Jalen Pickett & Seth Lundy: 2023 NBA Draft Scouting Reports
A brief look at Penn State's two best draft prospects in a long time, their intangibles, and what they bring to an NBA team
Now that we’re in the late part of the draft cycle, I’m going to start to transition to shorter scouting report videos. Every player in this draft who is in my top 40 already has a video done in full length. With these prospects who I have outside of my top 40 (and therefore project more as G-League guys, even if they get drafted), I’ll do shorter videos — and hopefully more of them!
To keep up with the rest of the prospects (and to try to not clutter your inbox with multiple posts a day), I’m going to be sending out some combo platters: two prospects at the same time with less depth but some to-the-point analysis on each. The idea is to group these prospects together based on some overlap or comparison point.
We start by going to State College, Pennsylvania and checking in on the Penn State Nittany Lions. It’s been a while since a player drafted from there has played in the NBA — the last being current Denver Nuggets executive Calvin Booth back in 1999. In fact, Booth is just one of two drafted Nittany Lions to log NBA minutes in the last 40 years. But now there’s a chance two players get drafted in this class, a great accomplishment for Micah Shrewsbury and the school.
Seth Lundy - W, Penn State
Built like a power fullback, Lundy has a more graceful game than his frame indicates. Lundy shot 41.3% on catch-and-shoot 3-points and over 40% from deep this season on ridiculous volume (8.1 3FGA per 40 minutes). His numbers weren’t too consistent his freshman through junior years with the Nittany Lions: he was a solid 35.9% 3-point shooter. But his volume (7.8 3FGA per 40) always indicated that his niche lies behind the arc.
Lundy is more of a pure spot-up guy than anything. He can hit movement shots to his right and can methodically bulldoze his way to the rim off the catch, but those aren’t primary roles moving forward. He can shoot a bit off screens, but the overall frame and form is a tad stiff. His handle is simplistic and his wiggle minimal, so self-creation and space-creation are limited. He does have functional counters for being run off the line, such as side-steps and a little rim pressure, though I’d call him having to bounce the ball a win for the defense.