Milwaukee Bucks NBA Draft Prospect Watch: Cassius Stanley

Milwaukee Bucks NBA Draft Prospect Watch: Cassius Stanley – Fit with the Bucks

Aside from his marvelous leaping ability and propensity to be a human highlight reel waiting to happen, what you get with Stanley has been laid out for all to see at this stage in his development.

Between his steady, if not spectacular floor spacing, solid slashing and magnetic transition game, Stanley doesn’t have to veer too much out of those characteristics to have a future in the NBA as a complementary piece. The same goes for his defensive services where Stanley’s high IQ and reactionary abilities can also make a mark within an NBA-level defensive unit.

But the very reason why Stanley has largely been viewed as a second round pick is that, as his development currently stands and his role is currently constructed, his ceiling is pretty defined. Lacking the ability to create for others and having a greater feel when taking on some load of ball-handling responsibilities to lead an offense is concerned is quite the big hole that is missing from Stanley’s skill package.

Again, that’s not incredibly damning to Stanley’s NBA future and his gifts and intangibles certainly speak for themselves. But there’s a level of dynamism that is currently missing from his game and it’s fair to wonder whether it will ever be realized throughout his career.

From that standpoint, that illustrates the need for Stanley to become either a high-caliber shooter, a truly disruptive defender in the backcourt or both to realize his ideal 3-and-D role at the next level. And there’s optimism that Stanley is at least on his way towards maximizing his skills in that regard, at least as a shooter.

For a team like the Milwaukee Bucks, though, that need to really hit on their first-round pick this season, that may not be enough to warrant selecting Stanley at where they currently stand in the draft order ahead of the 2019-20 season restart.

That’s through no fault of Stanley’s and while there may be some positional need on the wing when it comes to their depth chart, the Bucks may be in greater need to target a player that fulfills their ‘pass, dribble, shoot’ and versatility ethos than what Stanley can effectively do right now.