Miles McBride Scouting Report
Point guard, West Virginia
Measurables
6’3, 195 lbs, born Sepember 8, 2000 (20 years 10 months on draft day)
Key stats
- Final year at WVU: 16 and 5 on 43/41/81 shooting splits
- Shot 44% from 2 on 253 attempts (8.7 per game) and 41% from 3 on 111 attempts (3.8 per game)
- Averaged 4.8 assists to 1.8 turnovers on 23% USG
- Shot 81% from the line with a 34% FTr
- Averaged 1.9 steals per game to 1.7 fouls per game
- 2019-20: averaged 10 and 2 on 40/30/75 shooting splits
Strengths
- Great shooter both off the dribble and off the catch
- Very versatile scorer and shot creator
- Has the ability to post up smaller guards
- Good playmaker with lead guard upside, kept turnover rate pretty low
- Pushes in transition and keeps his eyes up for outlet passes to take advantage of not-set defenses
- Excellent defender with great footwork, loves to pressure ball handlers way outside
- Comfortable in clutch moments, with impressive shots down the stretch against Oklahoma St, Texas Tech,
Weaknesses
- Not a great straight-line athlete despite elite lateral quickness
- Doesn’t get to the rim enough because of both lack of burst and preference to pull up from midrange even when he has a step, offense is very jump shot-heavy
- Not a great finisher when he does get to the rim, tries to finish off two feet and loses explosion and gets blocked a lot
- Decent ball handler but doesn’t create a ton of separation
- Prone to tunnel vision at times and would force up tough shots
- Can be too aggressive on defense, gambles a lot and gets beat backdoor
Analysis
Miles “Deuce” McBride is an “NBA Draft Twitter” favorite that became a two-way star in his sophomore season at West Virginia. Showcasing a ton of versatility on offense, a bulldog mentality on defense, and a knack for coming up big in clutch moments, he led WVU to a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, where they were upset by Syracuse in the second round. McBride called his decision to leave West Virginia a difficult one, but I think it was the right one. Before getting into the basketball-specific stuff, he’s an interesting athlete. There are a lot of athletes that are extremely fast and can jump out of the gym, but can’t move well laterally. McBride is the opposite. He doesn’t have a lot of burst or explosion near the rim, but his lateral athleticism is particularly evident on defense.
As a shooter, McBride has everything you can ask for from a guard. At over 40% from 3 and 80% from the line on good volume, his percentages bode well for his projection to the NBA, as does his shooting form, which is quick and compact, even though he doesn’t get much lift on his shot. He’s a high-volume pull-up shooter, which has its pros and cons. He can create space pretty well and is comfortable shooting from anywhere on the floor, but he relies way too much on that pull-up game. Too many times he’ll have a step on his man, and instead of pressuring the paint and forcing help defenders to make a decision, he’ll pull up near the free throw line for a much more difficult jumper. The best scoring guards in the NBA are the ones who are equally capable of shooting from outside and finishing at the rim, and McBride isn’t quite there as a finisher. Even when he does get all the way to the rim, he doesn’t have the vertical pop to consistently finish over rim protectors. The threat of him pulling up from the midrange will be key in opening up the paint, as he can punish drop coverage on pick and rolls all day. And he has a pretty decent handle, although he’s not an elite space creator because of his athleticism. As a finisher, he’ll likely find more success with craftiness rather than speed and explosion, so he’ll have to continue working on his handle. But he can also use his strength to his advantage, and he has a decent post up game when a smaller guard is on him.
Where he can really make an impact is if he improves as a playmaker. I think there’s a lot to work with there as a passer - he took care of the ball pretty well for someone who had a pretty high volume of touches, and he can make live dribble passes with both hands. He loves to push in transition, and this often leads to open shots for his teammates, whether it’s an outlet pass or a trailing three point shooter. And of course, the threat of his shooting will open up the court as well. The vision in the half-court is good, but isn’t quite at the “lead guard” level yet. He has a tendency to take some ill-advised contested shots and misses open teammates in the corner or on the wing. Ideally, he’ll be more of a secondary ball handler in the NBA, but I think he has a bit more potential as a playmaker than some of the other guys this year who fit that “scoring point guard” role.
I’ve mentioned McBride’s subpar athleticism, but that doesn’t stop him from being a really good defender who should be able to guard 1’s and 2’s at a high level in the NBA. There are guys who can jump way higher and run way faster than him, but laterally, he moves about as well as any guard in the draft on defense. He stays in position very well without fouling, and he’s just a smart defender in general, anticipating passes and rotating well to help on drives. The most important trait for defense is effort, and you’ll certainly see that out of him as well. He will happily pick up his man as soon as he crosses half court and get all the way into him, applying pressure, fighting through screens, and forcing turnovers. The effort can turn into overaggressiveness at times, where he’ll gamble for steals and get caught out of position, or just be too physical and commit fouls. However, his overall level of skill and motor on the defensive end give him a good shot to crack an NBA rotation.
Swing skill: Getting to the rim. That high of a volume of pull-up midrange jumpers doesn’t consistently work well for many players unless you’re Kevin Durant. It’s a great thing to have in your arsenal, but being able to finish at the rim and draw fouls will turn McBride from a shooter to a scorer. It will also open up playmaking opportunities, which would allow him to become more of an offensive engine than a secondary playmaker.
Film
Shooting
Sees big dropping off, quick release on pull-up 3
Dribble hand-off into movement 3
Throws the inbounds pass off defender’s back and gets a floater, but misses
Takes Cunningham off the dribble, hits tough pull-up jumper
Good setup in corner for catch and shoot 3
Deep 3 when defender is under screen
Driving/Finishing
Can’t get step on defender, pull-up jumper gets blocked
Gets by defender with a double crossover and hesitation, hits the floater off the backboard
Backs Davion Mitchell all the way under the basket and hits easy layup
Allows double team to get him in trouble in the post, but nearly hits the and-1
Mitchell beats him to the spot and draws the offensive foul
Has the step on his man to get to the rim but puts up long runner instead
Ball handling
Drops defender with a behind-the-back stepback, hits short jumper
Nice initial handle but loses ball under pressure
Quick crossover, good patience on dribble, may have been a foul on this shot
Doesn’t create any separation with these moves, forced to take tough pull-up
Pushes in transition, nice crossover in the lane and finish
Nice double crossover to get the step and draw the foul
Passing/Playmaking
Quick live-dribble pass to man in post
Good to be aggressive in transition, but forces the floater instead of kicking to the corner
Heads up play to recognize that he can make the pass for his teammate to shoot before the shot clock
Heads up play to find open man for 3 with outlet pass after made basket
Finds open man on opposite wing, pass is a little high
Takes contested pull-up midrange, has a man wide open in the opposite corner that he doesn’t see
Defense
Forgets to box out, allows easy putback that rebounder should’ve made
Mitchell gets a small step on him, but he’s able to recover and get the block
Stays attached to Butler’s hip, doesn’t get out of position and gets the block without fouling
Way too far off Butler, allows him to get to the rim and tie the game
Good pressure throughout possession, forces pass out of shot
Good recognition and rotation to contest the layup but gets called for foul
Helps way too hard and leaves Cunningham open for 3
Beat off the dribble by Cunningham
Closes out into the passing lane and forces tougher shot
Final Verdict
With his 3-point shooting and defensive ability, I believe McBride will at least be a rotational player in the NBA, so he’s definitely worth a first round pick. His handle and playmaking ability give him some upside to be more than that, although I think his lack of athleticism will end up limiting him to being a secondary playmaker. The overall scoring versatility promising for a guy outside the lottery, and while I don’t think he has any one elite trait that you can hang your hat on, he’s probably worth a pick at #21 in most drafts. That being said, I feel like he’ll get pushed back a little by the depth of this class, and there will likely be some better prospects available.
Posted Jul 20, 2021, 9:10 PM UTC