NBA Mock Draft: DeAndre Ayton joins the Hawks

The freshman point guard is not as polished as you’d think a big-name recruit at Duke might be.

He really struggles finishing when he goes left, often switching the ball over to his right hand even on layups from the left side of the paint — a worrisome sign of a lack of confidence or ability. And he has none of the secondary shots that elite point guards go to when they’re well-guarded. Much of the time, Duvall is forced into inefficient flips and flicks that make life easy for a defense. What we’re left with is a player who has two options going to the rim — finding an open teammate or flying in for a righty layup.

At Duke, his all-world teammates allow him to make mistakes and play for the pass without concern. All of them are better shooters than him, which is about as ideal a structure for him as could be. He won’t have that luxury with whichever team drafts him.

On defense, he plays within himself and makes an impact at the point of attack. He has the potential to create turnovers at will and turn them into easy offensive possessions. Think about what Frank Ntilikina has done in New York this year as a one-on-one defender — that’s the kind of impact Duval could have on that end.

Overall, his hype overestimated his impact, in my opinion.