NBA Draft Scouting Report: Syracuse's JJ Starling
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JJ Starling
Guard | Syracuse
Height: 6'4” | Weight: 200 lbs
2024 Draft Age: 20.27
Matt Cashore/USA TODAY Sports
Prospect Profile
When watching Starling on the offensive end, it’s immediately clear that he’s a pure scorer. He simply makes it look effortless and doesn’t try doing too much. After transferring from Notre Dame to Syracuse, he should be a primary scorer in year two at the college level.
He’s extremely smooth in dribble pull-up situations and in general shoots well on the move. Many prospects at his age struggle when shooting out of rhythm. Starling gets his shot off quick and if effective even when closely contested. He’s also an advanced side-step and step-back shooter for his age and experience level.
He’s also effective in the mid-range, possessing many of the same qualities that he does as a perimeter shooter.
As driver when getting into the paint, Starling has a great crossover dribble and is good at lulling his defenders to sleep before attacking. What’s most impressive about him as a ball handler is the efficiency of his moves. They’re crisp and he doesn’t use too much energy or too many dribbles.
When actually getting into the paint, Starling has a solid frame and can finish through contact. He’s not the tallest combo guard given how big the college and NBA games are today, but he’s certainly not limited by height. What’s positive is that he’s a good rebounder for a guard.
Outside of scoring, the Syracuse prospect can also facilitate and pass situationally. He’s probably not best suited as a pure point guard, but he can do these things when needed. As Starling has played for different teams and with different personnel over the past few years, he’s shown both scoring and passing upside depending on the situation.
That playmaking will be a swing factor for him as it relates to the draft. Once of the questions entering college was whether or not he could generate enough assists to be a lead guard, which would make him much more versatile as a combo guard. He was a decent facilitator as a freshman at Notre Dame, but has room to grow. Moving forward, he'll need to continue he impacts the game outside of just scoring.
Starling isn’t known for being an elite defensive prospect, but has the frame to fit well within most schemes at the next level. He has improved overall so much on both ends of the floor over the past few years that it’s safe to assume he’ll only get better moving forward. He scores points in bunches and will be a ton of fun to watch at the next level.
It might take him some time, but the microwave scorer should only get better as his college tenure goes on and could pop by the time the 2024 NBA Draft comes around.
Starling entered college after a spectacular senior season playing high school ball at the prestigious La Lumiere. Now, he needs to prove he's ready to make the jump from high level college play to the NBA.
Highlights
Draft Projection
Potential First-Round Pick in 2024 NBA Draft.
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