Cliff Alexander: Phoenix Suns 2015 Draft Profile

Strengths

I’d like to start this section with a video, because it’s very possible that Cliff Alexander had the dunk of the year in college basketball last year. Just watch…

/Mozgov’d.

Alexander can be a physical player, and really, he hits all the check marks on what you’d look for in a prospect. He blocked shots at a really high rate, posting 3.2 per 40 minutes in conference play, and he was an absolute force right around the rim. Alexander shot 57-of-73 (68.7 percent) at the rim according to Hoop Math, which is obviously absurdly good.

Looking at his measurements, everything outside of height seems to be a plus, and it was no surprise to see him get a slight boost on the draft boards, following the NBA Draft Combine.

And if you just look at his ESPN Draft Profile, it might be confusing to see why he’s ranked as low as he is on the big boards. His only weaknesses are that he’s “a tad undersized,” he needs to improve his midrange game and he has a “low basketball IQ,” which compared to his nine impressive strengths, really doesn’t mean all that much. Take a look and decide for yourself.

Going into specifics, Alexander has the strength and athleticism to overcome his slight, slight height disadvantage, and that goes all the way back to high school, where he was the player of the year. Alexander led his team (Curie) to a dramatic comeback win over the No. 1 ranked team in the country, and basically did it just by dunking on everyone else. He scored 13 points in the last five minutes, and it basically looked like he was a college basketball player that got thrown in with some middle school kids.

Again, that was against the No.1 ranked team in the country and had players such as D’Angelo Russell and Ben Simmons. You may have heard of them.

At times, Alexander looked to be the most dominant player coming out of high school. In fact, he had one game where he had 30 points, 24 rebounds and 15 blocks… IN 24 MINUTES. He also had three steals in that game, but that doesn’t seem that impressive compared to everything else.

Watch the highlights, it’s worth it:

I bring up all this high school stuff because Alexander was definitely underwhelming in college, but it’s not like the talent went away. There’s a reason so many guys were so high on him coming into the year, and as someone who followed and reported on the Jayhawks last season, I can say without a doubt that the situation did him no favors.

The fact that he might be available in the second round when the Suns pick is kind of ridiculous, and he has a very good chance to be one of the best value picks in the draft.

After all, despite the situation, he posted a college PER of 23.67. He averaged 16.2 points and 12.0 rebounds per 40 minutes, while posting an offensive rating of 118.2 with a defensive rating with 95.0. Alexander shot 60 percent from the field, with rebound rates that would’ve beaten out just about anyone on the Suns. He had a free throw rate of .612, which is ridiculous, not to mention higher than LeBron James for any of the years of his career.

Cliff Alexander is a prospect, no doubt, and he isn’t a sure thing. However, if you can get him after pick 25 or so, and you need a big, there is no reason I see not to take him, because just looking at the upside, it’s very clear that he has the potential to be a real contributor.

Also, you have to take into account that his presence was so dominant that Charles Barkley thought he was playing well in the NCAA Tournament, even though he hadn’t played a single moment in weeks (I’ll talk about that more in depth later).

Fun stuff.

Next: Weaknesses