NBA Comparison: Trevor Booker

Strengths: A potential small school sleeper … Undersized 4 with bounce and length … Has a nose for scoring … A good scorer off the dribble …  Understands how to advantage of mismatches down low in the post … He’s a solid shooter from the perimeter … Career 76% FT shooter showing very good touch for a post player … He’s great at scoring on off motion action plays … He’s a good rebounder, he grabbed 8.4 rebounds per game last season and averaged 7.9 over his college career … He’s a solid athlete with above average athleticism and explosiveness … For a player his size, he has tremendous strength … He’s good at defending his man on the perimeter as well as in the post … He allowed less than 1 point per isolation and post up plays … That versatility should allow him to get minutes in the NBA … Smaller power forwards like Paul Millsap have had success at the NBA level …

Weaknesses: At 6’7, he’s small for the PF position at the NBA level … He’s a streaky three point shooter … Had a dip in shooting efficiency as a senior. He shot just under 33% from the three point line last season after hitting on almost 39% of them the season before … He doesn’t have an explosive first step off the dribble that he can blow by defenders with … He needs to work on his ability to set his teammates up with more accurate passes … He averaged more turnovers than assists during his college career, though his role as a scorer and level of talent surrounding him factored into that … He may have some trouble defending the perimeter, on pick and pops, against quicker players due to his lack of great footspeed and quickness … He didn’t play much against top level competition in college … He needs to work on his defense when his man doesn’t have the ball … Has shown a tendency to lose his man off the ball … Turned 23 in June …

Outlook: Drafted by the Indiana Pacers with the 50th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and traded to the Utah Jazz … As a second round pick, he probably won’t be in the rotation right away as long as no injuries happen … Developing a more consistent jump shot will allow him to see minutes as a stretch four…… He can be a solid scorer for them off the bench as well as a defender … Benefits from to today’s shift to less defined positions in the league …

Zach Smith 7/5/19