Duke’s Cassius Stanley says he won’t let uncertain NBA draft stock slow him down
Cassius Stanley made the decision to leave Duke and put his name in the NBA draft with the confidence of a lottery pick, even if his actual draft status is far more uncertain. There’s no guarantee he’s even a first-round pick, not a typical one-and-done profile, but that’s not what informed his decision.
The son of a basketball agent, he has contacts around the NBA most players don’t. Already 20, he was concerned about his stock slipping because of his age if he came back for his sophomore year. And he’s confident, even if he doesn’t get to work out for NBA teams in person, his high-flying exploits during his freshman year at Duke will be enough.
“It would be great to work out and get face to face with a lot of the teams,” Stanley said Friday. “Obviously, we don’t know what’s going to happen with this pandemic. Talking to coach, one of the biggest things he said was, we weren’t hidden. Every game was on ESPN. That was a great thing. I’m confident in the way I played. If things don’t work out, I would be very confident with my tape speaking for itself.”
Most mock drafts have Stanley going in the second round, with a few sneaking him into the final picks of the first. It’s not a typical one-and-done profile, and easily could have served as justification for Stanley coming back for a second year at Duke.
But Stanley indicated the feedback he got from the NBA’s undergraduate advisory committee was more positive than where those mock drafts have had him.
“I got those numbers back and that was good for me,” Stanley said, “and that’s how I made my decision.”
NBA teams love the 6-foot-5 guard’s obvious athleticism, which was on full display at Duke, and he’s built like an NBA combo guard, with the size to guard shooting guards and the quickness to play point in a pinch even though that’s not something he did at Duke.
With his ability to slash to the basket and run the floor in transition, there’s no doubt Stanley has the ability and mentality to score in bunches. But the NBA is a shooter’s league, and there were enough questions about Stanley’s shooting at Duke to make him anything but a slam-dunk prospect at the next level, despite his affinity for spectacular slam dunks.
While he shot 53 percent from 2-point range, he struggled to score in the half court at what would be considered a first-round level, according to Synergy Sports data. In transition, his efficiency was in the 88th percentile but dropped to the 72nd percentile in the half court. A solid spot-up shooter, he was very poor off the dribble, in isolations and in pick-and-rolls, which does raise questions about his ability to transition to the point in the NBA.
From long distance, he was a reasonably effective (36 percent) but low-volume (three attempts per game) 3-point shooter with room for growth.
There’s an interesting comparison to be had with fellow freshman Vernon Carey, whose official announcement appears imminent. Carey is in the back half of the first round in every mock draft, but is a very traditional post player, the kind the NBA continues to evolve away from. It’s possible, because of the way all of this works, which doesn’t always make sense, Carey’s draft prospects are better but Stanley’s career prospects are better.
Stanley is betting that one team somewhere in the first round — and it only takes one — will decide that his athleticism and potential are too tantalizing, that while there may be more polished players in the draft, there are few with his natural gifts. A player of his height, his quickness, his ability to soar above the rim — those are rare, even in the NBA.
Some players leave regardless of their first-round chances because they just aren’t cut out for college, but with Stanley, it’s more that he thinks his best bet is on himself.
“I just felt like the circumstance that I’m in,” Stanley said, “I have to seize the moment now.”
In the end, it’s a leap of faith, but by the best leaper in college basketball.
