Scouts’ early reviews in on Mayo

Two NBA scouts were split on whether O.J. Mayo would be a surefire lottery pick in the 2008 NBA draft based on the USC freshman guard’s performance in his first nine college games.

“I don’t think that’s a slam dunk, but he’s in that range,” one scout said.

Said another: “I’d be shocked if he went any lower than seventh.”

Mayo is averaging 20.4 points, second in the Pacific 10 Conference behind California sophomore Ryan Anderson (22.7), but he is coming off a pair of shaky shooting performances in losses to Kansas and Memphis. Mayo made 12 of 41 shots (29.3%) in those games, including only four of 15 attempts (26.7%) from three-point range.

“I think he’s a little overrated,” one scout said. “The word was out that this guy is the next LeBron James. I do not think he is the next coming of LeBron James in any way.”

The other scout said the 6-foot-5 Mayo, who projects as a point guard in the NBA, was not making the impact some had envisioned because he was playing out of position for the Trojans.

“He’s a scoring point guard that needs the ball in his hand to be effective to make plays for himself and others,” the scout said. “For whatever reason, he’s playing off the ball at the two guard. Now he’s in a position where he’s taking seven three-pointers a game. That’s not his game.”

Mayo is taking 17.4 shots per game, more than twice as many as his next-closest teammate. He’s making 43.3% of his shots and 37.5% of his three-point attempts, which the scouts described as decent percentages.

“His shot selection has to improve,” one scout said.

“I think he forces shots at times. He has always, whether it was high school or AAU ball, attempted a lot of high-degree-of-difficulty shots. You attempt too many of those in college and it’s the difference between a win and a loss.

“He’s always been the guy to take the shot at the end of the game, and at times he’s going to have to defer and trust his teammates. He’s got to realize he’s playing with a higher caliber of player now for a great coach, and he’s got to trust that his teammates are willing to make plays as well.”

On the plus side, both scouts praised Mayo’s defense and one compared his work ethic to that of Lakers star Kobe Bryant, saying Mayo “is maniacal about wanting to get better.”

Asked to assess his own performance, Mayo said he was “not yet” pleased with his play and echoed several of the scouts’ concerns.

“I think I have the ability to be more efficient, just with turnover-to-assist ratio, shot attempts, shots made, free throw attempts, free throws made,” said Mayo, who has 38 turnovers and 25 assists. “I should be an efficient ballplayer.”

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ben.bolch@latimes.com