Johnny Furphy, a six-foot-nine wing from Kansas, looks to be one of the more impressive three-point shooting prospects in the 2024 NBA Draft. Furphy’s season has intrigued scouts and analysts with his consistent catch-and-shoot ability to knock down shots from beyond the arc paired with his size on the wing.
Johnny Furphy 2024 NBA Draft Profile
College Career
In Furphy’s lone season at Kansas, the Australian-born wing averaged 9.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game while starting in 19 of 33 games. He shot 46.6% from the field, 35.2% from three-point territory, and 76.5% from the free throw line. Despite playing only a single season with the Jayhawks, Furphy demonstrated great ability in stretching the floor, which translated in him ultimately starting for Kansas in the latter half of their season.
In his collegiate career with Kansas, Furphy received the Big 12 All-Freshman Team award for his efforts on the season. He also received an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention.
Strengths
Furphy has great positional size on the wing, making him a difficult player to guard. His greatest strength is his ability to be a threat from three-point shooting range, particularly in catch-and-shoot situations. On top of that, Furphy has shown numerous flashes in hitting threes off screens and dribble hand-offs. Speaking of which, the guard has shown some mid-range shooting talent, particularly around the free-throw line. He is also a smart off-ball mover, knowing when to cut to the basket or get open for easy threes.
Additionally, Furphy is a good finisher around the rim and can use either hand. He effectively utilizes his size and athleticism in converting shots at the rim, which is most apparent in transition. He is also a good rebounder who crashes the glass and always fights for every loose ball. Furphy’s high basketball IQ, tenacity, and hustle will certainly ease his transition to the NBA.
Weaknesses
The biggest weakness for Furphy comes on the defensive end of the floor, especially guarding the point-of-attack. While Furphy is smart in terms of off-ball rotational defense and plays with high energy, he struggles as the point-of-attack defender. Smaller, shiftier guards can take advantage of Furphy’s lack of lateral quickness, easily dislodging him from proper defensive positioning. He is also guilty of allowing too many straight-line drives to the basket. Improvement is needed for Furphy to take the next step as a basketball player. He is also quite thin and can be outmuscled; he will need to put weight on his frame to handle NBA-level physicality.
On the offensive side of the court, Furphy isn’t much of a shot-creator for himself. He isn’t a great playmaker either, only averaging one assist per game. Furphy played a limited role in the Kansas offense due to his lack of isolation scoring or high-level playmaking. While shooting is Furphy’s strongest skill, he needs to continue to refine his shooting to include more varied shots other than just catch-and-shoot. Specifically, he can improve in taking more pull-up threes for defenses to respect him as a shooter.
NBA Comparison
Furphy’s ability to efficiently shoot the basketball beyond the arc, alongside his size and athleticism, brings resemblances to several NBA players. One name is Mike Dunleavy Jr., as both are tall, three-point shooting wings with similar playstyles. More recent comparisons are Cameron Johnson and former Jayhawk Gradey Dick. They all have good positional size with excellent off-ball spacing abilities while lacking in playmaking and defense. As Furphy continues to develop, he could achieve the greater and more varied shooting abilities of either Johnson or Dick.
