2017 NBA Draft Pre-Season Scouting Report: Jaron Blossomgame

After a trip to the 2016 NBA Draft Combine, Jaron Blossomgame elected to return to Clemson for his senior year. Blossomgame enters his final year at the relatively ancient age of 23-years-old, but due to his physical tools and role player skill-set, is currently being projected as a late first or early second round pick in next year’s draft. Here’s how his game stacks up.

Off-Ball Offense

As is the case with most non-lottery picks, Blossomgame’s potential NBA role is as an off-ball threat. He’s capable of playing either the 3 or the 4, but like most “tweeners”, he will be much more effective as a power forward.

Blossomgame blossomed (sorry I had to) into an NBA prospect this past year due to developments in his outside shot. During his freshman and sophomore years, he shot a combined 24.8 percent from three across 109 attempts and only 68 percent from the free throw line. Things turned around dramatically last season where he shot 102 threes and hit them at a 44.1 percent clip while shooting 78.2 percent at the line.

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It’s unlikely Blossomgame shoots that well again this coming season, but if he can show that his dramatic performance was not entirely a fluke, it will bode well for his NBA future. He shoots the ball from a relativey low release point and tends to drag it up in front of his body too much, but his actual release and follow through is sound. He succeeded in both spot-up and pick-and-pop opportunities for Clemson last year, and his joint improvement in free throw shooting suggests he really has become a better shooter.

Blossomgame will need to at least be a competent outside shooter to carve out an NBA role, but he is able to impact the game off-the-ball in a few other ways as well. He’s an explosive leaper off two feet, making him a threat for lobs or catch-and-finishes, in both transition and off-ball cutting situations. He does a great job cutting baseline or trailing dribble penetration to make himself available and then powering it home. Off of misses he’s also a threat to sky above the rim for putbacks, though his overall offensive rebounding impact is not that significant.

Where Blossomgame is most effective is attacking closeouts. He’s got an explosive first step which he uses to glide into the lane when defenses are forced to respect his jump shot. Attacking in space off one or two dribbles, Blossomgame is powerful and gets to the basket quickly to finish with dunks or acrobatic layups. Making sure NBA defenses close out on him will not only help his team’s spacing, but also unlock one of his games biggest strengths.

On-Ball Offense

Though he won’t spend much time creating offense in an NBA structure, Clemson does run their offense through him at times. He likes to catch the ball around the elbow or the mid-post areas on the wing and size up the situation. From there he is able to either shoot a face-up jumper, attack hard off a few dribbles, or use his football-player frame to back his man down into a little hook or floater around the rim.

Nearly all of Blossomgame’s successful creation stems from his combination of strength and explosion. In the college game he’s either got a quicker first step or is stronger than almost all of his opponents, but that won’t be the case at the NBA level.

When he is occasionally given the opportunity to isolate from the perimeter, he is much less impressive. His handle and off-the-dribble game is pretty rigid, and he ends up settling for inefficient deep pull-ups far too often. He makes more of these pull-ups than one would expect, but it’s not a form of offense he should be pursuing in the NBA.

Blossomgame fits the standard archetype of a role player in terms of his ability to make decisions with the ball. He’s not a creative passer by any means, but he does a good job of not turning the ball over or doing too much. Despite his tendency to play with a lot of emotion and fire, he does manage to play under control when making decisions.

On-Ball Defense

At only 6-7, in shoes, and possessing a mediocre 6-10 wingspan, Blossomgame is a bit undersized for a 4 at the next level. Funnily enough, he struggles more with players similar to him in height than taller opponents. He’s so well-built and plays competitively enough that he does a great job of neutralizing slightly bigger guys, but doesn’t quite have the hip flexibility to be an elite perimeter defender.

Still, on-ball defense is certainly a strength of his game. As a small ball 4, he has the physicality to fight traditional power forwards, the strength and speed to match up with other combo forwards, and enough lateral ability to switch screens and guard each on the perimeter. He doesn’t have the makings of an elite on-ball defender, but he is a versatile and effective one.

Off-Ball Defense

The concerning part of Blossomgame’s defense is his inability to impact the game off-the-ball. His physical tools should allow him to be more of a playmaker, but aside from a few highlight blocks here and there he doesn’t contribute very much.

His lack of production stems from his short arms and below-average defensive instincts. He tries hard and really competes on the defensive end, but his natural defensive awareness is sub par and he frequently finds himself out of position. In order to succeed as an NBA defender, he will need to noticeably improve his understanding of the game and ability to read and react.

Outlook

The central appeal in Blossomgame’s NBA profile is his combination of athleticism and shooting. However, his athleticism mostly shows up in his ability to attack closeouts, and he doesn’t utilize it nearly as well on the defensive end. That ability to create some extra scoring opportunities has value, but that alone might not be enough to make up for his otherwise standard combo forward profile. In order to convince NBA scouts he’s deserving of a late first round pick, he will either need to prove he’s truly a 40+ percent shooter from deep, or make some real strides in his defensive impact.

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