2020 NBA draft profile: Vanderbilt’s Aaron Nesmith could be worthy trade-up target

A four-star recruit and the South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year attended Vanderbilt over schools like Florida, South Carolina and … Harvard. After just an OK freshman season, Aaron Nesmith didn't join his college teammate Darius Garland in the NBA. Instead, he came back for one more year under new head coach Jerry Stackhouse.

That decision looks like a wise one for Nesmith as there is likely no player that’s improved his draft stock more. The 20-year-old had a prolific shooting season, hitting a preposterous 52.2 percent of his threes on 8.2 attempts per a game. He led the SEC in scoring at 23 points a game and was first in the nation with 4.3 made threes a night.

Aaron Nesmith

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Position: Small Forward
Height: 6-6
Weight: 213
School: Vanderbilt

He only played 14 games this season because of a right foot injury. The Commodores were 8-6 with Nesmith and endured a brutal end to the season without him, going 3-15.

Strengths

Nesmith is the purest shooter in the draft. The gaudy numbers back that up but you come away even more impressed watching him. Nesmith can shoot off the bounce, he can catch and shoot, he hits off-balance shots, he hits contested shots — he’s a sharpshooter.

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His frame is NBA ready. At 6-foot-6, he’s able to get his shot up over most defenders. He also uses his length defensively to get into passing lanes (1.4 steals) and contest shots (0.9 blocks). Built solidly at 213 pounds, Nesmith won’t be as susceptible to getting pushed around as the average rookie might.

He’s smart, as evidenced by his school choice and the mutual interest at Harvard, where his brother Eddie currently attends. If his shot goes down at the next level, he could be an immediate contributor for an NBA team.

Weaknesses

He's not a shot creator or play maker. He averaged more turnovers (1.7) than assists (0.9) last season. He’s decent at attacking closeouts, but a big part of him taking and making so many contested shots is that he lacks the quickness and wiggle to get free. For as great as his shot is, he could stand to get it off just a hair quicker.

He’s a decent athlete and likely a passable defender at the next level but may not ever be a standout on that end.

The biggest issue — especially when you’re talking about a team like the Sixers — will be how Nesmith has recovered from the right foot injury he suffered in early January. Stackhouse indicated to reporters then that the injury wasn't serious.

Because of the injury, Nesmith only played one game in SEC play this season. That means those shooting numbers came against a lot of weak competition. Would that torrid shooting have kept up against the likes of Kentucky and LSU?

Fit

Nesmith would be an absolute slam dunk fit with the Sixers. Aside from his shooting — which this team desperately needs — Nesmith would turn 21 before next season begins. Before last year’s draft, Elton Brand said he was prioritizing an older player and then went out and traded up to draft 22-year-old Matisse Thybulle. There doesn’t appear to be a four-year, Thybulle-type in the first round this year. Nesmith could be the next best thing.

It seems highly unlikely that Nesmith would fall in the Sixers’ range, but this is the kind of guy worth trading up for. The Sixers are once again armed with a slew of second-round picks. If Brand is going to pull a similar move to the one he did at last year’s draft, Nesmith could be the player to do it for.

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