We are yet another week closer to the NBA Draft and that means there’s another San Antonio Spurs prospect to watch. This week’s prospect features a possible second-rounder in Louisville forward Jordan Nwora.
The 6-foot-7.5, 220-pound sophomore made drastic improvements in his game from his freshman campaign and that was after playing for David Padgett in 2017-18 and then playing for Chris Mack last season.
Nwora didn’t go through many tests at the NBA Combine, but that didn’t hurt him too much as he measured with a plus wingspan and was half an inch taller than listed on Louisville’s roster.
His stats speak for themselves this season and here they are for your viewing pleasure:
- 17 PPG, 1.3 APG, 7.6 RPG, 0.9 SPG
- 44.6 FG%, 37.4 3P%, 76.5 FT%
- 107.6 ORtg, 96.3 DRtg, 20.7 PER
Nwora is not a physically or athletically dominant player but is an excellent catch-and-shoot guy. He always has his feet set when he gets the ball and he became considerably better at attacking aggressive closeouts so he could get to the rim.
He’s added a little floater to his game for when he gets to the rim and meets much bigger resistance as well. He’s got a high basketball IQ, which helps him decide when to finish a drive, use his floater or pull up in the mid-range.
He’s also a great defender and could probably play three positions on that end of the floor thanks to his size and intelligence. His strong rebounding ability would also allow him to play power forward at the NBA level without a team worrying about a drop off in that part of the box score. He is a competent enough on-ball defender, but he really excels as the off-ball defender as he makes good reads on switches or when to gamble for a steal.
The former Cardinal has his fair share of weaknesses as well. He’s not quite big enough to hold his own yet with some of the bigger guys he might defend and there were times he was forcing shots throughout the season.
Some of that might have been because he was the only true playmaker on the team — an issue he won’t have in the NBA — but it is something to keep an eye on going forward.
He’s not very fast or especially athletic so he will need to try to improve those traits as well as tighten up his dribble because of those things. He could be a bit of a project, but at pick 49 it would be a worthy endeavor and risk for the Spurs.
