Tahaad Pettiford, a four-star recruit and the 29th-ranked player in his high school class, arrived at Auburn last season and immediately left an impression. The Jersey City product was a sixth man, but his impact often transcended that label. Now as a sophomore, he gets a chance to elevate his profile even further as a full-time starter and the centerpiece of the offense.
Johni Broome's departure leaves a gaping hole in the Tigers' lineup. Pettiford is a point guard — he isn't a one-for-one replacement for Broome, obviously — but he should step into a more significant role. The offense will flow through Pettiford, allowing him to showcase his playmaking more frequently, as well as his remarkable shot-making.
There is a longstanding bias against small guards in the NBA Draft, one that is justified more often than not due to the unavoidable limitations in a league that is increasingly hellbent on melding size and skill across all positions. NBA offenses have never been better, meaning teams can relentlessly target and isolate small guards on defense while and smothering them with length and athleticism on offense.
Pettiford will need to work overtime to compensate for his featherweight frame — 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, per Auburn's listings. But sometimes a player comes along with enough outlier talent to buck modern trends and forge an unconventional path in the NBA. Pettiford certainly has what it takes.
Tahaad Pettiford NBA Draft bio
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 175 lbs.
Birthdate: Aug. 4, 2005
Position: Point Guard
Offensive Role: Combo Guard
Defensive Role: Off-Ball Playmaker
Projected Draft Range: 15-40
NBA Draft highlights
Strengths
Pettiford is a gamer. He's one of the most entertaining players to watch in college basketball, with an infectious energy that should elevate the vibes in any locker room. You can't teach effort and you can't teach hard work. Those intangibles should help Pettiford overcome his limitations and carve out a niche at the next level.
In terms of actual basketball traits, there isn't much that Pettiford isn't good at. The majority of criticisms boil down to his small frame, which is unavoidable. But Pettiford, in addition to that sparky attitude, brings a wealth of skill and poise on the floor. Writing him off because of his size would be a huge mistake.
Few shot-makers in the 2026 draft are more dynamic than Pettiford. He hit 36.6 percent on his 3s on 5.0 attempts in 22.9 minutes as a freshman, including 40.4 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s. Pettiford is highly adaptable to the personnel around him. He can run point and set the table — something he'll need to do a lot more of at the next level — but he's equally adept at spotting up along the perimeter, coming off of screens, and finding ways to score without a dribble.
Pettiford has deep range on his jumper, with impeccable footwork and balance. He can sprint off a dribble handoff, square up in mid-air, and fire a moving jump shot from 30-feet out — and drill it. He shoots with equal confidence on either wing or above the break. The pull-up jumpers are slightly less efficient (and a heck of a lot more different), but Pettiford is a constant threat to stick a jumper if he has space on the perimeter. That shooting gravity alone should make him extremely useful to an NBA team.
He's going to face his challenges finishing around the rim, but Pettiford is fearless when it comes to attacking the heart of a defense. He's blessed with a quick first step and elite dexterity, able to stop and start on a dime and change directions in entirely unpredictable ways. That allows him to penetrate with intent to score or distribute, depending on the advantage he creates. Rim finishing is a work in progress, but Pettiford's floater defies physics. He's able to scrape the ceiling and drop it right through the net, with touch from all sorts of awkward angles. Pettiford will convert touch shots in the paint that only a handful of players on Earth can even conceive of. If the defender gives him a cushion to mitigate his speed, Pettiford can stop and pull anywhere inside the free throw, with either hand.
Pettiford's freshman season saw him profile primarily as a sixth man spark plug, meaning he was asked to score — a lot. He should take on more point guard duties as a sophomore, and I'd venture a bet that he will impress a lot of folks with his velocity and placement as a passer. Pettiford sees the floor well and does a nice job anticipating cutters and passing teammates open as they curl into a spot-up 3 or slip backdoor for a dunk. He can run pick-and-rolls. He can control the tempo and flow of an offense. We needn't pigeonhole him as an undersized shooting guard.
Defense will generally be a weakness at the next level, but then again, Pettiford competes hard out there. He's a pest in passing lanes (0.9 steals in 22.9 minutes) and a smart team defender, to the extent that it matters. NBA teams will still target him like a lighthouse on a moonless night, but Pettiford will at least put in the effort to be in the right spots and generate chaos where he can. He's not a pushover, at least not in terms of mentality.
Weaknesses
Surprise, surprise, but if you haven't guessed it, there are natural concerns about a 6-foot-1, 175-pound guard in the NBA. Defenses will, in fact, pick on him. A lot. It will take a conscious effort from his coach to hide Pettiford on non-factors in the corner and keep him out of actions. If he can roam freely and pick a few pockets without being tasked with stopping dudes one-on-one in space, his team's defense will not suffer. As soon as the opponent isolates Pettiford on an island and tests his mettle against a 30-year-old charging bull en route to the rim, things won't look so good.
As far as offense is concerned, Pettiford will need to get better at finishing through contact at the rim. He's plenty creative, and he's not afraid to get knocked around a bit, but Pettiford won't load up for dunks unless he has an open lane and room to run. When the floor is compressed in the halfcourt, he will need to combat NBA shot-blockers from the weeds, below the rim. That means, ideally, drawing fouls (only 4.5 FTA per 40 minutes as a freshman) and putting the shot-blockers in uncomfortable positions, whether it leads to a crafty layup or a kickout. Pettiford will need to add muscle and take on an almost reckless approach on drives, but he's capable of it.
The playmaking is evident on tape, and he puts up a respectable 3.0 assists to 1.6 turnovers in limited minutes as a freshman, but there will be an increased onus to make it a staple in his game as a sophomore (and once he's at the next level). Even the most malleable scorers will struggle to hack it in the NBA at his size if he can't initiate the offense effectively. It's not a huge area of concern, but there is still a level of needed proof to back up what seems evident based on last season's more limited opportunities.
Pettiford will also need to settle into a more efficient shot profile in the NBA. He takes a lot of haphazard long 2s and extremely different jumpers. There is a place and time for those shots, and his ability to pressure the defense from anywhere on the court is valuable, but whereas Auburn needs Pettiford to generate from scratch constantly, NBA teams will ask him to play a slightly more refined role that fits into a broader context. He ran cold a few times last season, which is only natural for a volume scoring guard, but we shall see how his approach translates to a more demanding, front-facing role.
Final summary
Pettiford is a walking bucket with a high creativity threshold and a ton of talent. He's fighting an uphill battle due to his 6-foot-1 frame, and it's fair to wonder how exactly his approach maps onto a smaller role at the next level, but it's rare to find players with his skill, adaptability and craft, much less his effusive positivity and constant effort.
He's due for a significant sophomore leap at Auburn, ideally translating his efficiency to a more substantial role. There is a world in which it goes badly — or in which Pettiford just cannot overcome the strength and height deficit against NBA defenses a year from now — but after a wildly impressive debut season on one of the best teams in college basketball, it's only reasonable to expect more success from Pettiford moving forward.