NBA Draft Profile: Tony Snell

By Kels Dayton
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Updated: May 13, 2013

TONY SNELL

6-7, 200 lbs.

School: New Mexico

Class: Junior

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Ethan Miller/Getty Images

STRENGTHS: Snell caught fire in the Mountain West tournament and pretty much shot New Mexico to the conference title. He’s a long, exceptional athlete with a great shooting stroke and an innate ability to take over games. Snell has the frame and athleticism to be a good defender in the NBA, and has the range and clutch-ness to knock down shots when he’s open. With those traits, you can see him becoming a valuable rotation guy. He’s got the shiftiness to be a good off-the-dribble scorer, but also does well shooting off the catch and understands how to move without the ball. Snell is a good decision-maker and lets the game come to him.

WEAKNESSES: Though he often took over in late-game situations, Snell didn’t show the same assertiveness through the entire game. He’d defer to lesser-talented teammates, and despite being a capable scorer, only put up 12.5 points per game. He had some monster games last season (25 against Davidson, 27 against George Mason), but also put up less than 10 points a whopping 13 times. That’s unacceptable. He scored just 9 points on 4-of-12 shooting in the stunning opening-round loss to Harvard.

BOTTOM LINE: Snell is an intriguing prospect because he already has a skill that will suit him well in the NBA (he can shoot the heck out of the ball). He’s also got NBA size and length, and could become a good defender at the small forward.Like most prospects, he’ll need to add some muscle, but the potential is there for Snell to help an NBA team immediately next season. For that reason, a playoff team could bet on him late in the first round.