Landry Shamet is high octane AND skilled
Landry Shamet declared for the draft following his sophomore year at Wichita St. The 6-foot-4 prospect’s frame holds a wingspan just under 6-foot-7, pedestrian for his size. His 188 pounds makes for a slender frame with limited leverage against stronger more physical athletes in the NBA. That said, he offers elite shooting and potential as a secondary ball0handler with swift north-south speed.
Shamet’s best asset is his lethal shooting ability. His shooting motion is tight, quick, and effortless. He is unlikely to need to change anything to adjust NBA range thanks to his low effort stroke.
Per Synergy, he shot an imposing 51 percent on catch-and-shoot situations. His constant off-ball movement opens up plenty of opportunities for him to fire a shot off. In a single possession, he routinely covers an insane amount of ground.
He is not exclusively limited to assisted spot-up jumpers, quite the opposite. He is efficient shooting off the dribble and not afraid to pull the trigger. A speedy player that can gash holes in a defense and pressure in transition with pull up ability punishes defenders for lazy defense. Shooting 39 percent on pull-up jumpers, the majority of his attempts were from 3-point range disciplining defenders who thought going under the screen was a good idea.
Shamet’s confidence shooting is fully displayed in the clip above. He trots the ball down court in transition, hits the gas, and pulls up behind the arc for three points. This type of shooting ability proves his threatening nature as a player in transition in the open court. He is comfortable dribbling with either hand into his pull-up. Other tools include a fierce jab step towards the rim, a slow and effective shot fake, and a well rehearsed step back jumper.
Nonstop movement with or without the ball wears on a defense and breaks them down over the course of a game. The Shocker’s motion offense suited Shamet’s skill set snugly.
The clips display the impact he can have cutting to the basket in slightly different ways. The first clip shows how his constant movement, even within the offense, requires a defender be tuned into Shamet at all times from the jump. The second clip puts his intelligence on display as a quick hesitation one direction leads to a read-and-react open cut to the basket. Both instances translate to NBA success.
His long stride and downhill speed help him reach the rim quickly. Shamet understands change of pace and uses it to help gain his step advantage in the pick-and-roll and one-on-one. In the process, he flashes instances of great patience with the ball in his hand. Both qualities should aid Shamet in his transition to the NBA considering the combination of more athletic NBA defenders and his lack of strength. The result, a player with drive-and-kick potential also able to walk the tight rope along the baseline. If he is not dishing it to the corner, he has mastered a nice little scoop and finish on the other side of the rim. Of note, he occasionally leaves his feet too early in an attempt to finish and lacks touch and finishing ability around the rim.
His passing and court vision is a really interesting aspect of his game to analyze. At times, he appears to struggle with tunnel vision while pressured and driving the ball. In these instances, he lacks awareness of his position on the court. He completely fails to see help defenders; at times, he unintentionally passes directly to them. In the clip below, he sees his teammate during one glimpse then blindly passes to the same spot where two Notre Dame defenders occupied the space at the time of the pass.
Shamet’s post feeds are consistently too soft, a basic skill for most players with guard-like tendencies. Overall, he simply lacks the necessary zip on his passes. Nevertheless, his ambidextrous passing ability fits perfectly in an offense that opens players up through strong off-ball movement and not by passing through tight spaces. Shamet is effective with the lob pass. When he keeps his eyes up he flashes clear potential to develop as a more advanced passer. His depth perception on his passes suffers at times as well.
Shamet’s versatility on defense is somewhat restricted due to his lean nature. All the while, aspects of his defense may really start to blossom in the NBA. Wichita St. found itself among the worst in the country inducing turnovers, particularly steals, due to a hyper risk-averse defensive scheme.
As a result, his help defense may be an ability we see improve and role that expands in the NBA. His value as a help defender may evolve into uncovered treasure. Right now, he is continually aware but minimally performs beyond the basics. His potential base level help defense is showcased below.
Off-ball he stays with his man. He navigates screens well especially if moving from the baseline towards the back court. His one issue is closing out and contesting on the perimeter.
Clearly, he just leaves far too much space on the last play. It is almost a purposeless display of defense in the NBA and rarely takes away shot attempts. Once again, this can be taught.
His pick-and-roll defense features him navigating screens relatively well. He is able to stay with his man and challenge with his length. However, he may struggle to fight over screens by bigger better screen setters from his lack of strength. The Gary Clark match up is a particularly intriguing one to analyze Shamet’s on-ball potential. He really struggled with the screens set and the physicality. Clark bodied him and Shamet was unable to effectively recover or make much of an impact.
Shamet lacks much upside on the boards but his offensive upside is promising. He can pass, shows budding vision, drive to the rim, and shoot the lights out of the ball. His on-ball defense may struggle against more physical players but has untapped potential in help situations. Overall, the outlined characteristics are a recipe to survive in today’s NBA.