TIER 2
Floor - 6MOY contender
Bullseye - all star level
Ceiling - all NBA, top 10 in scoring each year, offensive hub on contending team
OFFENSE
Pass - Grade: 75
Notes: Green is a willing passer, capable of making solid reads. Green is not a selfish player, but lacks the vision and poise to be a good passer as of now. This part of his game should improve as he gets more comfortable as a PnR ball handler, and begins to figure out how to play at different speeds. Doesn't have a great feel as a passer, and doesn't make advanced passes off the dribble which is his biggest issue as a passer. Rarely hits open shooters off of dribble penetration, and lacks passing versatility. Passes, particularly to cutters or when Green was on the move, were often inaccurate and did not put his teammates in position to score or make a play. I believe Green will improve a lot in this area since he improved significantly throughout the G-league season, but it's going to take time and he will most likely never be a primary playmaker.
Dribble - Grade: 80
Notes: Green's handle is a bit out of control and inconsistent at times, but the flashes and potential are there. His handle is fluid but it is not tight. His handle is better in the PnR than a lot of other scouts have stated, his biggest issue in the PnR is his timing and poise. Has a great crossover and step-back dribble, but he is a bit over-reliant on those two moves. Frequently lost dribble when trying to put together advanced combinations, forcing him to play off-ball. Green relies on his athleticism more so than his handle to generate shots. Green struggled with hedges and high on-ball pressure. This is the area of Green's games that needs the most improvement for him to be a truly elite scorer.
3pt shooting - Grade: 87
Notes: Green is a streaky shooter, but he projects to be a pretty good to great three point shooter in the league. He shot 36.5% from three on 85 attempts (5.7 attempts per game). Green has really nice, fluid shot mechanics. Green's shot profile was a bit questionable, sometimes forcing up bad shots and taking poor heat checks. Green's step-back three is very impressive and he has great footwork on it, but it's a shot he goes to a bit too often. He's inconsistent off the catch and will sometimes fade unnecessarily. Green shot 83% from the line, which is a good sign for his shot going forward. Green needs to become more disciplined as a shooter for his consistency to improve, but the mechanics are already there.
Mid-range shooting - Grade: 85
Notes: Green will take a couple mid-range pull ups per game, and he hits them a decent rate. He has solid elevation and mechanics on them, and tends to square up on them more often than his threes. Green will often fade on his mid-range jumpers from the baseline, but he rarely takes those compared to pull-up elbow jumpers which he hits at a decent clip.
Finishing - Grade: 90
Notes: Crafty finisher at the rim who utilizes his elite leaping ability to put himself in position to score. Great touch around the rim and has a knack for finishing underneath the rim. Seeks out and embraces contact, which is a bit surprising given his frame and how agile he is. Green's athleticism, touch, and ability to finish through contact make him a high-level finisher. He will never shy away from a dunk attempt either. He got much better at utilizing his athleticism to get to the rim as the G-league season progressed. Green is great at taking long strides to get to the rim, particularly in transition.
Off-ball playmaking - Grade: 79
Notes: Green is always hunting the lob, and is a bit obsessed with it. He's very good at it, but it hurts his off-ball decision making. He rarely if ever sets off-ball screens, and is opportunistic cutter. He is not great at relocating to drives or inside touches, which is another reason why his C&S threes are inconsistent. Great at running the floor in transition.
Offensive Summary: 92
Green definitely has a lot of improvements that need to be made on the offensive end, but they are all skill based. The biggest sign of encouragement regarding Green is how much he improved throughout the G-league season. He got much more comfortable with the ball throughout the season, and figured out what did and did not work rather quickly, and rapidly adjusted his game. He needs to become an on-ball player to reach his full potential, and his development as a passer will determine whether or not he reaches his ceiling. The game clearly does not come slowly to him at this point in his career, and poise and ball-control are areas he needs to improve. He's very talented and effective, but struggles to pick his spots. Green struggles to change speeds, and his FT rate is weak for someone who attacks the rim as much as he does. He reminds me a lot of Zach Lavine. Green's uber-athleticism, finishing ability, fluid shot, and open court explosiveness will result in him being a spark plug of instant offense right away. He needs to become at least good as a PnR ball handler, and needs to figure out how to score in those situations. He needs to add some definition to his game, and find out what areas he can become elite at. Green has the tools to be an elite scorer, just needs reps.
Defense
Engagement - Grade: 75
Notes: Green's engagement is inconsistent. He often lacks attention to detail on and off-ball. He will be late to get into his stance, will be inactive in passing lanes, but he usually competes. Green's awareness needs improvement too, as he was often late to rotate and got screened easily.
Containment - Grade: 76
Notes: For someone as athletic as Green is, his slow feet on defense are odd and a bit inexcusable. He got beat off the dribble regularly, and is what just from a lack of lateral mobility and being late to start his slide. His POA is pretty weak as of now, but there's no reason Green shouldn't be able to stay in front of guys with how athletic he is, even though his core strength needs work.
Team Defense - Grade: 73
Notes: Green could be vicious in the passing lanes, but is rather inactive. His eyes pop at the potential of a highlight block, and is quick to rotate when those opportunities present themselves. Not vocal and lacks attention to detail.
Rim Protection - Grade: 74
Notes: His athleticism makes him an enticing shot blocker, although he rarely actually gets these blocks and often compromises his defensive position. His form when contesting can also be a bit erratic.
Playmaking - Grade: 85
Notes: While Green's inconsistent and lacks attention to detail, he competes most of the time and is opportunistic. He got 1.5 steals per game, and was pretty good at baiting guys into lob passes on the perimeter. He thrives in press coverage, as he can cover so much ground due to his elite athleticism.
Versatility - Grade: 68
Notes: Green's defensive versatility is poor due to his slight frame. He is easily posted up and driven on by bigger, stronger players. Green will be hidden on defense as much as possible early in his career.
Defensive Rebounding - Grade: 77
Notes: Green often does not crash as he loves leaking out in transition, but used his elite athleticism to rise up and grab boards off the glass when he did crash.
Defensive Summary: 75
Notes: Green has a few issues defensively, but has some tools to become at least an average defender. Green should be able to become a menace in the passing lanes at some point, and should eventually develop into a capable on-ball defender. He's going to be put on floor spacers and non-dribblers as much as possible. Other teams are going to try and put him in PnR as much as possible, he struggles to fight over screens. He will certainly be a negative on defense his first year or two, and maybe for his career. He does compete though, and his lack of attention is more due to his lack of high-level basketball experience and maturity rather than a poor motor or laziness. There's hope for Green to become a league average defender with a high steal and deflection rate.
Measurables: 75
19
6'5 (some say 6'6)
165 (Yikes)
6'7.5 wingspan
Functional Athleticism: 97
Elite vertical jump
Elite explosiveness
Elite first step
Elite open court speed
Needs to work on lateral quickness
General Thoughts:
Jalen Green is one of the most talented and gifted scorers in this draft, and he's far from being polished yet. I expect Jalen Green to be 15+ ppg in his rookie season, and 18+ ppg for his career. He's got an elite first step, extreme elevation on his finishes, and great footwork in every area on offense. He's got a very pure jumper particularly off the dribble. His handle is fluid but not tight, and he relies on his athleticism and brief dribble arsenal to get to his spots, which are currently pretty undefined. Green is so dynamic on the offensive end that if you play to much help off ball you will get punished. If you attack the closeout slow to prevent the drive, he won't hesitate to let it fly (but he's an inconsistent C&S 3pt shooter). If you close out hard, he will blow by you with an elite first step and burst and get to the rim or hit you with a step-back three which he is already so good at. Green is already very good at creating space at all three levels. Green averaged 18 ppg, 4 rpg, and 3 apg in the G league bubble. Green did on 46/37/83 shooting splits. Green got to these numbers in a bit of an untraditional way. Green had games where he would go 0/7, 1/6, 0/6, 2/8 from three point range, but would make up for those game with really good shooting games where he would shoot 60%+ from three. So as of now Green is a streaky shooter, which is fine. The question is whether or not he can gradually become more consistent and if in the games where his threes aren't falling can he find other ways to be productive. Green had a pretty weak free throw rate for someone who has such a high usage and drives so often, so games where his three isn't falling and he can't get to the line weren't uncommon. At time's he will find himself caught in the air, and will get tunnel vision. For a guy who has the ball in his hands as much as Green, he's not as a good of a passer as he should be. His ast rate and ast/to ratio both need to improve. He's not a bad passer and his vision isn't as bad as it may seem, but when he gets to certain spots/situations on offense it appears as if he has blinders on. He has potential to be very good in the PnR, but is not there yet. He can score off the dribble at all three levels, but struggles to change speeds and doesn't have an elite handle which makes it tough to be very effective in the PnR. He needs to work on slithering through the lane at different paces and keeping his defender behind him. He is too eager in the PnR, and his timing the screen setter is often off. Defensively, Green will probably be minus for at least his first few years in the league. He often gets caught in no mans land, is late on rotations, and is a weak point of attack defender. Green attentiveness as an off-ball defender varies, when he's locked in he's decent at playing the passing lanes on the high perimeter. However, he'll often gamble for steals and sell out for an attempt at a highlight block. Green struggles to keep his feet on the floor is regularly baited into cheap fouls. It may seem like Green has a lot of negatives for a top 4 prospect, but just how dynamic of an athlete and scorer Green is makes him an undeniable top 4 talent. I have no worries about him being able to score on NBA defenses immediately, and I think his adjustment period will in terms of scoring will not be as difficult for him as it is for most young players. Green's floor is instant offense, and his ceiling is an all-star and second best player on a title team. The ideal spot for him is like Donovon Mitchell's in Utah. Green's potential fit in Cleveland is an interesting one, and I think Collin Sexton needs to be moved for a bigger wing. I love the potential trio of Garland/Green/Okoro, and I think Jarett Allen is a pretty good young big man to be screening for them on offense and being a layer of protection behind them on defense.
