Asa Newell

Asa Newell is a bit of a jack-of-all trades and master of none who looks like he should carve out a role in the NBA, but with some question marks about his upside.

Offense

Newell is active without the basketball and moves with a sense of purpose; cutting inside, setting off-ball screens, finding soft spots in the defense, or bouncing out to the perimeter to provide spacing.

Asa’s can handle the ball decently for big wing, but overall, his handles are still very basic as I think he’s currently about a step above being a straigh-line driver, though he does show some footwork and craft, especially around the hoop. However, he largely struggles to create separation and often relies on initiating contact and using his frame to try to create space rather than beating defenders cleanly and perhaps using a bit of a bump more selectively.  Overall, this led to mixed results in college when trying to drive or attack in isolation and should prove even more difficult at the next level.

Newell is a big body with solid functional strength who plays with a methodical pace and sets screens all over the floor, both off-ball and in pick-and-roll or pick-and-pop actions. Offers versatility but hasn’t yet established a consistent go-to skill.

When Newell does drive inside, he is a capable interior scorer when he finds a clean angle, using his frame and strength to shield defenders and create angles and his touch to finish.  However, he can still struggle with length and congestion inside, as he plays below the rim, lacking the quick leaping ability, athleticism, fluidity, or hangtime to gain a real competitive edge. Newell has a bit of bend and isn’t stiff, but he isn’t especially fluid either, certainly not enough to compensate for his overall lack of length and athleticism. Because of this, he struggles when length is present and often gets his shot blocked or altered at the rim when he can’t generate space. Asa also tends to show the ball too much, making him vulnerable to help-side blocks. And while he can elevate and finish when in rhythm, if forced to stop in traffic, he doesn’t have the vertical pop or reach to score over length consistently.

Newell does show some willingness to post up and uses his body to seal, though he often relies on physicality rather than finesse. He has a half-hook shot he likes to go to, but he hasn’t been very effective with it so far.  Overall, this is an nice skill to have for very opportunistic situations, but he’s a ways off from NBA teams trying us Asa in the post beyond very specific situations.

Newell’s outside shot is currently inconsistent; however, his mechanics are generally sound. He gets his balance quickly, and there’s optimism he could develop into a capable in-rhythm shooter off the catch. His three-point misses can be ugly, though, and contested shots often lead to rushed or short-armed attempts. Not a threat to shoot off the dribble or movement. Shows more promise from midrange, particularly off the catch or jab step.

Asa used his size, strength, and timing to secure rebounds on both sides of the ball. Offensively he picks his spots well to charge in to crash the boards versus getting back on defense.  He really loves bullying smaller defenders if one switches into him and picking those possession to dive inside for a rebound.  Defensively he has good hands and is willing to put a body on players and box out. Theoretically he has the handles to be a grab and go threat in these situations, but virtually always gave the ball up to his guard, whether due to his comfort level or by the offensive design.

He’s a solid passer within the flow of the offense. Most passes are basic but accurate. Flashed the ability to make a variety of reads, such as kickouts, passes to cutters, skip passes, lobs to bigs when their man stepped up to help on Newell, and entry passes. He was able to deliver them mostly from a standstill, but did flash a few examples of nice live dribble passing as well. This will probably not be a strength of his, at least easily on, but he should be comfortable enough to operate within a team offense.

Turnovers were relatively few and varied. The most common issue came from being stripped in traffic or after rebounds. Newell needs to secure the ball better in crowds. He did have a few errant or picked-off passes when rushed, but nothing alarming and some likely the result of early-season chemistry with teammates that can be easily written off.

Defense

Newell is a capable, if somewhat average defender.  He has average lateral speed and changes direction adequately when guarding the perimeter.  I was actually a bit pleasantly surprised with his ability to not look completely lost guarding quicker wings and guards to an extent)  However, his overall average quickness, lack of burst, and limited length reduce his defensive impact on the perimeter. He may not be a liability, but he seemed like more of a passable option than someone you’d expect to be a two-level defender at the NBA level. Maybe because I spend too much time watching my Kings, but I found him sort of comparable to Trey Lyles in this regard.

That said, he does have his limits, as quicker players can beat him with one decisive move, including straight-line drives and some quick counter moves like spins.

One red flag given how popular the P&R is in the NBA, Asa seemed to struggle defending the roller in pick-and-roll coverage. To be fair to him, some blame may lie with Coach Mike White’s defensive scheme as they seemed to be pretty aggressive hedging and stopping the ball handler.  However, whenever Newell had to relocate his man, he turned slowly and took a long time to recover or get back toward the hoop almost like he was moving in slow motion.   Similarly, on Pick and Pops, he was slow getting back to his man and gave up a number of open threes (though again, some of this is on the team, but a quicker player probably mitigates at least some of this). His overall recovery speed is slow, especially after turning, and he lacks the explosiveness to challenge effectively after getting back.

This also applied to his perimeter defense in general.  While it was better than expected, if he did get beaten, Newell’s recovery in general was slow, especially when he has to turn first.  He doesn’t have great quickness moving to the hoop and does not have the jumping, length, or athleticism to compensate and challenge to shot well.

Newell is generally solid in his rotations and understands the fundamentals of team defense. He can overhelp at times, but generally makes smart decisions. HE also gives full effort; however, his speed, especially his acceleration from a standstill, is limited. This is more apparent when Asa is navigating traffic or closing out to the perimeter. He jumps reasonably well and extends his arms on contests, but often isn’t close enough to meaningfully impact the shot.

Newell also rotates well and does his best to help inside.  He is certainly not a rim protector, but he has the size and bulk to add some congestion in the paint. Newell uses his strength, timing, and decent length to absorb contact and block occasional shots as a weak-side helper.  Newell is a solid post defender who holds his position in the post well due to strength, but doesn’t show much vertical pop or length and was scored on by college bigs in traffic. He also a habit of leaning on players, which leaves him vulnerable to spin moves and counters.  However, some of this is likely due to his youth and as he continues to add strength and muscle, he may be able to guard a bit more straight up.

Newell is more of a safe and capable defender than someone who puts pressure on the offense.  While he is capable of getting into passing lanes and baiting guards into throwing a lackadaisical pass and then jumping the route on the run through and taking the ball the other direction. However, while he has good anticipation in those moments, overall, he didn’t show the ability to strip ball handlers, force turnovers on digs, or generate a lot of turnovers or mistakes on the offense.