Sam Vecenie really likes Scheierman

Check out his draft guide here:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5579170/2024/06/21/nba-draft-2024-top-100-prospects-guide-bronny-james/

Baylor Scheierman, Creighton, Wing, 23, 6-6 height, 6-8 wingspan

STRENGTHS: Scheierman has solid size for the win in the NBA, measuring in at 6-6 1/4 with a 6-8 1/4 wingspan and an 8-6 1/2 standing reach. He's a reactive, high-IQ player who reads the game and where the ball is going well. He is one of the best rebounding wings in the draft, if not the very best. He averaged 8.5 rebounds per game over his last two years, including 7.8 defensive rebounds per game. This allows him to lead the break and be effective creating aggressive transition opportunities. He is tough and absorbs contact well. Scheierman’s critical, NBA-ready skill is his ability to make jump shots. He is a lethal floor spacer who has a long track record of taking and making 3s. Over his five- year college career, Scheierman made 39 percent of his 912 3-point attempts, a great percentage considering his prolific volume. He drilled 38 percent of his catch- and-shoot 3s in his two years at Creighton on difficult shot quality given how much of it came off screens and movement. He took 64 3s off screens this season and made 40.6 percent of those. He made the 10th-most 3s in the country off screens this season and the 21st-most 2-pointers off screens. Scheierman has simple, easy mechanics. His shot prep is superb; he gets feet underneath him and gives himself a perfect center of balance. He can also be wrong-footed and re-align his body in mid-air. He can make twisting 3s. He has a very clean release at the top of his motion, as his elbow is directly under the ball as a lefty. He is excellent as a relocator from 3 if a defender closes out on him. He can take one-dribble side-steps with ease. Scheierman took just 46 3s from beyond 25 feet over the last two years, but he made 37 percent of those, per Synergy. Everything for Scheierman comes off movement. He’s constantly running off pindowns and baseline screens, trying to find space. He moves well without the ball and is effective at finding open areas. In spot ups, he’s excellent at sliding along the 3-point line to find open angles for kickouts. He runs well off dribble-handoffs. Everything flows well within his game. That leads to both on- and off-ball effectiveness. Unsurprisingly given his level as a shooter, he was also effective on pull-up jumpers. He attracts defensive attention, which made him effective as an on-ball creator. Scheierman made 37.9 percent of his pull-up 3s and had a 50.9 effective field goal percentage last season on jumpers off the dribble, which was in the top 15 percent of all college players with at least 70 pull-ups. He made 13 of his 23 3- point attempts out of ball screens, and nine of his 24 attempts from 3 out of handoffs. He is good in ball screens. He uses his frame well once he gets by his man and knows how to keep his defender on his hip. He’s comfortable driving into the middle of the court and taking floaters or pull-ups. He can also get to the rim effectively and makes shots when he gets there. Scheierman generated over four shots at the rim per game and made 61 percent. About 75 percent of these shots came in the half court, where he made 58.2 percent at the rim. He's not an explosive leaper, but he makes shots with both hands and on touch finishes. He’s not a high-volume shot generator at the rim but is good enough at picking his spots and taking advantage for a player who will usually space the floor. On top of the scoring, Scheierman is an excellent passer. His vision is superb, which leads to effective decision-making as well as limiting poor shots. He excels as a transition passer. Because he’s such an excellent rebounder, he does a great job starting the transition break and getting the ball up the court quickly for Creighton. He was excellent as a passer within Creighton’s schemes. He throws passes with great touch and puts them on target. He can stop and survey or make a quick read and a touch pass. Scheierman reads the court well out of ball screens. If you chase him off the 3-point line with a heavy closeout, he can take advantage of those situations off the catch in five-on-four situations, reading the court and finding the open man. He averaged 3.9 assists versus only 2.2 turnovers this year, numbers that were consistent throughout his college career His defensive technique is OK, and he generally works hard on that end. He fights over screens with his ability to take bumps well. It's hard to go through his chest if he can stay in front of his man. He has good hand-eye coordination.

WEAKNESSES: Scheierman’s athleticism presents questions. Is he quick enough to defend? Is his first step good enough to maintain advantages when teams close out on him heavily? He’s not laterally quick. He has stiff hips and ends up playing square. He doesn’t have much vertical pop and is slow-twitch by NBA standards. He’ll need to work toward maximizing his body and his frame to stick on the court in the NBA without being a liability. Ultimately, finding his defensive role will be an issue. He has enough size to physically hold up — not wildly strong, but strong enough. Still, opponents might hunt him because of his athleticism. Due to his lack of quickness, Scheierman will not be all that switchable. He might be in a tough situation against wings with athleticism and could be a liability in space against quick NBA guards who can drive by him or change speeds. He seems to have heavy feet that make it hard for him to get going. Creighton often tried to play him on the opposing team’s worst offensive player or worst shooter so he could sag off the man and help as a rebounder. On top of that, he’s not very disruptive on defense. Scheierman knows where he must be and survived in college – Creighton was better defensively when he was on the court, although his minutes were largely mirrored with standout center Ryan Kalkbrenner’s — but he’s not impactful in help because he’s slow-twitch. The tape didn’t match the results. When assigned to guard players like him who can run off screens, he doesn’t stick tight often because of that lack of speed. Change of direction can cause him issues both on and off the ball. I would expect a lot of fly-by closeouts at the next level because he can’t stop quickly enough. He's not a defensive playmaker. He had a very low steal and block rates. Scheierman understands where he should be but sometimes can’t quite get there; for instance, when he is asked to rotate on the back line. Offensively, he won’t be a shot creator; that isn’t likely outside of ball screens off a second side or in dribble-handoffs. He's not an isolation shot creator. His handle is solid in a straight line but is not shifty. He sometimes overextended himself as a playmaker at Creighton and would overdrive, leading to turnovers. As his role is scaled back in the NBA, I’d expect that to go away. But he turned it over 2.2 times per game as a largely off-ball player.

SUMMARY: Scheierman is an intriguing bet as a role player in the NBA with his shooting and comfort as a decision-maker. You get a real floor spacer who can run off movement and knock down shots. He can also attack closeouts and make quick reads. Scheierman is not going to be for everyone, but I bet that teams with schemes that involve a lot of motion and movement will love him. He processes the game very well at speed, even with his athletic deficiencies, and knows how to play within structure and scheme. He’ll make extra passes and will help on the glass, lead fast breaks and then in the half court will help your primary playmakers by being a shooter whom defenders must guard tightly. His defense is the big question. Can he consistently chase and play in help? Can he defend on the ball? It’ll all be about maximizing his frame and body and getting the absolute most out of his quickness. I have a clear first-round grade on him, though, given the importance of shooting at size in today’s NBA.