Magic 8 Ballers: Big Guard, Big Problems?
Rowan takes a stab at Keyshawn Hall's outsized game on both ends of the floor to see if UCF's (or Auburn's) "Big Guard" has what it takes to make a splash in 2025 or 2026 NBA Draft conversations!
At its heart, the NBA Draft is about how players can portray themselves to a team. Sure, that’s an oversimplification of the process, but it’s what most draft decisions come down to. For some players, like Cooper Flagg, the sell is quickly done through his all-around star-level play. Based on the evidence he's put forth as a player, he’s shown that he can be a star that any team would be ecstatic to grab.
For the non-stars, however, their job is different. Each NBA player serves a role, whether big or small, and a prospective player wanting to make it to the league needs to show what role they’ll fill at that next level. The most manageable roles to project come with the most marketable and successful skills: hitting threes, creating offense, or walling off the paint are all roles that always need to be successful.
Then there are the players who defy conventions, like Tyrese Haliburton, who brought every star quality but on-ball scoring, and Draymond Green, who didn’t fit the traditional look of a player in their desired role. For players like Haliburton, Green, and many more, it’s their job to convince NBA teams that their lack of convention isn’t a lack of production; instead, it’s a positive that will make them better in the long run.
For Keyshawn Hall, who just led the Big 12 in scoring in conference play, the sell as a scorer should seem relatively simple. Instead, due to his unorthodox scoring profile and skill set for his size, Hall's evaluation isn’t as cut and dry as it could be. He’s marketed himself as a “Big Guard” at 6’7”, but what does that look like on film and for his future pro prospects? Does that also bring some big problems for Hall’s fit at the next level? I looked into the Magic 8 Ball to decipher what makes Hall such a unique and divisive draft prospect.
(This was written prior to Keyshawn Hall announcing he’d be transferring to Auburn next season. Given it seems he’s still going through the draft process, and because I like him as a 2025 NBA draft prospect, this article should still serve as a useful guide to who he is as a player!)
Quick Shakes of the 8 Ball
In the era of multiple transfers and a swirling high school recruiting picture, Keyshawn Hall has fit the bill with his movement so far in his career. There were multiple high school stops in Colorado, Ohio, and Georgia before Hall ended up at UNLV in 2022. He didn’t carry a high star ranking by most recruiting services, but he had just turned in a fabulous prep season to jumpstart his game.
The core of Hall’s game comes from his scintillating scoring package. He transformed his body from UNLV to George Mason to UCF, chiseling himself into a quick and limber player with real 6’7” wing size. It’s the skill package alongside that size, however, that’s most intriguing. Hall has a livewire handle, can get to his pull-up without issue, and has an excellent burst to get downhill as a driver.
It’s worth mentioning his journey to get to UCF through the college route. Hall started his career with the Rebels and sparingly played, although he showed enough promise to warrant attention in the transfer portal. Hall's game blossomed at George Mason under Tony Skinn, as he led the team in scoring and rebounding while earning All-A-10 second-team honors.
As is the name of the college basketball game, Hall once again entered the portal in search of a new quest. He chose UCF, landing on a team amongst other transfer players like Jordan Ivy-Curry, Darius Johnson, and Dior Johnson. Even with the influx of talented guards who were all best with the ball in their hands, Hall emerged as their top option, once again leading his team and the Big-12 in scoring and being named to an all-conference team with his All-Big-12 second-team selection.
While it’s not the end-all, be-all for a player getting drafted, it’s historically a solid draft indicator to lead the Big 12 in scoring. Over the past ten seasons, seven of the nine players who’ve done so (Buddy Hield did it twice) have been drafted, with the exceptions being Devon Dotson and Dedric Lawson. This serves as another feather in Hall’s cap, but it isn’t the main reason to be excited and befuddled by his game.
Hall is a talented offensive player who brings a skill set that teams need on offense, yet still has holes in his game on that end of the floor. His defense is still a work in progress, but he also has the athletic profile to improve. Most importantly, however, UCF has pushed a narrative of Keyshawn Hall as a “Big Guard”—which requires a different evaluation than usual for a 6’7” player.
What does being a “Big Guard” mean, and how would Hall make that work at the next level?
Let’s find out!
Occult Offense
As a “Big Guard”, Keyshawn Hall brings the ball-handling, shooting, and scoring allure of a guard in the body of a wing. Or rather, that’s what his sell is. In terms of how true this is, well… the results are mixed. But where they are not mixed or confusing is that Hall does have true guard skills as a scorer that translate well to a wing his size.
In today’s game, guards must be able to space the floor and create their own shot. Keyshawn Hall can do both. At 6’7”, he’s a quick lefty shooter with solid form. Hall’s feet aren’t always perfectly set, but that doesn’t affect his upper body balance and snappy release. Although I’d love for fewer of them to be contested, Hall does a great job shooting over contests and not letting them affect his bombing.
Hall is a career 36.6% on 262 career attempts, taking a healthy 3.9 deep looks per game in his last two featured seasons. These numbers are strong enough to show that Hall is a solid shooter for his size, but the variation of how Hall gets his looks deserves more attention. He’s just as confident pulling up from beyond the arc as he is relocating for a spot-up bomb.
During the year, per Synergy, Hall has shot 34.4% on his pull-up threes, which is a healthy mark for a guard of any size. That’s a big jump from how he was last year for George Mason, where he was just 2/12 on his dribble threes. It’s crucial for scoring guards to put pressure on defenses with their pull-ups, which Hall can do now.
Hall is also a steady shooter off the catch, which he’s shown for the past two seasons. It’s encouraging that the jump in league quality from the A-10 to the Big 12 wasn’t a problem for his numbers. As per Synergy, Hall’s spot-up three-point shooting efficiency only dipped from 36.5% last year to 34.4% this season. Hall won’t have as many chances to create shots off the dribble, so it’s great that he’s established himself as a reliable knockdown threat off the catch, too.
The final frontiers for Hall as a shooter will come from the mid-range and movement shooting from deep. If Hall can fly around screens and become a more significant off-ball threat, there’ll be no way defenses can keep up with his outside onslaught. He’d also become a much more enticing deep shooter for NBA teams. Hall was only 15/35 on pull-up two-pointers as a pull-up artist over his past two seasons, although he does show off reasonable amounts of shimmy and shake on his attempts.
For as good as Hall is from distance, there’s worthy attention that needs to be paid to what he did (or didn’t do) as well around the rim. Whether a guard is oversized, diminutive, or somewhere in between, they need to be able to reliably get to the rim and finish well once they get there. It’s what’s plagued the draft stocks of players this year, like Boogie Fland and Egor Demin, but it’s time we included Keyshawn Hall in this conversation, too.
Hall drove a lot for UCF, as he was their main offensive option, but it wasn’t always the most fruitful choice for their offense. On 232 lay-up attempts, per Synergy, Hall shot a paltry 49.6%. I will go deeper into some of his issues with missing shots, but it’s essential to highlight why this is such a big issue.
By querying on BartTorvik, I checked out how many players with Keyshawn Hall’s high-usage, low-rim-efficiency combination have been drafted. The results aren’t great. The players drafted with that combo are Carsen Edwards, Devonte’ Graham, Jawun Evans, Jevon Carter, Tony Carr, Isaiah Whitehead, Abdel Nader, and Marcus Thornton. Not only is that not a particularly inspiring group, but the only player Hall’s height with his rim finishing numbers was Nader, which casts a cloud over his draft stock.
However, it’s not like this has been a long-standing problem for Hall. Last year at George Mason, Hall hit 57.5% of his 174 lay-up attempts, which is a healthy number for a guard of any size and an acceptable number for a wing player. What led to Hall’s numbers drifting toward dangerous territory when his outside scoring seemed to have withstood the challenge of the Big 12, and how major are his issues?
In fairness to Hall, his finishing overall hasn’t been a cause for concern. While there are some areas where he has struggled, he’s also shown a lot of skill attacking in isolation and spot-up situations. Per Synergy, Hall is shooting 58.8% on two-pointers out of “Spot-up” situations and a less sterling but still robust 42.9% on twos in “Isolation” plays. I use the two-point percentage here as the lion’s share of Hall’s field goals from this were on his drives, where he excelled.
Like any good guard, Hall’s strength as a finisher and driver comes from his “bag” on offense. Hall has great downhill driving ability based on a quick first step and a quicker handle. At 6’7”, Hall is either quicker than the wings or bigs guarding him or larger than the guards who switch onto him. That always gives him an advantage he can exploit on his isolation and spot-up drives, as he can get to the rim quicker than most can react.
With his size, handle, and athletic abilities, it would seem more sense that Hall would be a good finisher than his poor numbers this year. That’s why, despite a positive eye test and good data last year, digging into Hall’s misses and the eye test on those is a more informative evaluation of his game. When watching more closely, it’s clear that there are some genuine kinks that Hall will have to work out if he wants to have a chance of sticking at the NBA level.
Two glaring issues with Hall as a finisher are his touch at the basket and how he absorbs contact. Both are issues faced by guards, even though Hall’s “Big Guard” status should insulate him from either. The touch issue comes through in several missed lay-ups in transition, an area that most players routinely dominate, yet Hall, per Synergy, only shot 56.7% in this category on two-pointers.
When watching his tape, I was befuddled by how many times Hall made a stellar move but couldn’t finish his rim attempts. It’s confusing for a player to show solid touch on jumpers, as Hall did with his off-balance accuracy off the dribble, but it doesn’t look like he translates that as often to attacks at the basket. Part of it is his aggressiveness in using both hands at the rim, which is laudable, but there are a handful of misses with his dominant hand that are cause for concern.
Fixing a touch issue is one of the murkier asks of a basketball player. It’s as much intuition as muscle memory, which makes developing touch a hard skill to build later in a player’s career. At least that’s my interpretation, as “touch” exists, like “feel” or “reflexes” do, in the same nebulous category of semi-soft skills. This is by no means to say that Hall is stuck with the touch he has now; instead, to work on his rim finishing, adding more feints and crossovers, while also being more judicious at the rim, should refine his currently overfull shot diet.
Keyshawn Hall’s other finishing issue, however, has a more straightforward fix. Hall is a devoted driver toward the rim, a great quality to have as a guard, but he struggled to finish over contact once he got there. This happened whether he was attacking in transition or the halfcourt, as bigger or multiple bodies would be there to meet him once he arrived.
The results weren’t often pretty. That’s not unexpected, as few players can routinely finish over contact with Hall’s rim diet, but he needs to work on it for the next level. It’s also promising that Hall averaged a career-high 7.4 free-throw attempts this season for UCF, which is where he should trend with his drives. So far, Hall tries to beat taller defenders or stacked paint by being faster or longer than players. Often, that doesn’t work as planned.
A better fix would be incorporating more fakes, hesitations, and screens into his driving package. Adding jump-stops, baited arm extensions ala James Harden, or even the threat of a floater would draw defenders away from their perch by the basket. Using screens more frequently, whether on or off the ball, would also give Hall more one-on-one attempts at the basket, where he can use his burgeoning knack for drawing fouls to his advantage.
Another alternative is for Keyshawn Hall to put on more weight, as he carries a lighter frame that could stand to bulk up without losing his quickness. Whichever path he chooses would suit Hall well, as he’s a dependable finishing package away from being a truly dangerous “Big Guard” scorer in a way that could translate to the NBA level. Teams are always looking for players who can fill it up in a hurry off the bench, which is something I’m confident Hall could do if he could just make a few more lay-ups.
Hall is mostly average with his off-ball movement and passing reads outside scoring. He averaged a career-high in assists and assist percentage this year, but his turnovers increased with increased usage. The Knights had a glut of guards this season, which meant the bulk of the playmaking wasn’t on Hall’s shoulders in his role, but he’ll need to improve upon his turnovers more to make an NBA impact.
Hall is shaky as a passer in a technical sense, as most of his passes are either thrown at full speed or lobbed lightly to their target. That led us often to make a great read through a tight window, as it did for him to turn it over on a misplaced pass. Simplifying the reads Hall will have to make at the next level would likely lead to an improvement in his counting stats, but if Hall is truly a “Big Guard,” then he needs to improve upon his passing touch.
The last major issue for Hall outside of his scoring is his propensity for losing the ball when he gets too ahead of himself. It may sound like an oxymoron to say that Keyshawn Hall has a good handle and commits too many dribbling turnovers, but that’s the case. He’s as likely to break down his defender with a jaw-dropping crossover as he is to get distracted and fumble the ball out of bounds.
Those turnovers killed UCF’s positive momentum several times and will be the exact sorts of plays that will get Hall benched in the NBA. Hall could improve these turnovers by being more focused and judicious with his attacks, like finishing through contact. Picking his spots instead of boring toward the rim at any given shred of opportunity will naturally decrease Hall’s turnovers and increase his utility.
As it stands, Hall has both shown an impressive developmental trajectory as an offensive guard/wing while still having lots of room to grow. His finishing should be of paramount concern, as at least being a well-rounded scorer could mitigate some of his ancillary offensive issues. If he can do that and improve as a passer, Hall starts to look like the type of bench weapon that any basketball team would love to have. Whether he gets there is still a mystery, but Hall has a good foundation to build upon and has proven success as a lead scoring option despite his drawbacks.
Inside Scoring Package: Ask Again Later
Outside Scoring Package: Outlook Good
Passing/Ball-Handling Package: Concentrate and Ask Again
Defensive Divination
For as good as Keyshawn Hall’s offense is, his defense will be under the microscope just as much for NBA evaluators. Hall is neither young nor good enough of a scorer to give himself a wide margin of error on defense. He won’t be handed the keys to an offense, even in bench minutes, early on in his career, and he will thus have to do more than he’s done at the college level on defense to survive in the pros.
Due to its roster construction, UCF wasn’t a great defensive team this season, and Hall wasn’t much help on that either. The issues start with Hall being a “Big Guard” on offense and defense, which isn’t a compliment. Hall, although not a lost cause, seems to have the deficiencies of a guard on defense alongside the drawbacks of a wing on that end.
Statistically, Hall isn’t a great defensive playmaker. This season, Hall had a 1.3% steals percentage and 1.4% blocks percentage, neither of which is a strong indicator that he can stymie teams at the next level. On tape, the times that Hall gets a steal or block are somewhat impressive due to his athleticism, but they simply come too few and far between for me to believe they’ll happen with more frequency in the NBA.
It’s not a major issue for Hall not to be a playmaking defender, especially if he was defensively sound on and off the ball and simply didn’t take risks. That’s unfortunately not true, as Hall isn’t a particularly risky defender, but he is a bit of a mixed bag on that end. It would always be a bit of an awkward fit, given Hall’s tweener game, but he didn’t do enough inside or outside to come close to matching what he brought on offense.
As an on-ball defender, Keyshawn Hall will likely guard guards and wings. That’s a shame for him, as the best part of this section of his defense is how he uses his hands and verticality. Centers often tried to manhandle him in the paint, and while he couldn’t bang with them, Hall was rarely biting on pump fakes and used his vertical space well to contest shots. He even held opponents, per Synergy, to a stale 41.8% at the rim when he was a nearby defender.
At the same time, Hall was not a great wing defender on the ball. He kept his hips too open on drives to the rim, which left Moustapha Thiam hanging out to dry too many times. Hall also had a lot of trouble fighting around screens, which is tied to his role as a “Big Guard.” Given that Hall was matched up against smaller players, he spent a lot of time trying to catch up to the guards zipping all around the floor.
Hall’s wing defense, simply put, won’t be able to cut it in the NBA when he’s a rookie if he plays this way. There are too many plays where he’s a step behind, which also translates to his off-ball defense. For every snappy closeout from Hall, a late rotation left UCF giving up an open perimeter shot. Hall also had trouble on off-ball screens, which put the team’s defense into rotation.
As a “Big Guard,” Keyshawn Hall will be under the microscope as a defender. If he can’t stay with guards, he’ll have to body up with wings. Does that mean a team must play two guards next to him, dulling the impact of Hall’s more guard-like play? He doesn’t need to answer these questions as a rookie, especially if a team drafts him and gives him a longer leash, but it’s a definite concern for me with Hall’s eventual transition to the next level.
Perimeter Defense: Don’t Count on It
Interior Defense: Ask Again Later
Team Tasseography
From a team-oriented perspective, Keyshawn Hall is a fascinating exemplar of the good of the portal. While many will bemoan the player movement and lack of loyalty that the new NIL rules have brought to college hoops, one purpose of the portal is for players to be rewarded for their strong play. That’s the case with Hall, who has consistently transferred to either get a bigger chance to show his game or to prove that his production can scale up to a higher level.
At UNLV, as a freshman who wasn’t in the best shape, it wasn’t shocking that Hall didn’t see the floor often. When combined with the gaggle of guards ahead of him on the depth chart, including current Iowa State Cyclone Keshon Gilbert, there’s no controversy in Hall’s freshman minutes. In the same vein, it’s not shocking that Hall chose to transfer to a conference and team where he’d have a fighting chance to show off his skills to a broader audience.
Hall got the chance to shine and more at George Mason, where Tony Skinn put the ball in his hands and let him go to work. Hall deserves a lot of credit for how he remade his frame and athletic profile in the offseason, but Skinn also deserves credit for letting Hall play freely in his offense. You don’t go from averaging paltry points to being the leading double-digit scorer on a 20-win team without the proper faith instilled.
Then, despite the great season with George Mason, Hall continued to trek through portals like an apprentice of Doctor Strange. While there were some fair qualms that Patriot fans could have with Hall’s decision-making, the process behind it was sound: if he wanted a chance at the NBA level, he had to prove that his scoring could scale up.
In that sense, UCF has been the right move for him. Hall led the conference in scoring, took the reins from other veterans immediately, and showed that his shotmaking chops can translate without coming completely undone. There have been more conversations around Hall’s potential scaling up to the NBA than last year at George Mason, further cementing his decision to leave.
Still, as Hall has recently declared for the draft and re-entered the portal, it’s fair to wonder how much better of a situation he could find himself in. UCF had many guards eager for their shot, but the roster has thinned out enough that Hall and Moustapha Thiam could form a potent 1-2 punch with a lot of touches to go around. I’m not sure it makes sense for Hall to even look at the portal, given that the grass may not be greener a third time.
Or the grass at Auburn could very well be the greenest of them all. Amidst my writing of this article, Hall announced that he would be heading to play under Bruce Pearl next season. The Tigers love to run actions through larger guards and wings, which explains the on-court move, while Pearl has a strong pedigree of developing his players into NBA talents. In theory, Hall has set himself up for a win-win move no matter whether or not he continues deep into this year’s draft process or not.
If Hall chooses to stay in college, it will likely come with the promise of good money and the lead scoring role he wants on Auburn. Is that another star turn, where he can show that his scoring wasn’t a one-season wonder and can scale up to the SEC level? Or could it be a step back, instead having Hall do his best to demonstrate that he could fit into a team concept better than he showed as the lead dog for the Knights?
Whatever Hall chooses will be worth watching, as he’s a name to consider in this year’s and next year’s draft classes. I’m bullish on Hall this year, given the risk associated with the portal and the slowly thinning nature of the 2025 NBA draft class. Still, given how well Hall has navigated the new waters of college hoops, I wouldn’t fault him for taking another stab at it, especially at a program with Auburn’s pedigree.
The Final Shake
As a “Big Guard”, Keyshawn Hall exists in a singular zone in this draft class, or probably any in recent memory. Sure, there have been jumbo creators and oversized shooters, but Hall is the unique crossroads of the strengths and weaknesses of playing one position while being drastically oversized for it. It’s been a mixed sales pitch for teams that he’s going to be a successful NBA player, despite his success at the college level.
If all goes right for Hall, the player archetype he brings has value on the floor in the NBA. A wing-sized guard is a mismatch nightmare, even if he doesn’t have the ball in his hands too often. That’s the type of bench weapon in the vein of T.J. Warren that any team would love to have. That’s also a comp, although Warren had an even funkier scoring package, which I like for Hall if he continues to develop.
If, on the other hand, Hall can’t overcome his defensive and playmaking foibles, the case is much less convincing. Knockdown shooters and all-world athletes struggle to see the floor in the NBA due to what they can’t do more than what they can. Hall could run into those same issues if all he brings to the table is scoring, especially when NBA rotation players have had to up their games as scorers in recent years.
It’s not even a sure thing that Hall could go out for this draft class, although I think he’d be exiting the NCAA with his highest possible stock. It’s plausible that Hall transfers to Auburn, leads them in scoring, and elevates his game even further, but I wouldn’t call it a likely outcome. The SEC is considered one of the two best conferences in the nation. Instead, he risks plateauing and cratering his draft stock with another season at the same level.
That’s why, alongside his quirky blend of size and scoring, I have Hall as a borderline second round talent on my board who will quickly rise once other players return to college. His shooting, frame, and athleticism are all enough to warrant an NBA roster spot, and given the improvements he made to his body and game at the college level, it’s worth taking a late gamble on a “Big Guard” who could cause some big problems for his opponents.