This week’s San Antonio Spurs prospect to watch is Louisville forward Jordan Nwora. We covered Nwora last season and so it’s time to update his scouting report now that’s coming into the NBA Draft for sure this year. The 6-foot-7, 225-pound junior would make for a great second-round pick should he end up falling that far.
Nwora is an intriguing prospect as his profile has declined since his freshman season when he was projected to go higher in the draft. He’s got the functional strength and build to play in the NBA, but he lacks the traditional calling cards from the forward position: athleticism, quickness and ball-handling ability. While he may lack those traits, he could possibly make up for them with his shooting ability.
Here are some of his stats from this past season.
- 18 PPG, 1.3 APG, 7.7 RPG, 0.7 SPG
- 44 FG%, 40.2 3P%, 81.3 FT%
- 113.5 ORtg, 94.2 DRtg
The most important contribution that Nwora could make immediately is floor spacing for this Spurs team. He is an excellent outside shooter with good range and has a quick shot. He has a few moves he uses to get the dribble going, but he does have to improve on that a bit as well. He tends to be a little loose with it and there are times when he makes his move too slowly. If he can improve on those two things, he can be an effective drive and kicker from the wing.
While his offense has its obvious upside and downside, he should be able to plug in right away on defense. He can guard either forward position and he’s a smart team defender. He lacks the pop and explosiveness to be a rim protector, but he is quick enough to stay with drivers and strong enough to not get pushed off a spot.
He’s got a good motor to boot so that should help him in transition situations as well as on the boards as he grabbed almost eight a game despite not being the biggest guy on his team.
There are clearly some deficiencies in Nwora’s game that has led to him potentially dropping into the second round, but they are issues that can be worked around or improved. Should the Spurs have the chance to nab him in the second round, then he could be a sneaky good pick over the next couple of years.
