1 - Harry Giles

Nov 8, 2015
Nov 6, 2015
Sep 8, 2015
Sep 6, 2015
Jul 30, 2015
Jul 20, 2015
Jul 14, 2015
Jun 1, 2015
Apr 14, 2015
Apr 13, 2015
Mar 10, 2015
Mar 4, 2015
Jan 19, 2015
Jan 11, 2015
Nov 26, 2014
Nov 16, 2014
Oct 29, 2014
Sep 24, 2014
Jul 31, 2014
Jul 28, 2014
Jul 23, 2014
Oct 24, 2013
Apr 10, 2013
Apr 4, 2013
Mar 27, 2013
Mar 3, 2013
Jan 6, 2013
Feb 29, 2012
Strengths: Giles is an extremely gifted athlete, arguably the best big man prospect in this entire draft when healthy, something he hasn’t been in quite a while … Looks the part of an NBA big man with his frame … An explosive leaper even with the injuries to his knees … He’s got great hands which allows him to finish around the rim and in traffic … He runs the floor well for a big man and is active on the glass … Shows a lot of physicality in the post and doesn’t shy away from contact on defense … Takes contact in the chest, isn’t easily moved off of his spots and is an above average rim protector … Moves his feet extremely well and has really good lateral quickness for a big man … Can play both the PF and C positions in the NBA from a defensive standpoint and while he is a work in progress on the offensive end, he has exhibited an ability to use a variety of post moves to score in the paint … Before his injury, he excelled in a face up game from about 15 feet and used his superior quickness, length and athleticism to get to the rim and finish with a purpose … The consensus top overall player in his class for years while in high , Giles has everything an NBA scout/GM could want from a prospect physically … A tremendous kid with a extremely outgoing and likable personality …
Weaknesses: Multiple knee surgeries including two ACL tears (both knees) and an MCL tear (left) before graduating high school is a huge question mark with regards to the outlook of Giles’ career. No team wants to draft the next Greg Oden and players with injury histories like that of Giles always raise red flags to scouts and GM’s who are putting their jobs on the line with every draft pick and free agent signing … His ability to explode with contact seemed affected … As far as Giles’ looks on the court, he seemed to get lost at times during his freshman season and was almost afraid to do certain things … Whether that was simply due to a fear of another injury, lack of conditioning, Duke’s struggles in developing bigs, or an awareness thing remains to be seen … He isn’t a versatile player on offense and doesn’t really possess the range that you would like to see out of a PF even though that was always was he projected to be during his days in high school … Doesn’t have great footwork or great touch on offense and relies heavily on put backs and dunks for most of his points … His jumper is one glaring hole in his game as he routinely air balled or barely drew iron once outside of about 12 feet … Doesn’t make great decisions on offense and hasn’t really learned to simply play within himself just yet …
Overall: Giles’ freshman season wasn’t what most had hoped it would be … He had a hard time getting into shape post knee surgeries and never really carved out the type of roll that you would have hoped for a player with his skill set … His 3.9 point and 3.8 rebound averages are more synonymous with a player who would likely go undrafted as opposed to one that is likely to go in the first round. There were definitely flashes of the player that he used to be but he was never really fully healed during his time at Duke … Will have to learn to trust his knees and believe that he is healthy before he will make an impact at the next level … Would likely have been the #1 overall pick this year if it weren’t for the impact his injuries had on his senior year in high school and freshman year with the Blue Devils … His feel for the game was off during the year but he gets a pass in my book due to the fact that he was getting acclimated to high level college basketball after missing so much time due to injuries over the previous three years … If Giles’ injuries are a thing of the past and he can stay healthy then he could be the steal of the draft if he falls into the late teens to early 20’s.
Notes: Measured 6′ 9.25” without shoes, 6′ 10.5” with shoes, 232 lbs, 7′ 3.25” wingspan, 9′ 1.5” standing reach at the 2017 NBA Draft Combine … Measured 6’9.25 without shoes, 6’10 with shoes, 227 lbs, with a 7’3 wingspan and 9’1 standing reach at the 2015 USA U19 tryouts …
Clayton Crowe 5/11/2017
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