BYU guard Tyler Haws had an excellent four-year career with the Cougars earning first-team All-West Coast Conference honors three times and the 2014 conference player of the year. Despite having those accolades as well as being a prolific scorer (in the top-10 in scoring per game in each the past three seasons), an invite to the NBA Draft Combine was not awarded.
In addition to not being named to the combine, Haws was not even considered one of the snubs. There were 62 players invited, three who turned and this does not even include some of the international players who have a chance to be drafted.
With a draft combine invite thought to be had by Haws and his agent they turned down an invitation to the Portsmouth Invitational, which is a pre-draft camp with NBA personnel present to scout players.
Also, seniors tend to get the short end of the stick with those who go to Portsmouth since they are seen as inferior talent but then they don’t get a chance at the NBA Draft combine to show their skills; it is a double edged sword for those fringe seniors. While there are 60 draft picks, there should be an opportunity for seniors who are attempting to go to the NBA to get the same type of look as those players who get an invite to the combine.
Haws is now training in California and will have to rely on getting invited to NBA workouts, which he should get plenty of offers to do so. Anyone who has seen him play at BYU knows he is a very good player who can shoot the deep ball, create his own shot, and is an all around clutch player.
Despite having a great career there are a few areas of his game which mark against Haws. Haws has the athleticism to be better than a lot of college prospects but he does not have the elite athleticism that is needed at the NBA level. When playing against faster guards in college, he struggled to get his shot off and needed screens to help get open.
Defense is another area where Haws will struggle with at the next level, and he seemed to save his energy for when the Cougars were on offense. While there are plenty of NBA players who are not great defenders but they more than make up for it by being a force on the offense. Just look at Houston Rockets guard James Harden and Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry, both are amazing scorers but their defense might not even be average in the NBA.
Those strengths and weaknesses are why DraftExpress has Haws as the 64th rated senior and not even in their top-100 players for the upcoming draft.
Even though Haws was a long shot to get drafted, an invite to the NBA Draft Combine would have been helpful to boost his stock and put him on NBA teams radar as a guy to bring in for more workouts, an option for their training camp, summer league or NBADL teams.
Even without this combine invite Haws has the talent and will have a productive pro career, but it just might not be playing in the NBA.
