Stauskas? Stauskas! Carving Out An NBA Role For Nik Stauskas

Things aren’t supposed to go smoothly for NBA rookies. From adapting to the famed 82-game grind to adjusting to playing against men five to 10 years older than you — not to mention, world class athletes with elite length — the inaugural season for players making their debuts in the association is not supposed to be easy.

However, what Nik Stauskas had to endure over his premiere campaign was just plain cruel.

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Specifically, before the sassy Canadian even step foot onto a basketball floor as a professional, he had already become the butt of every NBA joke. Driven in large by his then-owner’s willingness to allow Grantland cameras to invade upon their predraft process, Vivek Ranadive’s innocent promotional attempt turned into an uncomfortable exercise of passive-aggressive tyranny.

Long story short, the cringe-worthy episode was highlighted by Ranadive strong-arming his management team into drafting Stauskas (Stauskas? Stauskas!), and capped off the chapter of embarrassment by giving the former Michigan Wolverine a warm Sacramento welcome by making his whole entire predraft team scream “Nik Rox!!” — via a phone conversation, no less.

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At that point, the chances of Stauskas not busting were slim-to-done.

Not just an off-court quip, his on-court performance was marred by his hordes of perceived weaknesses prior to the draft. Most notably, his inabilities to turn the corner and create offense against NBA caliber defenders were thoroughly exacerbated.

It surely didn’t help that nearly every team deliberately attacked Stauskas on the defensive end — testing the young two guard’s toughness and resolve during the process. Although the effort was there, particularly when defending isolation sets, he was an unmitigated disaster when defending the pick-and-roll, and was just as bad when serving as an off-ball helper.

Not surprisingly, he was buried on the Kings’ bench early on during season while playing under the defensive-minded Mike Malone. With every game where Nik received less than 10 minutes of playing time, his confidence dwindled.

By the time the All-Star break arrived, his struggles had reached a fever pitch, averaging just 3.4 points per game on 32.8 percent shooting and 26.1 percent from beyond the arc.

But, under George Karl, Stauskas’ fortunes slowly turned around. Not only did he unknowingly earn one of the sweetest nicknames in NBA history — thanks in large to a close captioning blunder made by, ironically, the Philadelphia 76ers’ local feed — Sauce Castillo also rekindled his shooting touch, which is, by far, his most propagative NBA skill.

In fact, post-All-Star break, Stauskas converted on over 42.1 percent of 3-point attempts, and more encouragingly, nailed 42.6 percent of catch-and-shoot 3s, per NBA.com’s SportVU Data.

However, what made Sauce the eighth overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft was his capacity to serve as more than just your run-of-the-mill spot up specialist.

Explicitly, during his sophomore season at Michigan, Nik showed a penchant for effectively negotiating pick-and-rolls and creating off of dribble-handoffs — showing an advance feel for the game and vision to effectively serve as a secondary ballhandler.

In addition, Stauskas also routinely showcased his ability to hit shots not only off of the catch, but also off of the live dribble, either, pulling up via the pick-and-roll or attacking an aggressive closeout. As well, when he got all the way to the rim, Nik revealed his deceptive athleticism, making a number of eye-raising flushes in traffic.

But, ever since commissioner Adam Silver announced his name on draft night, his auxiliary skills have vanished.

Most notably, only 18.4 percent of his possessions used last season derived as the ballhandler in pick-and-roll situations, where he produced a middling 0.72 PPP (points per possession). Likewise, only 9.6 percent of his possessions last season came from dribble-handoffs, where he engendered a mundane 0.60 PPP.

In contrast, as a sophomore in Michigan, nearly 30 percent of Nik’s possessions came as the pick-and-roll ballhandler, where he produced an impressive 1.19 PPP, per DraftExpress. The dribble-handoff, similarly, served as the staple action for the Wolverines’ offense, where Sauce drained 1.51 PPP when catching-and-shooting off of the said action.

Stauskas also showed an affinity for finishing at the rim, converting on over 59.6 percent of his shots from in close in 2013-14. Contrariwise, though, the length and athleticism of NBA athletes caused that number to dip to 42.5 percent (attempts from 8-feet and in) during his rookie campaign.

Despite, on the aggregate, experiencing a catastrophic initiation to the association, Stauskas has been granted a rare clean state as we head into the 2015-16 season.

In particular, Sauce has been freed from the organic mess in Sacramento and starting life anew in Philadelphia, where opportunities are aplenty for fringe NBA players and youthful league prospects.

Alarmingly, however, many of the issues that plagued Nik during his inaugural season is still rearing its ugly heads this summer as he represents team Canada at the FIBA Americas.

More explicitly, Stauskas is still having trouble creating off the bounce in the half court.

While his primary role within the offense is most often limited to stringent definitions of the starting lineup’s designated catch-and-shoot corner floor spacer, the handful of times in which Sauce was given the opportunity to run the pick-and-roll and dribble-handoffs have been uneventful to say the least.

Nik simply lacks the quickness, strength, and shake at this level to turn the corner or split the hedge that FIBA defenses are deploying. As a result, it causes Stauskas to pick up his dribble prematurely; thereby, limiting his ability to bend opposing defenses, and congruently, limiting his passing options.

On the other hand, Sauce’s stroke really comes and goes with his confidence. At times, he seems to really press on his jumpshots — guiding the ball, instead of shooting it. Additionally, he doesn’t have the quickest release in the world, which limits his effectiveness when shooting under distressing pressure.

However, optimistically, when breaking free on the break, Stauskas has given glimpses of some of his advanced feel for the game that made scouts giddy just a year ago.

Most often times, he runs the lane with conviction and upon receiving the ball, he always has his head up, accordingly looking for the push-ahead pass. It may not seem like a crucial skill, but Sauce has a knack of making the “simple” play — driving to the nail, collapsing the D, before pitching it out to his wing shooter.

Although he hasn’t been able to exhibit much of his wiggle and handle, he has been able to make the simple change-of-pace, stop-and-go drives on secondary breaks.

Defensively, his effort is unquestioned. He refuses to let his man beat him off the bounce, showing surprising lateral quickness and determination.

He’s also doing a much better job of carrying out his rotational responsibilities — whether it’d be sinking down on the weakside big as his teammate collapses on a drive, or hard digging on a hard charging handler, before scrambling back to closeout comfortably on a shooter.

However, Stauskas still very much struggles to defend the pick-and-roll, taking odd angles and relenting middle penetration.

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Physically, Nik inherently lacks the prototypical athletic traits of the modern NBA wing. Although he stands boastfully at 6’6.5″ in shoes, Stauskas’ uninspiring wingspan (at 6’7″), narrow frame, and curtailing agility leaves a lot to be desired.

Things aren’t all gloom and doom, though, as Kyle Korver serves as a living proof that you don’t have the be the fleetest of athletes to be a plus defender.

If you understand how to play a conservative and mindful brand of help defense, and are willing to scramble out on perimeter shooters while showing the toughness to bump and grind in a pinch with interior bigs, it’ll save you from the undesirable designation of being a defensive liability.

Projecting forward, the Sixers desperately need the shooting and spacing Stauskas provides. For that reason alone, the Mississauga, Ontario, native will get plenty of opportunities next season as the team tries to spread the floor for their newly acquired low-post savant, Jahlil Okafor.

Moreover, Philly has been one of the fastest paced teams over the last couple of seasons, an environment where Sauce can exhibit his above average vision and feel. He will have to drastically improve on his handle to compensate for his middling foot speed, however, if he has any aspirations of serving as a secondary ballhandler down the line.

But, with his shooting acumen, if he can follow the J.J. Redick/Kyle Korver blueprint and develop into a plus help defender, Nik Stauskas can turn his disappointing rookie season into a distant memory; and more importantly, carve out a serviceable role in the NBA.

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