2021 NBA Draft Talk — Moses Moody

Moses Moody had a pretty terrific freshman season and was the leading scorer on an Arkansas team that was second in the SEC. Because of his play, most draft boards have him as a top ten prospect. Let’s look into what makes him so intriguing.

Offense

I think the offensive end is really where Moses is going to give plus value. As you can see from my previous two articles, I really love shot-making prospects and Moody is defintely another one of them:

Moody is 6'6 with probably a 6'10–6'11 wingspan so he gets these shots off with ease. Contests don’t really bother him and he has range. He’s not necessarily a movement shooter a la JJ Redick but he’s not stationary either and can run off screens. The volume he got shots up with was really encouraging as he put up about five attempts a game. In addition, he’s a terrific free throw shooter, 81.2% on six (!) attempts a game. His shooting projection seems fairly clean to me and I expect him to be a really good shooter in the league.

The next step for Moody in the NBA is to build his off the dribble game on top of that. The vast majority of his 3s were assisted (89.7%) and he didn’t showcase much of the pull-up game at Arkansas. He did have some flashes though:

Missouri’s Dru Smith isn’t a particularly good defender but it was really good to see Moody’s touch which should bode well for him as a pull-up guy. In addition, with his jumper vs LSU, you can see that extension that can help him to shoot over players. The shot-making is going to be where Moody wins. He’s not the most explosive athlete and he didn’t finish super well at the rim this past year (56.6%, 37.1 ast’d). He won’t be bad at the rim and he is able to get there at times off of closeouts but it won’t be his bread and butter.

If the pull-up can be something added as he grows as a player, it’ll open up so much for him. That makes the driving lanes easier for him and allows him to showcase his underrated passing ability. I was really impressed from what I saw on tape:

Moody showcases really good craft in the pick and roll and even puts some flash on some of his reads. He can really capitalize when advantages are created which should really help him as a secondary creator in the league.

Here is more good vision from Moody:

This was a charge but I don’t care (ban the charge) and I really like his lob placement here. A lot of young wings wouldn’t throw this well.

Another one:

He messes up the pass but this is a really good read after he draws two. His vision really is encouraging and jumps off the page for a young wing. It’s not really primary level creation but I don’t think that is what you expect from Moody anyways. You need him to make the reactive reads and he has shown the ability to do that.

It depends on how his pull-up develops but I really like Moody’s offensive projection. Throughout these playoffs, we’ve seen the value of secondary playmakers. Just look at the Hawks vs the Mavericks. Luka & Trae are great primaries but Trae has been able to have more success because of the players around him. We’ve seen Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kevin Huerter, and De’Andre Hunter be able to capitalize on the advantages that Trae is able to create. The Mavs don’t have similar players to do that so it’s all on Luka to do everything. With Moody, I can see the full realization of him as a player in the vein of those on the Hawks. He’s not the main engine but he can play off of that main guy. Get to his pull-up and make good reads. Wings of that size and caliber are what every single team in the league should be coveting.

Defense

Moody was pretty solid on the defensive end this past year at Arkansas. He isn’t a stopper and wasn’t the one tasked with guarding the best wing option but he showed flashes of good defense:

You can really see how impactful his length can be. He also slid really well with Keon Johnson and other guards which suggest there may be some defensive versatility at the next level.

Other times though, Moody isn’t really down in his stance and can get blown by:

Alabama’s guards roasted him. You can see that he gets up too much from his stance and at that point, it’s curtains. Like I said, he’s not a stopper and there’s a reason he wasn’t the primary option on opposing team’s best players.

However, I do feel good enough about his defense. His length can be impactful and he isn’t completely lost on that end. He has good size as well and should be able to hold up inside. He should be solid in the league. He’s not going to be the guy teams target in the playoffs which is really important.

Overall

Moody is a really good prospect man. 6'6 wings that can dribble/pass/shoot/defend don’t just grow on trees. I think he meets the threshold for each ability as a wing and if he can be plus pull-up guy, he’s going to be really good. I think you bring him into your program and start off slow with him and just focus on the defense and spot shooting. Each year, you give him a little bit more responsibility and by year 3 or 4, you really have a very good player on your hands. I think that should be the philosophy for every young wing (besides like the outlier guys) but Moody has the talent to especially excel. I think any team picking 5–14 should really take a hard look at him.