I’d start with age. He won’t even turn 19 until December. This allows a **** ton of time for improvement under the leadership of the best coaches, training staffs, and players in the world. We’re not talking an old 20 year old coming out (a little older but not super older) , we’re talking about someone almost 2.5 years younger than that.
I also like the physical profile. The height, wingspan, standing reach, hand size, which is strong in and of itself, but looks smooth on an NBA court. He’s quite coordinated and smooth. There’s no awkwardness there. We see this in how he moves, how he dribbles. There’s an obvious level of comfort there.
I then look at the numbers. He had strong shooting numbers as a freshman. Not elite but quite strong. For someone with his length, I like his handle. I’d say it’s slightly above average and given his age, is something he could improve upon so that it’s even better over time. His rebounding numbers are pedestrian and passing is an area of concern both so far as assist and turnover numbers are concerned. I don’t know if those were the result of minimizing ball handling (lower assist numbers) or rookie jitters and/or bad decision making that led to the turnovers. I’d have to watch full games more to know. But that’s not a huge concern for me probably in a way that it’s not for you with Christopher. That’s something that can develop with good coaching.
In short, I don’t see any glaring weaknesses that can’t be improved upon, even drastically, and I see a lot of upside with shooting, defense and handle. He looks smooth. My biggest concern (other than passing I guess) would be his temperament. Does he have any fire in him to be the best player he can be? Given his length and skill set, I’d like to see him fill out his body in a way Hayward did (though not that much and much of that is out of his control and genetics) and be more physical on the court to where he grabs more rebounds, gets more steals (and maybe more blocks), and uses it at both ends of the court to his advantage.
