What is Shaedon Sharpe? Future bust? Future superstar? Role playing? Sharpe is the mystery of this Thursday’s draft. He could be many different things, perhaps several things at once. The only thing we know for sure is that he’s going to be a Lottery picker. However, Sharpe has been predicted to make the Top 10 in most of the available test drafts. Raw potential, size, athleticism, and even mystery, make Sharpe the most attractive player heading into the 2022-2023 NBA season.
The 19-year-old, 6-foot-6-year-old from Canada sat out his entire freshman season with Kentucky due to mysterious qualifying circumstances. Many thought Sharpe would return to court when he returned to the Wildcats activities. However, that was addressed by Kentucky head coach John Calipari.
“I told his parents I wouldn’t put him in a position where he would make himself miserable,” Calipari said. “I don’t. And we’re going to do this, this process, and if he ends up playing this year because he has the ability to do it and he can play, we’ll play him. But I’m not just pushing him in so we can win another game or stay closer. I’m not going to do that.”
It never really explained what the hell was going on. And the public, other than the NBA insiders, will never know. So we have to consider what Sharpe could have in the NBA?
During Sharpe’s senior year at Dream City Christian, Arizona, he was ranked #1 in his class by ESPN, 247Sports and Rivals. Hence the hype surrounding him, as he is only the second number 1 five-star pick of Kentucky, after Nerlens Noel in 2013.
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The Canadian is one of many brilliant players from our northern neighbours, starting with Steve Nash and continuing with RJ Barrett, Andrew Wiggins, Jamal Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dillon Brooks, and Lu Dort. In entering this year’s draft, Sharpe was riding his wave of abstraction. If he goes back to college and gets injured or shows he’s not as ready as we all think, his stock will plummet. Even without a college tape to review, he was destined to be a draw.
Outside of the college game, Sharpe averages 22.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while scoring 36.1% from three games on the Nike EYBL in 2021, according to Cerebro Sports. While competing at the international elite prep basketball tournament, The Grind Session, he averaged 18.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks. every match.
Physically, Sharpe is a whole package – he possesses lightning-fast first steps, excellent downhill propensity and a dynamic toolkit to get around the rim. Scouts were amazed in this combination at his improved ball handling, pull-up jump and accuracy from the three-point line. The downside is that none of these observations occur during a typical NCAA season. Even more important is the NCAA Tournament. We still haven’t seen Sharpe perform on the biggest stages during rehearsals. Domination at level three is still only level three.
There are clear signs that would make a fit for his Detroit or any of the burgeoning top seven teams worrisome. There have been criticisms of his motives dating back to high school. Scouts have described Sharpe as bored and uninterested in defense, dire conditions for a child with all the physical aptitude to be a two-way cross. Effort is unattainable. You have or don’t. It’s not something that suddenly changes when you start competing against the best players in the world.
If he lands in Detroit or Sacramento, two of the most likely scenarios where trading bans, he’ll join teams with a long history of losing. While Detroit has recently been playing better than Sacramento in draft selection and player development, Sharpe will at least be playing alongside a pure point guard at Cade Cunningham. This may be the best case scenario for the young prodigy. If the ball didn’t go past him, it would have been easy to put Sharpe in head coach Dwayne Casey’s system. Cunningham was a great support, even as a rookie this year. He also tackled athletic problems in college but has proven he’s ready for the NBA’s bright lights.
Pistons is developing something special in Detroit and doing it at a slow and steady pace. Sharpe could be the three-level scorer their squad needs to act as the adrenaline rush on attack. And playing alongside Cunningham’s steady hand will give the Pistons a larger-than-life platform to grow and forge together, as the team builds towards becoming more than an unspecified number . It’s a situation that can bring a mystery to light to examine what it is and how it could be.
