CONTEXT
- 73rd-ranked prospect in the 2016 high school class[1];
- Redshirted his first year at Virginia, was a minutes-eater the next two (logging a total of 422 minutes in 46 appearances across two years) and developed into arguably the best player on the team this past season;
- Seven-foot-one center who protected the rim very well and proved capable of extending basic pick-and-roll coverage above the foul line a little bit, without fouling in volume;
- Wasn’t asked to switch onto smaller players much but struggled when asked to hedge way high out in the perimeter, making it questionable he offers much versatility as a pick-and-roll defender;
- Tough enough with his 232-pound frame to be average on the glass and defending the post;
- Not a particularly explosive leaper in a crowd but proved capable of finishing lobs sneaking behind the defense (spot-up at the dunker spot or on longer rolls that necessitated the ball handler engaging his defender) and exceled as a floor spacer in college, though on a limited number of attempts;
- His foul shooting percentage also makes you question just how real his three-point shooting ability really is;
- Decent enough post scorer in college but not skilled enough or enough of a bully to be expected to develop into a shot creator in the pros;
- Doesn’t project as much of a hub to facilitate offense either;
- Currently unranked on ESPN’s top 105.
RIM PROTECTION
- Stuck pretty close to the rim based on the way Virginia played defense, but still impressed with his awareness as a help defender and consistently managed to leverage his general size and his rumored nine-foot-six standing reach[5] into making plays at the rim;
- Pretty active and deceptively quick stepping up to the front of the rim as the last line of defense and intervening at the last second off shadowing an isolation;
- Easy leaper off two feet to challenge shots via verticality or act as regular threat to block them – averaging 3.3 blocks per 40 minutes this past season;
- His 11.2% block percentage would be higher than that of any player on ESPN’s top 105, except for James Wiseman, who appeared in just three games in his NCAA career before realizing the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze;
- Challenged shots at the rim constantly without exposing himself to foul trouble – averaging just 3.9 personal fouls per 40 minutes;
- Impressed with his awareness making preventive rotations that denied the ball handler space towards driving all the way to the basket;
- Also flashed awareness rotating in to pick up the roll man when the pick-and-roll wasn’t run at him but not quick or instinctual enough to make plays in the passing lanes regularly;
- Has just 20 steals in 1,168 NCAA minutes;
- Attentive to his boxout responsibilities, showed improved physicality as his frame got stronger over the course of his time at Virginia and showed decent quickness reacting to the ball off the rim;
- Collected 20.6% of opponents’ misses when he was on the floor last season, which is not an exceptionally great mark for a seven-foot-one center but not a troublingly one either;
- Decent post defender: hustles to front the post and bat away some entries passes on occasion, even if without a ton of tenacity, and able to overwhelm opponents who can’t back him down on pure strength with his length when the ball does get entered.
PICK&ROLL DEFENSE
- Hunches more than he bends his knees getting down in a stance to approach the ball handler but impressed some with his comfort extending coverage a couple of steps above the foul line and his nimbleness moving laterally to deny the ball handler space towards turning the corner;
- Not very quick but agile enough to slide laterally and backpedal fluidly in order to prevent the ball handler from turning the corner right away off the pick a fair amount;
- Not really a threat to shut down passing lanes or bat away lobs regularly, though;
- Was asked to hedge and recover way high out on the perimeter a fair amount but struggled to influence ball handler effectively and isn’t fast enough to recover back to his man quickly enough, needing to over-rely on his outnumbered teammates behind him for a little too long.
PICK&ROLL OFFENSE
- Decent screener who looks to draw contact and dislodge the on-ball defender off the ball handler but hasn’t yet developed or didn’t show or wasn’t asked to show advanced techniques (widening stance, flipping the screens, re-screening, moving picks);
- Not a particularly impressive leaper but proved more than capable of finishing lobs sneaking behind the defense in the dunker spot and on longer rolls to the rim, while also showing pretty good touch on non-dunk finishes;
- Took half of his live-ball attempts at the rim and converted those 93 shots at a 75.3% clip this past season;
- Most appealing aspect of his offense at this point is his ability to space the floor, not just on spot-ups, but out of the pick-and-pop as well;
- Gets little elevation off the floor, needs to dip for rhythm and launches from a low release out in front but shoots an easy ball for a seven-footer, was able to get his shot quickly enough without much struggle at the collegiate level and showed legit NBA range often;
- Nailed 38.5% of his 91 three-point shots over his 76 NCAA appearances across three seasons, though at a pace of just 3.1 such attempts per 40 minutes;
- Hit just 59.1% of his 88 free throw attempts in his collegiate career, though, which puts into question how truly great a shooter he really is at this point of his development;
- Demanded hard closeouts more often than not and showed glimpses of a basic off dribble skill;
- Can shot-fake and attack the basket on a straight line out of triple threat position, and go up with power off one foot if unchallenged;
- Hasn’t yet developed anything particularly advanced in terms of side-to-side shake, pull-up shooting or passing on the move if he needs to deal with any sort of traffic between him and the goal.
OTHER AREAS OF OFFENSE
- Doesn’t leverage his frame into setting deep position in the post often but managed to get enough of a seal for some regular touches in emergency situations (logged just 18.8% usage this past season) in college;
- Was effective with a basic approach backing his way into a righty hook in college (shot 42.1% on 38 two-point attempts away from the basket[6]) but hasn’t yet developed power moves, sleek footwork or fakes to dislodge or get his man out of position;
- Didn’t show much of anything in terms of being able to create for others – assisting on just 8.6% of Virginia’s scores when he was on the floor, at a 0.75 assist-to-turnover ratio;
- Pretty average on the offensive glass, not very impressive in terms of bullying his way into inside position, flying over for putback dunks or going back up strong through contact, but capable of leveraging his rumored seven-foot-one wingspan into rebounding outside of his area and the combination of his reach and decent second jump into getting some tip-ins from time-to-time;
- Collected just 10.1% of Virginia’s misses when he was on the floor, though his time as a floor spacer should be kept in mind;
- Converted 72.2% of his 22 putback attempts.
[2] According to sports-reference
[3] According to sports-reference
[5] According to Daily Progress
EDITOR’S NOTE: Rafael Uehara is the managing editor of ‘Basketball Scouting’. More of his work can be found here or at RealGM, where he is a regular contributor. He can be followed on twitter as @rafael_uehara
