Who is Chandler Hutchison? And Why Are NBA Teams Promising Him Things?

A quick look at what makes the 22-year old wing so intriguing as a NBA draft prospect.

The NBA Draft combine marks one of the most exciting times in the NBA, more so if you are complete basketball nerd (like me!). And the reason this specific time period is the sheer amount of stuff going on. Of course all of the teams out of the playoffs are buried in scouting reports, getting ready for the upcoming (June 21) 2018 NBA Draft. The Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers are locked in on their respective Conference Finals series. At the NBA Draft combine, there is lots of maneuvering behind the scenes. This includes agents trying to up-sell prospects, players being very selective with what drills they participate in, and of course, teams making “promises” to players in an effort to solidify their chances of selecting them. And reports say that Chicago Bulls have made such a promise to Boise State senior Chandler Hutchison. And so naturally, BullsNation is wondering, “who is Chandler Hutchison?”

First thing to get out the way, yes, Hutchison is 22-years old. He played all four seasons of college ball at Boise State, a hallmark of a Gar Forman pick. Many NBA general managers refuse to take a chance on a player who has done four-years of school anymore. The train of thought is that these players have hit a developmental cap and aren’t worth the investment. Hutchison is a strong bet to — be yet another prospect to show — the four-year players are more than worth the investment. He is six-foot, seven-inches with a (at least) seven-foot wingspan. Hutchison was not a strong presence on NBA draft boards before this season. He did extensive work in college with Boise State Associate Head Coach Phil Beckner, who helped develop NBA-All Star Damian Lillard at Weber State. Beckner recently announced he was actually leaving Boise State to go after job opportunities at the NBA level. The Broncos coaching staff gave Hutchison the keys to the team, and he finished the season in the top 15 in the nation in usage percentage (33.2 percent).

Hutchison was a 3.1 points per game scorer as a freshman. That went up to 6.8 ppg as a sophomore, and then he took a huge leap, scoring 17.4 ppg as a junior and 20 ppg as a senior. He became a devastating finisher, converting an awesome 72 percent of his shots at the rim in 2017–18 per Hoop-Math.com . Also interesting, the percentage of Hutchison’s field goal attempts that were assisted went down across the board. This supports the idea that he improved dramatically as a shot-creator, consider his ppg and offensive rating increased.

So Hutchison is a long, rangy wing player. He defends at a high-level (career 96.6 defensive rating, which is very good), and he is jack-of-all trades with no glaring holes at this stage of his career. Hutchison averaged 4.5 assists, 9.9 rebounds, and 9.3 free throw attempts per 40 minutes in his senior year with the Broncos. His all-around game and ability to score inside and out remind me a lot of Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma coming out of the University of Utah.

The big red flag with Hutchison is that he shot 72.8 percent from the free throw line this year, and that represented a career-high by a noticeable margin. He shot below 67 percent from the charity stripe all three years before his dominating senior season. So of course those free throw numbers make me worry about his career 35.3 percent 3-point percentage holding up at the NBA-level. But Hutchison is a high-IQ player who learned how to lead over his time at Boise State. He committed more turnovers every season, but this was mostly a result of being the team’s clear-cut offensive leader. This trial-by-fire allowed him to develop a bevy of moves to score coming off of screens, on catch-and-shoots, in isolations, and perhaps his personal favorite, in transition.

The 2018 NBA Draft is a top-heavy draft headlined by big men with star power. But this draft class is also littered with quality wing prospects who fit the coveted “3-and-D” mold that ALL NBA GMs are looking for. And with the Boston Celtics surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals, finding quality wing prospects with the potential to become switchable defenders is a huge key in scouting this year’s crop of wings. Finding such a player with the potential to be a high-level scorer is even more unlikely. But due to questions about the quality of competition faced in the Mountain West, and his ability to beat defenders off the dribble, it is likely that he will be available when the Bulls pick at No. 22 in the first round. And with Chicago having a glaring hole at SF, and the report that Hutchison pulled out of the combine because a team promised him he would be drafted, he very well could be a future Chicago Bull.

So for the Chicago Bulls fans that like Chandler Hutchison as a prospect, rejoice in GarPax nailing yet another late first-round pick.

And for the Chicago Bulls fans dejected over the thought of drafting yet another low-key, old-for-his draft-class prospect, at least he figures to be a rich-man’s Denzel Valentine.