#3 Jaden Springer – Guard – Tennessee
One of the more intriguing first-round graded prospects in this year’s draft class is 18-year-old combo guard Jaden Springer out of Tennessee. Not only is he one of the youngest players in this year’s draft class, as he is set to turn 19 in September, but Springer impressed a lot of scouts and NBA personnel at the NBA Draft Combine due to his length and athleticism.
He measured in at 6’4.25” with shoes and measured a 6’7.75” wingspan, but his leaping abilities and quickness caught the eyes of many. Jaden Springer recorded a 34.5 inch vertical leap, the fifth highest jump tallied at this year’s combine, and he recorded a 41.5 inch max vertical leap, tied for the sixth best max leap at the combine.
The biggest thing that sticks out about Springer’s game as it relates to the NBA is that he has a sense of “smoothness” to his game. Everything seems to come easy to him and while he does find himself in trouble sometimes when his opponents speed him up, Springer always looks like he has a plan of what he wants to do with the ball in his hands.
Not only can he get to the rim and score, but Jaden Springer also possesses a really strong looking jump shot both in the mid-range and from beyond-the-arc. Strength is not a problem for this kid and neither is no being able to blast past his opponents.
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Jaden Springer is a very exciting draft prospect to watch because of how quick his first step is. He always possesses that will to score that very few young talents have entering the NBA and he used this same mentality on defense to keep his opponents in front of him.
Coming from Tennessee, a very defensive-oriented system, there are not too many concerns about what Springer can do on that end of the court moving forward.
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Again, much like James Bouknight, Springer’s stock has bounced around from potential lottery pick to late first-round projections, but he is definitely not a bad pick for Washington at No. 15 overall. They need a talented guard and with Springer’s abilities to play on or off-the-ball, he could be a great fit next to an athletic point guard like Russell Westbrook.
The two of these guys could really do some damage in transition and with Bradley Beal’s ability to play the small-forward position, Washington could have a lot of athleticism in their backcourt rotations with the addition of Jaden Springer.
