NBA draft: Bryce McGowens would become a professional scorer for Raptors

Bryce McGowens is one of the best scoring guards in the draft and would add some punch to the Raptors' offence. Listen to the full episode on the best options for Toronto at No. 33 on the "Raptors Over Everything" podcast feed, or watch on YouTube.

Video Transcript

AMIT MANN: Bryce McGowens is the next one you had. And he is probably-- I mean, I'll let you take it in a second, but he reminds me of a player who's got all the offensive talent in the world. But you're just like, yeah, but is he going to do it defensively? Is he? Is he going to do it? But proceed.

COREY TULABA: Well, you're not wrong. And to be completely honest, that's why we're having this discussion about him because he's a very natural scorer, like--

AMIT MANN: Yeah--

COREY TULABA: --very natural.

AMIT MANN: --yeah.

COREY TULABA: Like, this kid-- when people say, like, talk about buckets, this is it. You get him in a one-on-one situation, and he's going to be able to get his shot off. He gets downhill. He got to the free throw line a ton this year at Nebraska. He's aggressive.

AMIT MANN: Which the Raptors--

COREY TULABA: He's not afraid of contact.

AMIT MANN: --struggle with too. Sorry to interrupt, but, yeah. The Raptors struggle with that, yeah.

COREY TULABA: And that's one of the reasons I-- and plus, he's long. He's got a good frame. He's skinny right now, but I think he's got big, broad shoulders. I saw him in person. And to be completely honest, I wasn't all that impressed in person. And I think it permeated throughout his film the same way--

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

COREY TULABA: --in that-- you saw. Is he going to get others involved?

AMIT MANN: Correct.

COREY TULABA: Is he going to be somebody that defends every single possession? And right now, the answer is no. It's a clear answer that he's not going to do those things. But part of me is like his situation, his context was not good.

The point guards that he played with were not necessarily like, let's get the ball where it needs to go type point guards. So it's like, all right, it's my time to shoot. I better shoot it, or I might not get it back.

AMIT MANN: Sure.

COREY TULABA: That was a little bit of it. And then defensively, he has to give effort if he wants to make it in the NBA.

AMIT MANN: Mm.

COREY TULABA: He has to fix his shot selection a little bit and not be so shot-happy. But at the same time, he's not carrying the load on offense at the next level, especially early on. He is not doing that. He is going to be a guy who is going to have to earn his minutes.

Maybe he's a microwave guy off the bench. Maybe he turns out to be TJ Watt ultimately at some point because he's just-- that's who he is. He's a guy who's going to get buckets for your team.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

COREY TULABA: But there's still value in that. But I think that when you put him in the right situation, a situation like the Raptors, that has guys that are going to hold him accountable defensively, I think that he's a guy that could offer value there. But if he played both sides of the ball, even with the fact that he's not a great playmaker, you're talking about probably a lottery pick.

AMIT MANN: Mm.

COREY TULABA: So there's a reason that sometimes these guys are available. And he's one of the guys that I think you would bet on to outplay his draft stock if he just figures it out like 50%.

AMIT MANN: I wonder how he interviews because that would be a key factor, I think, if the Raptors do end up getting his name called is how does he interview. Just based on the defensive aspect is like, are you going to get into it? And are you OK with taking a minimal role in the early going? Because we already have Scottie, and Pascal, and Fred, and OG, and all these guys are probably going to be priorities on the offensive end before you are.

We need you to do X, Y, and Z. A, B, C, D, all that, that can wait. But right now, these are the things we need you to do. I wonder if he's going to be OK with that. I know nothing about him. Like, I've never talked to him. I haven't seen an interview, but I could think Masai and Bobby approaching it like that with an interview with him.

COREY TULABA: Yeah, I mean, look, for a lot of these prospects, interviews are a huge, huge part.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

COREY TULABA: I've interviewed a handful of prospects myself. And I walk away going, I don't think that person probably interviewed all that well with teams.

AMIT MANN: Really, yeah.

COREY TULABA: And sometimes, you look at it, and you're like, the kid's 19. 19-year-old kids are awkward, and they're not used to doing this all the time. So that's part of it. But the interviews are integral and the background checks.

But by the time these guys get to the interview, these teams have done so much homework on every single one. Their scouts have followed these guys for years. They know them inside and out. So they already know sometimes the answers to the questions that they're asking.

AMIT MANN: Mm.

COREY TULABA: But if the guy interviews well, I think it's always a good reflection. And when they don't, and they seem disinterested, or maybe they seem selfish, obviously that's a bad thing. I haven't heard either way about Bryce, but I agree with you that it's going to be a major part of where he goes.

AMIT MANN: But offensively, though, like I said earlier, there are some guys that could potentially be a three-level scorer. He will be a three-level scorer in the NBA. There's no question about It.

His handle is great. His driving is great. He gets into people. His transition game is terrific. He draws contact. His first step is awesome.

It's all there for him. The jump shot's going to improve. And he loves dunking the ball, so a photographer's dream. Like, he has the whole package on the offensive end.

It's just a matter of when it comes to the Raptors, defensively, is he going to be that guy for them reliably? And do they believe that he is indeed going to be willing to work on that part of his game? But in the end, whoever does draft him is going to get an incredible offensive player for years to come. Big fan of him, and I hope things kind of work out in the sense of him being willing to take on different kinds of roles because he has potential to have, like, a really great NBA career. OK.