Here's why Jaylin Galloway is primed for success in the NBA

Following Galloway's signing with the Milwaukee Bucks, we look back on his breakout NBL season, and how his game might translate to the NBA.

Jaylin Galloway’s breakout year seemed inevitable long before the NBL season tipped off. He was heading into his fourth year with the Sydney Kings, had played a significant role in the team’s title-winning run the season prior, dominated the NBL1 North and won another championship there in the offseason, and even had a stint in the NBA Summer League with the Minnesota Timberwolves. With plenty of turnover on Sydney’s roster ahead of NBL24 opening up a bigger role for Galloway, it was no surprise to see him as the consensus pick for the Most Improved Player award in the preseason.

It was a lot of hype for a then-20-year-old still finding his feet in the league, and yet Galloway well and truly lived up to it. He more than doubled his scoring and made similarly big improvements across the board, averaging 10.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game and helping the Kings to stay afloat throughout an up-and-down campaign. He ultimately fell just short of that Most Improved honour, losing out to Tasmania JackJumpers guard Sean Macdonald, but he stamped his papers as one of the NBL’s brightest young stars.

Now, after taking ‘the leap’, he’s making the biggest jump of all after signing a two-way contract with the Milwaukee Bucks. He was already drawing the eyes of NBA teams ahead of the season, as evidenced by his Summer League stint, and his strong play for the Kings was enough to convince Milwaukee to quickly pull the trigger. That commitment isn’t insignificant – Galloway’s new deal covers the remainder of this NBA season and the entirety of next season, showing the team’s belief in him to be a difference maker in the future.

Galloway is the latest in a long line of players to use the Sydney Kings as a stepping stone to the NBA, but he’s something of a unique case. Andrew Bogut was an NBA veteran returning to the league. Didi Louzada was a draft-and-stash prospect, Jae’Sean Tate an import and former college star, and Xavier Cooks an experienced pro. Galloway is a true NBL prospect; while he played high school basketball in the United States, he joined the Kings immediately afterwards and, over the course of four years, went from development player to key starter, and now NBA player.

At just 21 years of age, Galloway is a long-term project in the NBA, but the Bucks are betting on his potential with this multi-year deal. With that in mind, what are the realistic expectations for him, both now and in the future, and how might his skillset translate to the highest level?

Firstly, it’s worth noting his likely role for the remainder of this season. While he has signed a contract with the Bucks, Galloway may not actually spend much time with the NBA team from the outset; instead, he will get his early reps with their G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd. Milwaukee is flying high and gearing up for a run at the title, and they have plenty of depth on the wing, with the likes of Khris Middleton, Jae Crowder, Malik Beasley and Pat Connaughton all established veterans. Sweeping changes to that rotation are unlikely so late in the season, although that could quickly change with an injury or two.

The scenario is a little different for the Herd, who currently sit outside the playoff picture with a 13-13 record. They too have talent on the wing – Bucks players MarJon Beauchamp and Chris Livingston have spent time in the G League this season, with seven-year NBA veteran Glenn Robinson III and former Utah Jazz draftee Elijah Hughes on the full-time roster. That’s some healthy competition for Galloway, particularly as he joins the team midway through the season, but there’s reason to believe he’ll quickly carve out a good role. For one thing, his status as a Bucks player should help his cause – as Jack White told The Pick and Roll’s Tom Hersz last month, two-way players tend to be given more opportunities in the G League than those on standard contracts.

Beyond that, Galloway has all of the tools to be an effective player, both in the G League now and in the NBA sooner rather than later. He’s not the finished product yet, but the Bucks are betting on his upside; that starts with his athletic profile, which was otherworldly in the NBL and should hold him in good stead in the NBA. He has good size for a wing, standing at six-foot-seven and with long arms, and that’s paired with incredible mobility and bounce. All of that has made Galloway’s defence his calling card from the moment he joined the NBL, and it's what earned him a role on a title contender even when his offensive skill set was limited.

“I’m just trying to focus on defence, and I’m trying to have my defensive energy affect the guys and make them play harder,” he said after a win over Tasmania this season.

With the lateral quickness to stay in front of guards and the length to contest shots late, plus defensive instincts that have been fine-tuned under strong defensive coaches in Adam Forde and Chase Buford, he was one of the most versatile defenders in the NBL over the last two seasons. There’s a reason that, early this season, Mahmoud Abdelfattah called him “the best defensive player in the league”; the Kings coach had already seen the options that his young star opened up, as he was able to use him as a stopper at the point of attack, switch him in almost every ball screen action, and have a disruptor in the passing lanes when off the ball.

It’s surely no coincidence that Sydney’s best stretch of play, a 4-1 start to the season, was when Galloway was at his destructive best. He racked up five steals in two of those contests and averaged three per game across that span, regularly turning fundamentally sound defence into high-impact plays. 

That output was dulled somewhat by an injury layoff, with a shoulder issue costing him a month of play, and Sydney’s defence under Abdelfattah, where zone coverages and a lack of structure left him hidden away far too often. Still, his overall impact was clear, as a who’s-who of the league’s star guards struggling against him – all of Nathan Sobey, Jordan Crawford, Tyler Harvey, Dejan Vasiljevic, and Tahjere McCall, among others, saw their field goal percentages dip drastically when he was on the floor, per SpatialJam’s Shot Machine.

Everything that made that possible should translate perfectly to the NBA, where switching is king and versatile wings are worth their weight in gold. That may be doubly true in the G League, which can oftentimes devolve into glorified pickup ball as talented players push their case for a callup. Galloway should have an immediate impact defending against high doses of screen actions, and those highlight reel defensive plays will help him to stand out in a league that generally skews towards the offence.

While his defensive impact was heightened in an expanded role this season, he was already a budding star at that end of the floor in years gone by. His most significant growth came offensively, where he took major strides as a scoring threat and blossomed into a genuine two-way prospect. Through his first three seasons in the NBL, Galloway scored a total of 139 points; in NBL24 alone he had 234, averaging 10.3 points per game while shooting an efficient 54% from the field.

In those early seasons, most of, if not all, of his offensive output stemmed from his athletic ability. That’s not unusual for any young player, and easy points as a cutter and in transition have remained a staple of his game. Galloway is well aware of what his strengths are, and he won’t go away from them any time soon. “I think it all starts on defence, and then for offence I just let the game come to me, try not to force too much,” he said after a strong showing against the JackJumpers this season. 

He was able to diversify that scoring profile this season, though, with an extra offseason of work paying off in spades. He spent the winter months with the Ipswich Force in the NBL1 North and was a focal point in their offence, averaging more than 18 points per game as they won the title, and he brought a few tricks back to Sydney with him. With a new air of confidence and a tightened handle, he was suddenly attacking closeouts off the dribble and beating his man often, using the quickest first step in the league to get his feet in the paint and finish. According to Jordan McCallum’s play-type data, he scored more than a point per play on spot-ups (which includes attacking closeouts) at one of the highest volumes in the league.

It was the same story on isolation plays, where he was the most efficient scorer in the entire league (min. 35 plays). That too starts with the lightning-quick first step, and ends with Galloway's remarkable finishing around the basket. With the ability to jump off one or two legs, sky above the defence, and keep his balance while contorting around contesting bigs, he’s a thrill to watch with a full head of steam and incredibly effective. As a result, he shot 68% at the rim across the season, ten percentage points above the league average, and 56% in the paint, 15 percentage points above average, per SpatialJam. 

It’s easy to see the appeal for the Bucks, and there’s potential for Galloway’s slashing skill set to be even more effective in the NBA and G League. With an extended three point line and shooters galore, as well as a fast pace of play that is comparable to the NBL, there should be even more space for Galloway to attack off the dribble and to snake into when cutting off the ball. Of course, he’ll also be met at the cup by bigger and more athletic rim protectors, so his finishing may take a hit as he adjusts; still, with the physicality and growing quality of NBL bigs, the adjustment won’t be as drastic as it is for many players when they head to the US.

As with so many young players entering the league, and seemingly, Australians in particular, the biggest swing skill will be Galloway’s shooting. He’s taken positive steps already, knocking down 23 threes at 33.8% this season after making 14 across the three years prior, and he had six games with multiple made triples. Shooting the ball with more confidence was an important first step, and his shooting percentage rose slightly even as he doubled his attempts per game; still, he’s been streaky at best, and his struggles from the free throw line, where he shot just 59% this season, won’t do much to allay any concerns. He’ll need to find some consistency moving forward, with shooting the most important offensive skill for players in the supporting roles that he’ll play.

Still, the positives far outweigh the negatives in Galloway’s game, and the upside is clear. After four years in the NBL, it’s easy to forget that he’s still just 21 years old, younger than plenty of rookies in the NBA. Unlike a lot of those rookies, he’s already used to the professional game, and to playing a lesser role on a successful team. Add in that the NBL is proving to be one of the best leagues in the world for producing ready-made NBA players, and there’s plenty of reason to believe that Galloway will make it at the top.

For what it’s worth, Galloway himself won’t be overawed and should have plenty of belief. While he played limited minutes during last year’s Summer League, it was that experience that The Pick and Roll’s Jordan McCallum said boosted his confidence and kickstarted his breakout NBL campaign. “It was good – I expected it to be a little fast paced, but it’s pretty similar to the NBL, so wasn’t nothing too surprising,” Galloway said during the tournament. 

It’s easy to envision him carving out a role with the Bucks down the line. They’re a team that has traditionally valued size and athleticism, but that’s something they’re currently lacking. Galloway is a high-upside swing for an aging team that could use a shot in the arm as they chase another title, and by making a two-year commitment, they’ve already shown that they’re willing to invest time and effort into him. That’s a fantastic starting point for a young player that already has the tools that Galloway has, and given his impressive development to this point, it’s hard to imagine him not grabbing the opportunity and running with it.