Knicks Draft Profile: LSU guard Skylar Mays
Skylar Mays: Strengths
Mays has the strength and size needed to finish through contact, and the LSU guard was a good finisher at the rim this past season. Per HoopsMath, the Louisiana native converted 56.9 percent of his attempts at the rim, a mark that was better than Cole Anthony, Tre Jones, Nico Mannion, and Cassius Winston. And while Mays’ percentage might not seem elite consider that he finished at the rim over 60 percent of the time during both his sophomore and junior year campaigns.
Like any good finisher, Mays is adept at navigating tight spaces and he demonstrates a nice touch, using the glass to his advantage. The video below shows Mays splitting two defenders and finishing with his left hand for a difficult and highlight-worthy two points.
Skylar Mays with one of the best finishes at the rim this season pic.twitter.com/UT6WHnyzHX
— Jonathan Wasserman (@NBADraftWass) May 12, 2020
Mays’ overall shooting numbers are pretty positive. Almost half of his field goals during his college career came from three, and while his career three-point shooting percentage wasn’t impressive, Mays shot a career-best 39 percent from the three-point line during his senior year. Mays also shot 54 percent on all two-point field goals and 85 percent from the free-throw line.
Yet, arguably, it’s Mays’ catch-and-shoot numbers (86th percentile) that will probably appeal the most to NBA front offices.
Furthermore, Mays also shot within the 89th percentile in all shots in the half-court and off the dribble. Predicting Mays’ or any other prospect’s three-point efficiency in the NBA is very difficult. However, using the Bayesian Empirical probability statistic from Andrew Lawlor’s recent feature for The Playgrounder, Mays’ value becomes a little clearer. According to this statistic Mays is expected to shoot 36.2 percent from three and has a 95 percent chance of shooting within the range of 33.0-39.4 percent.
When compared with VanVleet’s college career, both players played four years, and while the Mays shot just over 34 percent on 501 three-point attempts, VanVleet shot over 38 percent on 365 attempts. However, Mays holds the edge in finishing at the rim. As previously mentioned, during his senior year, Mays finished 56.9 percent of his attempts at the rim while VanVleet finished at just 46.1 percent.