There isn’t one single way to win an individual or team matchup in basketball. Jarrett Culver is walking proof.

Of course, Culver isn’t the first player in his mold to be a “different” kind of athlete, but he’s the one we’re looking at today. Culver uses angles, IQ, lower body strength and flexibility to make his way to the rim, and he does it without being an elite vertical or burst athlete.

There are questions about whether or not Culver is worthy of the #2 overall pick because of potential lack of primary creation, his jump shot and his overall athleticism. The primary creation concern is fair, as I do question if he’ll ever be able to carry that load. But I’m in the boat that Zion is the only true #1 option in this class, and I do believe Culver has a strong argument as the best secondary guy (I’ll explain later on). His jumper is also a cause for concern, though I’ll explain my reason for optimism later on. His athleticism, however, is not a concern. Yes, his first step is lacking, and he isn’t a top tier vertical threat. But he has really good athletic traits that aren’t easy to come by.

If I had to guess, Culver is probably around 6-foot-7, 205 pounds with a 6-foot-11 wingspan. Those are very good wing measurements, and he might still be growing. He also has very broad shoulders and has gained a ton of muscle from last year. I wouldn’t at all be shocked if he ends up around the same build as Jimmy Butler with some additional length. He’s already very strong and has been a late bloomer with physical development, so it’s likely he’s still growing in that aspect.

Culver’s lower body flexibility and rhythm are tremendous. He’s able to contort his knees and ankles in ways that most can’t. There’s an offbeat rhythm to his game that is really hard to guard and adjust to. He uses different timing than others on drives, and a lot of that is due to flexibility and strength in his lower body. It’s like adjusting to guard a left-handed player. It’s not something your body is natural at, so it makes it more difficult. Your body is used to a specific timing and rhythm while playing basketball, but Culver goes against those normal movements. Because of those rare advantages and combined with his touch, he is shooting a ridiculous 69 percent at the rim on 205 attempts, and only 25 percent assisted. He’s creating his own shot and finishing at a very high level despite the lack of burst or vertical explosion.

Here you can see the foot drag and knee drop between the first and second dribble, causing a different rhythm and freezing the defender for a split second. The ankle (and knee) bend on the drag shows lower body flexibility, and it also gives off the view he’s stopping for a pull-up or step-back. Most hesitation moves work due to high-level dribble moves, which Culver isn’t always capable of yet, so he instead uses his offbeat rhythm and flexibility in place of a dribble move.

Offbeat. This might look simple, but this is high-level balance, rhythm and touch. Being able to jump off the wrong foot gave Roby almost no opportunity to contest the lay-up. Wrong foot finishes aren’t easy to defend and they help make up for lack of explosion from Culver. This is something that Caris LeVert and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are both very good at. Again, this goes back to playing at a different rhythm.

Like I said earlier, there are legitimate concerns regarding Culver’s lack of burst and first step, as evidenced below.

The good news is that you can win in other ways when you’re lacking first step. Culver does a very good job with his second and third steps and digging out space with his legs and shoulders. He can also get low and dip his shoulder because of his leg strength and balance. His handle needs improvement to reach the level of a really good secondary creator, but I do believe that will happen.

Here you see his balance on the shoulder allowing him to turn the corner. He looks like an edge rusher getting low on a tackle for a speed rush. It’s not overly quick, but it shows really good technique and lower body flexibility/strength.

Here he gets the corner on his primary defender and uses really impressive body control and touch on the finish while leaving the floor from outside of the restricted area and stretching out for a flip lay-up avoiding the rim protection.

Here you see LeVert with the same drive. LeVert gets the corner, jump stops and uses his body control and finishing ability to avoid the secondary defender.

Patience and rhythm. It’s not easy to have the awareness for the pump fake directly after a spin. Culver is never rushing, and he dictates the spot he wants to go and always has a counter.

Caris. Patience and rhythm.

Another reason I’m high on Culver as a secondary creator is his ability to set up drives off passes and his ability to cut off-ball. Once again, calling Culver a secondary creator isn’t a knock. I think he has potential to be great in that regard, and this class does not have primary creators outside of Zion.

Here Culver immediately sets up the defender with a hard jab after he catches it, creating an advantage to make up for the first step (or lack thereof).

This is something Kawhi is very good at, since Kawhi has some of the same athletic limitations. No, I do not believe Culver will be Kawhi. There are some statistical similarities, but Kawhi is bigger, stronger and arguably hit his 99th percentile outcome. His shooting and ball-handling had outlier improvements, so it would be very tough for Culver to hit that mark.

Culver excels at off-ball cutting and slipping. This is a really nice touch shot that he finishes the play with.

This time he slips this screen and shows off the strength to finish the and-one.

Again, his handle will definitely need to improve, as it still is loose and high at times, but he can still create his own shot without vast improvement. It just isn’t your typical aesthetic shot-creation.

However, his handle isn’t the only part of Culver’s game that needs improvement. Culver has seen a dip in his 3-point percentage compared to last year, but I don’t believe it’s strictly due to volume and difficulty increase. There were mechanical changes from last year to this year as well, but he still wavers from the improved form in certain situations. This is likely due to muscle memory and the fact it’s hard to change the form you’ve always had, but when he’s shooting free throws, the new form is much more consistent. This has resulted in his percentages improving from 65 percent to 70 percent this season on much higher volume.

Here you see his freshman year form. The load-up time is long, he starts the shot near his left hip, the process comes across his body and his wrist finishes pointing toward to the right, instead of toward the basket.

Fast forward to sophomore year. The start of his shot is much more compact, although the elbow is a little flared, but not terrible. His wrist still finishes a little outside, more than you’d like. But overall the shot form has clearly improved from last year.

Here’s a good look at it during live play. Once again, his form is more compact and has shorter load-up time. Culver’s elbow is at 90 degrees and wrist is starting in a good spot.

Ultimately, I trust his shot because I trust the mechanical issues to continue to improve and be more consistent, along with Culver’s very good touch and tough shot-making ability. Consistency is the biggest thing in my opinion. Too often this year he’s either had a different release point, different load-up point, elbow flare, or his wrist has followed through poorly. But when the shot form is how he’s trying to remake it, it looks good.

I think the willingness to shoot is also a positive. 7.7 3-point attempts per 100 possessions is a solid number, considerably more than Shai’s 2.6 last year and just slightly less than RJ Barrett’s 9.7 this year. The shot selection can be questionable at times, but that’s largely due to Tech desperately needing him to create on that side of the ball. With a lower usage his freshman year, the shots were much more selective. This year he’s at 31 usage while still being asked to defend at a high level. Scale the usage back and the defense will get even better, along with the shot selection and efficiency (more catch-and-shoot attempts instead of so much offense coming off the dribble).

Punishing mismatches will also be something Culver can consistently do. He has a pretty legit post-game with an arsenal that’s continuing to expand. Below you see the ability to turn over both shoulders, along with one foot fade-aways. He uses strength to slightly bump defenders and his length to shoot over the top.

Jarrett Culver's post game is very intriguing because of his size. While he doesn't do it often (25 possessions), Culver has shown that he's capable of creating for himself out of the post and shooting over his defender. Culver ranks in the 73rd percentile on 'Post-Ups' pic.twitter.com/HS1ZKVnU6X — Zach Milner (@ZachMilner13) April 2, 2019

First, let me say I think the separation between Barrett, Culver and Morant as the best secondary creator in the class is very small, and there are arguments for and against all 3 prospects. There are a few reasons why I’m leaning Culver, and some have already been stated earlier on. Why I’m going Culver > Barrett is based on me trusting Culver’s mentality and IQ more, along with better finishing and higher shooting upside. Barrett has an issue of predetermining his drives and it often results in overly contested shots or turnovers. His footwork and athleticism take a significant hit when he’s in tight spaces, which is the opposite of Culver. RJ’s lower body is also stiff and a lot of his buckets around the basket come from barreling into somebody, which will be harder at the next level.

You can see how often RJ decides what he’s going to do and sticks with it. There’s often little shown instinct when he’s attacking the basket, which is the opposite of Culver. On the first play he has an easy kick out but already is set on the continued drive and shot attempt. In the second play, you see the hard drop in his vertical explosion when he’s in a tight space area with contact. On the last two plays, you see how much RJ depends on his size and strength as a slasher without much plan.

When you go to Culver and watch his drives, he’s much more reactive and uses great body control and counters. The ability to almost avoid all contact on this drive is wildly impressive. Also the second clip illuminates how much better of a kick out passer Culver is than RJ. Barrett’s passing has improved throughout the year, and it will continue to improve, but Culver is much more reactive, which is a big deal on dribble drives.

My main reasoning for going Culver > Morant as an offensive secondary creator comes down to size and positional importance. I understand the argument for both sides, but I really don’t think there are things Morant brings to the table that Culver can’t do well enough. Morant is the better passer and has the better handle, but the shooting is around equal, and I really think Morant will struggle getting to his spots at the next level. He’s very skinny and isn’t as explosive as a first step athlete as some give credit him for. Culver can get to his spots better, finish better and is a good passer who can potentially have more passing opportunities due to size and strength.

Defensively, Culver should be talked about more. I know that he gets praise, but I think Culver has potential to be very, very good on that side of the ball. He has ideal measurements and should continue to fill out with muscle. He wasn’t tested very often in isolation or pick-and-roll, but Culver held opponents to 0.63 points-per-possession in isolation (46 possessions) and 0.558 points-per-possession guarding pick-and-roll possessions. Along with that, opponents scored only 0.675 points-per-possesion on spot-ups with him as the main defender, and only 0.727 points-per-possession in the post. To put it simply, Culver is a stud defender who has legitimate All-NBA defensive upside. I see no issue with him being able to guard 2-4, and the occasional lead guard spot.

Culver’s lateral quickness is solid, and he has the strength to take the bump in space and not move much. And he’s almost always disciplined.

What’s most enticing is his IQ and anticipation. Here he baits #32 to throw the extra pass, where he reads it and times it perfectly for the steal.

Again, strong off-ball IQ and anticipation. Culver has a good 2.7 steal percentage and most of it is through using the off-ball skills and smarts he has.

The other positive with Culver being a good off-ball defender and steals guy is he’s scoring 1.169 points-per-possession in transition. He uses long strides and really good finishing ability to be very good in the open floor, converting defense to offense.

At the end of the day, I fully believe Culver is worth the #2 pick in the draft. Sure, part of that is because I don’t think it’s a great class, but he’s still a very good prospect. Scoring 0.827 PPP as the pick-and-roll handler, 0.963 PPP on spot up shots, 0.988 PPP in isolation, and 1.158 PPP off cuts, Culver is very diverse (and positive) on the offensive end. He has enough creation ability to be a secondary guy, and is a smart enough (and willing) player to be your third or fourth option. We’ve seen the rookie success of Shai, and we saw the very good start earlier this year by LeVert before the injury. I know that doesn’t automatically equate to Culver being good, and they aren’t the same players. But what it does say is that there are multiple ways to win on drives. First steps aren’t the end all when looking at dribble drive creation. As stated earlier, Culver’s rare combination of size, strength, lower body flexibility and offbeat rhythm could be just as successful as first step explosion or vertical explosion. He’s also shown flash plays of handling, shooting touch and improved mechanics, and the willingness to adjust and learn.He’ll need to improve his shooting and ball-handling, but after a giant improvement between high school and his freshman year of college, along with another step forward before his sophomore season, there’s reason to feel comfortable betting on Culver’s improvement and upward trajectory.

*All stats courtesy of Synergy Sports