Jaylen Wells enters the NBA Draft as a prospect who can knock down three-pointers and has great positional size on the wing. His ability to shoot at a high level would make him one of the better shooting prospects in the draft.
Jaylen Wells 2024 NBA Draft Profile
College Career
Wells began his collegiate career at Sonoma State before transferring to Washington State for his junior year. At Washington State, Wells stood out for his ability to knock down shots from deep and do so in a variety of ways. Not only that, Wells has demonstrated potential in being a good on-ball defender, utilizing his size at six-foot-eight. On the season, Wells averaged 12.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. He shot 43.6% from the field, 41.7% from three, and 81.4% from the foul line. Wells impressed many transitioning from a Division II program to playing for a PAC-12 team that made the NCAA tournament.
Strengths
The most stand-out skill that Wells has in his arsenal is his three-point shooting and being able to do so in various ways. Wells is phenomenal as a catch-and-shoot floor spacer. However, he is also effective in other shooting situations. For instance, Wells can hit pull-up shots, off of handoffs, are utilize sidesteps to shake off defenders for the three-point bucket. Not only that, Wells does all that while maintaining a good-looking, consistent, and quick shooting form. Additionally, Wells can extend his range well beyond the arc, making him even more difficult to guard.
Wells has more than just three-point shooting in his arsenal, as he can attack closeouts and be a capable ball-handler. From either situation, Wells displayed his ability to hit mid-range jumpers and floaters, which does so very effectively. He uses impressive footwork to gain separation against the defense, which is made much more potent due to his shooting ability.
On defense, Wells has potential as a wing who can guard multiple, different positions due to his size at 6’8″. He has displayed promising flashes as an on-ball defender. He can absorb contact from opponents and cut off drives to the paint. Furthermore, Wells is strong enough to absorb contact when guarding against post-ups as well. Wells does a good job at reading passing lanes and disrupting them. In general, Wells is good at using his length to bother opponents. Additionally, Wells is a decent rebounder.
Weaknesses
On offense, Wells isn’t the best at driving to the basket and could stand in converting some of his mid-range jumpers into layups. He doesn’t have the best first step either. Additionally, Wells could tighten his handle further to help his drives to the basket. Wells isn’t much of a passer, but there is some potential there due to his shooting.
On defense, Wells’s most pressing issue as a defender is guarding off the ball. Wells does get caught ball-watching at times and will need to improve his defensive awareness. However, his awareness isn’t terrible and he does have shown positive flashes in that regard. Another problem area is that Wells can unnecessarily close too hard out to shooters, leaving him way out of position to guard effectively. While he doesn’t bite on fakes while guarding in the post, he does bite when guarding on the perimeter and he needs to improve on that.
NBA Comparison
A few names come to mind when comparing Wells to NBA players. One player who shares similarities with Wells would be Duncan Robinson, who is a dynamic shooter and can handle the ball a little like Wells. Additionally, Robinson, who currently plays for the Miami Heat, has a similar size to Wells. Another player that comes to mind is Cameron Johnson, who also has the great shooting, mid-range jumper, and positional size that Wells has.
