KJ Simpson Scouting Report
A scoring guard with upside
Name: KJ Simpson
Birth date: August 8, 2002
Height/Weight: 6’0/187
Wingspan/ standing reach: 6’4 ½/7’9 ½
Hand size: 9 ¼
Position: Guard
Pre-Draft team: Colorado
Tools: Scoring versatility, steal-forcing ability, rim pressure, rebounding
Background: two time All-Pac 12 Team. Bilingual in Spanish and English.
Season Stats: 19.7 PPG 5.8 RPG 5 APG 1.6 SPG 0.1 BPG 2.2 TOPG on 47.5/43/87.6
Pros:
Excellent using screens and hand-offs
Great floater
Intelligent in running two-man games, both as a passer and scorer
Great playmaker that easily exploits defenses and capitalizes on breakdowns
Uses great velocity on passes into the paint, particularly with cuts and deep post ups against mismatches
Has a good hesitation move he uses on drives to separate deep into drives
Outstanding defensive anticipation; sees plays before they happen on the defensive end
Good motor and doesn’t take plays off
Gets good box outs and is a good rebounder, especially for a guard
Quick to get his feet set on off the dribble jumpers
Comfortable driving with both hands
Good athlete that can provide rim pressure
Great body control; can come in hard right/left, full stop, then go the opposite direction with great balance
Has a smooth turnaround jumper
Cons:
Lacks defensive discipline on-ball
Needs to get stronger
Not a true point guard and is prone to getting tunnel vision
Settles for bad shots too often; needs to reduce negative shot tendencies in a potentially limited minutes role
Swing Skills:
Improved his former inconsistent shooting base; is this a real improvement or was this shooting jump a fluke?
Is he a point guard or a scoring guard?
Can he overcome his size deficiencies
Summary:
KJ Simpson does a bit of everything, thriving as a versatile scorer, turnover-forcer, slasher, and rebounder.
Defensively, Simpson is intelligent and sees plays before they happen, allowing for him to hunt steals, force turnovers, and bait offensive players into bad decisions. However, on-ball he is inconsistent, not being in stance or overcommitting one way or another, leading to a collapsed defense. In the playoffs where everyone has to be locked in at all times, Simpson’s motor and competitive nature will propel him to not being a liability. While maybe not a consistent positive, not being a negative is a strength in of itself in playoff basketball. With his motor, footspeed, and anticipation, he can stay in most plays and handle quick first steps, along with fighting through on-ball screens to avoid the switch. While there are concerns with his on-ball defense, the concerns lie more in consistency and size than pure ability. Away from the ball, Simpson makes it difficult to pass or dribble near him, since he knows how to bait ball-handlers into bad decisions. His feel for the game and overall intangibles will elevate him to be closer to neutral than deeply negative.
Additionally, Simpson chases the ball and doesn’t let opposing teams win easy rebounds. He is a plus rebounder for a guard, and has a strong drive to close out possessions. This helps him play fast and get downhill to take advantage of 3-on-2s and 2-on-1s, which will immediately translate to the NBA in the form of transition offense.
Offensively, Simpson is a scoring combo guard, but not quite a true full-time point guard. As a playmaker, he can quickly adapt and read defenses to find the open teammate, which is an essential trait of NBA guards. Additionally, he puts high velocity on his passes, which helps him get the ball into tight windows. While not a true point guard who looks to set teammates up first, then score with what is available, Simpson often blends his playmaking with scoring approach, simply taking advantage of what defenses give him when attacking the holes of the defense. With a strong 2:1 assist:turnover ratio, Simpson is plenty capable of being a distributor with NBA talent alongside him.
Simpson has true 3 level scoring ability thanks to a signature turnaround jumper in the mid range, along with the ability to hit floaters over defenders and in the holes of the paint, as well as simply attacking closeouts and hitting pull-up jumpers. Beyond the arc, Simpson’s ability to both spot up (92nd percentile; 42.6% on catch & shoot 3s) or hit jumpers off the dribble is impressive (91st percentile as an off the dribble shooter; 41.7% on off the dribble 3s).
Simpson’s statistical profile checks out: efficiency, feel for the game (2:1 assist: turnover ratio), defensive capabilities (2.7 STL%), shooting upside (87.6% from free throw line and 43% from 3 on good volume) with high all-in-one stat production (9.2 BPM) makes him an easy gamble as an exception to the rule for small guards. Beyond the statistical positives, these same stats are easy to see in game thanks to his on-ball skill, defensive intelligence, outstanding intangibles and motor, and 3 level scoring ability.
Projected draft range: 20-50
Expected role: Combo guard with an unpredictable scoring package and ability to force chaos defensively.
Unplayable if: Lack of size and on-ball defense limit his minutes he can be trusted with, as well as a lack of true point guard ability makes him too redundant for teams to give extended tries with.
Exceeds expectations if: Point guard skills develop and he becomes a passable on-ball defender.
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