Kam Jones Draft Analysis

NBA Projection: Rotation Player

Post Draft

1. Summer League

Pre Draft

1. Draft Age

• 23.3 years (95th percentile amongst 1st round drafted players between 2004-2024)

• Senior

2. Physical Tools

• Height without shoes: 6' 3.25''

• Wingspan: 6' 6.00''

• NBA Size: PG

3. NCAA Team Role:

• NCAA starter at PG

• bpm: 8.5 (64th percentile amongst 1st round drafted players between 2004-2024)

• Strengths:

  • leading playmaker with very high ast% and ast/tov

  • highest usg and pts/40 on team

  • above average 2P%

  • good stl%

  • decent rim shooting %

  • good mid shooting %

  • high 3pa/100

  • above average rim rate

  • shot creation: above average rim/mid/3%

• Flaws:

  • low FT% and 3P%

  • no dunks

  • very low ftr

4. Nearest Neighbours within 2 years of Draft Age

• Neighbour means 2025 Draft Class ranks:

  • KNN Dist: 26 of 30

  • Neighbour NBA Adv Rank Mean: 18.75

    • NBA_Start% Rank: 30 of 30

    • BPM Rank: 13 of 30

    • WS/YEAR Rank: 19 of 30

    • VORP/YEAR Rank: 13 of 30

  • Overall:

    • distant neighbours

    • average production in NBA

1. Starters (NBA_Start% >= 50%): Bane

2. Rotation (VORP>=0): Morris, Jerome, Pritchard, Carter, Vasquez

3. Fringe (VORP<0): Pickett, Kolek, Bone, Preston

5. Analysis

Jones is an older PG prospect with decent height and wingspan. As a senior he changed from being a scorer to a true PG by dramatically increasing his ast% and ast/tov. His 3P% dropped as a senior to below average levels and his FT% has never been higher than 0.72, so he isn’t a consistent long distance shooter. His mid shooting % also varies wildly from year to year between the mid 20% to mid 40% so it’s unclear how effective he will be in the NBA in the midrange.

The majority of his neighbours are currently backup PGs in the NBA, which will be Jones’ likely role in the NBA especially with his inconsistent 3P shooting.

1. Bane is the lone starter neighbour as a starting SG and fringe all-star candidate. He didn’t measure at the combine, but is likely taller than Jones and better able to guard NBA SGs. He was younger and was a better 3P shooter in the NCAA so it is unlikely Jones can be a NBA starting SG like Bane with his 3P shooting inconsistencies.

2. The rest of the neighbours are backup PGs with slightly different profiles than Jones. Pritchard and Jerome competed for 6th man of the year in 2025 with Pritchard winning. They were better NCAA 3P shooters and have continued this role in the NBA as backup PG specializing in 3P shooting.

3. Carter is a defensive backup PG specialist with a much higher NCAA stl% rate than Jones. Jones’ stl% is more comparable to the rest of his neighbours and can be a solid defensive PG, but not to the level of Carter.

4. Morris, Kolek and Vasquez are are solid comparable to Jones, with Kolek being the closest with similar rim/mid rates. Kolek’s rim rate dropped significantly in the NBA in favour of increased 3 rate which would be problematic for Jones as he is a poorer NCAA 3P shooter than all of his neighbours.

5. This is the main concern for Jones. His best area of scoring compared to his neighbours is at the rim and mid range. Jones does not dunk at all and has by far the lowest ftr of any of his neighbours. This takes away the 2 most efficient shots (dunks and free throws). Jones is good at the rim, but not significantly better than the neighbours. If his rim rate decreases as it has for all of his neighbours, his rim shooting % will be on low volume.

6. The mid range is where Jones needs to be efficient in and it has varied in efficiency year over year. If he becomes a midrange assassin, he can utilize his on-ball playmaking to good effect. If he doesn’t he needs to be a much better 3 point shooter as an offball backup PG.

7. Jones can be a capable backup PG, but his shot profile and strengths are less desirable than 6th man of the year candidates, Pritchard and Jerome, who are much better 3 point shooters.

Predicted NBA Outcome: Rotation Player

Appendix:

1. Starters (NBA_Start% >= 50%): Bane

   1. Bane

      1. similar

         1. bpm

         2. stl%

         3. 3pa/100

         4. dunksmade/40

         5. rim shooting %

      2. disadvantages

         1. ast% and ast/tov

         2. 2P%

         3. rim rate

         4. unassisted rim/mid%

         5. mid shooting %

         6. pts/40

      3. advantages

         1. 1.3 years younger

         2. no combine, likely taller and SG size

         3. orb%

         4. 3P%

         5. blk%

         6. unassisted 3%

      4. NBA stat changes

         1. FT% large increase

         2. orb% and drb% down

         3. ast% and to% down

         4. asst/tov up to 2.11

2. Rotation (VORP>=0): Morris, Jerome, Pritchard, Carter, Vasquez

   1. Morris

      1. similar

         1. blk% and stl%

         2. unassisted mid%

         3. dunksmade/40

         4. rim/mid shooting %

      2. disadvantages

         1. shorter with smaller wingspan

         2. ast%

         3. 2P%

         4. pts/40

         5. 3pa/100

         6. rim rate

         7. unassisted rim%

      3. advantages

         1. bpm

         2. 1.2 years younger

         3. orb%

         4. FT% and 3P%

         5. unassisted 3%

         6. ftr

      4. NBA stat changes

         1. rim rate down

         2. unassisted 2/3% down

         3. ast% large drop

         4. usg down

   2. Jerome

      1. similar

         1. taller with shorter wingspan

         2. orb%

         3. ast/tov

         4. 3pa/100

         5. shot creation: unassisted rim/mid/3 %

         6. dunksmade/40

      2. disadvantages

         1. ast%

         2. 2P%

         3. blk%

         4. pts/40

         5. rim rate

      3. advantages

         1. 1.4 years younger

         2. bpm

         3. FT% and 3P%

         4. stl%

         5. ftr

      4. NBA stat changes

         1. rim rate down

         2. FT% up

         3. unassisted 2% down

         4. ast% down

         5. usg down

   3. Pritchard

      1. similar

         1. bpm

         2. orb%

         3. stl%

         4. pts/40

         5. dunksmade/40

      2. disadvantages

         1. no combine, likely shorter

         2. ast% and ast/tov

         3. 2P%

         4. blk%

         5. rim rate

         6. unassisted rim/mid%

         7. rim/mid shooting %

      3. advantages

         1. 0.9 years younger

         2. FT% and 3P% and 3pa/100

         3. unassisted 3%

         4. ftr

      4. NBA stat changes

         1. 3 rate way up

         2. unassisted 2/3% down

         3. ast% and to% large drop

         4. usg large drop

         5. asst/tov up to 3.12

   4. Carter

      1. similar

         1. 0.5 years older

         2. orb%

         3. ast%

         4. blk%

         5. dunksmade/40

      2. disadvantages

         1. shorter with smaller wingspan

         2. 2P%

         3. ast/tov

         4. pts/40

         5. 3pa/100

         6. unassisted rim/mid %

         7. rim shooting %

      3. advantages

         1. bpm

         2. FT% and 3P%

         3. stl% much higher

         4. ftr

         5. unassisted 3 %

      4. NBA stat changes

         1. rim rate down

         2. 3 rate large increase

         3. ftr down

         4. unassisted 2/3% down

         5. ast% large decrease

         6. usg down

   5. Vasquez

      1. similar

         1. bpm

         2. 0.1 years older

         3. ast%

         4. pts/40

      2. disadvantages

         1. 2P%

         2. blk%

         3. ast/tov

         4. 3pa/100

         5. rim rate

         6. unassisted rim/mid%

         7. rim/mid shooting %

      3. advantages

         1. taller with longer wingspan

         2. orb%

         3. FT% and 3P%

         4. stl%

         5. ftr

         6. unassisted 3%

         7. dunksmade/40

      4. NBA stat changes

         1. rim rate down

         2. stl% down

         3. usg large drop

         4. ast/tov up to 2.53

3. Fringe (VORP<0): Pickett, Kolek, Bone, Preston

   1. Pickett

      1. similar

         1. closest statistical match

         2. 0.4 years older

         3. shorter with longer wingspan

         4. ast% and ast/tov

         5. unassisted rim/mid%

         6. dunksmade/40

      2. disadvantages

         1. 2P%

         2. stl%

         3. pts/40

         4. 3pa/100

         5. rim rate

      3. advantages

         1. bpm

         2. orb%

         3. FT% and 3P%

         4. blk%

         5. ftr

         6. unassisted 3%

      4. NBA stat changes

         1. mid rate down

         2. 3 rate way up

         3. ast% and usg large drop

         4. ast/tov large increase to 4.25

   2. Kolek

      1. similar

         1. bpm

         2. 0.1 years younger

         3. orb%

         4. ast% and ast/tov

         5. blk% and stl%

         6. rim rate

         7. unassisted 3%

         8. dunksmade/40

         9. mid shooting%

      2. disadvantages

         1. shorter with much smaller wingspan

         2. 2P%

         3. pts/40

         4. 3pa/100

         5. unassisted rim/mid%

         6. rim shooting%

      3. advantages

         1. FT% and 3P%

         2. ftr

      4. NBA stat changes

         1. 3P% down to 0.3

         2. rim rate way down and 3 rate way up

         3. unassisted 3% large drop

         4. drb% large drop

         5. ast% large drop

         6. ast/tov up to 4.25

   3. Bone

      1. similar

         1. orb%

         2. ast/tov

         3. unassisted 3%

      2. disadvantages

         1. bpm

         2. shorter with smaller wingspan

         3. ast%

         4. 2P%

         5. blk% and stl%

         6. pts/40

         7. 3pa/100

         8. rim rate

         9. unassisted rim/mid%

         10. rim shooting %

      3. advantages

         1. 1.7 years younger

         2. FT% and 3P%

         3. ftr

         4. dunksmade/40

         5. mid shooting %

      4. NBA stat changes

         1. 24 career NBA games

   4. Preston

      1. similar

         1. bpm

         2. ast%

         3. 2P% and FT%

         4. blk% and stl%

      2. disadvantages

         1. ast/tov

         2. pts/40

         3. 3pa/100

         4. rim rate

         5. shot creation: unassisted rim/mid/3 %

         6. mid shooting %

      3. advantages

         1. 1.4 years younger

         2. similar height with longer wingspan

         3. orb%

         4. 3P%

         5. ftr

         6. rim shooting %

      4. NBA stat changes

         1. 21 career NBA games