Introduction
One of the most fun parts of scouting NBA draft prospects for me is how unpredictable it can be. Every year, there’s at least 1 or 2 guys who somewhat come out of nowhere to become legit draft prospects and possibly even lottery picks.
Early on during their pre-draft season, barely anybody knew about Dalton Knecht, David Roddy, Jake Laravia, Jalen Williams, Brandin Podziemski, Bilal Coulibaly, Derrick White. Even guys like Reed Sheppard, Keegan Murray and Alperen Sengun were not considered 1st round picks heading into their pre-draft season.
That’s one of the things that really makes covering the draft fun. You never know when a player will burst onto the scene. They could be playing in a mid major conference, a high major conference or they could be playing in Australia. They could be 19 years old or they could be 23.
You never know.
The good scouts are open minded and will find the talent – regardless of where they’re playing or how old they are.
Which leads us to Malique Ewin, who has a pretty unique background. He was at Ole Miss as a freshman but barely got any playing time. Transferred down to a junior college for his sophomore season. He was a JuCo All-American. Now this season as a junior he transfers back up to Florida State. He’s emerged as their starting center and arguably their best player.
Over his last 4 games, Ewin is averaging 17.5 PPG (25.4 points per 40 minutes) on 65.1% FG, 11 RPG, 2 APG, 1.7 BPG and 0.7 SPG. And those have all been ACC games. It’s not like he’s just putting up big numbers in vs weak opponents. Right now he’s playing as well as pretty much any big man in college basketball – which is pretty cool since just a few weeks ago he was just some JuCo transfer who most people had never heard of.
Intangibles
I was pretty high on Jamir Watkins last season as a draft prospect – had him ranked as a lottery pick on my big board before he withdrew his name from the draft. So this season I’ve been watching quite a bit of Florida State film to see how Watkins has been doing. The more FSU film I watched this season, the more Ewin stood out.
Eventually I said to myself, “Ok, who’s this big guy, number 12?”
What immediately stood out to me were some of the intangibles with Ewin. In particular, the toughness he plays with. He plays the game with a toughness, a physicality. He plays rugged and rough, without fouling all the time. He plays with an aggression that I like. He has a good motor. Active on both ends of the floor – always involved in the play, making things happen.
Ewin plays with an urgency at all times. No matter what the score is or how much time is left, he goes hard, he competes and treats it like game 7 of the NBA finals. Case in point, a recent game vs Pitt where he called for the ball and dunked it at the buzzer, even though FSU was leading by 10 points. While some may see that as poor sportsmanship, I’ve watched him play enough at this point to know that he made that play because he’s a competitor and it’s in his DNA to compete until the final buzzer sounds. Plus he has this tough, badass quality to him so he doesn’t give a crap what people think of him or if they think dunking the ball in that situation is poor sportsmanship.
Plus Ewin posted this on Instagram after the Pitt game:
These are all good traits to look for in a prospect to help identify whether they’re a guy who will pan out in the NBA.
Here are some clips that show the tenacity and aggressiveness Ewin plays with, starting with a play where he crashes the boards, tips the ball back out to the perimeter which leads to a 3 for the Seminoles:
Another intangible Ewin has is perseverance. Again, he got no playing time as a freshman at Ole Miss. He transferred down to JuCo and then transferred back up to Florida State.
It reminds me of the background of some other guys who have worked out well in the NBA, such as Podziemski – who rode the bench his freshman year at Illinois, then transferred down to Santa Clara, where he had a breakout sophomore season and became a 1st round pick. Derrick White was a guy most had never heard of before having a breakout senior season at Colorado – he was a Division II player before that and walked on to his DII team.
Duncan Robinson was a Division III player and then transferred to Michigan – 2 years later, he was starting for the Heat in the NBA finals. Jaylen Wells broke out last season as a junior at Washington State, but before that was playing D-II ball.
In order to make it from those lower levels (JuCo, DII, or DIII ball) all the way to the NBA, these guys had to have a significant amount of perseverance and a strong work ethic, which are also traits to look for in prospects who end up making it in the NBA.
On Ewin’s Florida State bio page, there’s another clue that indicates he has a high degree of perseverance:
“I wear No. 12 at Florida State in respect to my best friend who is no longer with me. It’s the number I began wearing when I started playing basketball in the eighth grade and it is a meaningful number to me.”
Ewin is only 21 years old, but clearly, he’s already been through a lot. He lost his best friend, got basically no playing time at Ole Miss, and had to transfer down to Juco (then transfer back up to FSU).
Offensive Versatility
Okay, now let’s dig more into Ewin’s game. On the offensive end, the first thing to note is that he’s not a 3-point shooter. While that does limit his ceiling to some extent, there are plenty of solid bigs in the NBA right now who don’t shoot the 3 ball. Ivica Zubac, Jakob Poeltl, Neemias Queta, Luke Kornet, Isaiah Hartenstein, Clint Capela, Mason Plumlee, Yves Missi, Dereck Lively, and Kevon Looney, to name a few.
Despite being a non-shooter from deep, Ewin still brings a fair amount of offensive versatility. He can score the basketball in a variety of different ways inside the arc, is a very good passing big, sets screens, and gets offensive boards. He’s got a good feel and good touch on shots inside the paint.
To help paint the picture of the level of offensive upside and skill Ewin possesses, have a look at this chart. The stats are for each player’s pre-draft season. Unassisted Makes at the Rim / 40 Mins is pretty self-explanatory, but it shows how many shots a player made that were unassisted (so the player had to self-create those looks). This metric gives us an idea of the player’s shot creation ability – and, to some extent, their shot finishing ability since it only counts made baskets.
Alright, let’s unpack some of the data in the chart.
First, this metric is helpful for evaluating big man prospects because pretty much any big can catch a ball and make a layup. That’s easy and not as impressive as making a high volume of unassisted buckets.
Secondly, look at how high Ewin ranks on this chart! This speaks to his skill offensively, the way he can handle the ball very well for a dude of his size. Ewin can handle the ball and has a deep bag of moves to create space, get to the basket, and generate high-quality looks.
Thirdly, how about Drew Timme? I mean, it shouldn’t be a surprise that he ranks very high in this metric. He was an extremely skilled offensive prospect. If he were a better defender and had better physical tools (lacking in mobility, strength, athleticism, and length), he’d probably be getting regular rotation minutes right now in the NBA.
Also, age plays a pretty big factor in this metric. There are lots of upperclassmen near the top (Olynyk, Broome, Ewin, Timme, Wolf, Jackson-Davis, etc.) and lots of one-and-done near the bottom.
Still, I think it is very impressive and worth noting how highly Ewin ranks in this metric compared to other highly rated big-man prospects. Ewin is almost a year younger than Broome, yet Ewin ranks higher than Broome in this metric. Yet many people consider Broome a first-round pick in this year’s draft—some even have Broome as a lottery pick.
Now, let’s take a look at some film of Ewin scoring the basketball.
This first play might make your jaw drop. It might also remind you of Drew Timme. Or (dare I say) someone like Hakeem Olajuwon. Ewin spins, turns back the other way, uses a pivot foot, and fakes – like 4 different times! Insane skill and footwork, especially for a kid of that size. Then, banks it in with a soft touch:
Here’s another play where we see the skill, the footwork, the bag. And Ewin’s ability to move and change directions with the ball in his hands so smoothly for a player of this size:
Here, Ewin crosses over right to left and starts bringing the ball over towards the left wing to fake like he’s gonna make a DHO. That freezes Ewin’s defender. Ewin then starts driving to the basket. His defender holds his ground. Instead of continuing to drive the ball in the same direction (right into the defender and possibly get whistled for a charge), Ewin makes a great spin move back to the middle of the floor, away from his defender, which leaves him open for the easy layup. Great move.
Here’s some more iso scoring plays from Ewin, as we continue to see what’s in his bag. Some of these plays fall under the simple but effective category – like Tim Duncan post ups. Others are more flashes and eye catching with how good the skill, footwork and counters are:
Ewin is also an effective roll man, as we see in these clips:
While he’s not the best athlete, he does provide some vertical spacing with the ability to catch lobs:
Ewin’s offensive versatility is even more evident when you see how good of a passer he is.
He commands so much defensive attention because of how much of a scoring threat he is. This often leaves his teammates open. Ewin displays an advanced level of processing – he can quickly see the whole floor and make the right read.
First, let’s see Ewin lead the break and throw the bounce pass to Jamir Watkins cutting to the basket:
Here we again see the chemistry between Ewin and Watkins on display. I mean seriously, how many bigs with this type of size are bringing the ball up the floor and throwing no look bounce passes right on the money like this to teammates cutting back door?
Here’s some more examples of Ewin’s ability to create looks for others:
Defensive Versatility
Ewin has the strength, toughness, size, and physicality to defend inside. When you watch his film, you’ll see he also has the mobility, motor skills, and feel to defend out on the perimeter.
At first glance, some folks might think that Ewin’s 4.2 blocks % isn’t that good for a big man prospect (especially an older one) and that he’s not quick enough to defend switches out on the perimeter like Evan Mobley and Nic Claxton can.
So you might think he can’t defend at the NBA level. Well, I disagree.
When you take a closer look at the film, Ewin really pops on the defensive end with his ability to wreak havoc, make plays, consistently be in the right spots, and make the right reads.
Plus, he’s a massive dude and moves well for a player of that size, as we see here:
Here we see his ability to get out on the perimeter and contest a 3-point attempt by an opposing guard. Good, balanced closeout, and his contest forces the Miami player to miss the shot. Then Ewin runs the floor, catches the long pass. Makes one dribble, spin move and lays it in with the left hand.
Here’s more good perimeter defense. Ewin does a nice job of accepting the switch and seamlessly switching onto the guard. Then he does a nice job of being balanced defensively and not giving up too much space, so the opposing guard has an open 3. But he’s not playing too far up on the offensive player so that he can blow by Ewin. He forces the opposing guard to take a challenging, contested, off-the-dribble 3—precisely the type of shot you want to force your opponents to take. Ewin tips the shot, too! Elite perimeter D here for a big.
Again, we see strong perimeter defense from Ewin. The Miami guard makes the shot here, but this is a very tough shot. He’s shooting it from the logo and off the dribble, and Ewin does a good job of contesting the shot. I also like how much ground Ewin can cover in a short time to get out there and contest the shot. Shows good mobility and hustle:
As you can see, Ewin is a unique defender. He is not an elite shot blocker and doesn’t have elite athleticism. He has good size but not elite size or length. But he is simply able to defend his position. He makes the right reads and makes good closeouts. He can switch on the perimeter. That description could also apply to guys like Bam Adebayo, Draymond Green, Xavier Tillman, Al Horford, Precious Achiuwa, and Aaron Gordon (Nuggets version).
Here are some more clips that show what Ewin is capable of on the defensive end:
As you can see at this point, Ewin’s strength on defense is his ability to defend out on the perimeter as a big. The term “switchable big” gets thrown around a lot. People talk about bigs who can switch a lot, and people talk about how valuable switchable bigs are, but there are really not that many bigs in the league right now who are truly switchable:
As you can see, there’s really not that many bigs in the league who are truly switchable. And the ones who are – they’re pretty much all valuable players who get consistent rotational minutes.
Weaknesses
Ewin’s weaknesses as a prospect are pretty straightforward. As we mentioned earlier, the lack of 3-point shooting limits his ceiling. It’s also no secret that most of the league’s top bigs were drafted before their 21st birthday, so Ewin being an older big prospect does make him a bit less appealing as well.
But there are always exceptions. Everything factors in, but no one (or two) factor is the be-all and end-all of draft evaluation. Case in point: Zach Edey. He didn’t shoot 3s in college, and he was 22 when he was drafted, yet he was a top-10 pick and will likely make the all-rookie team this season—he might even win Rookie of the Year.
Draymond Green is another prospect who was older and was not a 3-point shooter but has had a very successful NBA career – they will probably even make the Hall of Fame. Xavier Tillman and Brandon Clarke were also older big prospects who didn’t offer much (or any) 3-point shooting and have carved out solid careers in the NBA.
The only other thing I could say as possibly a weakness for Ewin is on the defensive side. He is somewhat limited as a rim protector, and while the perimeter defense has been good this season, some may have questions about how well that will translate in the NBA, where there’s more spacing, better athletes, and more skilled players who are quicker. So, it may be more of a challenge for Ewin to hold his own defending in space.
Because of these limitations, I wouldn’t take Ewin in the lottery. But I do think he’s worth a pick in the 2nd round. And if he continues to play well this season and has a strong pre-draft process (team workouts, combine, etc.), he may end up moving into the late 1st round on my big board.
Role Projection
On offense, I can see him having a similar role to a guy like Mason Plumlee with how Plumlee is skilled with the ball in his hands, can handle the ball a bit, but is also a very good passer – can be used as a playmaking hub out in the high post area.
He can also be used similarly to Ivica Zubac with his ability to post up and punish mismatches that come along:
Defensively, we’ve already touched on it quite a bit, but Ewin is a guy who can allow his NBA team to switch a lot. Florida State has switched on screens a lot over the past few years, so their guys can more easily slide into a switching defense for an NBA team. Guys like Al Horford and Xavier Tillman—I can really see Ewin defending like them and, to some extent, can see him defending like Adebayo, Draymond, and Aaron Gordon.
Ewin gives you some rim protection. Not a ton of it, though, but guys like Horford, Adebayo, Gordon, and Green have still been able to anchor some good defenses with their ability to switch, their ability to make plays, be in the right spots, and have a good feel, and activity on the defensive end.
Conclusion
That about covers it. I’ve enjoyed watching Ewin play this season. He’s also a remarkable story, with his background and having transferred from a JuCo school last season to dominating the ACC this season.
I think he has a legitimate shot to play in the NBA. And if he continues to play at such a high level this season, I think more and more conversations will be had about how many bigs in this draft class are genuinely better than Ewin is.
Either way, he should now be on draft radars for all 30 NBA teams and deserves credit for his play this season.
While there are some concerns around his 3-point shooting, age, and some of the physical tools, on the flip side of the coin, Ewin has some elite traits—such as his ability to put the ball on the floor, score, and show good touch and footwork in ISO/post-up situations, as well as his feel, processing, and passing ability.
Ewin’s strength, toughness, physicality, and motor skills are also exceptional. And the ability to switch on the perimeter defensively is also a rare and unique ability for a player of his size.
Don’t sleep on Malique – he could end up being the steal of the 2025 draft.
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