Judah Mintz is an early entrant and one of the better scorers in the 2024 NBA draft. During his second year at Syracuse, Mintz showed growth on both ends of the floor. The 20-year-old does possess the potential to grow into an NBA player, but he needs time to develop in the G-league. The 2024 G-League Elite Camp participant was also an early draft entrant in 2023 before deciding to return to college.
Judah Mintz 2024 Draft Profile
College Career
Mintz is a late bloomer. While the 6-4 combo guard was a consensus top-50 recruit in 2022, he didn’t start receiving a ton of attention from major colleges until the summer before his senior season.
Mintz, who held 14 scholarship offers, originally committed to the Pittsburgh Panthers. He committed to Pitt in June 2021, but less than five months later, he was back on the market as he chose to re-open his recruitment. He ultimately committed to Syracuse at the end of March and signed his NLI two weeks later.
Mintz was a starter with the Orange from the day he stepped on the campus. He was a 2022-23 All-ACC Freshman selection as he finished in the top 10 in the league in scoring, assists, and steals.
The 2023-24 Preseason Wooden Nominee showed improvement in year two, especially as a scorer. Mintz averaged 18.8 points, 4.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.1 steals with shooting splits of 43.8/28.2/76.5%, earning second-team all-ACC honors. He produced one double-double and scored in double-figures 29 times, topping the 20-point mark on 17 occassions.
Strengths
Mintz is a combo guard who plays with pace and is a bucket-getter. He possesses good size, strength, and athleticism that fits nicely with his game, which is getting to the rack and drawing fouls. While not a great finisher, he is crafty around the rim and can score in tight spaces due to his exceptional footwork.
Mintz is speedy and shifty, but he also has a nice mid-range game if defenders can keep in front of him off the bounce, which doesn’t happen often. He made 37% of his mid-range shots last season.
Mintz has made strides as a playmaker and is a solid ballhandler and distributor. He excels in transition and pick-n-roll situations and plays with vigor.
Defensively, Mintz possesses good hands and instincts, which helps him come up with steals. Due to his strength and size, he can also defend opposing guards in the post.
Weaknesses
Mintz is not an elite athlete and has short arms. He has a 6-foot-3.5 wingspan. However, His biggest weakness is 3-point shooting. He didn’t take a high volume of shots from deep in college and made just 28.2% of his attempts last year and 29.1% for his career.
While perimeter shooting is Mintz’s biggest issue, he also tends to force shots. He is not a natural playmaker, compiling a 1.7 career assist-to-turnover ratio.
Defensively, Mintz is inconsistent. He sometimes has difficulty getting through ball screens and loses shooters when defending off the ball. He also gambles too much and doesn’t recover well if he misses on steal attempts.
NBA Comparison
The big word when talking about Mintz’s game is development. Mintz projects to spend most of the upcoming season in the G-League. His best comparisons are Terry Rozier and Ayo Dosunmo due to his ability to create and get to the free-throw line while also being capable of creating turnovers.
2024 NBA Draft Projection
Mintz likely will go undrafted. But if a team did fall in love with his ability to score, I would expect his range to be No. 50-58.
The best-case scenario is that Mintz earns a two-way deal. Mintz should have a strong chance of achieving a two-way contract and perhaps making a few appearances in an NBA game this year or in the near future.
