setups because of how/when he uses a dribble
- Low turnover rate
- Can hit shots off a fake + dribble
- Has a good pump fake that he didn’t use enough at Purdue
- Excellent at being the main initiator of set plays
Cons:
- Almost too compact of a jump shot, sometimes sacrificing technique for quickness
- Minimal ball-handling beyond straight-line drives
- Can execute passes within a play call/set, but doesn’t possess much impromptu playmaking ability
- Needs to get stronger
- Frame/athleticism combo negates strong feel defensively
- Not a great athlete
- Lacks blow-by ability
- Limited 2 point scoring ability
- Doesn’t create his own scoring via on-ball usage
- Mediocre frame for his role
Summary:
Sasha Stefanovic’s scouting report largely begins and ends with jump shooting. Never having shot below 38% from 3 in his four years at Purdue, Stefanovic can shoot in a variety of ways thanks to his good footwork and quick release. Taking almost exclusively smart shots, Stefanovic is hard to get into a shooting slump, and quick to get out of a slump when one arises. With elite off-ball movement by using screens, executing set plays, and easily finding the open spot on the court, Stefanovic puts up good shots at a high rate. While his shooting form can sometimes burn him by being too quick and forgetting part of the motion, the benefits usually outweigh the negatives in that regard. A big strength that will increase his shooting ability is learning how to better use fakes more often to collapse defenses, and then turn up-fakes into scoring opportunities for all players on the court. With Stefanovic’s feel for the game, this would be an area he can thrive in rather easily.
One area that exemplifies Stefanovic’s game is his knowledge of when and how to use a dribble when coming off of screens or hand-offs. He times his dribbles so well within the rhythm of the motion that a defender cannot physically get to the ball when he takes his dribble. Additionally, he knows when he has to shoot without a dribble because of a defender on his way to the ball. With his lightning quick release, Stefanovic can leverage both situations incredibly well, which is a coach’s dream through and through. One example out of a dribble hand-off (DHO) with a great screen, making this virtually impossible to contest with the combination of a quick, perfectly timed dribble and a strong screen
While Stefanovic provides minimal defensive, playmaking, or athletic value, his combination of feel for the game, shooting, and off-ball movement make him projectable to be a shooting specialist in the NBA.
Similar to: Ryan Broekhoff, Garrison Mathews, Gary Trent Jr, Justinian Jessup
Projected draft range: 55-undrafted
Expected role: Pure shooter
Unplayable if: Peripheral areas of the game, including: defense, limited on-ball ability, and 2 point scoring negate his shooting strengths. If teams can guard Stefanovic tightly off-ball and limit attempts, his role is extremely limited.
Exceeds expectations if: Jump shooting translates and his passing out of tight contests improves.
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