Draft Profile: Harry Giles

Giles was arguably the best recruit in his class coming out of high school, even though he missed his whole senior season due to knee surgery. He chose to play at Duke, but was forced to miss a large part of the season because of that knee injury. That, combined with the endless amounts of talent at Duke playing alongside him, led to Giles only playing 300 total minutes for the Blue Devils. Giles is the type of prospect who may have gone in the lottery had he stayed another year or two, but becomes one of the most mysterious options for teams by entering the draft after so little playing time.

Teams outside the lottery are going to have to ask if Giles can ever reach the potential he showed before being injured. The 19-year old was not very impressive during his time at Duke, and it was clear the time off has affected his game. Giles has physical tools that cannot be taught. He stands at 6′ 11″ and can jump out of the gym. This frame and athleticism sets Giles up to be a terrific rebounder and shot blocker in the NBA.

As an offensive player he is extremely raw at this point. The time off hurt him the most in this area. He is a poor dribbler and an inefficient scorer without an assist. However, Giles is only 19. If the worst part of his health issues are behind him, then perhaps he could regain and even improve some of that offensive skill he possessed in high school.

Giles can be one of the stars of this draft class if he can put it all together. There was a reason he was ranked the #2 overall player coming out of high school. There is superstar potential here, but there is also mega-bust potential. Giles injury history (already two knee injuries) is concerning, and even if he never is re-injured, he may never reach the same level of play he once was at. He is the biggest risk/reward prospect in this draft.

The one-and-done Duke Blue Devil should be able to recover fully from his injury moving forward and will hopefully never have to experience another one. If that happens, Giles will develop into one of the league’s best rebounders and defenders as he puts on more size. He probably will be best served as a dunker on offense, but anything extra he may develop on that side would just be icing on the cake.

Check out some of these highlights from Giles in high school!

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