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 Cliff Alexander.
WARP projection: 1.5 (31st among players in top 100)
Comparables: Spencer Hawes (95.4), J.J. Hickson (94.8), Kosta Koufos (94.8), DeAndre Jordan (94.5)
Strengths: Block%
Weaknesses: Usage, Steal%, PF%
The analytics perspective
Alexander is certainly a unique NBA prospect in how little he played in his one season at Kansas. Even Zach LaVine, famously drafted in the lottery last June after coming off the bench at UCLA, still played 24.4 minutes per game in college. Alexander averaged 17.6 mpg. The only draft pick in my database with a lower average in his final college campaign, going back more than a decade, is Daniel Orton (13.9 mpg backing up DeMarcus Cousins at Kentucky).
Alexander still has points in his favor, most notably his shot-blocking ability from the power forward position. Among players listed at 6-foot-8 or shorter in my database, Alexander's projected block rate ranks fifth:
The other skills that made Alexander a top-five recruit failed to translate at Kansas.
He was a presence on the offensive glass but not an elite finisher, shooting 56.6 percent from the field. And Alexander projects as a below-average defensive rebounder. Houston Rockets center Joey Dorsey, though much older when he entered the league, might be a decent template for how Alexander's game translates to the NBA.
-- Kevin Pelton
The scouting perspective
Alexander arrived in Lawrence last summer with high expectations for a terrific freshman season en route to the 2015 NBA draft. Unfortunately, Alexander's only season as a Jayhawk did not go as planned.
Alexander, when I watched Kansas practice in the fall, was slow to pick up Bill Self's offensive and defensive concepts, and while that is not unsurprising for any freshman, he was unable to compensate for his learning curve with elite athleticism or a high skill level of a "one-and-done" guy.
Effort and attitude never seemed to be a problem for Alexander, as I observed, and he had couple of games in which his energy lifted Kansas to victory. Against Oklahoma in January, he recorded a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double, with most of his production coming in the second half of a very intense game.
However, for the most part, Alexander's contributions were underwhelming. In 28 games, he had just two double-figure rebound outings, 19 games of three or fewer made field goals and only two games in which he blocked more than two shots.
Alexander measures out between 6-foot-8 and 6-9, 250 pounds with a 7-2 wingspan. That makes him, at best, an average-sized NBA power forward. And while he's explosive off his feet, at times, I never thought of him displaying anything more than an average NBA athlete.
Additionally, his offensive skills both around the basket and away from the hoop will not excite many teams. He did make 69 percent of his shots at the rim, but the vast majority came on dump-off passes for dunks and offensive-rebound putbacks.
Actually, Alexander does not possess a bad shooting touch, making 67 percent of his free throws this season. And, in a small sample size, he made 60 percent of his right baseline jump shots -- though that was the only place away from the basket where he showed any accuracy, according to hoop-math.com.
While not necessarily a fall from grace, Alexander's battle to get himself anywhere in the top-20 picks will be uphill, for sure. How he shows in workouts for NBA teams might save him, but it is far from certain to happen.
-- Fran Fraschilla
The front-office perspective
Alexander was a top-five high school player and began the 2014-15 season ranked as a potential lottery pick. Blessed with elite strength, athleticism and a terrific motor, scouts expected him to dominate weaker, less athletic bigs in college. Alas, Alexander's lack of basketball IQ and height (just 6-8) caused him to struggle as a finisher and defensive rebounder and, for the most part, he never was a huge part of the Kansas offense.
Alexander almost surely would've been better off returning to Kansas for his sophomore season where many scouts believed, with improvement, he could've worked his way back into the late lottery or mid-first round. However, an NCAA investigation into his eligibility ended his freshman season early, and it's likely the investigation was a primary factor his decision to declare for the draft, as Alexander risked being ineligible next season.
As far as his draft stock goes for this year, some teams still believe he has upside and see him as a late first-rounder -- as an energy guy who could provide toughness and athleticism off the bench. However, most have him firmly planted in the early second round. He could go anywhere in the 20-to-40 range.
"I never really saw his appeal in high school," one general manager said. "When my scouts told me he'd be a top-10 pick, I thought they were crazy. He looks the part and he plays hard, but he's not very skilled, he's not very tall and I don't ever get the sense that he has any real feel for the game. He might be serviceable in the NBA, but he's going to have to either grow physically or from a basketball-IQ standpoint."
-- Chad Ford