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As the unambiguous best prospect in the world (at least certainly in my eyes), I really couldn’t begin my 2010 NBA Draft player previews on anyone except John Wall. He has a combination of height, athleticism, skill and innate basketball sense that we rarely see from 25-year-old All-Stars, let alone a college freshman.

Wall will be a scoring point guard in the NBA, but his most immediately astonishing talent is as a passer. His anticipatory vision will make him one of the most creative passers to ever play the game.

Wall naturally see things develop before they actually happen to a point where he almost has the gift of pressing pause as he catches the ball in order to survey the entire floor and then instantly make his pass decision before hitting the resume button. Most players need a few beats with the ball in their hands before making another pass, but I’ve been floored with how quickly he’ll see something materialize and perfectly put the ball there for a teammate to have a wide open lay-up or dunk.

I’ve frequently rewound the tape on plays such as this where I already know his pass and I still can’t see how he could possibly anticipate it without possessing some sort of additional sense that even many of the most gifted passers don’t possess.

Combine that specific ability alone with a 6’4” frame that will fill out gradually into a wiry strong build and you are looking at one of the game’s top five point guards through 2020.

Combine the passing ability and the 6’4” frame with everything else he is capable of and you are looking at one of the game’s top five players, regardless of position, through 2020.

This is incredibly high praise that I do not toss around lightly, but to sober things up, he does have much to improve upon in order to reach that potential.

The scoring point guard in the mold of Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis has become anathema in most NBA circles, but Wall is the perfect convergence of everything that made those two players truly special while also remaining a much truer point guard at the end of the day.

The Derrick Rose comparisons are easy to make because both are easily the most celebrated point guard prospects since Jason Kidd, both played their freshman season under John Calipari and both are blessed with great size.

Wall is a much different player, however, in several fundamental ways.

Wall is built lean like a wide receiver while Rose is built sturdier and wider like a linebacker. Wall’s dribble moves are much looser, shakier and East/West, think Allen Iverson versus Michael Jordan crossover.

He has great balance with the dribble and is able to make remarkable spin moves, sudden change of pace bursts and the aforementioned crossover because of that. He is so quick with the dribble in the halfcourt that beating his man at will is practically a given.

He is a righty, but almost seems more confident with his left-handed dribble. Wall is at least somewhat ambidextrous and frequently will complete power dunks with his left hand to prove it.

Wall’s baseline-to-baseline quickness is never more evident than when he gets the ball out in transition off a missed basket. He allows himself to hit full sprints with the dribble because he does a truly remarkable job of anticipating where the seams will be ahead of the missed shot.

He loves to leak out towards halfcourt after defensive rebounds, but when he finds himself in the paint he will be a highly engaged rebounder. Wall is conscious of boxing out and will use his elevation and long arms to compete for rebounds in traffic. He is naturally a scrappy guy no matter where he is on the floor and that inherent toughness shows when he is battling for a board.

As a scorer, Wall gets so many of his opportunities in isolation, using his dribble to create his mid-range game and get all the way to rim than he is as a spot-up shooter. He could improve his pre-dribble moves, as he is hugely reliant on purely shaking his man off the dribble. Wall imposes his will on defensive players by his quickness and elusiveness, differing from the strength superiority of Rose and LeBron James.

He can be a highlight reel as a finisher with his leaping ability and fearlessness, but equally impressive is his mid-range game. Wall should be one of the game’s better mid-range shooters, largely because he is so under control with his shot after he frees from his man. He also gets the ball high on his jumper, both in terms of position in relation to his body and also his lift off the floor. Wall has some resemblance to Dwyane Wade as a scorer in this area.

His sense of finding space and attacking seams in the halfcourt is very nuanced for a player his age and Wall will have far more opportunities to showcase this in the NBA where opposing teams can’t sag and collapse into a zone to clog the paint.

When looking at his form on catch-and-shoot opportunities from beyond the arc, it is surprising his percentage (34.7% as of 2/24) is as good as it is. It is a set shot with very little lift off the ground, unlike that of his mid-range jumper.

Wall too frequently will miss left and right on his perimeter shots, an easy sign of mechanical inconsistencies. His shot is a little flat and lacks some touch, which would inherently come with more arc. His release is far too slow, taking a lot of time between taking the ball up to his hairline and the follow-through release.

More positively, he can successfully extend his range back to NBA distance and he readies his hands well ahead of the catch. His follow-through looks good and confident.

There is enough promise in his shot where he can eventually be an 80% and 35% guy in the NBA, but he’ll almost certainly be below 30% from distance during his first few NBA seasons. He needs a few subtle adjustments in his mechanics, but the bigger issue is consistency of motion. Major repetition work of 1,000 shots per day over a few summers will get him there fairly quickly where teams must respect and contest his jumper and it evolves into an asset instead of a liability.

Like most teenaged superstars, Wall needs to reel in his shot selection and limit the number of forced shots he takes, primarily early in the shot clock. Scoring point guards must always find that delicate balance between distributing the ball and calling their own number and I have complete confidence in his ability to strike that eventually.

Defensively, Wall has a long ways to go to match his physical attributes and the natural basketball acumen he shows offensively. The defensive culture of the team he is drafted by will be a big determining factor into what kind of player he becomes on that end of the floor. He hopefully won’t need to play beside the Team USA vets in order for him to learn that importance, as LeBron and Carmelo Anthony seemed to need.

Regardless, I can see him averaging two steals and just under one block per game (absurdly good numbers, almost exclusively reserved for the likes of Jordan and Wade), but being overrated on that end of the floor due to the caliber of his defense during those more pedestrian possessions.

His spacing and vision in help defense are solid and he slips past screens fairly well.

His long arms allow him to block shots in the paint and on the perimeter and he will be a headache to be aware of when he disrupts passing lanes with deflections and steals.

Wall’s arms are also too much of what we see of him defensively. It is a little shocking how frequently he’s beat off the dribble, particularly by unimpressive players. He’s far too quick laterally to be beat with any kind of regularity.

When defending dribblers out on the perimeter, Wall’s feet are a little too happy. He seems to take some of the same mentality of how he himself dribbles when defending, but he will fake himself out of position instead of simply staying in front of his man.

Most importantly, Wall needs to increase his general effort on defense, particularly when closing out on perimeter shooters.

Overall on defense, Wall will provide some blocks and steals that are YouTube worthy, but his gamble percentage will favor offenses. Like the rest of his game, Wall has no limitations and will be exactly as good defensively as he choose to be.

The NBA is already in the midst of a golden age of point guards with Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo and Russell Westbrook all being 25 or younger. Wall will undoubtedly join that group and he has the distinct potential of being considered the best of the bunch as he is a rare combination of each of their best qualities.

I have also published a companion piece to this scouting report, which outlines what the lottery winner should specifically do to successfully build around John Wall.

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