Santa Clara forward Allen Graves is a unique one-and-done NBA draft prospect.
As a redshirt freshman, Graves had a massive March Madness moment when he sunk a go-ahead three-pointer with 2.4 seconds left inUnfortunately, Otega Oweh then banked in a buzzer-beater from near half court and the Broncos lost in overtime.
Graves finished with a 17-point, seven-rebound day. The 19-year-old shoots a simple, fundamentally solid three-ball. He’s an adept pick-and-popper and went 41.3 percent from long range in his lone college season. Graves played 22.6 minutes per game as Santa Clara’s sixth man and averaged 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.9 blocks.
, Graves ranked fifth in the country in box plus-minus . He was seventh in steal percentage and grabbed an excellent 5.0 offensive rebounds per 40 minutes. Beyond the numbers, it’s clear Graves has active, aggressive hands on defense and anticipates well. At his core, Graves was a possession-winning player with his high steal and offensive rebounding rates.
And it doesn’t hurt that he had a strong assist-to-turnover ratio for a freshman forward, dishing out 63 assists over 35 games and committing just 25 giveaways. Graves also showed plenty of offensive abilities inside the arc, including as a post scorer and passer. He plays with patience and uses bumps, spins and fakes in a mature way. Graves said on “The Old Man and The Three” podcast, where he announced that he's staying in the draft.
“I want to make the dirty play. … I want to be that key guy, that glue guy, the connector piece on offense.
“Knock down a shot, go get an offensive rebound, get extra possessions. Win the possession battles on both ends, whether that’s me getting deflections on the defensive end, getting steals, blocks, anything like that. Just being that winning player and impacting winning at a high level. ”athletic testing at the draft combine.
Graves’ times ranked in the bottom five for lane agility, shuttle run and three-quarter court sprint. He had a 27.5-inch standing vertical leap and a 34-inch maximum vertical. One of Graves’ only statistical weak spots was fouling. He was whistled for 5.5 fouls per 40 minutes.
While Graves comes across as a smart player who will listen to coaching and likely tweak his approach in the NBA, it’s natural to wonder how much of his defensive playmaking will carry over against better athletes. Graves likes to line up his jumpers and doesn’t shoot with much lift. He took under 100 threes and wasn’t an exceptional foul shooter, going 84 for 112 at the charity stripe.
His outside shooting looks to be a strength, but it’s certainly not a lock that he’ll be tremendous in the NBA. Though Santa Clara earned an at-large NCAA tournament bid with a 26-win season, Graves did not regularly face elite college competition. Of course, good NBA players can come from anywhere.
Steve Nash, Jalen Williams and Brandin Podziemski are amongIf the Sixers believe in Graves’ unique blend of skills and standout statistical profile, he’d be a logical name to have on the radar with the 22nd pick. The hope would be that he meshes savvily with the Sixers’ in-house stars, helps in the possession game, and shoots as well as he did in college.
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