After playing two seasons as a reliable 3-and-D player for the University of Alabama, Keon Ellis has decided to take his talents to the NBA and declared for the upcoming draft. The Shooting Guard flew mostly under the radar but has all the assets for a bright future in the league.
Keon Ellis 2022 Draft Profile
College Career
After high school, Ellis decided to play in Junior College, where he concluded two successful seasons. He left Florida Southwestern State College as a four-star junior college prospect and joined the University of Alabama. There, he became a starter in his senior season and played an important supporting role.
Ellis averaged 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.9 steals in his senior season. He shot 43.9% on field goals, 36.6% on three-pointers, and 88.1% from the free-throw line. These stats show a big jump in scoring from his first season in Alabama.
Defensively, Ellis leads the team in steal rate (3.4%) and block rate (2.1%). In 33 games in his senior season, he shot 67 three-pointers and put up double digits in nineteen games. He was a reliable 3-and-D player, who recorded a career-high 28 points against Kentucky while shooting 7-11 from deep. In recognition of his work on the defensive end, Ellis received SEC All-Defense honors in his senior season.
Strengths
Ellis’s biggest strengths lie in his defensive abilities. He can guard multiple positions, thanks to his size and quickness. His slender build allows Ellis to fight through screens and he is exceptionally fast on the help side. On the help side, he proved the ability to anticipate passes and intercept them. Furthermore, Ellis is very fast on transition defense and can take away the opponent’s possibility for an easy fast break. Most impressive, however, is his ability to defend ball handlers as he can pick them up early, play full-court defense and get steals without fouling.
On offense, Ellis showed good off-ball movement. Combined with his shooting ability, especially from deep, this makes him a great catch and shoot player. Ellis is able to release shots clean and quickly and can easily hit contested threes. Due to his speed and athleticism, he is also good on drives to the basket but does not use that skill often enough. Keon Ellis is a reliable, steady, and mature player, who shows effort on both ends and could quickly be very effective off the bench for a new team.
Weaknesses
Ellis can surely develop into a good rotation player, but he still needs to improve his playmaking. So far, he is not great at facilitating for his teammates or creating his own shots. This makes him reliant on other players and if he wants to stand out in his position, he needs to improve his ability to create opportunities for himself off the dribble.
He could also show more confidence on drives to the basket and use that option more instead of focusing on three-pointers. As of now, Ellis is a skinny wing player, which might make it difficult to hold his own against stronger players. Although he is already an elite defender, gaining some muscle weight will definitely come in handy.
NBA Comparison
One NBA player that comes to mind here, is Herbert Jones. Jones and Ellis played together in Alabama before Jones left for the NBA. In his rookie season, Jones had an impressive defensive impact for the New Orleans Pelicans and Ellis surely has the ability to offer the same to any NBA team.
Draft Projection
Ellis could be a steal late in the first round but might also have to wait until the second round for his name to be called.
