OKC Thunder draft prospect profile: Aaron Nesmith

Aaron Nesmith strengths and weaknesses

Strengths:

Coach Jerry Stackhouse called Nesmth the best shooter he’s seen at the college level. While I’ve stated how coaches tend to wax on about their players it should be noted Stack isn’t someone who typically throws out that kind of effusive praise. Stackhouse also called Nesmith the best shooter in this draft class.

The forward earned that praise when he dramatically improved his efficiency in his sophomore season connecting on an unbelievable 52.2 percent from deep on 8.2 attempts per game. He’s developed the perimeter shot consistently connecting on stepbacks, off the dribble, and even with the Harden side-step 3-point shot.

Stackhouse was key in developing many of the Raptors youngsters like Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet and also delivered in Memphis in that role. That bodes well for Nesmith being ready to contribute when he hits the pros.

The biggest difference between his freshman and sophomore season was how quickly he gets his shot off and his improvement using screens.

Weaknesses:

Despite his stellar ability to score there are minor tweaks and nuances, Nesmith will need to make to retain that shooting prowess in the pros.

Clearly developing an ability to put the ball on the court and drive or work in isolation will serve to make his shooting that much more effective. Unless he adds that to his game teams will simply defend him as a shooter.

While he has shown great creativity and versatility from deep he hasn’t expanded that to other areas of his offense for his own shot creation or to help teammates. He’ll need to spend significant time looking at film to figure out how to be a better shot creator for his teammates and even the simple passes to keep the offense flowing.

While he improved defensively and had the master Stackhouse helping him he still has room to grow on the defensive side of the court.