Indiana Pacers: T.J. Leaf is showing flashes of being a quality player
By Tony East
The Indiana Pacers selected T.J. Leaf with the 18th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. Rookies don’t tend to have a big impact, but Leaf is proving to be a serviceable player early on.
In NBA history, only nine rookies have ever shot 50 percent or better from 3-point range with more than 10 total attempts. It’s very early in the season, but Indiana Pacers forward T.J. Leaf is one of those nine players.
So far, the young stretch-4 out of UCLA has proven that he can knock down a jumper. He is 6-of-12 from long range to date this season, and these shots make up 29 percent of his total attempts from the field.
If he can keep up that level of production from deep for his whole career, he will have no trouble sticking in the NBA.
But there’s more to Leaf than just a great shooter. He has great fundamentals, and he’s a high I.Q. offensive player with the tools to succeed for a long time. Most savvy shooters have a good-looking jumper, and Leaf is no exception:
But one-dimensional players just don’t succeed in the NBA unless you are elite at that one thing. If Leaf was just a shooter, he would struggle to hang around with the fully complete pros, but so far, he has been able to leverage his shot into other scoring opportunities.
Take this clip, for example. Leaf sets a screen and pops out behind the 3-point line. He has an open look, but Zach Collins closes out hard, so Leaf fakes the shot and blows by him for an easy dunk:
And here, in a similar fashion, he attacks Trail Blazers rookie Caleb Swanigan‘s closeout. This time, he goes right at Ed Davis and forces Davis to move just a tiny bit. This creates enough space for Al Jefferson to score and bang, T.J Leaf has his second ever Indiana Pacers assist:
Passing isn’t Leaf’s forte, but no rookies are excellent passers, barring maybe Magic Johnson and Chris Paul. But his instincts and court vision are exactly what you want from a rookie forward. Here, he gets a steal (which was his NBA first) and throws a beautiful outlet bounce pass to Darren Collison for an effortless layup:
So as you can see, offensively he can do many things competently, and for his age, that is very promising. In fact, he has had more impact than some Indiana Pacers veterans on that end of the floor already. He is sixth on the team in offensive rating, ahead of guys like Bojan Bogdanovic and Thaddeus Young, and he is ninth on the team in scoring with 6.0 points per game.
More from Hoops Habit
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
- NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers
On the rookie ladder, Leaf is climbing high offensively as well. Given that he was the 18th pick in the draft, you would expect him to be in the 15-20 range in terms of offensive impact for first-year players. However, according to NBA Math, of rookies with 50 or more minutes, Leaf has been the 13th best offensive rookie, ahead of guys like Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Jackson.
That is not to say that he will be better than any of those guys, but at the moment, he is playing better than them on offense.
Defense is Leaf’s kryptonite. In college and the pros, he has had trouble staying in front of guys due to his lack of lateral speed. However, his high on-court I.Q. still gives him the potential to be effective on that end of the court.
Take this sequence for example. He notices Spencer Dinwiddie has beaten his man to the rim. This makes him instinctually leave his man, and he explodes outward for the block:
Leaf has already shown that he can be a useful offensive player one day for the Indiana Pacers. If his defense can come around to just average, he will one day be a very useful rotation player or even a starter. Given that the NBA is transitioning to an era where stretch-4s are all the rage, the Indiana Pacers have to like what they have seen from Leaf so far.
Next: NBA Halloween - Playing trick-or-treat with early season trends
I don’t know about you, but I’m excited about Leaf, and you should be too. Let’s hope he can keep up this level of production and improve as the season goes along.