Pelicans NBA Draft: A Duke wing with All-Star upside in the second round

New Orleans Pelicans NBA Draft: Cassius Stanley is an extremely raw prospect who needs to develop fundamentals if he wants to succeed in the NBA

Cassius Stanley’s Weaknesses

The biggest weakness of Cassius Stanley is that it’s fair to question whether or not he actually knows the game of basketball.

I know that sounds crazy, but how many elite 5-star prospects attend Duke only to end up coming off the bench? That’s the thing about Stanley, he plays an all-or-nothing brand of basketball. It’s either he’s making plays with his athleticism of he’s doing nothing.

That’s because his fundamentals aren’t there yet. Look at his offense, when Stanley gets the ball it’s always shoot or attack with him, he doesn’t seem to know how to slow down and let plays develop. He doesn’t make many plays passing the ball, and in half-court situations, he struggles to understand when he should cut to the basket.

Defensively, he has the same issues. Too many times, Stanley is seen trying to press opponents and force turnovers rather than playing team defense. He often gets caught ball-watching too just hoping that he can find a way to force a turnover and that aggression often allows opponents to get easy scores.

It’s frustrating because these errors Stanley makes are fixable ones, and it’s reasonable to question does he need more time or does he just not get it? If it’s the former, then he can potentially be a good fit for the New Orleans Pelicans.