NBA Scout on Kane

[HoraceGrant]

King's Court: NBA Scouts Weigh In on Whether Top Prospects Should Stay or Go | Bleacher Report

BleacherReport had an article with blurbs from scouts on a lot of prominent college players, and here is what they said about DKane:

I have no idea what other people think of Kane, but he’s on my radar. He’s impressed me. The other day I compared his stats to Marcus Smart’s. Both are 6’4" combo guards playing the point. Kane was shooting better from three-point range, his assist-to-turnover ratio almost twice as good, his rebounding was better and his assists were better.
The only stat where Marcus was better was steals. I’m not saying Kane is a better prospect than Smart. He isn’t. But he’s definitely going to catch the attention of some people if he keeps playing like this.

 

[MNCyGuy]

I don't think that's anything new. The biggest knock on Kane, from an NBA perspective, is his age. If he were 2 years younger and doing this he'd be a lock.

 

[Knownothing]

With all the trades and free agency. I don't honestly think the age thing is that big of a deal. Players stay at places around 4 years now. I would understand if we are talking top 10 pick. But the lower guys are guys that they don't expect to be super stars. I could be wrong. That is my opinion.

 

[MNCyGuy]

With all the trades and free agency. I don't honestly think the age thing is that big of a deal. Players stay at places around 4 years now. I would understand if we are talking top 10 pick. But the lower guys are guys that they don't expect to be super stars. I could be wrong. That is my opinion.

The NBA draft is so weird nowadays once you get past the middle of the 1st round. In a world where every team is drafting based on who would help their team the most immediately, I think you're right. But in the later part of the draft where he'd likely land you get lots of teams looking for high upside projects or foreign guys they can stash overseas to develop.

That being said, he's going to at least get invited to a lot of camps and you'd think he'd at least as good of a chance as Garrett did at catching on somewhere.

 

[SoapyCy]

Guy A is better in 5 things.
Guy B is better in 1 thing.

"I'm not saying Guy A is better"

there is so much dang hype in basketball recruits. Get called a one-and-done in your 8th grad year suddenly you can do no wrong. Kane has played better than Smart this year as a whole. to be honest I thought Kane was taller than 6'4"

 

[isuno1fan]

I still don't see him getting drafted. He'll play in Summer league with someone, but I think it will be tough for him to make a team.

 

[Cardinal2001]

to be honest I thought Kane was taller than 6'4"

It just seems that way, since our big guys are so small.

We need more big guys.

 

[MNCyGuy]

Guy A is better in 5 things.
Guy B is better in 1 thing.

"I'm not saying Guy A is better"

there is so much dang hype in basketball recruits. Get called a one-and-done in your 8th grad year suddenly you can do no wrong. Kane has played better than Smart this year as a whole. to be honest I thought Kane was taller than 6'4"

Better prospect and better current player are not the same thing. I would assume the popular take on Smart is that he has a lot more room to grow in the NBA and that Kane has less areas where he's likely to improve.

 

[ThurgoodMarshal]

only time will tell

 

[bawbie]

I don't think that's anything new. The biggest knock on Kane, from an NBA perspective, is his age. If he were 2 years younger and doing this he'd be a lock.

I don't even think 2 years would make all that much of a difference.

He's almost 5 (!!) years older than Smart.

 

[MNCyGuy]

I don't even think 2 years would make all that much of a difference.

He's almost 5 (!!) years older than Smart.

Really?! That's crazy. Did he red-shirt at Marshall or go to prep school or something? Or are they just on the extreme age ends of their classes?

 

[HFCS]

Guy A is better in 5 things.
Guy B is better in 1 thing.

"I'm not saying Guy A is better"

there is so much dang hype in basketball recruits. Get called a one-and-done in your 8th grad year suddenly you can do no wrong. Kane has played better than Smart this year as a whole. to be honest I thought Kane was taller than 6'4"

I'm kind of off the bandwagon of Smart taking the NBA by storm even though I was driving it at times last year. He could be fun to watch, but man there are some incredible point guards in the league now even with Rose being out and Westbrook being out a while. The team taking Smart will expect him to star, a team signing Kane undrafted will expect him to contribute and do some dirty work.

 

[brentblum]

Kane is the same age as Russell Westbrook and 8 months younger than Kevin Durant. Think about that for a second.

 

[Cydkar]

I think it's strange that a scout is using stats so much to describe a player. They get paid to go beyond the stats.

 

[Cydkar]

I'm kind of off the bandwagon of Smart taking the NBA by storm even though I was driving it at times last year. He could be fun to watch, but man there are some incredible point guards in the league now even with Rose being out and Westbrook being out a while. The team taking Smart will expect him to star, a team signing Kane undrafted will expect him to contribute and do some dirty work.

Smart will be in the D-League if he doesn't stop flopping.

 

[HFCS]

Kane is the same age as Russell Westbrook and 8 months younger than Kevin Durant. Think about that for a second.

If Durant really is younger than Kane...he's already scored 13,666 NBA points before our likely all conference player declares for the draft.

 

[brentblum]

If Durant really is younger than Kane...he's already scored 13,666 NBA points before our likely all conference player declares for the draft.

Durant is a shade older. But still crazy.

 

[Bret44]

Kane is the same age as Russell Westbrook and 8 months younger than Kevin Durant. Think about that for a second.

And he is less than a year younger than me! Suit me up Coach!

 

[brentblum]

My NBA take on Kane...great size and decent handle for a PG at that level. He would be able to guard both guard spots, which is a huge plus. Good straight line speed and good enough athlete. Shot is obviously dicey at best. I could see someone taking a run at him in the 2nd round and he will definitely play in the Summer League if he wants to.

Would make a solid backup PG. Most teams carry three PG's. The 2nd and 3rd guys are there to distribute and guard and create tempo. Kane could do all of that, but he won't ever be a high volume scorer or shooter.

Basically, he has a shot, age is a factor, but not the only limiting issue.

 

[swarthmoreCY]

I don't even think 2 years would make all that much of a difference.

He's almost 5 (!!) years older than Smart.

True, and scouts/GMs like to use their imagination on how much a guy can improve in those 5 years. In theory, Smart is five years behind Kane on his growth curve (although I still do not see why a current GM places so much emphasis on that far down the road when the player would likely be playing for a different GM, if not team). In reality I doubt Smart's game will change much more than Kane's has since he was a freshman. Smart is good in large part because he often is physically dominant, especially true when he built his stock in the high school level as a man among boys. Both live off of an advantage that will diminish in the NBA.
Kane's shot is the biggest deal breaker, followed by his lack of pg "vision".