Kai Jones is my kryptonite. I get waaaayyy too high on raw shot blocking college players; I thought Mo Bamba was maybe the best prospect in the draft and that WCS would be Dikembe. What Rudy gobert does to a man. But I think Kai can be right. Texas is making good centers; myles turner, Jarrett Allen, and Bamba still has potential. I think that Kai will be a perfect 4/5. Switchable, a shooter, and with great rim protection, while being a freak athletically. If his shooting works, this man is a consistent guy people will say "how is he not an allstar?" One word to describe him; FLUIDITY

Comparison: JJJ

Ceiling: Christian wood with defense

Floor: Smooth Javale

Kai Jones is a versatile floor spacing big with handles and can run in the open court. He didn''t have much playing time as a sophomore at Texas, as he had to share reps with Greg Brown, but I trust his ability to rebound. He needs to add a bit more bulk, but maybe he can be like Jonathan Isaac in that sense to play 5 with a rather skinny frame. Monster star upside, has played ball for only 5 years and has already built a complete game. I think he'll be a solid player at worst. I did move him down a bit because he can't consistently do much at a high level, which makes him not ready to actually play in an NBA game.

Projected draft range: 8-20

Height 7'0 Weight 220 lbs Wingspan 7'2 Offense

• Energetic player who has great verticality and phenomenal athleticism. Former trackstar who started playing at 15.

• Excels in transition, will be a huge threat here and should become nearly impossible to stop.

• Becoming a very smart cutter which is exactly where he can help early. If he gets the ball inside the length and athleticism will be a headache to defend.

• Good offensive rebounder, gets 8.5 boards per 40.

• Improving footwork offensively.

• FT% up from 63% to 69% and his 3pt shooting has skyrocketed from 29% to 38% with a slight uptick in volume. Shooting mechanics look sound. Should be a floor spacer down the road.

• Good slinky attacks, long strides, and intriguing rip throughs that can change his direction and angle.

• Very raw. Decision making, playmaking, handle, pull-up all areas of his game that I wouldn't rule out, but they are going to be down the road later stages of development parts of his game if he begins to show he can do them in the league.

Defense

• Should be a very good shot blocker if put into a role where he gets these chances.

• Fouls entirely too much, 4.6 per 40. Discipline is an area for growth as his minutes and experience start to build up.

• Fairly active hands, 1.6 STL per 40.

• Big defensive upside and versatility.

• Ability to guard the perimeter as a big may very well be his most intriguing asset. Guarding 1-5 seems very attainable.

• Footwork and agility is excellent.

• In certain defensive sequences vs. Oklahoma St. was successfully guarding Cade Cunningham on the perimeter and not allowing attacks- THIS IS MAJOR.

• If he is beaten off dribble, out of position or helping out his athleticism lends itself to potentially elite recovery skills.

Swing Factors

• Perimeter Shooting - If he can gain a consistent stroke that speeds up his potential as a floor spacer that will go a long way in keeping him on the floor early. Reps and experience will just make him better and better.

• Defined Role - Less in his control and more so in the hands of the team that drafts, develops and coaches him, but it will be absolutely instrumental that he finds the right fit to grow and develop his skill set. A great coach and mentor would go a long way in Kai's development.

Role

• A defensive swiss army knife with phenomenal transition athleticism and project skills worth developing offensively.

• LOW: Kai can't find his stroke from deep and gets buckets through transition and cutting. Defensively he lacks some of the discipline needed to handle smaller guards, but overall he's still a huge weapon here due to athleticism and he thrives in an upper rotation role.

• HIGH: Kai hones his shot quickly and floor spaces effectively while cutting, rolling, roving and leaping for offensive effectiveness. He is a monster in transition and starts to be a problem attacking quicker than expected. It becomes evident he has the athleticism and coordination needed to begin development on advanced offensive skills like playmaking, handles and off-dribble shooting. As his offense marinates he blesses his team with rare defensive versatility and defends anyone, anywhere. Kai is quickly a starter and eventually an NBA commodity superstar.

Tier 8 Floor - out of league Bullseye - spot minutes Ceiling - key starter

Kai Jones is another one and done prospect who came off the bench, but has a chance at being a lottery pick due to his enticing upside a super athletic, versatile, dynamic, 6'10 forward who can defend the perimeter, thrive in transition on both sides of the ball, and has a encouraging 3 point shot after shooting it at 38% from three this season. But Jones started playing basketball at 15 and has a poor IQ and is poor decision maker and is a position tweener since he has a slight frame and is a poor rebounder.

Comparisons: Jaxson Hayes, Chris Boucher

Kai is a stud. I never miss a Texas College Basketball game. Only 2 years in Texas and he is a elite shot blocker and can shoot the rock.

An Athletic Monster! Texas has a history of putting out great rim protecting centers and Kai Jones will Cary that on. He has high potential but in my opinion he has a high floor as a rim protecting backup C at worst. He reminds me a lot of Jarrett Allen

Ceiling-Jarrett Allen

Floor-Nearns Noel

Peak stats-19PPG-12RPG-2APG

With teams liking high potential players up high in the draft, getting Kai Jones, one of the highest potential players should be good. He can catch lobs, he can move in a way where it's hard to stop him, really hard to explain though, and can guard many positions.

The only problem is that he needs to gain weight to guard centers, which will probably help his defensive rebounding, and also he should try to develop a 3 point shot.

Ceiling: Robert Williams but can guard 1-5 well and a 3 point shot

Floor: Last year Robert Williams

Comparison: Robert Williams but can guard more positions, create more for himself, but is a way worse lob threat.

Draft range: 6-12

Positives

-Elite athlete, explosive leaper, shows his speed in transition, outrunning some guards, some incredible two-way sequences of shot blocking and lob catching, bouncy in traffic and has good second jump

-At his best as a scorer in transition and as a cutter, had a lot of plays cutting from the three point line and finishing, dunker's spot weapon, has potential as a roll man, real threat as a lob catcher and a great offensive rebounder

-Extremely intriguing offensive upside, very fluid player, showcased eurosteps, dumpoffs, fadeaways, great ball handling potential in space for a big

-Potential as a shooter, even though he is not as good as 38% would suggest, he is confident, showed some flashes off the dribble

-Very high upside as a switchable defender, has realistic potential to guard 1-5, moves his feet and hips well, can potentially be a complete PnR disruptor, shot blocking/help defending potential is there, gets a good amount of deflections guarding on and off the ball

Negatives

-Should add some weight, had some struggles defending post-up players and got dislodged a bit on physical drives, also led to some travels/turnovers, can have some struggles finishing through contact when not dunking

-Needs to improve as a decision maker, some questionable passes and drives into traffic, needs to take care of the ball better, especially if he wants to reach his short-roll potential, only played basketball for about 4 years, should get better with reps and time

-Lacks consistency as a shooter, should work on his mechanics and footwork and make them more repeatable, had trouble with energy transfer at times, best as a catch and shoot threat right now, mechanics on pull-ups are a bit iffy

-Isn't very aware as a team defender right now, was caught out of position or chasing blocks rather than being a defensive anchor, led to some easy baskets for other teams, his defensive IQ can be questioned though could just be a case of inexperience, will have trouble with NBA spacing to start his career

Likely range: 10-20

Pro Comparison: Christian Wood

Stats: 8.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.9 bpg, 63.9% TS, 38.2%(1.3A) 3pt

20 yrs old, 6''11", PF/C, 218 lbs

Recruit(2019): 4 star recruit, Rank: 53, Rank C: 14

Tier 4 Prospect