Kam Jones Scouting Report
Adding shooting depth is a must for most NBA franchises, and Marquette junior Kam Jones is one of the best in this class. But what else does he have to offer? Find out more below.
When an NBA franchise adds shooting depth via the draft, it’s crucial to see what you’re buying with your draft pick. In Kam Jones’ case, it’s shooting versatility in different shot types.
So far in his junior season, Jones’ attempts off-the-catch account for 15% of his total attempts, off-screen shooting amounts to 9% of the total, and he’s finding looks via hand-offs in 22% of the cases. That’s roughly half of his attempts via various types, and considering he’s 41.8% on 5.6 attempts per game, the total picture becomes very intriguing.
He’s been one of the most consistent high-volume shooters in college since his freshman season. Numbers alone won’t get the job done, and in this scouting report, we’ll focus more on the context of the numbers and his projected role at the NBA level.
Physical Profile
At 6’5”, Jones has a strong build. He started his college career at 180 pounds and as of today, he bulked up to 200 pounds, adding muscle and strength to his frame. He’s a good athlete, especially laterally to keep guards in front of him.
He also has a good first step. It's not great, but good enough to create separation off the dribble. His leaping ability is also solid, and this opens the door to potentially a bigger role at the next level. His hip mobility is decent at best, and Jones has to add some more upper-body strength to be able to guard against bigger wings at the next level.
Offense
Shooting will be the foremost task in Jones’ early NBA career. What makes him a great prospect is that he’s solid in getting to his spots via screens and hand-offs, even shooting off-screens.
In a fast-paced offensive scheme, Jones finds most of his attempts via hand-offs, something several NBA teams focus on, for example, the Sacramento Kings. At the same time, this will be one of the things that’ll be asked of Jones.
Jones will likely have fewer ball touches at the next level, therefore the shooting has to be consistent early on if he wants to continue to play in his team’s rotation.
For the scalability of his game for the longer term, Jones has enough self-creation abilities to utilize his shooting threat to create advantages for himself and others. The ability to play out of closeouts is something that’ll be key to offering more than serving as a spot-up shooter. The two plays below are an example of Jones’ ability to attack the rim via hand-offs, showcasing his soft touch.
However, his 57% finishing rate on 225 rim attempts in the last two seasons is on the lower side, which is caused by preferring tough attempts, rather than making the extra pass, which he should do more often.
With 2.3 assists per game and a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio, Jones shows he’s able to execute his passing reads consistently, but the amount of passes needs to increase. The play below is an example of his creativity as a passer; a nice pass-fake to sell the floater-finish followed up by a timely dump-off.
Consistency in catch-and-shoot situations is where it all begins for Jones at the next level. Therefore, he has to continue showing he stays one of the best in the country on that end. With 1.56 points-per-play on just over two attempts per game, Jones shows he’s a reliable shooter in Marquette’s system.
However, when evaluating his film, the lack of a quick release has been a consistent area of development for him. Jones has to be a tad quicker loading up on his jumper, and combined with him waiting for the ball instead of moving toward the ball, it’s something NBA decision-makers have to keep in mind when preparing his developmental plan.
One of the things that make Jones so appealing as an NBA prospect is his ability to get to his spots with ease. The play below exemplifies his well-timed backdoor cut with the whole Texas defense watching the ball. Despite the two misses that’s a solid possession to look back to.
However, Jones has to work on the way he sets his feet before launching the shot, it is the main reason why the jumper fell short. With most NBA teams prioritizing motion-based offenses, his relocating on the court to get to his spots is something he has to do a lot; something to keep an eye on for NBA decision-makers.
Another area where Jones will be used is his ability to play out of closeouts. With only 7% of his attempts coming via catch-and-drives, his shot-diet is very shooting-heavy. At the next level, he likely has to adjust on this end.
What stood in the play below out was his aggressiveness in getting downhill. However, his hip mobility is decent at best, and he looked stiff at this possession. Although his touch at the rim makes up for a lot, it’s an area to consider when evaluating his profile.
In general, Jones plays with a lot of energy and is continuously moving on the court. This helps him to grab offensive rebounds to reward his aggressiveness. However, the play below summarizes well that he should be able to take more risks with his passing game.
With him relocating to the perimeter, he should chase executing his pick-and-roll play, instead of throwing the sloppy side pass. Even with the passing lanes being closed, he should be able to try and hit either the roller or the spot-up shooter in the upper corner.
Defense
What stood out when evaluating Jones’ defense is his solid foot speed combined with his good decision-making. However, there are some areas to clean up, especially his positioning on the court.
In the play below Jones is caught ball-watching, which led to him relocating to the strong side, whereas he had one foot in and out of the paint before the play. As a result, his closeout is quick but too late to prevent the open three.
On a bigger NBA court where the game moves quicker than in college basketball, Jones has to improve the above-mentioned to avoid influencing a team’s defensive rating too negatively and deny himself the playing time he needs.
An area where Jones will impact at the next level is defending against downhill pressure. He slides his feet very well on defense and has the defensive footwork to match. With his stronger frame, he’s also handling contact much better compared to when he was an underclassman. The play below summarizes where he stands with his defense and catch-and-drives, where the only improvement is that he has to box out harder after a miss such as this one.
When it comes to his positioning, Jones has to challenge opponents to beat him off the dribble, instead of closing out on each play, which isn’t always necessary.
With a shot clock that’s winding down, Jones steps out to the perimeter and places his pivot foot wide out in an aggressive matter. His first step to stick to the ball-handler was good, the same goes for the contest.
There’s nothing wrong with the execution of the read, but the read itself to move out to the perimeter wasn’t the right one. Against more explosive NBA scorers, that’s a potential risk decision-makers have to consider.
With a proven increase in the size of the NBA guard, decision-making in pick-and-roll defense is something to always add to an evaluation. At the next level, it’s getting more and more likely that every player could be a target in switches, and have to guard in the pick-and-roll or point-of-attack.
Jones is a good decision-maker in the pick-and-roll. In the play below, he does an excellent job of tagging the roller to avoid the pass in the open passing lane through the middle. His screen navigation in the first seconds is a positive to mention as well.
It’ll depend on how free he’ll be to let certain players shoot as he did here, but the process of his pick-and-roll defense itself is promising.
In transition is where things have to improve if Jones wants to stay on an NBA floor for a long time. The lack of feeling about where opponents are is something that consistently came back when evaluating his film. The play below is a good example of what Jones has to do better as a junior.
He keeps up with the ball-handler instead of closing a potential passing lane to his teammate who was setting up for a shot near the elbow. Sticking to the ball-handler was more understandable if he contested the shot near the rim, which also didn’t happen. In a faster-paced NBA game, it’s more than likely he’ll face plays in transition.
One of the most common mistakes draft prospects in general make is that they lack awareness of backdoor cuts. With Jones, that’s not an issue. Despite positioning issues, Jones does a great job in his awareness of opponents in the halfcourt set defense.
NBA decision-makers will love to see Jones’ activity when defending the weakside. He keeps his defender at sight distance and immediately relocates with him. Excellent awareness to avoid the pindown, resulting in a good contest of the shot in the corner.
Plays like these show the potential growth of Jones as a defender to match up the NBA intensity.
NBA Draft Projection
An NBA franchise buys shooting versatility and great off-ball movement with Jones. The shot is consistent, despite a release that’s a tad too slow. As a junior, Jones is very good at combining his off-ball game with his shooting, as he gets to his spots with ease.
However, his offensive arsenal is too shot-focused, limiting his long-term potential to expand his role as a self-creating scorer. This will cost him some draft stock. However, the lack of long-term potential is compensated by an NBA-ready shooter who can fill a role at the end of the rotation right after college.
As a defender, Jones does a lot of things well, with his awareness and working his feet being the most important ones. However, there are positioning issues that need improvement, which won’t make Jones an average defender on day one, but he has the potential and footspeed to become an above-average defender in time.
As a result, I project Jones to be drafted in the latter stages of the second round in the 2024 NBA Draft. Jones will turn 22 years old in February 2024, therefore coming back for his senior year to work on expanding his game should be something to consider as well.