5. Nah’Shon Hyland
The Los Angeles Lakers have worked out six players on July 10th, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Dan Woike, and Nah’Shon Hyland was one of them. A pre-draft workout for a team is generally a pretty good indication that they are interested in them, and his draft projection also indicates that he could be on the board when the Lakers are picking.
In both of his two seasons at VCU, he hit over 60 3-point shots, and as a freshman, he shot over 43.4%, from that range. His sophomore season he did take a minor step back percentage-wise, but he was able to add six more to his total and improved his free throw percentage from 66% to 86%.
Even though he will need to gain some weight to be an elite defender his 6’9″ wingspan allows him to possibly defend both guard positions and get into passing lanes. The Lakers could have used another combo guard that could shoot the ball at a decent clip like he can when KCP went down with an injury in the playoffs.
He is not just strictly a spot-up shooter either, he is a player that can put it on the floor and create his own shot when called upon, and that is something the Lakers lack out of the guard position beyond maybe Talen Horton-Tucker. He was a walking bucket for VCU last season averaging 19.5 points per game, 9 more than any other player on his team.
Entering the draft process he might not have been looked at as a first-rounder, but during the NBA combine, he made an impression on scouts by being able to score and facilitate in scrimmages.
One area he will need to improve on if he is going to play point guard and lead an offense in the NBA is his ability to pass the ball because he only averaged 2.1 assists last season. Right now the Lakers would not need him to play that role because LeBron is essentially their point guard and he could be a good option as an off-ball scorer at that position.