I. Scoring

Myles Powell’s scoring profile is largely characterized by off-ball movement and unassisted 3s.

Polished shot preparation. Catches and shoots on hop and gets into shot quickly running off screens. Technique and athletic pop allow him to remain effective on more difficult 180 degree turns (e.g. zipper cuts). Balance and coordination allow for difficult shot-making even without feet square to basket.

Favors step-back threes off dribble. Hops backward into this shot rather than one-two gather, leading to faster release process. Also proficient with sidestep escape dribbles, often choosing to remain behind the arc rather than step inside to pull-up. Dribble velocity and elbow flexion can expedite dribble pickup in these scenarios, though for the most part his shot process originates from a lower point.

Wide stance with the ball allows for sequencing dribble moves in space, but lack of size/strength and high dribble forces early pickups in traffic. These pickups can lead to turnovers and more difficult shots while preventing dribble weaving and more efficient intermediate shot-making.

Excellent burst to either hand off the dribble often with gallop step.

Utilizes soft touch near basket to finish somewhat efficiently despite often failing to generate downhill separation. Frequently forced into floaters on half court drives.

Self-created and play-finishing shot distribution comparables include Damian Lillard, Tony Mitchell, Trae Young, Jeffery Taylor, and Dennis Smith Jr. Generally he is separated from the rest of this group with a more “Moreyballed” profile and fewer assisted makes at the basket.

It is also worth noting that although many of his made threes are technically “assisted,” his work off the ball (utilizing upper body and physicality to gain steps, occasionally screening for teammates) makes them self-created in spirit.

Quick gather in conjunction with high release, core strength and balance for backward momentum/fading shotmaking, and rise allow for high-speed contested makes. This tendency and low gather and high release point create a wide range of motion that dissuade contested shots inside the arc.

As noted by @polarfall, Powell’s overreliance on backward momentum shotmaking bodes poorly for bread-and-butter initiator NBA threes, i.e. transition or high middle pick-and-roll around-screen pull-up with a rearview contest. Another indicator he is best suited as an off-ball bench shooter.

Just wathched Myles Powell full game.

Instant observation point.

-Powell’s in-air-kicking has various motion. It provides compensation force/tuning the balance. But his release initiated low height(gather a ball low) + backwarding moments. — Skyfall (@polarfall) December 11, 2019

a. Location Charts

As mentioned before, Powell thrives off self-created 3s, and is better at driving and finishing than many other players of the scoring combo guard archetype. The percentages in this chart are percentiles within Hoop-Math’s database.

He shows some ambidexterity as a driver in terms of initial direction, but is heavily right hand dominant as a pure finisher. Additionally, his shooting range carries well beyond the NBA line.

B. Best Scoring Playtype

Powell’s calling card is shooting off screens, where he is proficient running toward and away from his shooting hand. He is particularly adept at drawing shooting fouls going to his right, but maintains similarly high efficiency and volume in either scenario. This speaks to his quick shot preparation and coordination to control his body and maintain balance at high speeds and under duress. Again, Powell has shown a willingness to physically engage off the ball and work hard to generate these looks.





c. Film

The first video is mostly scoring highlights, though not all the shots are makes. This selection demonstrates how he gets open (mostly off ball work, some handle in space), his touch, his ability to hit difficult shots, and his biomechanical tendencies as a shotmaker.



This second video is areas for concern or weakness. Some shot selection issues, bad misses, turnovers, and struggles to create adequate separation.



II. Playmaking

Powell is a score-first guard but makes some passes atypical for his archetype.

Vision over the top of defense. Despite diminutive height, Powell seems to possess some awareness for reads behind showing, hedging, or trapping pick-and-roll defenders even if it means a jump pass. This is likely more due to repetition and expectation rather than innate feel.

Experienced and intelligent enough to understand his strengths and limitations as a scorer, but still tends to take difficult shots early in the clock or to try to initiate contact beyond the arc to draw shooting fouls unlikely to get called.

Perimeter player in many senses. Because he struggles to keep ball live in painted area, he makes fewer traditional pick-and-roll kick out passes or dump-offs in that area of the court than many players of similar usage. Because his pick-and-roll passes are often delivered away from the basket, he leaves significant value on the table as a playmaker, eschewing the play’s highest expected value looks.

As evidenced by the Synergy chart below, Powell is an unremarkable passer in terms of both volume and efficiency, and tends to look for his rolling big man first. Anticipatory reads in the form of cut assists are relatively rare, which is generally an indicator of passing feel in initiators. But it bears repeating that the most significant concern with his passing profile is the lack of assists generated from within the defense, which is directly related to ball handling skill.

Handle in traffic should be pinpointed as an area for improvement. Using traditional techniques such as snaking or jail more frequently could help open up better decisions and more passing reads. Upper body strength gains may help.

a. Film

This video shows a few examples of his passing tendencies, often finding rollers around the free throw line. As mentioned most of his passes originate from beyond the arc.

III. Defense

There is unfortunately a narrow range of outcomes for guards under 6-foot-3 in terms of defensive impact. For the most part, the best you can hope for is “acceptably bad.” This is also true for Powell.

Quick twitch athlete when given space. Can sky for defensive rebounds if there isn’t a body on him. Gets off the ground fast.

Doesn’t maintain a stance off the ball, perhaps due to offensive load. Puts himself at a disadvantage at times.

Career steal rate of 2.4%. Peaked junior season at 3.2%. Generates a fair amount of blocks for his size. Block rate of 0.8% at 6-foot-2 in high major basketball places him in a group of 25 players, which isn’t exactly rarefied air but its an okay place to be. He also leads that group in usage rate by a significant margin, per barttorvik.com.

Wingspan measured at 6-foot-7 isn’t huge in a vacuum, but is somewhere between +5 and +8 depending on which height measurements you believe. Perhaps these measurements and athletic reactivity offer some reason for hope that he will play above his height.

Above average hand-eye coordination for accruing deflections on-ball. Seems to surprise some ball-handlers with hand placement.

Stays on the balls of his feet when engaged on the ball. Reacts quickly and changes directions decently well, but could stand to improve technique and feel against like-sized players.

a. Film

This is the shortest compilation of clips because there isn’t much outstanding about his defense, nor does it demand much nuance because of his size and archetype. But within there are some clips of how he moves his feet when engaged on the ball, what his deflections may look like (reactivity), and a semi-contested rebound to seal a game.

IV. Outlook

Score-first small guards always have a steep curve to climb for positive NBA impact, but if you believe he has some hope at non-disastrous defensive impact, his movement shooting (almost singular in eliteness) is an intriguing NBA-level skill that would allow him to pair alongside a bigger ball handler. Powell would be a strong fit for teams like the Philadelphia 76ers or Dallas Mavericks should he fall to them. It would be misguided to project his level of usage at Seton Hall as a remotely realistic NBA outcome as the decision-making and functional passing are unlikely to ever come around in a significant way because of physical limitations and a four-year sample of this play style persisting for better or for worse. That leaves you with a high level off ball player with a good chance at sustaining offensive impact with fewer on-ball repetitions, although I am skeptical even of bench ball-handler (ala Lou Williams) equity in Powell’s case particularly because of the reliance on backward momentum shooting.

Ultimately from a value perspective I start liking Powell in the 20-40 range of a normal draft, leaning toward the higher end of that range in this draft depending on team fit and what other prospects keep their names in by the end of it. A bad team that can feed him lots of shots out of the gate may even see some trade value early in his rookie deal.