Photo Credit: Craven Whitlow
Smash That “Follow” Button
Have you ever seen a microwave malfunction? It’s quite the spectacle. It looks and sounds like blowing up a case of Pop Rocks with a Roman candle.
Once you witness it, there’s no denying you have an issue. That’s the whole point of the appliance in the first place. Whether it’s working or not, a microwave does its thing quickly and spectacularly.
The microwave scorer NBA player archetype is the most perfectly named for that reason. Their job is clear: come off the bench hot and ready to fire away to give the second unit offense a necessary zap. Vinnie “The Microwave” Johnson with the Bad Boy Pistons is considered the founding father of this archetype.
That role is not only Meleek Thomas’ obvious pro projection, but also his current role on John Calipari’s 2025-26 Arkansas basketball squad. Thomas and fellow freshman Darius Acuff have both been widely considered to be two more in a long history of one-and-done prospects under Coach Cal, with each one projecting easily to a clear role at the next level.
Pro scouts put a ton of stock in what the advanced analytics tell them about a player. Those figures could help bolster his stock. EvanMiya’s Bayesian Performance Rating (BPR) highly values Thomas. BPR is the number of points per 100 possessions better than the opponent the player’s team is expected to be if the player were on the court with nine other average players. He has the second-highest BPR score of any Arkansas player so far this season, behind only Acuff.
Heading into Saturday’s showdown with No. 8 Houston, Thomas is third on the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game, despite primarily coming off the bench. His projected role in the NBA hasn’t changed through 11 collegiate games.
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What could be starting to change, though, is the assumption that heading to the pros at the end of his freshman season is a foregone conclusion.
NBA Draft Projections for Meleek Thomas
On a recent episode of the “HawgBeat Half Hour” podcast, No Ceilings’ Stephen Gillaspie alluded to the fact that Meleek Thomas “may” be a player to watch for a surprise return to the college game next season.
“If Meleek goes in the draft, he’s going to have to be promised to be in that top-22 range,” Gillaspie said. Gillespie admits those assurances could be tough to come by because of “the depth of guards in this class.”
Last Saturday against Texas Tech, Thomas scored just eight points on eight shots. He followed that up going just 1 of 11 from the field against Queens. That’s a far cry from the efforts Arkansas fans have seen against teams like Jackson State, Southern and Winthrop, where Thomas shot efficiently at all three levels.
In November, Thomas was well above NCAA average from multiple spots on the floor, including the restricted area, the right elbow and the right corner. He was also taking more shots from all over the floor. That efficiency and variety have cratered in December. He’s got a less diverse shot diet, fewer spots where he would be considered an above-average shooter and those spots all have less volume.
“Meleek’s got to…bring along his consistency and answer that inside scoring ability to be promised in that range,” Gillaspie said.
He added that at this point, he sees Thomas skipping the draft this summer and being a “standout sophomore returner.”
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman, however, does have Thomas in the top-22 range.
Wasserman projects Thomas to go 21st in the 2026 NBA Draft and describes him as “a scoring spark” who “offers coveted creativity and shotmaking” while operating with “the type of quickness and confidence for his scoring ability to translate to an instant-offense type role.”
There is no denying that this upcoming draft class is shaping up to be a guard-heavy group. Wasserman’s most recent two-round mock draft has 10 of the top 22 picks being guards, the last of which is Thomas.
The key to unlocking the Pittsburgh native’s future pro prospects might rest on the revolving plate of a microwave.
NBA Comp for the Arkansas Freshman
Not only does Wasserman consider Meleek Thomas a first-round pick, but he also compared him to former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson. Calipari, meanwhile, was also thinking about a title-winning Detroit team when describing Thomas’ role but went with a more recent Piston:
As for Clarkson, the Missouri product earned that honor in the 2020-21 season, coming off the bench for a Utah Jazz team that finished first in the Western Conference. He is the last microwave scorer to win that award.
That year, Clarkson averaged 18.4 points in 26.7 minutes played. He took 15.8 shot attempts (7.0 two-pointers and 8.8 threes) per game and had shooting splits of 42.5/34.7/89.6. His effective field goal percentage that year was 52.2%.
Taking more than one shot every two minutes of game time are some absolute chucker numbers. Yet even with defenses knowing that Clarkson is a threat to shoot every time he touches the ball, he scored with 1200W efficiency.
Who does that sound like?
What the Stats Tell Us
Meleek Thomas is averaging 27.5 minutes and 12.9 shot attempts (5.9 two-pointers and 7.0 threes) through 11 games at Arkansas. He’s not exactly achieving Clarkson’s shot volume off the bench, but he’s not far off either.
Efficiency is the whole point of the microwave scorer, and Thomas still has room for growth there. His shooting splits currently sit at 37.3/32.5/84.2 with an effective field goal percentage of 46.1%. This is the biggest area in which he must make strides to cement his draft status as a microwave scorer.
Seeing his free-throw percentage and how quick and confident his release is makes it hard to worry about that growth. It’s worth noting here again, too, that he has played only 11 games. Think back to where Karter Knox was at this point last season and how scouts viewed him by NCAA Tournament time.
The most troubling thing about Thomas’ early-season numbers is how he has looked against elite talent. In the four games against Duke, Louisville, Michigan State and Texas Tech, he is 16 of 48 (33.3%) from the floor, including just 7 of 28 (25%) from deep. Those numbers won’t get him any first-round guarantees.
Luckily, the Arkansas schedule sets up in a way that will give him plenty more opportunities against elite talent. Of course, that could be a double-edged sword. Thomas is not even halfway through his freshman season. His performance from here on out, good or bad, will dictate what happens to his draft stock.
All of that aligns with what most Arkansas fans’ eye test tells them. On a deep team with plenty of talent, Thomas’ game pops off the screen and sets him apart. Even when his shot isn’t falling, he does things on the court that get Arkansas fans piping hot. He has a fantastic floater, spaces the floor well on fast breaks, stays disruptive in passing lanes with 1.5 steals per game and still flashes elite passing skills.
While his performance against elite competition and a recent shooting slump may give pause, the idea that he’s fallen out of favor with NBA futurecasters feels premature.
Besides, the kid’s a microwave. He can change things in a hurry.
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Check out how Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas stack up with past Arkansas freshmen so far, from Stathead:
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