NBA News 2011: Lakers 2011 NBA Draft prospect profile: Iman Shumpert

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During the next week leading up to the 2011 NBA Draft on June 23, I will be covering some of the most promising prospects that the Los Angeles Lakers should have their sights on when they're finally on the clock. With four second-round selections, including picks 41, 46, 56 and 58, they have a pretty good chance of finding a diamond in the rough. To start things off, we'll take a look at Georgia Tech point guard Iman Shumpert.

Throughout the 2011 NBA playoffs, one of the biggest problems the Lakers faced was veteran point guard Derek Fisher's inability to defend against quicker, more talented point guards like Chris Paul or Jason Kidd. Fisher has been a staple in the Lakers' lineup for years, but his age and sloth-like speed is starting to become the Achilles' heel of a team that already has plenty of other issues on its plate. Hence, a new, young point guard is arguably their most dire need this off-season. Shumpert's outstanding defense from the point guard position is what makes him such an interesting prospect for the Lakers.
 
Shumpert spent three years as part of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, during which time he proved himself to be one of the better defensive point guards in college basketball. He does a great job of using his quick feet and athleticism to stay in front of his opposition and makes life difficult for them with tenacious on-ball defense. By the end of his junior year, he had racked up 207 steals, including 2.7 per game during the season. Part of his ability to be a great defender is his sensational mix of size (6'6'', 222 pounds) and speed. Although he never made too many blocks (17 career), he did a good job of rebounding from the point guard spot (5.9 per game).

Another one of the deficiencies in Fisher's game was his ineffectiveness as a facilitator in the Lakers' offense. He was never a true passing point guard, forcing Kobe Bryant to be both the scorer and the passer. However, with a point guard who can take over the passing duties, Bryant can focus on being a scorer/play-maker. Even though he's known primarily for his excellent defense, Shumpert also boasts some impressive passing.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AiEnF0GDKgFvXayUUFJHOj2Ju8J_?slug=ycn-8650475

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NBA News 2011: Draft Prospect Iman Shumpert

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Iman Shumpert, 6'4, Junior, Guard, Georgia Tech
17.0 Points, 6.1 Rebounds, 3.5 Assists, 2.8 Steals, 2.4 Turnovers, 39.9% FG, 25.5% FT, 82% FT

A former McDonald's All-American, Iman Shumpert has played a prominent role in Georgia Tech's backcourt since stepping on campus as a freshman. A combo guard with a scorer's mentality, Shumpert attempted to find a balance between shooting and passing playing next to the likes of Lewis Clinch, Gani Lawal, and Derrick Favors as an underclassman. Now a junior, Shumpert has gotten the opportunity to shoulder the offensive load as the clear cut first option for Paul Hewitt's rebuilding Yellow Jackets, seeing his shot attempts per-40 minutes skyrocket from 11.3 last season to 17.3 this season. Despite reinforcing many of our conceptions about his weaknesses offensively, this has been a breakout season on a number of levels for the Illinois native.

As we've stated in past reports, the intrigue around Shumpert as a potential NBA player revolves around his exceptional physical profile for a player seeing time at the point guard position. Standing 6'4 with an extremely rangy frame, Shumpert is fluid, agile, deceptively quick, and an explosive two-foot leaper.

While Shumpert certainly hasn't had a stellar offensive season despite his productivity, he's made a lot of key improvements in other areas. If he lands on a team with a coach that can help him hone his shot selection, eliminate the inefficient parts of his game (mainly his stubborn insistence for settling for pull-up jumpers), and play to his strengths, the improvements he's made as a slasher, rebounder, and defender could make him a very useful player at the NBA level.

Though he projects as a roleplayer due to his lack of jump shooting ability and pure point guard play, Shumpert has the ability to compete with any guard in the country in workouts on a good day, and is a clear-cut sleeper prospect to watch should he enter the draft.

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Trending-Prospects-2172011--3632/

NBA News 2010: NBA Prospect Iman Shumpert

Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Shumpert is the most important returning player on an underachieving Georgia Tech squad that made the NCAA tournament with a 7-9 record in the ACC. This could be the year that the former McDonald's All-American finally has his breakout season.

Shumpert looks the part of an NBA guard. He's a physical and athletic specimen, standing 6-4 with an excellent frame and an incredibly long wingspan. He's a smooth, fluid athlete for whom everything comes easily for. He shows very good quickness, a powerful first step and the explosiveness needed to play above the rim.

His offensive game lacks a great deal of polish at the moment. He's not a prolific scorer – at 12.5 points per-40 minutes, pace adjusted – and he doesn't have the efficiency to compensate. He converts just 38.5% of his field goals, rarely gets to the free throw line and struggles in particular inside the arc, where he converts a paltry 42% of his 2-point attempts.

Shumpert does an excellent job pushing the ball up the floor and getting his team out in transition, but he lacks the skill-level and the decision making ability to be overly effective once he gets into the opposing team's half of the court. He tends to settle for the first shot that becomes available to him, resulting in dozens of possessions that end with a contested pull-up jumper early in the shot clock, before any of his teammates have had the opportunity to touch the ball. He doesn't seem to know what his weaknesses are at the moment. He tends to play with the confidence of a guy who shot 58.5% from the field last season, not 38.5%.

One of the things that makes Shumpert attractive as an NBA prospect is the fact that, at 6-4, he sees such heavy minutes at the point guard position for Georgia Tech. He shows flashes of excellent court vision, at times threading the needle impressively between defenders with a highlight reel-caliber bullet pass or an alley-oop lob. He can also create for others off the dribble a bit, especially in drive-and-dish situations and occasionally on the pick-and-roll.

Shumpert is clearly not a natural playmaker, though, as his team's half-court offense very often looks disjointed. 27% of his possessions end with a turnover, which ranks him in the top 10 in the NCAA on a per-possession basis in that category. That's down from his freshman season, though, when he ranked in the top five in turnovers per possession.

Defensively is where teams are likely to be most intrigued by Shumpert's potential, as he has the physical tools to defend at least two and possibly three positions in the NBA with his excellent size and gigantic wingspan. A menace in the passing lanes, Shumpert has the footspeed and length to switch on every screen and absolutely smother opponents on the perimeter, and he had some incredibly impressive possessions last season already against some of the top offensive players in college basketball, such as Evan Turner, Greivis Vasquez, James Anderson and many others.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Iman-Shumpert-5156/

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