Name: Delon Wright
Position: Point Guard
School: Utah
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 179
Wingspan: 6’6.5″
Current Prospect Rank: No. 16 (Chad Ford), No. 18 (NBADraft.net), No. 36 (DraftExpress)
Projected Draft Position: Top-20
Player Comparison: Shaun Livingston
Feature Game: Sunday, January 4 vs. UCLA Bruins
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Strengths:
Delon Wright is young man out of Lawndale, California who can do a lot of things well on the basketball court. In over a year at the University of Utah, he has averaged 15.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.2 blocks per game throughout 44 games.
Wright has been getting more attention since the beginning of his junior year because of his athleticism and awareness on both ends of the court. He continues to do a good job of blowing past defenders as well as using side-steps and dribble moves to get to the basket and finish, or pass to a teammate.
Speaking of finishing, Wright is an outstanding finisher at the rim, especially in transition. He also possesses the ability to draw fouls and shoots over 80 percent at the foul line.
As a leader and key distributor for the Utes, Wright has managed to work on his decision making and cut his turnovers from 2.5 per game in his junior year to 1.8 per game in 11 games this season, while virtually averaging the same assist count (5.3 – Junior, 5.2 – Senior).
A former three-star athlete, Wright can make some spectacular plays on either end of the floor when needed. He can play the passing lanes effectively for steals, stay in front of his man to cut down lanes towards the basket and chase down plays in front of him for some outstanding blocks on the defensive end.
Weaknesses:
Wright is known for his finishing skills on offense and tenacity on defense, but also has a few holes in his game. Younger brother of current Portland Trail Blazer Dorell Wright, Delon is not always a threat with his jump shot and has not shown too much as far as creatively distributing the ball in a half-court set.
Wright’s outside jumper still needs some work if he’s to be an elite guard. This is evident by his 64 percent shooting from inside the arc and 26 percent from three-point land throughout his time at Utah.
Wright runs the Utah offense, but has been seen mostly dishing to teammates from the key after penetrating. He consistently gets his assist numbers, but adding different ways of distributing the ball to teammates would help his game.
Fit With Lakers:
The Los Angeles Lakers would benefit vastly from having someone with Wright’s talents on the team. Wright is a premier defender and would be welcomed with open arms by the city of Los Angeles and head coach Byron Scott.
The current guards on the Lakers roster have had trouble consistently getting to the paint and finding ways to score, while the team has collectively had trouble stopping driving guards. If drafted, Wright and Jordan Clarkson could develop together and form a duo of combo guards who can do an array of things at either end of the floor.
Big-men and outside shooters like Julius Randle and Ryan Kelly can benefit from having someone with Wright’s talents on the offensive end. Defensively, Wright can add a spark that has mostly just been seen by Ed Davis.
Utah, currently ranked No. 10, will next face the University of Southern California this Friday, then the Kevon Looney-led UCLA Bruins on Sunday. That should give Wright a good showcase as both Southern California teams possess solid guards to test him.
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