Earlier this month, ESPN’s DraftExpress team of Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz released their January 2019 NBA Mock Draft, which contained all 60 selections. In this edition, they projected the Warriors to select Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu and Santa Cruz forward Alen Smailagic with the 25th and 55th picks respectively. Warriors Wire will give an in-depth look into each of these two prospects.
Ayo Dosunmu
Measures
Height: 6’4”
Wingspan: 6’6”
Weight: 185
Year: Freshman
Age: 18.9
Stats
Points: 14.2
Rebounds: 4.6
Assists: 2.8
Steals: 1.3
Blocks: 0.3
Turnovers: 2.3
2FG: 48.7%
3PT: 41.8%
FT: 65.9%
Minutes: 29.9
Games played/started: 16/16
The crown jewel of Illinois head coach Brad Underwood’s recent recruiting classes, guard Ayo Dosunmu has not hit the radar of casual basketball fans, but expect him to start popping up on other draft boards as conference play hits high gear. Dosunmu has been one of the few bright spots for a poor Illinois team. At 6’4” 185 pounds, he has the size to play either guard position provided he gains a little bit of weight.
Defensively, while not the longest player, he is active with good fundamentals, which should translate to defending both backcourt positions in the NBA. Where Dosunmu can truly make his mark is on the offensive end. He has an innate ability to use both his off the dribble game and finishing ability to score in a variety of ways around the basket. While he is not the quickest or most athletic player, he plays extremely fluid when the ball is when the ball is in his hands. He has also shown flashes of court vision and playmaking, but has not been given an extended run as the Fighting Illini are starting another point guard along Dosunmu.
Dosunmu does currently have a few areas of improvement that could boost his draft stock even further. While he does have good size for his position, he does not have the longest wingspan, which could hurt him on forward switches. He also has struggled when given the opportunity to make plays, as evidenced by his 2.3 turnovers compared to 2.8 assists per game. However, NBA scouts’ biggest area of concern for Dosunmu is his shooting. He launches the ball lower than ideal, and the release is slower. While his three-point percentage might indicate that the concerns are not warranted, often times free throw percentage is a better indicator of shooting translating to the NBA. As Dosunmu is only shooting 65.9 percent from the line, executives are most likely going to want to see some improvements in this aspect of his game.
Player Comparisons
Ceiling- Jrue Holiday
Mean- Malik Beasley
Floor- Emmanuel Mudiay
(Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
Alen Smailagic
Measures
Height: 6’10”
Wingspan: 7’2”
Weight: 215
Year: G-League
Age: 18.3
Stats
Points: 9.5
Rebounds: 4.3
Assists: 0.9
Steals: 0.9
Blocks: 0.7
Turnovers: 1.4
2FG: 586
3PT: 250
FT: 696
Minutes: 18.2
Games played/started 25/3
Smailagic is easily both one of the more intriguing and mysterious prospects in the NBA draft, hence his late second round status. Smailagic hails from Serbia, and came to the United States via the G-League Draft, where the South Bay Lakers drafted him fourth overall and subsequently traded him to the Warriors’ G-League affiliate in Santa Cruz.
While not much is known about Smailagic, the first thing that stands out is his build. Already at 6’10” with a 7’2” wingspan, he might grow even more, as he has already racked on an extra inch since the season began. He also moves well for his size.
There is currently not much consistency to his game overall, as he just turned 18 last fall and is very raw, but he has shown flashes that have intrigued scouts. While it does not show within the numbers, he has a promising shot for a player of his size. Smailagic has also shown some rudimentary ball handling that should develop as time passes. Defensively, since he plays relatively fluid, he has the ability to guard on the perimeter, a skill becoming increasingly more valuable in the NBA’s switch happy system. And because of his length, he could turn into a decent rim protector.
All in all, it tough to make any current assessment on Smailagic, but it would make a lot of sense for the Warriors to take a flyer on this high potential prospect, especially this late in the draft.
Player Comparisons
Ceiling- Kristaps Porzingis
Mean- Zach Collins
Floor- Dragan Bender
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