Scouting Report: Denzel Valentine

We are back with a new article after long time. Today I decided to write about Denzel Valentine, one of the top 3 players of the regular season for NCAA.

Name: Denzel Valentine
Class:  Senior
Position: SG
Height: 6'6
*Season stats: MPG:33, PER:29, PPG:19.2, RPG:7.5, APG:7.8
University: Michigan State

Denzel Valentine had a terrific regular season, as a result of that, Valentine won multiple awards, such as Consensus first-team All-American, Julius Erving Award and Big Ten Player of the Year are just few of them. 

Athleticism, Denzel Valentine cannot be considered a top athlete. Valentine is an above the average athlete with an exceptional length, he stands at 6'6 with a wingspan of 6'10. His game is not defined by his speed or by his elevation. Valentine possess an average explosiveness and speed, especially his first step needs work. Nevertheless, I like how Valentine changes speed and direction in the game.
We have to mention that Valentine had an arthroscopic injury during the season, which may impacted his overall athleticism. 
 

 

 

Offensively, Valentine lead his team with 19,2 PPG. He is a versatile scorer, he can create his own shot, move off the screen, shoot after a pick, be a spot shooter, additional to that he can post smaller opponents and even use a step back jumper. Valentine is a very good shooter with a nice release, he made 44.4% of his attempts from 3-point range. In more details 52.7% from his shots are behind the arc and 86% of them are assisted. Moreover 30.6% of his shoot are 2-point jumpers and he converted 41.6%, an average percentage which needs to be improved.
Valentine weakness, is that he took just 16.4% of his total attempts, near the rim and he was able to convert just 60% of them. It really shows that is not easy for him to penetrate and it really makes you wonder why a guard with a size of 6.6' had a problem like that. The answer is, Valentine lack of explosiveness. In NBA, Valentine will face more athletic players than him, but eventually, Valentine should be able to use his size better.
Finally we have to add that Valentine is an excellent free throw shooter, ~85%. 

Playmaking, another excellent aspect of Valentine game. Valentine has an excellent vision, even though many times Valentine was playing alongside two smaller guards than him, he was the main facilitator of the Spartans. A very good ball handler, Valentine does not rush the game, but we have to mention that Valentine is an excellent passer in transition situations. Moreover, Valentine reads and reacts very good in trap situations, generally Valentine size defines his playmaking abilities. A very big and extremely long guard for college, who can see above his opponents and has the ability to make the correct pass. 
Minor weakness are his turnover, 2.7 per game, not a bad number and in NBA I do not expect him to be the main facilitator of a team.

Defensively, there are few questionnaires regarding his overall speed and more specific to the lateral one, it will not be easy for Valentine to follow more explosive shooting guards or even small forwards, but Valentine has an excellent size. I totally believe, that Valentine has what it take to become a (very) good team defender and eventually he will learn how to use his size. Especially in the small-ball NBA he could be a game changer. Even if he plays as a shooting guard or even as a small forward.
I do not expect Valentine to make an impact on the defensive end from the first day, as Winslow or Stanley Johnson did, two players with similar size like Valentine and I do not expect him to become a defender of that caliber. Valentine brings different things on the table, but he has the size and if he acquires the proper toughness, Valentine should be able to become a good defender. Also you cannot find many guards who can rebound like him. 

Overall, Valentine should be seen as a versatile player who can play as a PG/SG/SF. He lacks the explosiveness but he has an excellent size, he can score, create and rebound in a very good level and definitely he will need to improve a lot in the defensive end.
I fully expect Valentine, to be a productive player early in his career, is one of the most safe bets in the draft, he is projected as a late lottery pick to a mid 1st round pick. I believe that Chicago or Memphis are ideal teams for him.  

Hope you enjoyed the report and looking forward to your comments.

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I would like to thank hoop-math for some of the advanced analytics. 

*MPG: Minutes per game, PPG: Points per game, RPG: Rebounds per game, PER: Player efficient rate, APG: Assist per game, FG: Field goals.