2015 NBA Draft: Michael Qualls (SF; Jr; Arkansas)

Birthday: 1/20/94

NBA Position: Small Forward

Class: Junior

Ht: 6-5

Wt: 205

Hometown: Shreveport, LA

High School: Huntington

NBA Comparison: Joey Graham

Strengths: 

Explosive leaper with great length for the wing position … Has improved a great deal in his three years at Arkansas, went from getting by on raw athleticism to becoming a legitimate wing prospect … Got to the FT stripe at a really nice rate, plus increased his percentage from 68% to 77.5% … Good lateral quickness and long arms give him a great deal of defensive potential on the perimeter … Nice elevation on his jump shot, became an increasing threat from outside as his time in college progressed … Great in the open floor, his hang time makes him a really tough cover in transition … Made a relatively small number of mistakes for how often he was used … While he only shot 43.6% FG, that number went up after every season … Big threat to finish on the offensive rebound, something he does a lot more frequently than most wings … Played off the ball pretty well as a junior, showed some ability to use screens effectively and an ability to finish off of a cut … Not an easy player for wings to post-up, has some wiry strength … Has made some fantastic plays at time and when he is at full intensity and tuned into the game, shows signs of being a really nice energy player

Weaknesses: 

Struggles to create offense off the bounce, needs help to get a good shot … Poor shot selection, will force bad shots and took more jump shots than you would want considering how shaky his outside shot is … Does not always square to the basket on his jumper, more than likely will never be someone you want to rely on from outside … For all of his length and athleticism, still can lose focus on defense and had average to below average steal and block rates as a wing … Was not great covering the shot, needs to learn better coverage habits … Does not always stay as low on possible when guarding the ball handler, his defensive footwork can definitely use a tone up … Handle can definitely be tightened up … Even with his improved shooting, needs much work and consistency in his jump shot to be someone the defense does not play far off in the NBA

Notes: 

Measured 6'6 (in shoes) 198 lbs, with a 6'11.5 wingspan at the 2014 Kevin Durant Skills Academy … Three time district MVP and first team All-State for Louisiana’s Huntington High School … Named 2nd Team All-SEC by the coaches for 2014-15 … Teamed with Bobby Portis to lead Arkansas to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008, averaging 23.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg in their two games … Averaged 15.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 1.7 apg in 30.2 mpg as a junior, scored 1100 points in 100 career games … Improved FT shooting % at least 7% every season he played at Arkansas … Wingspan in the 7-foot range, with a vertical leap that led to 91 dunks during his time in college … The key to his getting drafted and staying around will be his ability to defend the perimeter, as he has physical and athletic attributes that could make him valuable at this end of the floor … With improvement in his ball skills, increased awareness of spacing, he could turn into a versatile wing option … Likely 2nd round selection, who has athleticism and length that the NBA looks for in wing players ... 

Michael Visenberg 4/24/15