Jerel McNeal: 2014-15 Phoenix Suns Player Grades

Strengths:

Again, it’s hard to fully explore McNeal’s strengths as an NBA player when he only logged a grand total of 34 minutes with the Suns (15 of which came last night). But for starters, he was an upgrade over “veteran” A.J. Price, who missed every three-point attempt he took after Nov. 26, 2014 — before he was even in Phoenix.

But back to McNeal. His limited playing time means most are still unfamiliar with his game, but taking a look at his time with the Bakersfield Jam in the D-League, we get a clearer picture of his strengths.

He’s a bit short for a shooting guard, but he likes to operate with the ball in his hands as a point guard and uses his wider frame to back down defenders before planting a pivot foot, spinning away from his defender and putting up a jump shot in the paint.

He has a crossover that’s low to the ground, and he can effectively use a hesitation dribble out of pick-and-rolls to freeze the hedging defender before blowing by him. He’s not afraid to attack the basket, he creates a little separation with his off-hand when challenging bigger defenders and he really likes to use spin moves to free up space when he’s looking to score.

To be clear, a lot of these moves won’t be anywhere near as effective against NBA defenders, especially since McNeal’s build doesn’t give him as much of an advantage at this level.

But at the very least, he has a decent skill set to work with as a third-string point guard. That will depend on his role with the Summer League team in the offseason, but the good news is that by signing McNeal through the offseason, the Suns will have a point guard for summer games, allowing Archie Goodwin to focus on improving at his true position of shooting guard.

McNeal’s contract for 2015-16 is guaranteed if he’s still on the roster by Jul. 21. That means the Suns could also include him in a summer trade if they need to match salaries, making him an asset in yet another way for Phoenix.

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