Name: Davon Jefferson Position: Small Forward Height: 6-8 (2.03m) Weight: 225 (102kg) College Team: USC Trojans Nationality: American Birthplace: Lynwood, California Birthdate: 11/3/1986 Drafted: Declared for the 2008 NBA Draft but was not drafted by an NBA franchise.

Strengths: Owns the prototype body for the NBA small forward position with tremendous athleticism … Creative slasher when driving to the basket thanks to his leaping ability and body control which allows him to maneuver in heavy traffic … High energy player who never seems to tire … Moves decent without the ball in his hands … Highly effective in the open court where he is a dangerous trailer or recipient of alley-oops … Has all the physical tools to evolve into a great defender with his long arms, lateral quickness and anticipation skills … Shows the upper body strength needed to absorb contact and finish … Tremendous finisher in transition or around the basket where his athleticism enables him to finish with great flair … Excellent first step allows Jefferson to gain separation from his
defender … Great rebounder who uses his long arms, leaping ability and aggressiveness to gain boards … Has shown the ability to shoot 16 feet from the basket with some consistency when his feet are set … Although not the norm for his position, Jefferson provides a modest shot blocking presence due to his explosiveness and wingspan … Highly efficient player that understands what his primary skill sets are and rarely exceeds them … Possesses the body type to comfortably add 15-20 pounds without sacrificing his athleticism … Despite being a 21 year old freshmen, Jefferson has loads of potential that is far from hitting the ceiling at this point …

Weaknesses: After half a year of virtually not competing in organized basketball there were times when Jefferson looked lost on the court … During this time he seemed to rely more on his athleticism than fundamentals … This was often the reason for his inconsistency during the season, which made him look great in one game and struggle in the next … Defensively, Jefferson has the physical tools but has yet to put those together and remains a slightly above average perimeter defender … Possesses little to no consistent range on his jumper, especially as a three point shooter where he is clearly not very comfortable … Remains shaky handling the ball when taking defenders off the dribble … Court vision is not all that great, which leads to poor passes … Decision making skills leave a lot to be desired and really come to the forefront when he is plays faster than he is thinking … Not a great shooter off the dribble, which clearly hurts him in half court sets … Can be too aggressive for his own good and picks up fouls rather quick … Will be a high risk, high reward pick that could scare off some teams from selecting him … Some have questioned his maturity level due to a couple of run-in's this season with USC head coach Tim Floyd that resulted in Jefferson not playing - this has been speculated as one of the reasons for his entry into the draft … To his credit nothing has been reported off the court, but the perception is there …

Matthew Maurer - 4/30/08