What makes Devon Dotson stand out in a sea of point guards in the NBA draft?
Get off fried foods, learn to love granola and develop a consistent jump shot.
That is Charlottean Devon Dotson’s formula, as he trains in Las Vegas for the NBA draft. He’s working out at Impact Training, a facility many pros use in the offseason for skills refinement, conditioning and diet guidance.
Dotson won a state championship at Providence Day, playing with now-Boston Celtic Grant Williams. He went on to two seasons as the starting point guard at Kansas, succeeding Charlotte Hornet Devonte Graham in that role.
His biggest appeal to NBA teams will be his exceptional first-step quickness. But it’s his outside shooting that is a tougher sell in a league so mindful these days of shooting and spacing.
“Right away, I can bring a fast pace — I change the whole pace of a game. I’m a dynamic, quick guard who can get in the lane at will,” Dotson said in a media conference call Wednesday. “And with my quickness, with my strength, I can get into an opposing guard (defensively) and make his night a little tougher.”
That’s the plus. The minus was Dotson shooting just 31% from the college 3-point line last season.
It’s pretty much essential these days that NBA point guards are threats to make 3s. Kemba Walker’s career arc with the Hornets demonstrated the wide effect: Before Walker was reliable from 3-point range, defenders could go under screens, blocking his path to the rim without fear he’d pull up for an open jump shot. When teams had to respect Walker from 3, he evolved into a perennial All-Star.
“Hundreds and hundreds of reps a day,” Dotson said of the focus on shooting in his Las Vegas regimen. “And a variety of shots — creating separation, shooting behind a screen, getting deeper and deeper behind the line.
“I know I can shoot it right now. If it gets to a point where it’s super-consistent, it’s going to be very tough for defenses to guard me, with my ability to get in the lane and my quickness and speed.”
Meticulous
As that description suggests, Dotson has always been a meticulous sort. In the spring of 2019, he submitted his name for the draft, as much to explore the process as to stay in the pool. He used every day in the NCAA window to work out and interview for teams, before choosing to return to the Jayhawks.
He likely would have been a second-round pick in the 2019 draft. Now, he still appears somewhere between late in the first round and early in the second. Point guard is probably the deepest position in this draft class.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the pre-draft process. Beyond delaying draft night from late June to Nov. 18, it’s also precluded draft prospects from traveling to teams for individual workouts.
Still, Dotson believes the experience he got interviewing with teams is an edge now. Nothing about this feels foreign, from hiring an agent to finding a trainer, to interacting with front offices.
“Going through that process last year was very beneficial — knowing what to expect, what it is going to take to get there,” Dotson said. “It’s a little different without individual-team workouts. Right now, it’s just training — getting stronger, getting your body right.”
Impact has a chef responsible for improving Dotson’s eating habits. He’s looking to gain “good weight” — he’s up from 185 pounds at Kansas to 193 now. He says that means no more fries and learning to eat a breakfast full of granola and yogurt.
“Trying to turn my body into a machine,” Dotson said.
Winner
Dotson says he showed in high school and college that he can facilitate talent around him into winning. Along the way, he built friendships he can now lean on in draft preparation.
Monday, he reached out to Williams, who was in the Celtics’ rotation as a rookie all the way through the Eastern Conference final.
“He’s great about advice; I can ask him about anything and he’ll get back to me,” Dotson said. “He’s been my guy since the sixth grade.”
He didn’t play with Graham at Kansas, but they worked out together some this summer in Charlotte. Dotson said Graham has taught him about patience through Graham’s time with the G-League Greensboro Swarm: “He didn’t look at it as a demotion. He didn’t look down on it. He looked at it as a place to get better.”
The Hornets have two point guards in Graham and Terry Rozier, but if Dotson was still around when the Hornets pick early in the second round, would that be appealing?
“I would love to play for my hometown of Charlotte,” he said. “I have been to countless Hornets games. Playing for that city is an unbelievable feeling.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 4:13 PM.
