In a field that also included Isaac Humphries, Moses Kingsley, Ben Moore, and Michael Young, it was not hard to predict that Kansas’ Frank Mason III and Oregon’s Tyler Dorsey would be able to prove their worth against lesser competition.
At the end of the Wizards workout session, which Dorsey pointed out similarly to last week’s participants was more focused on conditioning relative to other team’s workouts, there was a rotating set of one-on-one possessions going on. Dorsey, Mason, and Moore were going at one another on one end of the court, while the bigs of Humphries, Kingsley, and Young battled on the other side of the court. Although there were a lot of misses at the end, possibly because of tired legs, Mason was eventually the first to score three buckets ending with a three-pointer over Dorsey.
It was clear that Mason and Dorsey were the two that most caught the eye of general manager Ernie Grunfeld as they were the only two that he approached immediately after the workout. Both also met with Grunfeld in an extended meeting off the floor. Scott Brooks was not in attendance to watch the workouts live as he did last week, presumably because he is back home in California.
A four-year senior at the University of Kansas under Bill Self, Mason averaged 20.9 points, 5.2 assists, and 4.2 rebounds in his final season. Probably his biggest strength is his improvement in three-point shooting from 38.1 to 47.1 percent between his junior and senior season due to his commitment to shoot 250 three-pointers per day last summer. His biggest weakness, which is why he is only No. 44 on DraftExpress’ Top 100 Prospects, is his 5-foot-11 size. In reality, without his hair he may not even be 5-foot-8.
“How consistently I shoot the ball, my play making skills, my defense, my mindset of taking pride in trying to get a stop every possession,” Mason said about what he is hoping to show teams during these pre-draft workouts.
“I know him really well,” Mason said about his former Kansas teammate Kelly Oubre Jr. who he elaborated is a good and funny guy.
“We just had a man to man conversation,” Mason shared about his conversation with Grunfeld. “He didn’t get a chance to meet with me in Chicago [at the NBA Combine]. So we just wanted to sit down and talk face to face, he asked me a few questions, wanting to get to know me, my background and those type of things.”
Tyler Dorsey blew up during the NCAA tournament a few months ago with the Ducks and decided to fully enter the NBA Draft after just his sophomore season in Oregon. He averaged 14.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists while shooting 42.3 percent from three.
“I can guard a small guard like Frank Mason, but I can also guard a guard with length [6-foot-8 Ben Moore],” Dorsey said about his game’s range. “That’s good for me to show that I can do both. I believe I can do both and I got to show it today.”
It is my personal opinion that the Wizards should draft a guard with the No. 52 overall pick that they currently hold unless a first round talent somehow slides that far. It an ideal world that player will be the third guard off the bench and have the ability to play on and off that ball. Despite not being known as a passer at Oregon, Dorsey believes he can fill that role.
“I’ve been playing combo guard my whole career,” Dorsey said. “I played on the ball and off the ball, whatever the team needed me to do, I did. So I think I am comfortable playing the one [point guard].”
The Wizards will hold their next pre-draft workout session on Tuesday, June 6th, which will likely be their penultimate workout before the June 22nd NBA Draft.
Pre-Draft Shots
