To help readers get to know top NBA draft prospects, Insider offers a 360-degree look at many of them in a concise and thorough scouting report featuring three expert perspectives: Kevin Pelton (analytics), Fran Fraschilla (scouting) and Chad Ford (NBA front offices). Here's a look at Tyler Harvey.
WARP Projection: 0.9 (46th among players in top 100)
Comparables: Wayne Ellington (94.5), Terrence Ross (94.4), Allan Ray (94.2), Jodie Meeks (94.1)
Strengths: Shooting, TO%
Weaknesses: Usage, Rebound%, Assist%, Steal%
The analytics perspective
I want to take credit for putting Harvey on the map after mentioning him as a sleeper in a midseason Ford-Pelton, but it would have been difficult to keep the nation's leading scorer under wraps. From a statistical perspective, Harvey's high scoring average was more the product of efficient scoring (.643 TS% as a junior) than an enormous usage rate (27.5 percent, which ranked just sixth in the Big Sky). That's good news since NBA teams are unlikely to put the ball in Harvey's hands. He projects as a 36.9 percent 3-point shooter next season, good for third among prospects in Chad's top 100.
Harvey will have to contribute offensively, since he's a weak rebounder and defender. None of his comps seem particularly appropriate. Instead, I like a player with a higher similarity score (95.9) who was just too young when he entered the NBA to qualify: Daniel Gibson, another combo guard who stuck in the league because of his ability to space the floor and handle the ball when needed.
-- Kevin Pelton
The scouting perspective
Harvey is a great story because he is a late-blooming player who had only one scholarship offer to Eastern Washington but, most recently, has developed into one of the best scorers in the country in leading the Eagles to the NCAA tournament. At 6-foot-4, he is strictly a shooting guard.
The left-handed (and he is very left-handed) Harvey's one major strength is his outstanding shooting touch, which it is no fluke. When he gets it going, he has deep range. In three seasons, he has made 238 3-points shots -- at a 43 percent rate. His efficiency is exemplified by the fact that he used only 26 percent of the Eagles' possessions this season.
Harvey's ball skills overall are average at the NBA level. He favors his left hand on drives and has a good, not great, burst of speed. He also utilizes a step-back move to create space for his jump shot. However, his ability to get by defenders with his right hand is limited and usually results in contested step-back jump shots. Overall, I believe finishing at the basket will not be a strength at the NBA level.
I am not feeling Tyler Harvey as a first-round pick at the moment, but given his improvement, he will be a nice "project" because he has one elite skill: long-range shooting. If he comes back to school for his senior season, he is already on the map and has another season to polish his game.
-- Fran Fraschilla
The front-office perspective
Some mid-major guys hit the NBA radar screen with a big game or an impressive performance in a summer camp. It may have been ESPN Insider Kevin Pelton who noted Harvey was having, statistically, a season that should put him in the mix with more heralded NBA prospects.
Since that time, scouts and I have been following closely, and the more we watch the more Harvey looks like a legit NBA player. He's an unbelievable shooter with deep range, has no problem creating offense for himself off the dribble and, despite his high usage rate, is very efficient. He's smart and much like Steph Curry did in college, knows how to get his shot off.
His lack of elite size for his position, so-so athleticism and pedestrian defense are all worries. But when you watch Harvey play, his feel for the game, not just his shooting ability really stand out. Could he be the next Jimmer Fredette -- an undersized scorer with a sweet stroke? Perhaps. But the scouts that love him are banking that he might be able to pick up the point because of his basketball IQ and be a poor man's Steph Curry.
His draft range is pretty wide right now. Somewhere in the 20-40 range -- though with great workouts, it's possible he could inch even higher.
-- Chad Ford