Jaylon Tyson Scouting Report
Could Tyson be the hidden gem of the Draft?
Name: Jaylon Tyson
Birth date: December 2, 2002
Height/Weight: 6’5/210
Wingspan/ standing reach: N/A
Hand size: N/A
Position: Wing
Pre-Draft team: California
Tools: Work ethic/intangibles, athleticism, playmaking upside, shooting
Background: Followed Chris Beard by flipping his high school commitment from Texas Tech to Texas, then after being misled about role and fit at Texas, he transferred to Texas Tech. Following the season, he was a victim of racism by Tech’s coach, leading to a transfer to California. Hard worker and perfectionist.
Season stats: 19.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 3.1 TOPG in 34 MPG on 46.5/36/79.6
Pros:
Has a nice fake then 1 dribble shot
Good counters as a ball-handler and can keep his dribble alive through contact
Has grown lots as a shooter
Quick decision-maker out of P&R; notices and capitalizes on slow reactions to get open/uncontested shots
Good rebounder that has a good nose for the ball; chases offensive rebounds by finding holes & weak box outs
Strong motor
Good, coordinated athlete
Sees the floor well and is rarely, if ever, a ball stopper
Quick to get his feet set with a variety of off the dribble scoring moves
Great escape dribble to his jumper out of the triple threat
Possesses a textbook P&R floater/runner scoring ability
Comfortable taking lefty and righty floaters
Cons:
Telegraphs his passes at times
Needs to get better as a finisher at the rim
Can rely on turning his back to his defender too often
Sometimes his follow-through doesn’t have all 5 fingers; needs to get consistent follow-throughs with all 5 fingers; pinky often falls out
Doesn’t dig often enough as the help defender; can often let the driver pass by without an attempt to influence the play
Can be a bit too reactionary instead of proactive on defense
Swing Skills:
Needs to add more passing deception moves
What is his defense actually like?
Summary:
Jaylon Tyson is an all-around wing that has had a unique college career. At Texas, he was promised a meaningful role after flipping his commitment from Texas Tech to follow Chris Beard, but he was misled and overlooked. While he looked good at Texas Tech in what was a de facto freshman season, he eventually transferred following a racial controversy by Mark Adams. At California, he was part of a year one rebuild, but was the heart and soul of a team that struggled to ever find its identity, with several holes in the roster around him.
Being from Dallas, I have seen Tyson’s craft up close. He is a perfectionist, he works hard, and he understands the ‘why’ of everything he does. In one camp I went to in August 2021 before he headed to Texas, he was the only player asking the coaches how to perfect each drill, staying late and going over drills when everyone else was packing up. This work ethic goes hand-in-hand with his year-over-year improvement, and should continue in the NBA.
Tyson’s ability to handle the ball and self-create, both with and without a screen, make him a valuable wing archetype. He has a variety of counters as a ball-handler, he can absorb bumps as a ball-handler and keep his dribble alive, and he can create space on the perimeter with advanced moves. However, his playmaking needs refinement to take the necessary jump to be a ‘dribble, pass, shoot’ wing. While he sees the floor well, he telegraphs his passes too often by staring down his target. He must add eye deception and overall manipulation of defenses when passing, because his current tell is staring targets down, allowing for defenders to more easily play the passing lanes.
Tyson is capable of sufficiently running a pick & roll, making quick decisions both as a scorer and passer. As a passer, while he again needs to perfect his ability to playmake out of screens, he still sees the floor well and doesn’t rush shots. While he is not pass-first, he is calculated in how and when he attacks defenders. He is quick to recognize holes in defenses and when defenders are out of position, leading to less contested shots than the average pull-up shooter at his experience level. This leads to open pull-up jumpers, smart drives, and intelligent floaters & runners in the paint. Tyson thrives at keeping defenders in jail behind him, while forcing the big to continue to drop, leading to quality floater attempts. As Tyson grows his playmaking deception ability, that should only open up his P&R ability.
Defensively, Tyson is smart and times his contests well on jumpers. He can defend through screens, but was inconsistent at California with on-ball defense. At Texas Tech, Tyson was better able to use his projectable tools as part of a strong team defense, whereas with California, he was often playing in part of a broken defense. With overall good intelligence, good physical tools, and a past record of success on the defensive end at Texas Tech, Tyson’s defensive outcome will largely depend on team context and landing spot.
Overall, as a de facto redshirt sophomore, Jaylon Tyson took the necessary jump in his second full year as an offensive player, while maintaining tools to become a positive defender in the NBA. The context around his collegiate career, combined with his overall skillset as a dribble, pass, shoot wing, make him an easy upside play outside of the lottery. In an optimistic outcome, Tyson’s defense prevails and he becomes an all-around wing, which allows him to easily be put in a position to contribute in a variety of ways in multiple capacities. He has a floor of being a rotation wing that can utilize his versatile skillset to complement his stars. Tyson’s ceiling revolves around developing one elite skill, most promising being his creation ability, while also thriving off-ball as a spot-up shooter. One of the easiest star molds to envision is an all-around wing, and Jaylon Tyson fits that archetype. Just how smoothly his game translates will determine how high his ceiling is, making him one of the top gambles away from the consensus top 10 at a star upside gamble.
Projected draft range: 14-25
Expected role: Do-it-all wing
Unplayable if: Even if his defensive woes don’t improve with NBA setting, he still is hard to deem unplayable due to the variety of ways he can impact the game.
Exceeds expectations if: All-around ability elevates his game into star status, and he becomes consistent at all of his strengths, helping him speed past the label of ‘jack of all trades, master of none.’ This is done if the shooting translates at a high level, his defense is at worst passable, and he grows as a passer while balancing his scoring.
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