3 Things Texas Forward Dailyn Swain Needs To Prove At NBA Combine

Dailyn Swain led the Texas Longhorns in minutes, points, assists, rebounds and steals last season en route to just their second Sweet 16 appearance since 2014.

He has officially declared for the NBA Draft and has even received an invite to the Combine, meaning he will get the chance to boost his stock up from its current late-lottery projection.

While the NBA Playoffs roll on, Swain is no doubt preparing for his evaluation at the Combine. Here are which traits are most important for him and what good testing might mean for his draft-position.

Outside Shot

Texas Longhorns guard Dailyn Swain takes a jump shot against Florida Gators center Micah Handlogten during the first half | Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

Swain is a dominant slashing wing-creator who excels at taking his opponents off the dribble and either finishing at the rack or using his elite touch to score over the top. Nearly half of his points came at the rim this year yet only 17% of those points were assisted, proving how elite of a driver he is.

Unfortunately, it will be very hard for him to find opportunities to do that in the NBA if defenders do not respect his jump shot.

Swain has never been an elite three-point shooter, however he took a major step-up last year, going from a career three-point percentage of 20% at Xavier to 35% last season. He also shot 48% on non-rim two-pointers, which were assisted just 5% of the time, and has a career free-throw percentage of 81%, both of which are positive shooting indicators.

Still, most of his improvement from outside came as a pull-up shooter, and his set-shot remains broken. This is undesirable as he will not be a lead ball-handler in the NBA and will have to do a lot of work off-ball offensively.

The makings of a good jump-shot are there, however if he does not devevlop one it will rob him of a lot of his best scoring abilities, as teams will be able to go under screens set for him and sag off of him on the perimeter. Hence why showing a good jumper at the Combine would be the biggest boon to his stock.

Agility

NBA evaluators know that Swain is big, they know that he is fast and they know that he can jump. What they do not know is whether or not he is quick.

While Swain often displayed his long-speed, whether when in the open-court or breaking to the basket, however there were not as many moments of instant acceleration or quick reflexes.

Swain's lack of agility and burst hurts him on offense, where he does not have the elite first-step that the leagues best drivers do, and on defense, where he can get beat to the spot and fails to cut-off dribblers.

While he has so far overcome both issues, it does make him a harder sell to NBA teams. Excelling at the lane agility and shuttle run drills would help assuage some of those concerns.

Length

Swain looks long on tape, but exactly how long is not known. If he measures in with an engulfing wingspan, it will improve the way evaluators think about his defensive upside.

Swain has always been a defensive playmaker however he has struggled at times to bottle-up opponents in one-on-one situations. A plus-wingspan will give teams more hope that he can develop into that kind of defender down the line.

If Swain shows an outside jump shot, good agility and a great frame, he could jump all the way into the top-10 of this year's loaded draft.

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