Watch this man: Devonte’ Graham picks up the pieces and brings the cool

This isn’t the first time Devonte’ Graham has stepped into big shoes and overperformed, and he’s doing it in a very cool way.

In 2016-17, National Player of the Year Frank Mason led the Kansas Jayhawks. Mason had been the driver for Kansas at the point guard position for four years, and his career ended with all the national accolades you could ask for and an Elite Eight trip. When he was gone, Kansas gave the reigns to Devonte’ Graham, expecting that while Graham would perform well, he would be a step back from Mason.

They were half right. He didn’t win National Player of the Year, only earning first-team All-America. But he did help Kansas best Mason’s final finish, pushing the Jayhawks into the Final Four instead. Graham didn’t have the scoring outbursts that Mason did, but he was a more consistent passer, and at a 40.6 percent 3-point clip, he was a more effective shooter that created a gravity for Kansas’s offense that Mason didn’t.

In the summer of 2019, the Charlotte Hornets found themselves in the same predicament. Kemba Walker was their world, a multi-year All-Star who was the life and soul of the team. And while the team hadn’t had any playoff success with him, it still stung when he left for Boston. The Hornets were looking towards a year of nearly guaranteed struggle, forced primarily by their lead ball-handling tandem of a recently overpaid Terry Rozier, a disappointing Malik Monk, and an unproven Graham.

Once again, Graham stepped in. The 34th overall pick in 2018 went from averaging just 4.7 points per game in 14.7 minutes to leading the Hornets in usage with a fabulous line — 18.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game, with that scoring moored to 41.4 percent shooting from 3 on nearly nine attempts per game. And the Hornets, considered to have one of the worst rosters in the league headed into the season, are just two wins off last year’s Kemba-fueled pace at this point in the season. Graham once again has stepped into some gigantic shoes to fill, and has looked incredibly comfortable doing so.

But it’s not just what Graham’s doing that makes him someone you should pay attention to. The added layer of Creme Anglaise to this particular cake is how effortless Graham makes this all look. He’s turned into one of the league’s most efficient pull-up 3-point shooters overnight, shooting more pull-up 3s than Kemba Walker and placing second among all players with at least 50 attempts at 41.1 percent. This is fueled by Graham’s smooth footwork off the dribble:

And his handle helps him cover a ton of ground in a short burst.

He combines that smooth shot creation ability with what was probably his most underrated collegiate skill — his off-movement shooting, which has been fully unlocked playing in lineups with Miles Bridges and P.J. Washington, where the threat of elbow creation allows him to sprint off screens and create quick jumpers with ease. His sweep and sway coming into the shot are very natural, and his ability to get perfectly upright off the catch puts him in the company of other elite technical shooters like CJ McCollum.

There’s also the aesthetics of his passing, which adds a further dimension of flair to his game. The pet favorite is the shovel pass in the pick-and-roll, which comes out with such velocity from a small movement that it looks like the ball made the decision to do that itself.

This all adds up to the feeling that Graham is a classic throwback to the early 2000’s basketball. He’s not the best athlete, he’s not huge, and he’s not particularly fast. But his ability to clear space and zip the ball out from both his shot and pass, all while seemingly loping across the floor in a brisk jog, creates an air of coolness that is straight out of the Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury school of getting buckets.

Who knows how long Graham can keep this up. Teams will eventually figure out how to shade his moves and bump him off screens, and the shooting could always evaporate for a 20-30 game stretch. But while he’s doing this, he’s a lock for the Most Improved Player award. He’s also made the Hornets not just comparable to the Kemba teams in quality, but arguably more watchable. And you should definitely watch, man.