Devonte' Graham
Portland Trail Blazers

Player Facts

Height: 6'1"
Weight: 195lbs.

Wingspan: 6'6.25"

Date of Birth: Feb. 22, 1995
College Experience: Kansas (4 years)

Selections

All Star: 0
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 9
Physical Strength: 3
Positional Size: 4
Positional Wingspan: 6
Paint Scoring: 2
Midrange Scoring: 4
Three-Point Scoring: 8
Dribbling: 8
Passing: 8
Perimeter Defense: 2
Interior Defense: 1
Rebounding: 2

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JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Spot-Up Specialist

> Off-Screen & Transition Shooting

> On-Ball Distribution

> Inefficient Offense

> Small Defender

> Infrequent Defensive Stat-Getter

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

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*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

Graham is a small guard who has the deep shooting range to stretch defenses. He's best as a spot-up specialist beside other creators. However, he has a tidy playmaking package on-ball as well.

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Spot-Up Specialist

The former Kansas scoring star has translated his distance shooting and pick-and-roll distributing to the highest level. To start, he nails catch-and-shoot jumpers very well off his teammates' penetration. With the ball, he can make downtown shots with some sidesteps and step-backs mixed in.

There tends to be a gulf between Devonte's 3pt conversion rates on spot-ups compared against pull-ups. He can make that one-dribble hoist off the ball screen but is elite when examining strictly his catch-and-shoot game.

He canned 42.2% and then 42.3% on zero-dribble treys for 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 respectively (hair under 40% in 2021-2022).

What adds additional floor-spacing value and uphill gravity is his deep range. Now in San Antonio, an away-from-the-play Graham pulls his man up which widens the attacking lanes for Keldon Johnson, Tre Jones, and Devin Vassell. He's usually among the league leaders in attempts and makes from 25 feet and beyond (ninth in makes in 2020-2021).

Off-Screen & Transition Shooting

He is also a viable off-the-ball option as a movement shooter. Speed, good elevation, and silky shooting meld to make him impactful here and when coming off DHO's/away-from-the-play picks. Devonte' amassed more catch-and-shoot points than Jaylen Brown, Norman Powell, and Patty Mills in fewer games played (2020-2021).

The final piece his rangy shooting provides is good transition offense on the fan-out. With the ball-handler speeding towards the rim and Graham flaring out to three-point land, man-advantage situations become even tougher to defend. He ended up with a respectable 1.13 points per play mark on the fast break in 2020-2021 (1.07 in 2021-2022).

On-Ball Distribution

Graham is a nifty passer with the play running through him. He astutely uses the threat of his jump shot to momentarily freeze defenders and identify the open man. This free teammate is often the roll man, someone he finds with regularity with good touch on lobs especially. Corner skips are within his scope of ability too.

Devonte' Graham needs just a capable big man to serve as the other half of a synergistic two-man game. Jonas Valanciunas was that center back with the Pelicans. Regardless, it is impressive how Graham consistently makes good passes going downhill despite not being a huge scoring threat in those spots.

The 6'1" guard can also make all the other necessary reads in the P&R. The main thing stopping him from becoming an elite high-usage playmaker is his lack of size to see over the defense. All told though, he sports nice AST/TO ratios well over 2 annually. He actually cleared the elusive 3-mark in back-to-back years - 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.

WEAKNESSES

Inefficient Offense

Graham has a slew of weak areas within his game. Beginning on the offensive side, he is consistently well below league average in true shooting percentage. Factors such as his small stature, non-nuclear athleticism, and a subpar shot diet all feed into this larger issue.

He takes many more threes than twos, which plays to his strengths, but he lacks the efficiency on his three-balls to net out as a plus-efficiency player.

The diminutive guard folds in a load of tough off-the-bounce triple tries which he has never been consistently great with. For example, in his last Hornets season, he cleared 42% on zero-dribble threes but shot below 30% on dribble threes (2020-2021). An even larger chasm was present in 2021-2022.

Devonte' Graham fails to be efficient on two-point pull-up jumpers too. Defenders often swallow him up in the in-between area which leads to him taking so many suboptimal contested ball screen threes against drop coverage.

The former Jayhawk was in just the 22nd percentile as a scorer in pick-and-roll for 2020-2021. He just barely crossed 40% on almost 90 midrange attempts that year.

Getting downhill is something he can do with his quickness and handle. With that, he does struggle mightily to finish amongst the trees. At 6'0.25" in socks, he gets his shot blocked or heavily altered more often than he would like.

Devonte' simply becomes a minus scorer once he steps inside that three-point arc. Combining 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, he made just 46.9% of his at-the-rim shots. Using that same season combo, a measly 31.8% was his clip on non-charge circle paint shots (floater range).

Small Defender

Defensively, he will compete but suffers from the common small-guard issues that plague many 6-2-and-under guys in the Association. Besides having a low foul rate, Graham is essentially a negative defender in every other play type/facet of defense. He is often relegated to a "hidden" role on a standstill shooter.

As a target of the opposition, he gets put into several ball screen actions. When he does circumvent the pick, he lacks the size to make much of an impact on shot contests. Example nitpicks here include poor preparation for screen navigation and a reluctance to get that first hit in on the ball-handler.

Infrequent Defensive Stat-Getter

He has a criminally low rebound rate and uninspiring steals/deflections rates. Interior defense is not provided with the short Graham even if he arrives on the scene on time. Lastly, his size precludes him from capably checking anyone but opposing one's for even a short stretch.

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Beacon Bacon

Graham was taken in the 30's of the 2018 NBA Draft along with other future contributors Jalen Brunson, Gary Trent Jr., and Mitchell Robinson