Devon Collier | Oregon State | Senior, 22 years old
F, 6-8, 215
Last season (25.5 MPG): 12.6 PPG, 6 RPG, 1.6 APG, 23.4 PER
Devon Collier is a smooth athlete with soft touch deep in the paint. Collier has an uncanny nose for the ball, ranking in the top-10 in every offensive rebound category in the Pac-12. He is also extremely efficient, both in the half court and transition.
His 23.4 Player Efficiency Rating ranked fourth in the Pac-12; his 51.5% field goal percentage, which was second-best in the Pac-12, was actually a step back from his 61.5% field goal percentage as a sophomore. For his career, Collier is shooting 58% from the field. He also gets to the free throw line often, shooting the fifth most FTs in the conference.
All that being said, there’s one fundamental problem in Collier’s make-up that overshadows—and even undermines—all of his effectiveness: Collier is a power forward living in a small forward’s body.
At 6-8 and 215 pounds, Collier hasn’t attempted a 3-pointer in all three years of his college career. Furthermore, 85% of his shot attempts last season were of the “Post-Up” or “around the basket” variety. On the other hand, jump shooting only made up 9.4% of his shot attempts, and he shot a very poor .348 PPP on such attempts (ranking in the bottom 3% nationally).
Let’s take a look at the film:
SHOOTING (17-feet and in):
In many of the clips above, Collier literally passes up wide open 18-footers for contested 15-footers. His form is totally crooked. He brings his feet together when he shoots, all while fading diagonally, sometimes backwards and other times forwards. His shooting elbow—which should ideally be at a 90-degree angle—is completely crooked as well. I’m not saying his form is beyond repair, but in his first three seasons, Collier hasn’t given us much of a reason to believe he’ll expand his game. He should be spending countless hours in the gym working on reinventing his shot.
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TRANSITION
Collier’s 1.148 PPP in transition ranked in the 67th percentile of all players. He runs the floor well — he’s quick and bouncy, and can finish through contact.
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OVERALL
Collier is efficient, and has a propensity to accumulate rebounds and get to the foul line. But as a 22 year-old senior, as a 6-8 power forward, he must develop even a semblance of a jumpshot to be considered at the NBA level.