The idea behind the top performance series is to go back and watch the best, or one of the best, box score games of each prospect's season to see how they looked when they were performing at their highest individual level and what that might show us about their ceiling as a prospect.
Jordan Hawkins has plenty of claim to being the best 3-point shooter in the entire 2023 NBA Draft, but a game in which he did a lot of his damage inside the 3-point line and from the free throw line shows his true ceiling.
In this March Madness game he was still able to knock down three shots from beyond the arc but also went 3-of-4 inside and got nine free throw attempts to go with three assists.
Offense
It is hard to question whether Hawkins will be an elite level NBA 3-point shooter and it has been written about plenty but it still has to be discussed. The gravity he will provide an NBA offense and thus, floor spacing for others to operate, will provide value on its own beyond the actual making of shots.
If you have not watched the 6-foot-5 guard sprint off screens all game you really need to. It is completely irrational to compare anyone to Klay Thompson or Steph Curry as shot makers but Hawkins does resemble that level of off the ball movement.
What the offensive upside really comes down to is whether Hawkins can score inside the 3-point line and that is why this game is the perfect to watch. This was the ideal game for him in terms of using that same 3-point shooting gravity to leverage opportunities to attack the lane.
The respect for his shot is so great that he can curl off screens into the lane or catch and then use a subtle shot fake to get defenders up in the air. When you combine this potential pressure on the defense along with the shot making from the perimeter you have a much more dangerous all around scoring threat.
It should also be noted that the handle does not have to be elite or creative because the driving lanes will open up from the aforementioned shooting gravity.
Hawkins will not be mistaken for some high level creator but he is a very unselfish player that will keep the ball moving and flashed in this game some nice reads out of the ball screen and when attacking the paint.
Defense
The best thing about Hawkins on the defensive end of the court is that he has the experience doing many of the things that will be asked of him on an NBA floor.
Connecticut did not just blanket switch every screen, but rather they switch like sizes or out of necessity. The DeMatha Catholic High School alum also had to navigate plenty of screens these past two seasons. You also can find examples of executing defensive schemes like hard hedging a ball screen or scram switching when a bad matchup had been created.
Hawkins has solid awareness off the ball but can get caught watching at times and his overall least impactful area defensively is on the boards. For someone at his size and athleticism he tended to drift towards half court too often as opposed to getting involved in the defensive rebound.
The 21-year-old could also stand to use some strength to be more versatile with his matchups and hold up better in the final phase when defending drives but overall he does play extremely hard and has hip fluidity to change direction and stay in front of drives.
Ceiling
Elite floor spacer with No. 2 offensive option potential and good team defender.
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