With the No. 36 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Dallas Mavericks have selected Colorado star Tyler Bey.
Bey projects to be one of the most intriguing defensive prospects available later in the first round. The budding junior nearly averaged a double-double with 13.8 points and nine rebounds in his third season with the Buffaloes, but his 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks per contest were good markers of the stellar defensive instincts that made him one of Colorado's best players.
His intuition, combined with an unwearying motor, are what convinced voters to name Bey the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. The Las Vegas native also capped off a commendable 2019-20 season with a spot on the All-Pac-12 Second Team.
Bio
Position: PF/SF
School: Colorado
Height: 6-foot-7
Weight: 215 lbs
Wingspan: 7-foot-1
Max vertical: 43.5 inches
Strengths
- Incredibly versatile defensively, he can lock down guards on the perimeter and also protect the rim as a help defender.
- Excels at rebounding thanks in part to his stellar athleticism; he led the Pac-12 in boards in 2018-19 and finished second in the conference last season.
- Showed an ability to stretch the floor, albeit in a very tiny sample size; shot 41.9% (13-of-31) on 3-pointers last campaign.
Weaknesses
- Struggles to facilitate for others, especially off the dribble.
- Not a great free-throw shooter (74.3% in 2019-20) for a rim attacker.
- Doesn't protect the ball well; averaged 2.4 turnovers to just 1.5 assists.
- May be slightly undersized when matched up against NBA bigs.
