NBA Scout on Cal's Jaylon Tyson: `To Me, He's a Complete Player - He Does Everything'
For the first time all season on Thursday night, Cal junior guard Jaylon Tyson failed to score double digits. In 15 of his first 25 games, he scored at least 20 points. Twice he has gone for 30.
After Tyson was held to a season-low seven points on a rough shooting night in the Bears’ 81-73 win over Oregon State, coach Mark Madsen pointed out the other ways Tyson contributed to the outcome.
“A lot of times . . . the first line you sometimes look at is the scoring line.” Madsen said. “But if you really look at Jaylon’s line, he had five assists, two turnovers. He got some big rebounds.
“So Jaylon Tyson, whether he’s scoring the ball or not, he’s making everyone around him better.”
Teammates Jalen Cone, left, and Keonte Kennedy, in the video above, talk about how Tyson contributes beyond his scoring.
His full stat line against the Beavers: 7 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocked shots and just 2 turnovers in 33:20 on the floor.
As the Bears (12-15, 8-8 Pac-12) prepare to take on Oregon (18-8, 10-5) at 4 p.m. today in their home finale, Tyson is averaging 19.8 points — second-best in the Pac-12. He’s also providing the Bears 7.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists, making him the only player in the conference averaging at least 15 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
At 6-foot-7, Tyson also has 31 steals and 13 blocked shots. He is shooting 48 percent from the field, 37 percent from the 3-point arc and 78 percent at the foul line.
He has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in a game eight times, five or more assists eight times and at least two steals nine times, including six vs. Arizona State.
It’s the full package, an NBA scout told me, that makes Tyson an attractive prospect, a possible first-round draft pick.
“To me he’s a complete player — he does everything. He plays on both ends of the floor and plays hard,” the scout said Thursday prior to tipoff.
Tyson, who has the option of returning to play at Cal next season, said earlier this week playing in the NBA is his life’s ambition but he has made no decision about whether he’ll pursue it this spring.
A natural wing, Tyson has often played essentially point guard for the Bears, who have no other healthy experienced floor leader on the roster. Senior Devin Askew is out for the season with a foot injury and Rodney Brown Jr., who has enjoyed some encouraging moments, is a freshman.
The scout, who has watched Tyson play multiple times, compared him to the Warriors’ Draymond Green.
“He can do a little bit of everything. He’s a Swiss Army knife,” he told me. “He’s kind of like their Draymond Green — he defends, he rebounds, he can handle the ball, he can make plays for other people.
“And he can score in every way — he scores in transition, he scores in half court, he can post up. He knows how to play. If he doesn’t have the ball, he’s a threat to cut and find a way to the basket.”
The scout was on hand when Tyson scored 30 points in Cal’s 82-78 win over Colorado on Jan. 10. “He put the team on his back at both ends of the floor. He made some defensive plays that were important and timely,” he said.
That versatility and willingness to do more than score gives Tyson value.
“He does everything. That’s what teams are looking for at this level — guys who know how to play, guys who can figure out how to contribute,” the scout said. “Because if you’re averaging 25 points in college and you go to the NBA, they don’t need that from you. For a guy like that when you ask how can you contribute to this team without being a scorer, those guys have to figure it out and it takes them a while.
“A guy like him, he can go to any team . . . ff they need him to just play defense and rebound, he can do that. If they need him to make the extra pass and see the floor and cut when the stars don’t have anything — cut and get open — he can do that.”
What Tyson has done this season is all the more impressive, the scout suggested, because he's he hasn't played that much college basketball. Tyson played just eight games as a freshman at Texas in 2021-22 before assembling his one full season a year ago at Texas Tech.
“For him to have not played that many games and to be this good and productive in a competitive league . . . and he shows up against everybody," the scout said.
Cover photo of Jaylon Tyson looking to pass against USC by Robert Edwards, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
