4. Paul Reed, Forward
Among the upperclassmen that still declared before their eligibility officially ran up in college, former DePaul 6-foot-9 and 220 pound forward Paul Reed just ended his junior season. Reed played three seasons at DePaul, with his best coming during the 2019-20 campaign. Unfortunately his last year with the Blue Demons was cut short by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
During his junior season at DePaul, Reed played in 29 games (starting in all 29 of them). He averaged 15.1 points per game, 10.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.9 steals, and 2.6 blocks. Reed shot 51.6 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 73.8 percent from the free-throw line. That amounted to a 53.8 effective field goal percentage and 56.1 true shooting percentage.
If Reed can recapture that magic he found during his sophomore season, where he registered a true shooting percentage around 62.0, then he could be a very valuable shooter as a forward in the NBA. Nonetheless, the advanced metrics were a friend of Reed last season. He registered a career-best box plus/minus rating of 9.2, .194 win shares per 40 minutes, and a 27.5 player efficiency rating.
Reed is a very gifted rebounder, paint scorer, shot blocker, off-ball defender, and hustler to loose balls. Not your average 6-foot-9 forward is going to average roughly two steals per game and 2.5 blocks. But he does need to improve his overall shooting ability, especially from deep, along with his efficiency as a ball handler.