Draft Prospect: Aaron Gray

Strengths: Unlike many post players Gray doesn’t put the ball on the floor. Once he gets the ball he goes straight up with it … Owns soft hands that enable him to catch most passes thrown into the post without fumbling, and has soft touch on his shots … Solid rebounder who understand how to seal his man off and get rebounds in his area … Has made tremendous strides on his past footwork over the past year … Offensively he has a good assortment of back to the basket moves … When he gets the ball inside the post, he can finish with a jump hook, spin lay-up or short flip-ins and put-backs … Excellent post passer who sees the floor well … Double teams do not effect him as he can easily find the open man … Defensively he may not be a natural shot blocker but he uses strong effort to disrupt shots … Does a great job of keeping his body between the basket and the opposing defender … Possesses excellent court awareness, he understands the game and is fundamentally sound … His progress as a player and athletically is a testament to his great work ethic … While not a speedster, Gray willingly runs the court … Finishes well around the basket thanks to his soft touch … Has no problem finishing after contact due to his excellent size and strength … Shows quality mid-range shooting ability out to 12-15 feet …

Weaknesses: Athletically Gray is not exceptionally quick or explosive … This has affects his overall game in a number of aspects: He will never be an impact shot blocker due to his lack of explosiveness … Under the glass he struggles to grab rebounds out of his position …. Doesn’t always get himself wide in the post, often he allowing opponents to dictate where he goes on the floor … Must continue to work on conditioning to improve upon his stamina … Doesn’t excel in a fast paced offense as he is clearly more comfortable in a half court set … Improving his lateral quickness and foot speed would make this less of a issue … Does struggle to score when facing athletic players with good size and athleticism … Has had trouble throughout his career with foul trouble while improved there are games where he finds himself on the bench …