Isaiah Crawford 2024 NBA Draft Profile

Isaiah Crawford is one of the most NBA-ready prospects this year. Crawford has shown he can knock down shots from deep and be incredibly impactful defensively. With his 3-and-D skill set, he would be a great sleeper pick in the draft for teams looking for players who can play right away.

Isaiah Crawford 2024 NBA Draft Profile

College Career

Crawford has spent his entire five-year collegiate career at Louisiana Tech, playing for the Bulldogs. Crawford played a limited role in his freshman year at Louisiana Tech and his season was cut short due to an ACL injury. He bounced back in his second year, in which he put career highs in points, rebounds, and assists. However, in his third year, Crawford suffered yet another ACL injury to his knee that cut short his season again. Fortunately, he bounced back for a second time and started every game for the Bulldogs in his last two years. Not only that, Crawford continued to improve his production year after year. For instance, Crawford averaged 16.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.1 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game this season. He shot 48.5% from the field, 41.4% from three, and 72.8% from the foul line.

During his time at Louisiana Tech, especially this past season, Crawford demonstrated that he can knock down shots from deep and defend at a high level. Standing at six-foot-six with a seven-foot-one wingspan, Crawford has also shown he can be versatile defensively. Crawford, for his efforts throughout his collegiate career, received several awards across the years. He received All-CUSA third-team selections for the 2020-2021 and the 2022-2023 seasons. For the 2023-2024 season, Crawford received several awards, including an All-CUSA first-team selection, received the CUSA Defensive Player of the Year award, made the CUSA All-Defense team, and received the CUSA Player of the Year award.

Strengths

Offensively, Crawford has shown himself to be able to operate off the ball as a floor spacer. He shot 41.4% from three while taking three attempts per game, proving himself to be an efficient shooter. Furthermore, his three-point shooting has been improving on a year-by-year basis, which is even more encouraging for further development. Crawford is a good finisher at the rim, where he shot over 60%. He fully utilizes his finishing in transition or attacking closeouts. Crawford loves to get out on the fast break, especially when making a big defensive play. It is also important to note that Crawford can do a little shot creation for himself and others. He is a solid playmaker and passer who can make quick reads and get the ball to the right player.

Where Crawford shines the most is on the defensive side of the court and he has shown himself to be an absolute menace. Firstly, He is an extremely versatile piece defensively as he can guard across multiple positions. He is quick enough to stay in front of smaller players and he can be bigger than his size would suggest due to his strong frame and length. Crawford will remain glued to his opponent and stick with them throughout any given play. He knows how to fully utilize his length and impressive footwork to bother defenders. This is most apparent when he is blocking shots at the rim and disrupting plays by picking off or deflecting balls.

Off the ball, Crawford has amazing defensive awareness and can anticipate where plays are heading, and where he finds ways to disrupt them. He is excellent at rotating around the court to cover opponents, which shows the high IQ and effort he plays with every possession. Not only that, Crawford knows exactly when to rotate and catch his opponents off guard with his length. In that sense, Crawford is great at defensive playmaking. He is also a solid rebounder for his size.

Weaknesses

While Crawford has shown some shot creation and playmaking ability, they don’t feature prominently in his skill set. Specifically, he isn’t good enough at either skill to be the main focal point of an offense. His skill set works far better in a complementary role. His ball-handling ability is not great and he tends to over-dribble on offense. It is also fair to point out that Crawford played at a mid-major school, so there are questions on whether he could replicate what he did this year against better competition. Furthermore, Crawford is an older prospect at 22 years old, which means he might not improve much further.

NBA Comparison

Crawford has all the skills and tools to be an excellent modern role player that teams keep an eye out for. For instance, multiple teams have brought him in for workouts. Due to his skill set, there are quite a few NBA players who share similarities with Crawford. One player is Jerami Grant, who shares Crawford’s shooting and defensive capabilities. OG Anunoby is another player that comes to mind due to also being a defensive-minded wing who can guard multiple positions and shoot the ball like Crawford.