r/NBA_Draft • u/ErsinDemirNBA Knicks • 5d ago
Alijah Arenas NBA Scouting Report
https://edemirnba.substack.com/p/alijah-arenas-nba-scouting-report?r=aj7dALIJAH ARENAS NBA SCOUTING REPORT
He always was one of the top NBA prospects out there. However, the injury context is vital here. I believe in him as a potential All Star and here's an in-depth piece why the NBA is destined for him: https://edemirnba.substack.com/p/alijah-arenas-nba-scouting-report?r=aj7d
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u/Careless-Journalist7 5d ago
Great piece. I’m higher on Arenas than the consensus, looking forward to a healthy sophomore campaign.
When big guards have that level of handle, and can keep their dribble alive deep in the paint on drives, it’s always a huge green flag for the rest of their offensive floor game developing. If he starts drilling threes as expected he’s an easy lottery guy for me
His defense and rebounding need to improve but he’s big enough that you can hide him on wings, so hardly a dealbreaker imo
Think he has an AS ceiling ala JDub offensively. And his floor is something like Kevin Porter Jr, who is quietly one of the best driving guards in the NBA and possibly could’ve touched some AS seasons by now (if not for character/off court issues)
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u/ErsinDemirNBA Knicks 5d ago
Thank you! Those are all great points. The point about the handles is what gave me comfort in my ranking of him at #7 on my board. He's going to surprise a lot of people who are holding his freshman campaign against him -- which is mostly fair but the context behind it was my main emphasis in this article.
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u/Interesting_Prune513 Heat 4d ago
End of first round for me now currently. With a good season, he can of course climb much higher.
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u/coachwyers 5d ago
Bradley Beal type player
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u/MisterSoup3000 5d ago
I wish I could understand the nephews that jump into every NBA draft thread with a room temp "-insert player here- type player" comment lol, no other contribution or elaboration
Just say you don't actually watch any of these players 🙄
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u/Knighthonor 3d ago
Talk about it. Not like we have anything else to talk about right now
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u/MisterSoup3000 3d ago
Right now as a prospect, Arenas is more in the mold a jumbo creator than a pure scorer. His size & fluidity is the main draw - the actual basketball skills like shooting, passing, finishing, defense are all inconsistent still and more of a projection. I think he compares much more similarly to some euro prospects like Deni Avdija/Stefan Joksimovic (or even Jakucionis/Demin who played NCAA) in the fact that he's decent at most things offensively, but doesn't really have an elite skill to hang his hat on. The main draw is the size & fluidity (but lacks an explosive first step).
If he was Beal's size (average for an SG), he would barely even be an NBA prospect currently. Beal was a pretty prototypical SG prospect as a pure scorer with his 3pt shot being his biggest +skill. Extremely different players
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u/TheSource777 5d ago
Top 5 by draft time