Charles Bassey
Range: Second Round
A vaunted recruit out of high school, Charles Bassey opted to play his lone freshman season at Western Kentucky in Conference USA. That move paid off for Bassey, as he clobbered the conference en route to winning the Conference’s Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards while being named to the conference’s All-Rookie, All-Defense and All-Conference teams. Not bad for a player who won’t turn 19 until late October!
As a 6-foot-10, 239-pound big man, finishing at the rim was one of Bassey’s calling cards in the 2018-19 season. According to Bart Torvik, Bassey finished 22nd in the country in at-rim finishing with a 77.7 percent clip. Those shots accounted for 58.1 percent of his total shooting profile to boot.
Bassey has the requisite length (7-foot-3½ wingspan) to finish shots at the rim around defenders, and Bassey also employs that length on defense.
Per KenPom’s player profile, Bassey’s brilliant finishing ability at the rim led to him having the 26th-ranked effective field goal percentage in the country at 64.2 percent alongside the 17th-ranked true shooting percentage at 67.3 percent.
Bassey shot 76.9 percent from the line in his freshman season on nearly 150 attempts while also drilling 9 of 20 three-pointers (45 percent) per Sports Reference.
The issue for Bassey is whether or not he can hang on the defensive end as a modern NBA five. Sure, he has the requisite length and height to protect the rim, but is he savvy enough to switch on the perimeter?
Ground-bound centers are slowly being weeded out of the league, but the Atlanta Hawks should still ponder selecting Bassey as a young, high-upside play in the second round if he’s available.