NBA Draft 2019: Point guard Ky Bowman would be a high-ceiling second round selection

The Detroit Pistons are slated to have the 45th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, and that’s the pick I’ll be looking at.

But quickly, I like what Justin Lambregtse wrote here the other day in his Bol Bol piece regarding Detroit’s 15th pick:

There are many different directions that the Pistons could go with their 15th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. They are in desperate need of some bigger wings, shooters, a backup point guard, and possibly a backup center. Most of the focus from many fans has been on wing options, which makes a lot of sense. The Pistons have a plethora of shooting guards who can play some small forward, but they have nobody over 6’6” who can play the small forward position and body up the bigger wings of the NBA.

Agreed. The Pistons need so much!

Justin later in the piece writes, “In the event that Kevin Porter Jr. isn’t available, the Pistons should swing for the fences with Bol.”

Similarly, I believe the Pistons should swing for the fences with a point guard option in Ky Bowman at pick no. 45.

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After three low-profile but impressive seasons with a struggling Boston College program, 6-foot-1 point guard Ky Bowman is going all-in for the 2019 NBA Draft. In testing the NBA Draft process last year, Bowman learned that he needed to improve several parts of his game to receive more serious attention from NBA teams.

Bowman’s statistics somewhat reveal his improvements, but keep in mind that not much talent surrounded Bowman his junior campaign. That’s not to say that Bowman’s first two seasons were all fun and games, because they weren’t: Boston College never had even a .500 record in Atlantic Coast Conference play any of Bowman’s three seasons.

SHOOTING

Bowman’s always had the ability to shoot a high percentage from 3-point land, and his stats bear that out. He shot 44.9 percent his freshman season on 138 attempts. His sophomore and junior campaigns saw him dip down to 36 and 37 percent on 200 or more attempts each season. However, Bowman isn’t just primarily a long ball threat. He can be excellent on the break and excellent finishing at the basket. One small cause for concern is Bowman’s two-point field goal percentage — his freshman season he shot over 50 percent on twos, whereas his junior season he was at 42.7 percent.

The knock against Bowman is his shot selection and lack of patience. That’s a legitimate concern, and it was pretty obvious his junior season. I’ll reiterate, there should be some slack given to Bowman, since had to carry much of the load, especially his final year. Bowman’s first two seasons he had eventual lottery selection Jerome Robinson by his side, for what it’s worth.

REBOUNDING

Ky is a terrific rebounder for a 6-foot-1 human being. He averaged 6.4 rebounds per game in 98 career games. If this tells you nothing else, it should tell you Ky is tenacious and an elite athlete.

THE MOCK DRAFTS

As of June 3rd, Tankathon doesn’t have Bowman as being drafted. Draftsite has him going in the 50s. As of May 28th, Basketball Insiders had Bowman going in the 40s. Maybe a little concerning is Bowman’s ranking at no. 75 in Sports Illustrated’s NBA Draft Big Board 6.0 published in April, and his ranking at no. 70 in Sam Vecenie’s 7.0 Big Board at The Athletic.

THE NBA COMBINE

Bowman was not invited to the NBA combine last year. This year he was.

Here’s a Boston Globe blurb regarding Bowman in the combine:

Bowman did not thrive in the testing portion of the NBA Combine in Chicago last week, mostly finishing in the bottom half of speed and agility drills. He placed 11th among 25 guards in the shuttle run, 15th in the three-quarter-court sprint, 18th in the lane agility drill, and 23rd in max vertical leap.

You can view Bowman’s combine numbers for yourself here.

THE CHERRY-PICKED CLIPS

As I wrote earlier, the book as long been out on Bowman — he’s a bit reckless. His icky junior season field goal percentage is simple evidence of that. Bright side, though, he can really finish over others and the more I see of him, the more he reminds me of him having that Westbrook mentality. He attacks the rim like it’s personal. Fun fact: the University of Alabama football program gave Bowman a scholarship offer.

Ky is burst-y.

He’s got a quick trigger.

When Bowman rolls with what the defense gives him, he’s got a lot of potential as a consistent scoring option off the bench in the NBA. He won’t have to do too much, certainly not even close to as much as he had to do at Boston College. In the NBA he may be more prone to shooting threes, whereas in college there was a mix of shot creation.

Something a little extra from a Miami Heat insider:

CONCLUSION

Bowman should be on Detroit’s list at pick no. 45 on draft night, no matter if veteran point guard Ish Smith is back in a Pistons uniform or not. Detroit needs to improve the raw basketball talent on the roster, and Bowman gives them a chance to do that. Better yet, a player like Bowman with seemingly dangerous 3-point shooting potential is just the guy who could be a knock-it-out-of-the-park second round steal.

What does Pistons Nation think?