5. RJ Hampton (Guard)
RJ Hampton is a 6-foot-5 prospect, who can play either guard spot with ease. He specializes as someone who has great footwork when shooting, plays much bigger than his size and is also someone who most would dub as having “a scoring mentality”. That isn’t all he can do, though, as Hampton can also be a very pesky defender, a blur in transition, a deadly mid-range shooter, and is somebody who can beat you to the hoop based off his long strides and effort alone.
While Hampton clearly is a super talented guard, he has his flaws, as well. While Hampton can score, the question still is, how efficient can Hampton be, especially within 10 feet of the basket. As someone who shot below 45 percent from the field in high school, the question has to become, can Hampton reach that next level of two point efficiency while in the NBA, especially since he couldn’t in high school?
Now, if Hampton wants to become more than just a shooter in the NBA, there are two main factors to him doing so. It starts with eliminating those long mid-range shots, because they are clearly the least efficient shot in basketball and, that is just not where the NBA is headed these days.
Most importantly, though, Hampton needs to bulk up. NBA big men are huge, and more agile than ever nowadays so unless he adds strength, chances are, he’ll never be able to convert at the rim on the next level efficiently. No matter how good his touch and balance at the rim becomes. If he can do both those two things though, this kid is on the fast-track to greatness as almost every other part of his game is very polished for someone his age.