Spotlight Skill: Passing Touch. As someone who came into high school as more of a scorer and has improved tremendously as a shooter, Mullen shines when he’s creating for others. Like a pitcher, he puts just enough air under or spin on the ball when he’s distributing, whether he’s attacking off the dribble or probing the defense while standing still.

Area for Growth: Defense. Mullen is far from a cone on that end, but he doesn’t have great physical tools or elite athleticism either. So if he’s going to be a true floor general, he’ll have to find ways to be disruptive at the point of attack.

Gradually extending his range, Mullen’s set shot from three is now a dynamic threat from deep. When the time called for it, Mullen walked his man down then pulled up without hesitation. He also got in-rhythm for movement threes, running through screens and firing off of pitches or handoffs. The threes only made his off-the-dribble game more potent because they opened up the lane for him to display his touch as a passer.

The budding floor general has an array of passes in his arsenal, in addition to his finishing craft and ability to spot-up from three. Strengthening his lower-body and core will help him play through contact when he’s driving and scoring around the cup.

Mullen showed his knack for getting into the paint, with or without a ball-screen, and finishing with either hand. He would use different strides to glide past whoever was on him or to decelerate and euro-step around them. Mullen hit the occasional spot-up three. But, instead of just using screens to get north-and-south, he steadily began using them to get east-and-west for pull-ups.