Athleticism / Frame Overview: Good, not great vertical athlete. Tight hips and “heavy” feet moving laterally – not particularly quick. Long-loader and doesn’t rise well in crowded spaces. Long arms with a large catch radius on lobs, entry passes, and general passes that aren’t very accurate. Very strong and well rounded strength in upper and lower body, though he can probably get a bit stronger in his base. Unsure about core strength – seems a bit unbalanced in space (and is prone to putting hands straight out to counteract the poor balance?). Wide base on perimeter that might contribute to the poor balance.

Mentality Overview: In college, he was happy playing his role. Definitely took some bad shots, but was mainly a paint and in player and appeared happy doing that. In HS/AAU, he thought his offensive game was a lot better (unicorn type) with the ability to play inside and out…and that was not good / right. Needs to consistently play to his strengths while he tries to develop his game a bit. Needs to work on using his strength more on defense and being more attentive with technique/positioning. Solid job using strength in paint, but would like to see him use it more. Active on the offensive glass. Motor doesn’t fluctuate that much – usually pretty high.

Offensive Role: Rim-runner with some potential shooting as a C&S player and maybe some PnP from midrange. Not someone I’d dump the ball down to in the post, not a passer (low ceiling as a hub), and not a movement shooter. Ideally, he’s a PnR diver / heavy screener who makes his living in the paint as a lob threat, getting early position in transition (good at this), and cleaning up the offensive glass. Some PnP from mid and maybe low volume C&S from 3, but not a high amount because he makes his money paint and in with his size.

Defensive Role: Rim protector, drop big. Not someone I’d want out in space because his footwork is pretty poor, not great of turning hips, has “heavy feet,” and isn’t balanced in space. Footwork can be cleaned up to remedy some of these issues, but he’s a good rim protector when he sees what’s in front of him. Needs to work on awareness as the back-end of defense, but it improved from AAU to college (some miscommunication issues during the small sample size in college, though not necessarily his fault). Timing affecting shots around the rim is good.

Offense:

Synergy Profile: scoring : 100 scoring + assists : 98 (totals due to already unreliably small & TINY sample size)

C&S Around Basket Post Up Transition Cut PnR Roll 1/2 11/13 3/5 91 3/5 3/3

Shot Chart in HC (tiny sample size) including ORB and post ups:

Finishing: Very good finisher in the paint. Nice job using his length to get close to the basket when his momentum is bringing him there (can be caught fading otherwise). Mostly a left handed finisher, but shows comfortability with right hand even though it wasn’t something he went to often. Bigtime lob target due to wingspan – huge catching radius on lobs and passes into the post. Nice job getting position in the paint. Takes time to load, so he doesn’t get to full peak in crowded areas. Loves crashing offensive glass for putbacks. Doesn’t explode off the floor on his own misses, but his length gives him leeway and allows him to get a hand on misses even without the explosion.

Post Up: Mechanical in the post and goes to fadeaways too often. Does a nice job getting position and moving away from incoming double teams, though. Would like to see him kick it out or use his size a bit more imposingly instead of settling for fades. Besides the fades, he doesn’t really have go-to moves. Huge target in the post due to wingspan and does a nice job sealing his man allowing for entry passes over the top. Going back to AAU/HS, he’d force post ups with better looks available from teammates.

Shooting: Not much there yet, but there is reason to buy the shot. Nice and high release (very difficult to contest) with no major form issues and a smooth release, good FT shooter for a freshman big, and hit a few on limited attempts this year. Likes the turnaround J from the post, though, as mentioned above, he settles sometimes for those when he has an advantage situation. Shot is a bit less smooth (and slower) the further from the block he gets, though still not broken – also looks like he has a natural lean on C&S, which is probably something that should be cleaned up. Potential PnP player going forward and I can see him adding range including some 3s, though I’m don’t really think he’ll be hitting PnPs from 3s – just spot ups, which is probably not something you’d want in high volume because of how impactful he is on the offensive glass. In HS/AAU, as with postups, he’d force shots – thought of himself as a unicorn instead of a mere paint player. He did hit some jumpers, but would often takes some pretty atrocious off the bounce shots.

Shot Versatility: Probably not much here going forward. I can see some low volume 3s potentially and some PnPs from midrange…but you’d want to limit those attempts due to how impactful he is on the offensive glass. Don’t see him taking PnPs from 3 or off the bounce Js. Flashed some post fades away from double teams that had nice footwork (hit a couple), but I’d look to limit these too – don’t want him taking too many because of his size.

Shot IQ: Not great. Going back to EYBL, his shot IQ was in question. He’s such a big player that you’d wish he would use his size more and bully players, but he didn’t – wanted to play finesse more than use his strength. Did the same in college where he’d take post fades when he had a mismatch. In college, Coach Hardaway did a great job keeping him more within his role as a paint and in player, dominating the offensive glass and rim-running in the PnR and transition (including secondary breaks). There were still definitely some blips in his shot selection, but he was pretty squared within his role at Memphis. He has a fluid turnaround J (and did a nice job turning away from help in the post to get an open look), but these shots are low percentage and he’d be better off kicking it back out to the perimeter.

Handle: Mechanical handle – not someone who has the handle, creativity, or food speed to break guys down off the bounce…not that this would be his role, as he will likely be just a play-finisher. Might have some ability with some grab and go, though I wouldn’t necessarily trust him leading a break very often, and when he does I wouldn’t want him taking many dribbles. Does not have the mobility or handle to beat a defender who stops him on his initial take.

Passing: Not a passer. Had one nice pass vs South Carolina State in semi-transition, but that was the only one that flashed during his brief time in college. Even during AAU, he was not a passer – always way more of a finisher, or someone who tried to finish (forced a lot). Flashed some very basic passing in AAU/HS, but they were stationary looks and no PnR short roll / movement passes. Because he was boxed in to a more specific role in college (purely a finisher and screen setter), his job was to simply finish when he got the ball in the paint. However, again, going back to the AAU/HS tape, there is plenty of poor shots / missing open teammates. Turnovers weren’t really an issue in the tiny sample size in college (3 turnovers in 3 games, though only 1 assist…but, again, his role was a finisher), but they were in AAU/HS. As a rising senior, he had turnovers to 14 assists in 21 games in Peach Jam and EYBL. As a junior, he was at 18 turnovers to 9 assists. There is ample evidence that he is severely lacking as a passer and decision-making / feel going back to his pre-college tape. His role in the NBA should be one that minimizes the thinking on the fly aspect…unless he is able to develop it in time, which means the game would have to slow down for him quite a bit. Keep him as a rim runner / screener.

Defense:

Synergy Profile (TINY sample size + I know there is a lot of noise here, and miscategorized / uncategorized plays, but this is added information): 98

Spot Up PnR Roll Around Basket Post Up Iso (total) 1/4 0/2 1/3 1/1 1/4

Defensive Shot Chart (A lot of noise, but interesting. Paint = as primary and secondary defender.)

Only two games logged for this chart (will update when 3rd is added) and tiny sample size

Awareness / Team Defense: Needs work. I go into more detail through different lenses below, but rotations on the perimeter need work, rotations underneath need work, and it appears like he sees/processes things on the court a step late (which makes sense when watching his decision-making on offense). There were a few plays (mainly on the interior) where he showed solid help awareness, but they were basic rotations that he saw coming – no quicker plays that required faster processing on the move. Does not process things quickly – this is why he’s often caught out of position in the PnR. Does not do a good job paying attention to his man if he’s in movement / action off ball and the action on ball. Also needs to work on helping more on off ball screens – he primarily focuses (eyes and body) on his man and not seeing man and action.

Rim Protection: High level rim protector who does an awesome job using his length to make things difficult. Prone to biting on fakes, but generally does a good job simply going straight up – the issue of biting on fakes was common in AAU and HS. His vision on defense / awareness is pretty limited to what is in front of him as a rim protector – he’ll contest shots well when they’re in front of him and he sees it coming, but if it’s a quicker, bang-bang, play that requires more defensive awareness, he can be late rotating. Rim protection looked better in college than it did in AAU, which is potentially a good sign (limited sample size, poor college opponents besides Oregon), but was still sometimes overly reliant on his reach + pop (which isn’t great in tight spaces) to contest instead of rotating properly and still bit on a few fakes. Would like to see him improve his rim protection by rotating first instead of simply relying on athleticism, because it’s not going to be as effective in the NBA against bigger and better athletes.

Defense in Space: Not very comfortable in space. Looks off balance / can be shaken when he’s out there, which could be a core strength issue or it could just be how he is. I don’t think he’ll ever be fully comfortable out there, so he’s primarily going to be a drop big in coverage. Definitely needs to work on footwork. Prone to crossing feet, hands sometimes go out if someone drives resulting in fouls or a lack of contest. Very wide base too, which should probably be brought in a bit as this might help his lateral movement and change of directions. Hips aren’t slow, but they’re not quick either. Has “heavy feet.” However, there were a few solid defensive possessions in space moving his feet against smaller players or a big facing up. Still not someone I would want switching very often.

PnR Defense: Average PnR defender. Takes bad angles giving ballhandler an area to attack, does not communicate well with the point of attack defender (though it could have just been the small sample size), hips don’t turn very fluidly (though there was a nice flash vs Oregon and vs SCST), and his feet are somewhat heavy. When he is in drop coverage and well positioned, he does a decent job containing the PG (and is pretty quick to react and contest) …but his positioning can be pretty terrible and take him out of plays entirely either by being too far back, opening up hips too much giving an angle to drive, or staying too far back – drop coverage positioning is hit or miss, even though it’s where he’s probably “best” and will likely be his coverage going forward. I don’t think he’s particularly good recovering back to his man, which will only be exploited against better shooting bigs…he’d also require help off ball from teammates against rolling bigs, which would then force him to run to the open man who rotated to help him, which is not something I am confident he can do based on his slower reaction time, hips, and foot speed, and also because his defensive awareness needs work – not sure he’d know where to run without someone telling him where to go first. Basically, needs a lot of work here all around…though there is potential here as a drop big if he learns positioning better .

Shot Contests: Nice job using his length to contest shots when he can get there in time, but he’s not very quick to shooters. Also, doesn’t fully close à seems like he hesitates on some shooters and starts his choppy steps too early. This goes to the unease he feels space. In drop PnR coverage, does a nice job contesting the ballhandler’s shots. Not particularly quick getting out to shooters, especially if it requires a change of direction. As mentioned above, positioning in drop coverage is hit or miss – flashed a couple of decent contains, but would also be too far back in coverage, and in turn, late to contest the shot.

Off Ball Defense: Generally, not great. Improvements have definitely been made from AAU to college, but he still has a ways to go. When his man is setting a screen off ball, Wiseman pretty much only pays attention to his man – no hedge to help the player receiving the screen, he ignores the action away from his man, etc. Slow to recover to the open man, which goes to the awareness / reaction time / footspeed and hip turn issues I have. Not someone you want defending bigs who can shoot off movement because I think he lumbers a bit too much.

Man Defense: Would like to see him be a bit more physical and use his frame / strength to bother players instead of just his length. He has a strong base and strong upper body with room to grow. Flashed ability to defend slower bigs in space / non-shooting bigs, but he’ll likely have issues trying to keep up with the quicker bigs who tend to play in space more. Heavier feet with a base that’s a bit too wide in his stance + hip turns aren’t that great, but not horrible (average, basically).

Footwork: Needs work. Footwork in the PnR is quite often bad. As mentioned above, he’s better in drop coverage, but that’s mainly a safety thing with him being better here than hedging and recovering, switching, etc. However, even here, there were plenty of red flags. In the college notes I have on the games I watched, there were plenty of drop coverage issues – poor angles / staying too far back, bad communication, and not closing the gap to the shooter quickly enough. He’d often be caught out position giving up easy driving lanes either standing on the wrong side of the screen or opening up his hips, not react to a ballhandler quickly enough (sometimes, not at all…thus putting pressure on his teammates to rotate well), etc. Quickness wise, he’s not really there either. He has “heavy” feet moving laterally (but is fast in a straight line)…and doesn’t turn his hips particularly well, though he’s not stuck in cement either – just average here, I’d say. He had a few flashes mirroring the ballhandler in PnR (did a nice job on Pritchard with 18:50 left in 2nd half v Oregon) and sliding cutting off a drive pretty well in PnR (1:10 left in first half v SCST). Prone to crossing feet and takes pretty wide steps with a wide base – would like to see him bring his feet in a bit, as it might help with lateral movement (and balance on the perimeter).

Written by Spencer Pearlman, https://twitter.com/SKPearlman, link to other pieces and in-depth reports: https://www.thestepien.com/author/spencerpearlman/