For the next month, in every NBA city he visits, Frank Mason III will answer questions about his lack of size and how that impacts his ability to translate his college success at Kansas to the next level.
On Monday, the 5-foot-11, 189-pound consensus National Player of the Year found himself in St. Francis, Wis., addressing queries on his dimensions following a workout with the Milwaukee Bucks, owners of the 17th and 48th picks in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Mason’s relative lack of stature, in comparison to the long bodies occupying courts all over The Association, won’t always be a hindrance once he joins the ranks. The 23-year-old’s speed, strength and 41-inch vertical will allow him to use his proportions as an advantage at times.
> “Just getting in the lane,
> play-making,” Mason began, when asked
> how a sub 6-foot guard could benefit
> from working with a vastly different
> frame than most of his competition.
> “Shooting the ball consistent and just
> doing what I do best — getting other
> guys involved, scoring the ball and
> focusing in on the defensive end.”
Although Milwaukee’s roster has become synonymous with length and wingspan — the Bucks at times played 6-foot-11 Giannis Antetokounmpo at point guard — the team’s vice president of scouting, Billy McKinney, [told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel][1] Mason had the components necessary to play in the NBA.
> “By the time he came back to Kansas
> his senior year, you could see his
> game had evolved to the point where he
> was a true leader for that ball club,”
> McKinney said. “Tough as heck, gritty
> and started to make better decisions
> with the basketball, which is going to
> serve him well at the next level.”
During the 2016-17 regular season, only 18 players listed at 6-foot or shorter played in the NBA. Some, [like Boston’s Isaiah Thomas (a favorite of Mason’s)][2] and the L.A. Clippers’ Chris Paul, were great. Others, such as Orlando’s D.J. Augustin and Denver’s Jameer Nelson, didn’t make much of an impact.
Still, thanks to the successes of small guards such as Thomas, Paul and Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, Mason thinks there is a role for players his size on basketball’s biggest stage.
> “Shorter guys are getting in the NBA
> and still filling the stat sheet up,
> doing what the taller guys do,” Mason
> said. “So it’s not all about the size.
> It’s more about the heart and what do
> you do when you get out there.”
Thus far, Mason has worked out for Milwaukee and Orlando. Off the top of his head, he told reporters in Wisconsin he thinks he has “10 or 11” left before the June 22 draft, where he is expected to be a second-round pick.
The whole pre-draft experience, Mason said, feels unlike his four years of college basketball at Kansas.
> “Just the travel and the experience
> with the NBA guys. I think everything
> is pretty different about it and it’s
> something I’ll always remember and
> something I’m just trying to enjoy,”
> Mason said.
.@FrankMason0 worked out for the @Bucks on Monday – here is what the former @KUHoops guard had to say afterwards: pic.twitter.com/IDE1jeQdLZ
— Spectrum News Kansas City (@SpectrumNewsKC) May 23, 2017
[1]: http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2017/05/22/pair-college-stars-work-out-bucks/335741001/
[2]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/smithology/2017/may/19/frank-mason-iii-not-comparing-himself-to/
