Regardless of what trends and tactics shape a given era of NBA basketball, it’s hard to imagine shooting falling out of favor. NBA teams reflect this every June, where we see them prioritize shotmaking and floor-spacing in the draft. For a 2025 class full of elite shooting talents, twe should see the same trend.
UConn freshman wing Liam McNeeley will hope to hear his name called early on Wednesday, adding to the list of tall, shooting wings that NBA teams invest in with high draft capital. The 6’7 wing averaged a solid 14.5 points, 6 rebounds and 2.3 assists on 53.6% true shooting this season for a post-title-repeat Huskies squad.
How good was Liam McNeeley exactly?
On the surface, this past college season didn’t obviously paint McNeeley as an elite shooting prospect. He converted just 31.7% of his triples as a freshman, but a closer look at his shooting projection clears up that murky single-season outcome. McNeeley shot on extremely high volume; his 10.6 three-point attempts per 100 possessions is the fourth highest of any wing in the class.
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Connecticut’s lack of great guard play and team shot creation forced a tougher shot diet on McNeeley than he saw at Montverde. McNeeley took plenty of challenging movement threes and some on-ball jumpers, which deflated his percentages some. Even without great 3-point efficiency, his free-throw shooting (86.6%) is another positive shooting indicator.
McNeeley’s shooting greatness extends well beyond his one college season. He was a prolific, high-volume 3-point shooter across high school and AAU basketball. According to Cerebro Sports, McNeeley made 38,9% of 552 triples across his high school career, bringing his total career 3-point sample to 37.4% on 697 attempts. That’s more than good enough to project him as a high-level shooter in the NBA.
Solid playmaking feel helps McNeeley extract more value from his off-ball shooting. He logged a slightly above-average 1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio this season, showcasing his ability to make positive decisions despite fairly high usage (24.2%).
When multiple defenders spring to McNeeley as he comes off a screen, he has the vision and processing speed to punish those extra rotations. He even flashed some pick-and-roll initiation at UConn, executing basic reads, hitting his roll man and kicking out to shooters.
What flaws are in the U-Conn Men's Basketball star's game?
Aside from his excellent shooting and ball-moving, McNeeley’s offense casts some doubt on his NBA projection. He struggled mightily to finish at the hoop this season, converting a putrid 43.3% of his half-court rim attempts, good for the lowest efficiency at the cup of any prospect in the 2025 draft class.
Without a dynamic handle, great strength or explosiveness, McNeeley struggles to create separation on the ball and at the basket. He’ll often drive off curl screens and pre-manufactured movement to compensate for his limited burst and shake. Foul-drawing craft is McNeeley’s most reliable driving weapon, posting a strong 41% free-throw rate this season despite poor athletic tools.
Some of his offensive struggles this season link back to his role at UConn, where Dan Hurley relied on him as an on-ball creator. McNeeley logged more pick-and-roll ballhandler plays than any other playtype this season, according to Synergy, a major change from his pre-college role. His 37.2 offensive load places him ninth among wings in the 2025 class.
In a lower usage role with better players around him, it’s possible McNeeley’s overall efficiency and especially rim finishing improve at the NBA level. Better guard and big man play will make his life easier and fewer creation chances will boost efficiency for a player whose comfort zone exists off the ball.
However, McNeeley’s athletic and physical limitations could outweigh his possible role overextension in college and hinder him significantly at the NBA level. While McNeeley can add value through floor-spacing even as a limited athlete, those limitations will show up on the defensive end, where he can struggle.
McNeeley’s lack of athletic twitch, range and length (6’8.5 wingspan, roughly plus-2) often leaves him helpless on the defensive end. He posted historically low steal (1.1%) and block (0.8%) rates for a wing this season, hinting at possible translation issues. The only successful NBA players with his defensive profile are elite shooters (Doug McDermott, Tim Hardaway Jr.), illuminating a narrow but clear path for McNeeley to follow.
His positioning and size help him add some value on defense, helping him get in the way of opposing drives and cuts. McNeeley’s feel for the game lets him execute defensive coverages off-ball and check some wings on the ball, though his stiff hips and lack of strength limit his point-of-attack versatility.
A mid-season ankle injury derailed McNeeley’s one college season. Though he returned from the injury after missing eight games and still produced, it’s reasonable to argue that his ankle somewhat deflated his performance and production. Even before his injury, McNeeley showed plenty of the same issues on both ends, though.
Tall shooters like McNeeley usually don’t have particularly challenging evaluations. Most scouting reports will list very similar strengths and weaknesses. Where a scout has McNeeley ranked comes down to value and philosophy, as well as team needs at the NBA level.
McNeeley’s lack of creation, on-ball utility and defensive struggles could limit his ultimate ceiling at the professional level, turning away some teams looking for a star in the draft. But teams seeking more reliable role players who can space the floor around a star will value McNeeley more than others would. Squads like Orlando, Atlanta and Memphis could prioritize more solid rotation play, especially given the value of depth and flexibility in the modern game of basketball.
Even if McNeeley can’t develop into more than a rotation player, his shooting, solid passing and size should help him stick around in the NBA for quite some time. If the NBA’s propensity to value shooting and spacing continues, we could see McNeeley, sometimes projected as a lottery pick, hear his name called early on Wednesday night.
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