It’s draft week, and former Clemson basketball center PJ Hall is looking forward to an exciting week in his young career.
With the 2024 NBA Draft coming up on Wednesday and Thursday, Hall will hope to join former teammate Hunter Tyson as the first pair of Clemson teammates to be selected in back-to-back drafts for the first time since 1993 and 1994, when former Tigers Chris Whitney and Sharone Wright were selected in consecutive offseasons.
Many draft scouts believe Hall will hear his name called over the next two days, especially on Thursday. The 22-year-old has most mock drafts putting him in the second round of the NBA Draft.
A prospect who has immediate upside for an older player, the Clemson standout has caught the eye of many playoff teams from this past NBA season, who are looking to get an immediate bench piece for a price cheaper than a typical veteran contract.
This is seen by many different outlets as well. According to Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman, Hall matches up with the Sacramento Kings at pick 45 of the draft. CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone has the Clemson player going No. 41 to the Philadelphia 76ers. Most recently, Monday brought in On3’s final mock draft before Wednesday, sending Hall to the Boston Celtics, who took home their record-breaking 18th NBA championship a week ago.
The only outlier is ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, who did not put Hall on his 2-round mock draft on June 24.
Most analysts say the same thing about Hall in terms of his strengths: being an excellent passer at his height and being able to hold his own on the defensive end. The reasons for some not including him in these mocks involve two things that are vitally crucial for the state of NBA basketball.
The first is stretching the floor, which includes volume shooting. With how many big men shoot consistently beyond the arc at the professional level, analysts became concerned with Hall’s 3-point shooting, which could be important for pick-and-pop situations.
While shooting 31.5% from 3-point range in his senior season, Hall had no problem with attempting these shots, progressively shooting more 3-pointers over each season of his four year career in Clemson. Shooting 39.8% from this range in his junior season is another reason why his ability to shoot the three should not be looked over.
The other concern for most scouts is his size. Many different heights have been recorded for Hall, with NBA.com noting him as 6-foot-8 while different sites have had him as tall as 6-foot-10.5. Despite this, especially for the center position, Hall has been viewed as undersized in his position, potentially making a move to power forward if size becomes an issue by the team who drafted him.
Still, many believe that the Clemson center has the ability to pan out as a center, noting that many ACC big men were taller than Hall when he played them initially over the last four seasons.
Nevertheless, expect Hall to be selected during Thursday’s broadcast of the second round of the NBA Draft, which will be aired on ESPN. With many different teams in need of a rotational big man with defensive upside and shooting potential, it would mark a Clemson player selected in back-to-back seasons, which marks an exciting time in the Clemson basketball program.
