Pre-draft Player Analysis

Dwyane Wade, a 6-4 early entry draft candidate who left school after his junior season from Marquette, trusted himself to the NBA scouts and personnel executives to get him drafted into the NBA. Dwyane wade used the NCAA tournament to stamp himself as one of the top prospects in the NBA draft, when his performance led him to a triple-double (29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists) and four blocked shots in the round of eight vs. Kentucky.

"Nobody knew who I was. Nobody knew who Marquette was. I had to work hard. I felt that Marquette, being the school that it is - a small school trying to come back to the national scene - it would take going to the tournament to show that we were good and I was good. I just kept doing what I was doing all year, playing basketball and winning games."

Wade was considered an outstanding professional prospect and the NBA scouts and the biggest questions they had is which position he would be suited for. They thought of him as a physical two-guard, and due to his size could also be good a playing the point. He showed great point guard instincts when it comes to getting his teammates involved.

"I felt I was playing good all year," says Wade, who began his college career by sitting out because he was academically ineligible his freshman season and ended it averaging 21.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists last season.

Dwyane Wade Strengths:
Dwyane Wade possesses one of the most explosive 1st steps of any other college basketball player since....

Dwyane Wade is an extremely athletic basketball player who has tremendous leaping ability and dominates ball games with his quickness. His Athletic body allows him to use his body to his advantage and allows him to finish many of his post moves and grab many rebounds thanks to his 6-11 Wing Span which makes up for his small 6-4 stature.

His agility provides him with excellent body control to convert difficult shots off the glass and once Dwyane Wade enters the lane he has the ability to drive and dish the ball out to his teammates if the defense collapses.

He plays very poised and is mature for his age and his facial expression shows no emotion, in the ups and downs of the ball game, no matter how hopeless the situation may seem. Dwyane Wade plays perimeter defense very solidly and possesses a great understanding on how to cut-off the passing lanes and he understands how to shield off his defender when driving to the basket making him a defensive force. He is very unselfish and does not force up bad shots.

Dywane Wade's Weakness:
He is dangerously close to being a combo guard. He is too small to be a shooting guard and does not possess enough point guard skills to run a team offensively.

Dwyane Wade rarely relied on the perimeter game in college due to his ability to take his defender off the dribble. While he shows good range in his shot, his mid-range shooting remains somewhat streaky. Dwyane Wade must improve on moving without the ball since he often needs the ball to create effective offensive plays and could use some tweaking and should mature if he plays the point guard in the NBA.

His Size: Many undersized guards have a hard time transitioning to the NBA game. However Dwyane Wade has the benefit of long arms which allow him to play big for his size. He is not much of a 3-point shooter although he does have the ability to make 3's at times. Another point mentioning is that he often doesn't get his body fully squared to the basket, throwing his shot of a little.