No Prospect Has Changed My Mind More Than Cayden Daughtry
Why one summer forced me to completely rethink his NBA future.
As a scout, there are certain players you immediately fall in love with. There are others you eventually talk yourself out of because you’re not quite sure how they’ll translate. Then there are the rare prospects who force you to rethink your entire evaluation process.
That’s where I find myself with Cayden Daughtry.
Yesterday, I wrote about five prospects who changed my mind after watching them in NBA Summer League. But if I’m being completely honest, no player has challenged my thinking more this summer than Daughtry.
If you’ve followed my work for any length of time, you know I’m transparent. Scouting is about following the evidence, admitting when your thinking changes, and constantly refining your process.
Daughtry has done exactly that.
It’s not because he suddenly became a better player. He’s always been one of the most electric scorers in high school basketball.
What has changed is the question I’m asking.
When I first watched Daughtry this summer, I evaluated him as one of the nation’s best high school point guards. Because of his size and frame, I wasn’t projecting him through the lens of an NBA franchise cornerstone. I wasn’t asking whether he was the type of guard an organization would trust to run its offense from Day 1.
Now I am.
