Denver Nuggets: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s potential fit
By Max Carlin
A misunderstood prospect
In his lone year in Lexington, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 14.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game while leading the Wildcats to a Sweet 16 berth in the NCAA Tournament.
At the NBA Draft Combine, Gilgeous-Alexander checked in at 6’6” with shoes and registered a 6’11.5” wingspan. At the point guard position, which Gilgeous-Alexander played in college, he has elite size.
His height and length are more in line with what you’d expect from a wing. Boston Celtics second-year stud Jaylen Brown, for example, measured near-identically in the height and length dimensions (6’6.75” and 6’11.75”).
Gilgeous-Alexander’s elite size has earned him a reputation as a player who, in the NBA, will have tremendous defensive versatility. Most who see that as a possibility, however, acknowledge that it will take time — Gilgeous-Alexander weighed in at a feather-like 180 pounds (Brown, for context, weighed 222.8).
With time, consider me among those who think Gilgeous-Alexander might be able to check NBA wings. He’s extraordinarily long and uses his length extremely well to pester ball-handlers and disrupt passing lanes.
His defensive versatility, however, I am not buying. When Gilgeous-Alexander is discussed as a potential 1-3 defender, it’s often assumed that he’ll be able to handle the “1” part. To my eyes, that’s extremely unlikely:
Blowing by Gilgeous-Alexander in that clip is TJ Starks, a freshman who was a three-star recruit. Non-NBA-caliber guards blowing by Gilgeous-Alexander was a troubling theme at Kentucky.
SGA consistently displayed a startling lack of lateral mobility, so much so that some forwards could blow by him:
That’s D.J. Hogg, who is on NBA radars at least, and is known for his athleticism. He’s still a forward though, and he’s blowing right by a guy who’s supposed to contain dribble penetration against NBA guards.
In that specific matchup with Texas A&M, Kentucky resorted to playing a zone for most of the game, but any time they turned back to man, Gilgeous-Alexander was abused.
Beyond his physical shortcomings, SGA also displays extremely poor technique when guarding the ball (pay attention to his feet as he navigates the ball screen):
When going over ball screens, as he’ll have to do constantly against lead guards in the NBA, Gilgeous-Alexander almost always leads with his outside foot. Instead of getting his inside foot around the screen and sticking with his man, Gilgeous-Alexander concedes a step, and that’s all a ball-handler needs to break down the defense.
At the college level, Gilgeous-Alexander could not prevent dribble penetration. In all likelihood, that’s not going to change when the athletes get better. Sometimes, that’s not a big deal. Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, James Harden: most of the best lead guards struggle mightily to prevent or even discourage dribble penetration. Most of those guards don’t play for the Nuggets, though.
When your last line of defense is Nikola Jokic, the worst high-volume rim protector in the NBA, it’s a bigger deal. Nuggets guards need to do their part in containing dribble penetration, because the team, more so than others, needs to limit attempts at the rim. Gilgeous-Alexander can’t.