Net Rating: 0. On his team, he has the second highest oRTG and worst dRTG.

Athleticism / Frame Overview: Good frame to add strength, long arms for PG (6’8.5 wingspan and 8’4.5 standing reach are average for SGs). Solid hips, but extra steps in the turn can slow him down. Not very quick laterally – does not beat the ballhandler to his spot very often. Not much vertical pop, either – does not get that high even with room to launch. Not a bad athlete, just not very good. Not very quick laterally – does not beat the ballhandler to his spot very often.

Mentality Overview: Comfortable on and off ball – does a nice job picking his spots. Needs to be more aggressive attacking the paint and settles for jumpers too often. Not someone who will push the pace in transition or force the issue on offense and attack the rim in the HC. Appears to play with a level head.

Offensive Role: Combo G with the ability to play on and off ball. Can run an offense as a primary PnR ballhandler or secondary. If shooting improves, which it should, he will provide nice lineup versatility next to primary wing ballhandlers. Flashes some movement shooting off screens, but has to quicken release.

Defensive Role: Potential to defend 1 and some 2s (if he gets stronger and plays more physically). His length gives him lineup versatility, but he has to add strength and play more physically than he currently does – this would allow him to defend some 2s. His limited athleticism lowers his defensive ceiling and his footwork needs a lot of work, too – will likely have issues defending quicker PGs and more physical Gs. Not switchable against bigs, if he gets stronger maybe against some smaller 3s. Flashes of nice IQ / rotations, but needs to be more consistent. Also needs to improve positioning and use length, better.

Offense:

Synergy Profile: scoring : 44 scoring + assists : 77 (totals if percentile not available)

Jump Shots “Pure” C&S Off Screen Around Basket Dribble J PnR Score PnR Pass Iso Transition 47 50 22 84 72 71 63 44 53

Shot Chart in HC:

Not including post ups:

Finishing: Good finisher, but needs to get better. Soft touch and shows some flashes of body control finishes. Right handed dominant, though flashed some nice left handed finishes – drives to the rim were mostly going to his right hand, so it’s hard to get a great feel for his left handed finishing ability…besides him preferring his right hand and using his right hand on left side sometimes. Has some solid pop off one feet and two when he has a lane, but is not someone who will rise above the defense to finish over them. Displays some crafty finishes (wrong foot, scoops / under the arm of defender, delayed/off-timed finishes, etc). Turns down potential drives to the rim in mismatch opportunities / in PnR (more on that below)…really wish he’d attack more because his finishing ability is nice, it would open up his shooting a bit more, and open up more passing lanes. Does not turn the corner much on potential drives nor does he put much pressure on rim unless he has an open lane too attack

Shooting: Solid mechanics on jumper. Not a quick release, but it’s not very slow either – I would maybe try to speed up the release just a little, as it looks like hard contests can get to him a bit (it might also open up shooting off heavier movement, though his footwork isn’t super quick). Comfortable hopping into his jumper or 1-2 step (if time) to get into rhythm going in either direction. I really like how comfortable he is shooting off either lead into the jumper – whether it’s off the bounce or on C&S attempts (including off screens), Maledon does a nice job getting set with good footwork. Doesn’t have a quick release, but it’s fluid all around – consistent release, simple release with no moving pieces, nice follow through, and does a nice job setting up his lower body (squared, good footwork). Comfortable shooting off bounce and on C&S. Dip on C&S to get into rhythm before release. Inconsistent shooter now, but his form, FT%, and current shooting level at his age leads to a simple projection – should become a good shooter. On occasion (especially on C&S), he may turn his body into his right hand on the release (to the left), throwing the shot off. Though he doesn’t have the quickest release, he does a nice job getting it off pretty cleanly against shot contests. When he gets a switch and sees the big backing up to prevent the drive, Maledon does a nice job getting into his jumper off the bounce.

Shot Versatility: Off bounce shooter and C&S – not a heavy movement shooter, but his footwork, ability to read screens, rhythm, and confidence shooting off screens looks good. Even though his footwork is good running off screens with his ability to square up, shoot off 1-2 or a hop, etc, he does not get into the actual shot particularly quickly – takes him a little to set before the release, which makes it easier for defenses to close (and will make him running off screens at the next level a bit more difficult due to taller and more athletic defenders). Does a nice job moving to the open spot / finding easier passing lanes when he’s not on ball. ASVEL has been running him off screens on occasion this year, and though the results have been inconsistent, he’s looked good taking the shots – footwork (again, can get into the shot on a 1-2 lead in or a little hop) and shows a nice job squaring up off movement, reading screens well and setting up the screen use, and does not seem rushed on the release.

ISO Scoring Chart: PnR Scoring Chart

Shot IQ: Shot selection is good. 63% of his attempts in the halfcourt are jumpers, but they’re not forced looks – they’re good / smart looks. 80% of his jumpers are from 3, which might be a bit high, but, again, they’re pretty clean looks. Midrange jumpers come from PnR – these are the ones he might have to remove…and although though I believe he can hit them, I’m not sure how cleanly he’ll be able to get them off against bigger and better athletes in the NBA.

Handle: Basic handle overall, nothing special in terms of moves with ball – where he makes a killing here is with his footwork, change of pace, hesitations / fakes, etc. Not someone who will attack in isolation very often, though he can take bigs off the bounce on switches. When he does attack guards, it usually starts with a hesitation and then shows solid burst / acceleration from a standstill, though not high level. Can piece together a few moves to create space / get downhill, but lack of burst hurts the effectiveness. The ball can also get away from him a bit at times (especially when pressured). Gets a little flustered when pressured, often shielding the ball away from the defense or turning his body into the defender…which while helps alleviate some pressure, it also effectively removes his vision of the action.

Passing: Good passer, though not special in terms of ability or vision. Can make some really nice reads out of the PnR, but it’s after seeing the open man and not passing someone open or making an elite read. More of a “read court and then pass,” than a “pass guys open” player. Nice D&K / drop-off passer – when setting up drop-offs, he does a nice job getting the defense to commit. (Some passes come a bit late and end up in turnovers, though.) Has nice touch and is able to fit the ball through tight spaces (though some looks are forced and end in turnovers). Maledon knows his athleticism is not at a high level and does a good job using technique to get around the weakness to help set up passes – does a nice job utilizing hesitations, fakes (pass, body, eyes, etc), and change of pace / direction to manipulate the defense when setting up passes on drives. Jump passes a decent amount, which can lead to turnovers at the next level against bigger and more athletic players. Flashes live action passes with right hand. Prone to passing a bit too late when crowded, forces some looks, and may miss players on drives (though not that often).

PnR (Passing and scoring): Good PnR player as a scorer and passer, however he does not put that much pressure on the rim here – while he still attacks the paint, he misses driving lanes and even more opportunities by not turning the corner as often as he can. Furthermore, when he gets inside the paint, he sometimes looks uncomfortable handling pressure / facing bigs, leading to turnovers. He is a 3-level passer out of the PnR, but does not hit the roll as often as he can / should – defense can get into him, and he picks up his dribble … also because he does not put much pressure going downhill, it’s slightly easier to take the look away. Flashes really nice live action passes / whips out to 3 with his right hand, and although hitting the roll is not common, there were a few nice live action pocket passes this season. Thee groundwork is there, basically – just needs to get more comfortable doing it.

Also, as mentioned above, he plays with pace, technique / footwork (including getting the defender on his hip), and various handle tools (hesitations, fakes, change of pace) to “win” in the PnR. Generally speaking, he does a nice job making quick decisions as a passer when the defense helps on him, either on ball from the big or he sees a secondary defender cheating (gets ball out quickly), but when the defense collapses on him in the paint, he is prone to turnovers. Reads the defense well in PnR as a scorer – when the defender goes under, Maledon is comfortable shooting from 3 (though the results are not there yet – 6/24 from 3 out of PnR). When there is room to attack the paint, he does it effectively (19/29 in paint) …however, as mentioned above, he does not turn the corner that well (explosively) – he gets into the paint with change of pace/hesitation and doing a nice job keeping the defense on his hip/back. He does not have much of a midrange game yet out of the PnR, and the slower release might make it difficult due to defenders being able to contest them. Looks uncomfortable in paint when there is no out either at the rim or passing lane.

Assist Chart (misses are passes leading to FTs):

Defense:

Synergy Profile (I know there is a lot of noise here, but this is just added information): 13

Spot Up PnR Score Around Basket Dribble J C&S Iso Off Screens Post Up 24 20 26 4 20 2/5 (total) 7 6

Defensive Shot Chart (A lot of noise, but interesting. Paint = as primary and secondary defender.)

Awareness / Team Defense: Shows some flashes rotating off ball to get in front of drivers / on the perimeter to the open shooter, but needs to be more consistent. Part of the issue with him rotating is he’s simply not quick enough to react / athletic enough to get to where he has to be (either horizontally or with pop trying to contest). He’ll sometimes see pretty clearly where he has to be, but might be a step late so he can’t contest the shot well enough to make a difference. Appears to do a nice job telling teammates where to go. Does a pretty good job tagging and recovering, though can sometimes sink too close to the roller – same goes with his help defense, in that he can pay too much attention to the action by ball watching, sink too far into the paint, and then have to scramble out to his man.

Rim Protection: Not much potential here as a G rim protector, which shouldn’t be surprising given his lack of vertical pop (though he has nice length). Flashes some recognition helping on drives / when someone’s man is taken off the bounce (or screened off), but it’s inconsistent and needs improvement. His lack strength makes it highly unlikely he will dislodge guys / bother them with strength at the rim (or before, in the paint) – can be bodied by bigger players in addition to just more physical guards (does not “play strong”). When he stays in front of a player driving, he does a nice job contesting with his length … but his off ball rim protection will likely be more flashes with nice rotations (if he improves here) than actually having an impact due to lack of pop and being outmuscled.

PnR Defense: Shows flashes of potential getting over screens, but is not consistent – more often than not he takes a wider angle (takes an extra step too) and ends up playing from behind instead of getting skinny and over the top. When he does make an attempt to get skinny, he doesn’t close the gap enough and is often still bumped by the screen. Does not do a good job “feeling the screen” and ends up getting hit, which is an issue because the slightest bump is able to get him off his course, forcing him to play from behind. When he’s hit by the screener straight on (like, a stationary and well set screen), he does not fight through them well. Tries to get back into play if screened, but he’s usually not fast enough back to the ballhandler to get fully back into the play and make an impact – can get to hip, but must improve use of length from side / behind the ballhandler. Not switchable – was eaten alive on the inside whenever he was switched onto the big…in addition to being slight, he doesn’t play physically.

Shot Contests / Closeouts: Inconsistent. There are some flashes with really nice overall technique, but then some really bad ones – especially when closing hard after tagging the roll / 2-9ing the paint (staying in the paint is probably the more appropriate term overseas with no defensive 3 seconds). Main issues here are he bites on too many fakes, jogs to the receiver when he thinks he’s too far away, and is prone to leaving his hand down when (or putting it up too late…when it should be up on the close). He also loses his man off ball / overhelps in the paint, forcing him to scramble to the shooter…where he doesn’t always make it in time due to limited athletic ability. Definitely needs to work on technique here, but being lazy getting out to shooters is something I think could be fixed pretty easily.

Off Ball Defense: Ball-watches too much off ball and can lose his man relatively easily. He does a nice job chasing his man off screens, but the technique there is poor – doesn’t dip shoulder, stays too upright, etc. Prone to biting on pump fakes here. Sometimes late putting his hand up.

Man (ISO) Defense: Moves solid laterally and has pretty nice hip turns when he’s not resting on his heels or takes an extra step on the hip turn…which he does do quite a bit. The issue with his movement is more so with his actual lateral quickness (and overall athleticism) than how quickly he can get into position. Hip turns usually involve another half step which slows him down, though it does give him balance aid (which, although is better than last year, still needs improvement). The first step on the turn is a cross and then essentially a run downhill, which makes him susceptible to change of pace and direction (especially considering he needs to improve balance on perimeter). When he’s pre-positioned himself to move one way, he looks better because he turns fully to get downhill, but not from a neutral position. When he does rest on his heels, his quickness (and reaction time) is delayed, and the ballhandler can get the better of him. Doesn’t have super quick hands on ball to poke the ball away, and can sometimes overreach and get body out of position. Gets pushed off spot / bumped easily when defending downhill and does not recover well if to the ballhandler. If he’s beaten, he does a solid job getting back to his man by turning and getting downhill, but with extra spacing (and better athletes) in the NBA, by the time he is able to do that, it might be too late to actually recover and affect the play. Balance has improved from last year – can stop and go much and change directions better, but, as mentioned above, he is still susceptible because of his poor footwork. Needs to stop biting on fakes, hesitations, etc.

Footwork: Needs to work on his footwork quite a bit. His limited athleticism makes it difficult to naturally slide when moving laterally and his hip turns make him more prone to being beaten off the bounce, so Maledon tries to alleviate this by crossing his feet and getting downhill. Because of this, his ability to stop and go after running full speed is rough. Gets out of stance too often – relaxes, gets high, sits on heels, etc. – and bites on fakes / hesitations (especially in PnR when playing from behind / on the side after the screen), which opens him up to being left in the dust.

Potential Switchability: Will likely not be a viable switch option. Though he has solid length (6’8 wingspan is just below average for SG), he has a pretty high center of gravity, is not strong enough (do not think he can put that much weight on without sacrificing athleticism, either), and does not play physically enough in the post – gets bodied way too easily.

Written by Spencer Pearlman, https://twitter.com/SKPearlman, link to other pieces and in-depth reports: https://www.thestepien.com/author/spencerpearlman/