Strengths
Right-handed… The two-time Patriot League Player of the Year has been quietly having an excellent career for the Mountain Hawks before exploding onto the national scene in the upset of No. 2-seeded Duke in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. All he did was produce a 30-point, 6-rebound, 6-assist performance and appeared unguardable at times… McCollum stands at 6’3” with a long, but slender frame; he has put on 25-30 pounds since his freshman season at Lehigh and should only continue to get stronger to play at the next level. I wouldn’t describe the combo-guard as explosive athletically, but he is a fluid and smooth athlete who utilizes his quickness and a high basketball IQ to get to where he wants on the floor with pretty good effectiveness… McCollum is certainly known as a scorer (21.9 points per game as a junior, sixth in the nation), which certainly takes away from his drastic improvement as a passer. He averaged a career-best 3.5 assists per game, with a 25.4 assist rate and showed off his court vision several times during the Duke game as he split the double-team and found the open teammate down the floor… Back to McCollum’s prowess as a natural scorer- he is one of the better shooters off the dribble in this draft, showing a tendency to hit the floater from 5-8 feet out in the lane or pulling-up/stepping-back to create separation from longer defenders. Given his improved ability to pass the ball, McCollum thrived in pick-and-roll situations and should only get better at the next level… He has shown that he has a developed and a controlled handle with the ball, changing directions and speeds well, but like mentioned below, he lacks the explosiveness to hit an advanced dribble-move and lunge past his defender… McCollum certainly adds value as a defender, despite his limited size. He is a very strong rebounder and can generate turnovers as he was fifth in the nation in steals per game this last season.
Weaknesses
One of the biggest knocks of McCollum is his lack of explosive athleticism, especially around the rim. He shies away from contact and would rather flip up a floater from 8-feet out as opposed to take the ball strong to rim and generate contact… Surprising in part because he is so gifted offensively, especially off the dribble, but the junior guard struggled in catch-and-shoot situations. He tends to be a better shooting utilizing screens and pulling-up off the dribble, but he needs to develop more consistency hitting contested and uncontested set-shots as they’ll likely be a huge part of McCollum’s individual workouts before the Draft… McCollum showed pretty solid defensive abilities at the college level, but in the NBA, his size will likely become an issue as he will get matched up with bigger 2-guards and more explosive point guards. He had the luxury at Lehigh to gamble in the passing lanes and over-anticipate, something he will certainly need to adjust to.
