Wendell Carter Jr.: 2018 NBA Draft player profile

Weaknesses

Pick-and-roll switchability

As I previously mentioned, Carter should be viewed as entirely switchable. Here Carter finds himself switched onto Virginia guard Kyle Guy. Carter is unable to catch up to change of direction when he crosses over. Guy does not have any quick twitch movements or even high level speed.

Unfortunately, since Duke ran a zone the whole second half of their season, Carter was not presented the opportunity to work at defending guards on switches or show signs of future improvement.

Below, Carter is defending Boston College guard Ky Bowman on a switch. This is how I would imagine Carter looks like on defending switches in the NBA. He gives Bowman a little space to shoot a jump shot. Carter contests it to the best of his ability, but Bowman just knocks down a tough shot.

Jump shooting consistency 

Carter showed promise shooting the ball this season at Duke, and a quicker release seen on workout videos make me feel good about his jump shot being serviceable long-term.

Unfortunately, he may still have a way to go — especially when shooting off the catch — if he wants to get his shot off quickly. When Carter tried to shoot in rhythm this year it was a mixed bag of outcomes.

Here is a look at Carter shooting in rhythm against Virginia. The form setting up his shot here is not very pretty. Carter does not have his feet set once he gets the ball, attempts to set them while dipping the ball, and bricks the attempt off the backboard.

Value in transition offense 

While Carter is an extremely valuable player in the half-court, he does not add as much offensive value in transition. Carter’s overall number of transition possessions and adjusted field goal percentage do not compare well to the other big men Carter will be competing with for draft positioning.

Carter is third out of five prospects in total transition possessions. He also has the second-worst adjusted field goal percentage next to Mo Bamba. Bamba could blame his underdeveloped frame to point toward future improvement in this setting, but Carter cannot.