It will take some time for him to adjust to the speed of the NBA, as it did for him in college, but once he’s settled down and locked in, you have a player who is going to leave everything out on the court on both ends. He is likely going to be vocal on that end, calling out what he sees, putting himself in the best position to succeed, and will try to be a pest and just bother off-ball shooters. That said, he is cerebral and is one of the smartest players in the whole 2020 NBA Draft class - his basketball IQ is seriously off the charts. So he is probably going to get beat by quicker guards who can blow past him or shoot over him from time to time. He is a willing defender, he’s just a bit limited athletically, and doesn’t have great speed, size or length at 6’1.

Ryan: Cassius Winston definitely thrives more on the offensive side of the ball and has plenty of work to do defensively, but his defense is not a total detriment in my opinion. How has Winston fared in Big Ten and NCAA tournament competition as a defender? The Wizards can use another strong three-point shooter like him, but they need defensive help even more across every position. Note that we did this Q&A before the news broke about John Wall demanding a trade out of Washington.īullets Forever: Winston is the Spartans ’ (and Big Ten’s) leader in career assists and was the Big Ten Player of the Year last season (2018-19). Winston was picked 53rd overall in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder before getting traded to Washington. Earlier this week, I chatted with Ryan O’Bleness, the site manager of The Only Colors, SB Nation’s Michigan State Spartans blog to get his perspective on Washington Wizards rookie point guard Cassius Winston.

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