But lack of height doesn’t seem to have ever been a problem for him. Mason exploded in his final year at Kansas, averaging 20.9 points and 5.2 assists per game while shooting 49 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from beyond the arc en route to being named the 2017 Naismith College Player of the Year.
During his workout with the Sixers Mason flashed all the tools that helped him earn that recognition: speed, solid shooting and composure in the paint. The Virginia native knocked down a deep three over the outstretched arm of a defender before the buzzer in the three-on-three portion of the workout, and finished through Duke’s Amile Jefferson on a few occasions.
“[Frank] did a really nice job this morning,” Sixers vice president of player personnel Marc Eversley said. “He had a terrific year shooting the ball. He’s especially terrific in transition and finishes very well in the paint.”
Eversley think Mason has both the physical and mental tools to make up for what he lacks in the size department.
“I think speed, quickness, toughness,” Eversley said about Mason’s strengths. “He’s courageous, very courageous. He does a lot with his body.”
Mason’s sneaky atheltic, and he’ll be the first to tell you “not too many people know that”. At the combine he posted a max vertical leap of 42 inches, good for third best behind Hamidou Diallo and Frank Jackson.
