NBA Comparison: Patrick Christopher

Strengths: Marshall was at his best at Xavier with the ball in his hands trying to make plays with his speed and athleticism. He is listed at 6’7 but he plays more like a point guard and has the speed to beat smaller guards off the dribble. He is an accurate passer and a good facilitator, but sometimes gets caught in the air and makes the wrong pass … As mentioned before, his best traits are his speed and athleticism. He scores most of his points around the rim and he does so with good ball-handling and body control … With a wingspan of 7’0 he is able to wrap around taller defenders to get passes off and avoid blocked shots … Marshall is a great defender with size and quickness to guard any position other than the center … His length allows him to dominate on the glass when he is up against guards and helps him take the ball away (1.3 steals per game as a junior) … Marshall can be used as a slashing playmaker as well as a strong defender early on in his career. He is comfortable with the ball in his hands and can give traditional point guards a break at any time … His four assists per game were very impressive for someone with his size … High motor player who hustles for loose rebounds and plays with high energy almost all of the time … He is an average free throw shooter at 72.5% for his career and shot a good percentage from two-point range (53.5%) despite a high volume (8.8 two-point attempts per game) … There is no real downside to his defensive game. He is successful against both small guards and lanky big men and essentially everything in between. He is tough to drive past and even more difficult to elevate over because of his vertical and length. Can make a real impact off the bench as a lockdown defender

Weaknesses: Marshall struggled from distance with a 29% career percentage. Some of this can be attributed to high volume, but his struggles were a major storyline and easy to focus in on. If he cannot improve on this, teams will be able to take away his slashing ability on pick and rolls by allowing him to take deep threes … He also turned the ball over way too much with nearly 3.5 turnovers per game in his last two seasons. With limited playing time at the next level, he will not be able to afford this high turnover rate … He also found himself in foul trouble quite often due to his aggressive play style on the defensive end and getting out of control on his dribble drives … Marshall also struggled with shots outside of the paint. If he was denied a lane all the way to the rim, he struggled with pull up jumpers and floaters in the lane. He needs to improve his jump shooting as a whole if he is going to have valuable minutes at the next level.

Overall: Marshall is currently not projected to be drafted on our mock draft but he is listed as the #48 overall prospect on our big board. He showcases a wide variety of skills from ball-handling to passing to a well-rounded defender, but he needs to improve in his offensive game in both total points and efficiency. His assist/turnover ratio is barely above one for his career and his three-point percentage is not even 30%. Ben Simmons is one of the best slashers in the NBA, but even he has his limitations and substantial criticism despite being one of the best players in the league. With less talent and size than Simmons, but a similar play style, Marshall will have to improve in other categories in order to find a home on a NBA team.

Notes; Measured 6’5.75” barefoot, 6’7.00” in shoes, 8’6.50” standing reach, 233.5 lbs, and 7’0.75” wingspan at the 2020 NBA Combine …

Derek Bast 11/17/20