NBA Comparison: Maxi Kleber/Jonah Bolden

Strengths: Long, combo forward with good shooting ability and offensive potential … Shows some decent anticipation to jump passing lanes and make steals that lead to break away dunks … Got a number of 2-hand flushes off of cuts and fast breaks … Averaged just under 10 ppg in a solid NBL league for Cairns, and had decent efficiency numbers, playing 20 mpg … Can hit the three ball at a solid rate on catch and shoot … Was a 36% 3pt shooter and a 79% FT shooter … Shows some vision to find teammates when they cut to the basket …Plays with good energy and effort level … Solid team player, unselfish, not a player looking for individual stats or accolades … Figures to make a good role player at the NBA level as he shows a willingness to do the dirty work and give a team whatever is necessary to help a team win … Ability to shoot gives him some intrigue. If he can become better at creating offense, he can unlock his shooting ability …

Weaknesses: Not a stand out athlete, solid length and decent leaping ability but underwhelming athleticism for NBA … Lacks fluidity and great hands … Not a great second leaper and may struggle to rebound against NBA bigs with more natural strength and explosiveness … Sort of a tweener in a bad way, as his lack of speed limits his perimeter ability and lack of strength is a factor in the paint … Feel for game still not at a high level … Not great in ISO situations … Not a great ball handler and struggles to create for himself due to lack of ball skills … Lack of a quick first step also creates problems, as he struggles to create separation … May get crowded at the next level, forcing him to become better at attacking the basket and driving … Turnover prone … A/TO ratio (0.7 A to 1.6 TO) was more than negative 2-1. Needs to cut down on turnovers and become better at protecting the ball with his dribble as well as limiting forcing bad passes … Not the most fluid of athletes, plays somewhat upright defensively … Just 212 lbs, and should look to add more weight / strength to his frame … At 21, appears somewhat limited in terms of polish and upside … Probably a guy that can play at NBA level, but may struggle to be an impact guy … Testing numbers were among the poorest in speed and lane agility among non centers, confirming the lack of great speed shown in game footage … 32 inch vert is underwhelming for an energy type player …

Outlook: Turned 21 on March 5th … Swedish National with a season of experience under his belt in both NCAA with Wake Forest and in the NBL with Cairns … In 21.3 mpg, averaged 9.7 ppg, 35.7% from three, 52% from 2, and 79% from FT in the NBL for the Cairns Taipans … Projected as a late first to early second round pick … Declared for 2023 NBA Draft but withdrew his name … Has declared himself eligible for the 2024 NBA Draft …

Notes: Measured 6′ 8.75” barefoot, 8′ 10.50” standing reach, 212.2 lbs, 6′ 11.00” wingspan, 26.5 standing vert, 32.5 max vert at the 2024 NBA Draft Combine … From Malmo, Sweden …

Aran Smith 6/20/24

Strengths: Klintman is a long, lean 6’10 225 PF prospect with the frame to put on muscle with ease and a physical profile that stood out at the college level … Reportedly grew 2 inches taller during his lone season at Wake Forest … Moves well and has very good body control and fluidity for a player his size; more smooth than explosive athletically … Budding perimeter skills makes him intriguing; was a promising floor spacer in Wake’s up tempo offense (around 37 3FG%) and has the ability to make shots with his feet set spotting up as a dribble drive valve or in the pick and pop game … Consistent shot mechanics and has enough size, touch and release quickness to stick jumpers against good contests … Has good hands, with the ability to grab passes that are either low or high and rebounds out of his catch radius (4.5 rpg in 20 mpg, 7 rpg in his last 11 ACC games) … Has enough length to alter shots effectively and had a few games with multiple blocked shots as a Fr … Currently seems more comfortable matching up with similarly sized frontcourt players but is at least willing to defend on the perimeter and could be more switchable as he gains experience given his agility and length … Runs the floor pretty well … Unselfish player who has a better feel for the game and passing acumen than his assist numbers as a Fr. indicated (0.8 apg) … Not bad ball-handling skills for a 6’10 player either; can make solid reads on the move, particularly in transition and has shown some upside initiating offense on his own after grabbing missed shots … Has some ‘Swiss Army knife’ tendencies that coaches will surely try to develop at the next level, could impact games in multiple ways as he gains experience … Settled into the college game more and played his best basketball down the stretch of the season; could just be scratching the surface of his ability … Somewhat new to the game and despite having played multiple years as a teen in his homeland of Sweden, only has 2 years of experience playing amateur basketball in the USA  …

Weaknesses: Needs to get much stronger to be able to compete with frontcourt players at the NBA level … Really struggled as a finisher in college (around 45 FG% inside the arc), and doesn’t show much ability to play through contact currently … Somewhat of a one gear athlete; not particularly fast, explosive or quick on his feet…Doesn’t get all the way to the rim much against set defenses and saw a higher number of his shots get stuffed at the rim at the college level than you’d like to see for a 6’10 player … Not a physical player; showed a lack of toughness and instincts defending college PFs/Cs and struggled to get on the court for much of his Fr. year because of it … No in-between game; adding a consistent floater/runner wouldn’t hurt … Strong post players could seal and establish deep positioning on him with relative ease this past season, often negating his length advantages … Had occasional success defending in space, but also tended to be heavy-footed when asked to defend smaller perimeter players off the bounce … Speed of the game overwhelmed him at times in college; often doesn’t process action very quickly defensively at the moment and gets caught out of position in the halfcourt quite a bit … Modest overall production in a very offense-friendly system (5 ppg on 40 FG% as a Fr.); will garner draft interest mostly on his perceived potential and translatable pro basketball traits … Work in progress, will require patience as a young prospect … Older than your typical Fr. prospect having already turned 20 years old, though his relative lack of experience makes this a bit less glaring …

Overall: Bobi Klintman is a Swedish-born player with an extensive soccer background before taking a liking to basketball as a teen … He later moved to America and joined the vaunted Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas featuring 2023 Draft prospects Gradey Dick and Mark Mitchell, where he established himself as a top 150 prospect in the 2022 HS Class … His work with the FIBA U20 Swedish team was also noteworthy, as he put up very strong production (16 ppg, 10 rpg and 5 apg) showing what he could do having the ball in his hands much more and being on a longer leash than he was afforded in HS or college hoops … He had a slow start to his career at Wake, going through growing pains as a Fr. before emerging during the 2nd half of the teams conference schedule as a key contributor … Its clear to see why he’s become a hot name a month away from the 2023 Draft; his size, length, floor spacing and fluid athleticism pop at the college level and he shows good upside in transition as an on-the-go rebounder and open court distributor uncommon for someone that’s 6’10 … He also showed that the idea of him is better than his current form, as he lacks a good bit of strength, toughness and nuance to certain parts of his game on both ends and needs much more experience to realize his potential … Not being able to put up strong production offensively and struggling to see the floor because of defensive struggles and speed of the game is worth note, even for a raw talent like Klintman, given the extreme nature of both the free-flowing offense and porous defense that Wake Forest has played with under Coach Steve Forbes … Still there is untapped potential with Klintman, and he could be someone who makes an impact down the line in a number of areas as he continues to grow, if his talent is harnessed correctly …

Jorrye Nixon 5/20/23

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