‘Reps upon reps.’ First UK player projected to be drafted racing to boost NBA stock
Although widely expected to be the first Kentucky player taken in next Wednesday’s NBA Draft, Tyrese Maxey sounded less triumphant than determined to prove skeptics wrong.
“I feel I’m a way better shooter than my numbers showed,” he said during a video teleconference Thursday.
Maxey made only 29.2 percent of his three-point shots (33 of 113) for Kentucky last season. Of the 14 UK guards taken in the first round of an NBA Draft in John Calipari’s time as coach, only Archie Goodwin (26.6 percent in 2012-13) and De’Aaron Fox (24.6 percent in 2016-17) shot a poorer percentage from beyond the arc.
Jay Bilas, an ESPN analyst for college basketball and the NBA Draft, cited a flaw in Maxey’s shooting mechanics.
“Like his mechanics need to change a little bit,” Bilas said. “But it’s not a big change. He had good mechanics. But he shoots the ball a little flat. … He tends to shoot the ball more out than up. … If he gets it more up than out, I think he’ll become even more consistent as a shooter.”
Maxey acknowledged this change as necessary.
“I think I shot a flat ball in college,” he said. “So, I’ve been working on it every single day since May to get my arc up, get my elbow above my eye and repeating reps upon reps upon reps upon reps.”
Maxey said he wakes up at 4:50 in the morning in order to get to a gym at 6. Once there, he makes 700 or 800 shots, he said. After a weight-lifting session, he returns to the gym and tries to make 700 or 800 more shots.
Various mock drafts have Maxey being picked just after the 14 lottery picks. He’s projected as the 17th pick by NBADraft.net and 247Sports, the 18th by one of CBS Sports’ writers and places 15th on ESPN’s top-100 list.
“I think Maxey is going to be taken in the lottery,” Bilas said. “Could be as high as 10 or 11. Could be in the 14 range (or) 15.
“Because of his quickness, his ability to attack in transition. He is a good ball-handler and good shooter.”
Maxey credited his father, Tyrone Maxey, who played at Washington State, with giving him insight into what was necessary to become a Division I player and possibly make an NBA team. He recalled being 8 years old and his father requiring him to study basketball film.
“I think he set that bar for me at a young age,” Maxey said.
Maxey expressed gratitude to UK Coach John Calipari and former associate coach Kenny Payne for helping set him on the path to the NBA Draft. He credited Calipari for demanding high quality play.
“He said he saw a lot of potential in me,” Maxey said. “He saw what I could be in the future and what I could bring to the table. And he wasn’t going to let me sell myself short.”
As for Payne, Maxey applauded the former UK staffer’s move to the New York Knicks this offseason.
“I was ecstatic when I found out that Coach Kenny Payne was going to make that jump and go to the next level because he deserves it,” Maxey said. “He created a connection with all the guys that have come through Kentucky.”
Maxey said he had worked out for only one NBA team: the New Orleans Pelicans. He said he had interviewed via video call with such teams as the Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs.
Of course, being picked by the Kings would make Maxey a backcourt mate of former UK standout De’Aaron Fox. “It’ll be cool,” Maxey said of that possibility.
Being picked by the Spurs would team Maxey with former UK player Keldon Johnson.
“It would be great playing with a former Kentucky alum,” Maxey said.
The many former Kentucky guards in the NBA will not hurt Maxey’s draft profile, Bilas said.
“That weighs in his favor,” Bilas said. “It’ll certainly make people think.
“I think he has a ton of ability, and he competes defensively, too. So, I like him very much. But I don’t see him going in the top 10. I think he’ll be just outside it.”
2020 NBA Draft
When: Nov. 18
Where: Bristol, Conn. (by video conference)
TV: ESPN
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 4:55 PM.
