Hollinger has Fears at number 5 overall.
“The numbers say that we shouldn’t get out over our skis on Fears; he was massively turnover-prone, shot poorly from 3, missed open teammates, struggled on defense and, based on my in-person eye test, is unlikely to measure 6-4.
But Fears’ best plays are just too good to ignore. He’s a slash-and-burn point-of-attack ballhandler who can break down defense with his handle and execute difficult finishes at the cup. It helps that the draft drops off here in quality, making it easier to take a shot on stardom even if the mid-case scenario is probably more like Jordan Clarkson.
Fears played more as a volume scorer in his lone season, shooting just 44.7 percent on 2s in SEC play, but he also drew fouls at a prodigious rate. His 85.1 percent mark from the line also makes it easier to buy that his 28.4 percent shooting from 3 might eventually level out at something close to respectable. Fears’ stroke needs tightening – bring the elbow in, get more air under it, etc. – but he also took a lot of difficult 3s that dragged on the percentage. Nonetheless, if opponents can just go under screens against him, that’s going to hurt his downhill attacking game.
Defensively, Fears is skinny and needs to compete more, but he also has good hands and, in his best iso clips, showed lively feet. He’ll be hunted early in his career, but it’s not a disaster.”
www.nytimes.com
