Chandler Hutchison
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Weaknesses & Concerns:
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Report By: Mark Wahlen
Profile:
Strengths:
Physical Tools & Athleticism
Hutchison has great size and length for a modern NBA wing, standing a reported 6’7” with a 7’1” wingspan. He’s a little on the light side right now, weighing a reported 190 pounds. But still, his size is very comparable to current NBA wings such as Kelly Oubre Jr. (6’7” with a 7’2” wingspan, 200 pounds) and Klay Thompson (6’7” with a 6’9” wingspan, 215 pounds). He’s also a very fluid athlete, being able to change directions smoothly (not necessarily quickly) and play above the rim comfortably in space.
Finishing at the Rim
Arguably his biggest strength as a prospect, Hutchison is an elite finisher at the rim, scoring 1.344 Points Per Possession (PPP) on shots around the basket (not post-ups), which puts him into the 85th percentile (on 131 field goal attempt’s (FGA’s) at the rim this past season). Combining with his above average length and athleticism is his excellent touch around the rim (with either hand), which makes him one of the best finishers in this draft class. He’s also shown an ability to finish through or around contact and length at the rim, often opting to go around (or over the top of) rim protectors’ outstretched arms. He’s also an aggressive rim attacker, especially in transition when he has more space to work with. But even in half court sets with less space on the floor, he’s not afraid to drive into traffic or make contract with rim protecting bigs on his way to the rim.
Ability to Draw Fouls
Because of his aggressive attacks to the rim, Hutchison is very good at drawing fouls. This past season, Hutchison averaged 7.2 free-throw attempts (FTA’s) per game, and a 0.519 free-throw attempt rate (FTR). In comparison, Trae Young, who shot more free throws than any other NBA prospect in this draft class by a wide margin (next closest is Collin Sexton at 7.6 FTA’s per game), averaged 8.6 FTA’s per game and a FTR of 0.433. Hutchison is especially dangerous in transition and when scoring in the pick and roll. Out of all of his scoring attempts in transition, Hutchison gets to the free-throw line 27.2% of the time, and when scoring in the pick & roll, he gets there 20.3% of the time. This is pretty impressive especially when considering how packed the paint was for him when driving into the lane. Boise State had some shooters to try and space the floor, but most teams caught onto the fact that Hutchisons’ drives were the most important thing to try and take away, and would often pack the paint with zones to try and slow him down (he scored 0.942 PPP against man to man defense, but only 0.796 PPP against zone defenses). Regardless, Hutchison would find ways to force the issue with defenders and rim protectors to get to the free throw line.
Shooting Upside
One of the most important aspects of Hutchisons’ game as he makes the jump to the NBA will be his shooting. He’s still not an elite shooter after 4 years of college, but he has made significant progress, going from 36% FG%, 27% 3P% and 65% FT% his freshman season to 48% FG%, 36% 3P% and 73% FT% this past year as a senior (all while tripling his shot attempts). This past year, Hutchison scored 1.011 PPP on all spot-up attempts, putting him into the 69th percentile. On unguarded catch & shoot shots in the half court, he scored 1.545 PPP (33 FGA’s, 91stpercentile) and on guarded catch & shoot shots, he scored 1.096 PPP (52 FGA’s, 67th percentile). Additionally, he scored 1.125 PPP on all 3 point shot attempts (112 FGA’s, 71st percentile). And while there are still some legitimate concerns about his overall shooting ability (more on this later), these are all very promising numbers to see on his current shooting capabilities and future potential. These numbers combined with his solid shooting mechanics, and history of improvement, bode well for his long-term shooting potential in the NBA. Especially as a spot-up shooter that will get open looks playing next to high-level shot creators.
Self-Shot Creation Upside
Not an overly advanced ball handler or shot creator, Hutchison will need to continue to improve on his ability to create for himself as he enters the NBA. However, there’s plenty of upside in this department of his game. When looking at his isolation scoring from this past season, Hutchison scored 0.911 PPP (31 FGA’s, 71st percentile). He was particularly good in isolation when driving to the middle, where he scored 1.1 PPP (82nd percentile). He’s an adequate enough ball handler and a good enough athlete that he should be able to attack switches in the NBA with some effectiveness, but it remains to be seen whether or not he can create for himself in isolation against the more athletic and talented guards and wings of the NBA. He’s also primarily a straight line driver at this point, even though he shows some ability to slip around defenders on the move, so he’ll want to continue to work on more advanced ball handling moves such as crossovers, hesitations, etc. He likes to go to a between the legs cross over dribble or a simple one cross over dribble often, but it’s too slow and high to be effective in the NBA. But the foundation is there for further improvement. Perhaps his greatest strength in creating for himself off the dribble is by attacking closeouts. He LOVES to use a pump-fake on closing defenders and then attack them off the dribble. And he’s really good at it. However, if his shooting isn’t a viable threat in the NBA, his ability to attack closeouts will greatly diminish.
Playmaking Upside
In conjunction with his self-shot creation upside, Hutchison has nice playmaking upside in regards to creating shots for his teammates. His vision and passing skills are above average for a wing, showing a nice understanding of defensive switches in a variety of situations (out of the P&R, when breaking the D down in isolation, etc.). He averaged 3.5 assist’s per game (APG) this past season, while scoring 0.842 PPP in isolation when including passes (52nd percentile) and 0.852 PPP in overall P&R offense when including passes (50th percentile). Those are fairly pedestrian numbers, especially when accounting for his own scoring numbers in those situations, but keep in mind that he also didn’t have very much talent around him at Boise State. He would often make the correct passes but not get the correct results (a basket). This was especially true on his drives to the basket, where often times the lanes would be clogged with not only the opposing teams defenders, but incorrectly positioned Boise State teammates. The spacing and improved talent of his teammates in the NBA should open up more passing lanes for Hutchison if he’s able to break the paint and take defenders off the dribble. This will also be partly tied into his shooting abilities, as he’s pretty good at attacking closeout defenders. If his shooting is a legitimate threat in the NBA, he’ll be able to continue to draw hard closes from defenders that he can attack off the dribble to get into the paint, causing the defense to rotate and open up passing lanes. Overall, Hutchison is an above average passer for a wing, and possess the tools and basketball IQ foundation that should allow him to become (at least) a tertiary playmaker in the NBA in the right situation.
Pick & Roll Offense Upside
Going along with his shot creation and playmaking upside, Hutchison is a slightly above average scorer out of the pick & roll. This past season, he scored 0.805 PPP as the ball handler in pick & rolls (59th percentile, 79 FGA’s). He’s about the same when including passes, scoring 0.852 PPP (50th percentile, 163 FGA’s). As of right now, he’s much more prone to attacking off the pick and roll than taking a jump shot or hitting the roll man, but the potential is there for him to become a more dynamic scorer and playmaker out of the P&R if he can develop the weak parts of his offensive game (more on this later). But for now, he’s more than capable of attacking the big off the dribble, and his length and athleticism make it a difficult task for his defender to catch back up once Hutchison is heading down hill off the pick. And as mentioned previously, while he’s not the best at hitting the roll man, he’s a capable passer to perimeter shooters once the D collapses on his drives to the basket (0.948 PPP when passing to spot-up shooters out of the pick & roll, 56th percentile).
Defensive Upside
Hutchisons’ length and athleticism make him intriguing from a defensive standpoint, and the numbers seem to back that up to an extent. When defending the pick & roll ball handler this past season, Hutchison only allowed 0.537 PPP, putting him into the 89th percentile in that category. Additionally, when defending shots around the basket (not post-ups), he only allowed 0.718 PPP (87th percentile) and when defending runners (or floater shots), he only allowed 0.562 PPP (71st percentile). These numbers seem to indicate that he’s able to bother opposing players with his length, especially in the pick & roll when he’s able to trail the offensive player from behind and use his length to bother shots. He’s also pretty good at keeping his arms straight up when contesting shots on drives, again using his length to bother opponents rather than committing silly fouls or giving up on plays. And while his defense against players in isolation is only average (allowed 0.783 PPP, 50th percentile), the tools are there for him to become at least an average one on one defender in the NBA. It also helps that he’s a solid team defender that’s usually active and engaged. But teams will want to see how he defends in workouts, and proving that can he can handle staying in front of NBA caliber wings will be important to his draft stock.
Positional Rebounding
One of the more unique aspects about Hutchisons’ profile as a wing is his elite positional rebounding numbers. Last season, he averaged 7.7 total rebounds per game (TRB), and is a career 5.5 TRB player (averages went from 2.0 to 4.1, 7.8 and 7.7). He’s not always great at boxing out, but shows great hustle and tenacity when going after rebounds. And while this will certainly decrease in the NBA with longer, bigger and more athletic players on the court, his rebounding instincts are an underrated part of his profile. Especially if he’s utilized as a point forward who can “grab and go” in an up-tempo offense (this will also better harness his abilities in the open-court in getting to the rim and drawing fouls).
Versatility
Coalescing the previously mentioned points, one of Hutchisons’ most intriguing aspects as an NBA prospect is his versatility. Depending on how his game develops, especially his shooting, P&R offense and defense, Hutchison could play a number of roles for NBA teams as a long, athletic wing with a well rounded skill-set. He could potentially play the part of a 3 & D wing, secondary or tertiary ball handler, secondary or tertiary shot creator and playmaker or any combination of those. And with every NBA team salivating to get more versatile wings on their team, Hutchison will surely be a hard player to pass up on late in the 1st round of this year’s draft.
NBA Ready & Intangibles
The simple point here is that Hutchison is mature, both in mentality, attitude and approach to the game on and off the court. He went through the pre-draft process last year, but decided to go back to school for his senior year to continue to work on his game. The effectiveness of that decision is debatable for some, but it shows that Hutchison was mature enough to understand that he wasn’t quite there yet from a skills perspective and could use more development time. And as mentioned previously, there are some parts of his game that have undeniably improved over the years, showing a strong and consistent work ethic. He’s not someone that you’ll have to worry about in the locker-room, or about working hard in the offseason to improve. That in of itself brings a lot of value to his NBA stock, and it shouldn’t be underrated. Additionally, his overall skill-set seems to suggest that Hutchison is a guy a team could draft and plug into the rotation right away. He’s likely not a starter his rookie year, but he should be a rotational wing on many NBA teams (especially considering the lack of wing depth in the league right now) his rookie or 2nd season. Lastly, he’s a fairly relentless player on the court that constantly attacks the rim, goes for rebounds and cheers on his teammates. All good signs for a player teams will invest significant time and money into.
Weaknesses & Concerns:
Age
While the negativity of being an older NBA prospect is often overstated, it’s still worth mentioning that Hutchison is a decent bit older than many of the projected 1st round prospects in this year’s class. He’s already 22 years old, and will be turning 23 next April, meaning that by the time his first rookie contract is up (standard 3 year rookie contract for a 1st round pick), he’ll be 25. And while that doesn’t sound so bad, it means that you’ll only get another contract or two out of him before he starts to head down the backside of his prime (assuming each of the next couple contracts are 3+ year deals).
Shooting Off The Dribble
One of the most concerning aspects of Hutchisons’ game is his complete inability and/or unwillingness to shoot off the dribble. This past season, Hutchison only took 64 shots off the dribble and only scored 0.438 PPP on those shots (8th percentile). That’s a huge problem. Additionally, he only took 2 medium range (17’ to <3 point line) jump shots in the half court all season long (missed them both) and 44 short-range shots (<17’), scoring only 0.409 PPP on those (8th percentile). This inability to shoot and make shots off the dribble severely limits his offensive upside, especially when it comes to isolation scoring as a primary, secondary and even tertiary offensive option, or scoring out of the pick and roll (if the defenders drop on the pick and roll, he’ll have to be able to hit a dribble pull-up jumper at some point in order to be effective). However, it should be noted that pull-up jumpers (especially in the mid-range) are quickly fading out in popularity in the NBA, so this may not be as big of a concern to some teams. But at this stage, and for the foreseeable future, Hutchison is limited to finishing shots at the rim and spot-up jump shots. If teams are looking at Hutchison as someone who can shoot off the dribble, they’ll be sorely disappointed.
Shooting?
Despite having talked about his overall shooting upside as a strong point, there are still legitimate concerns about it. As mentioned above, his shooting off the dribble is non-existent, and even though his mechanics are good, they’re not great. He often starts too low with the ball and can get a little sideways or off balance at times (especially off the dribble, which is where a lot of his problems come from). Starting low with the ball also lengthens the amount of time it takes for him to get his shot off, and while it’s not considered to be a slow release, it’s probably safe to call it slower. These are pretty fundamental things that can be worked on, but it’s still something that teams will want to see him prove in workouts before they commit a 1st round pick to him.
Floater Game?
Not nearly as bad as his dribble jump shots, but not a whole lot better, Hutchison possess an ineffective runner & floater game. This past season, he only took 40 runners (or floaters), scoring 0.575 PPP on those shots (25th percentile). Again, this shows that Hutchison is fairly limited in his scoring abilities right now, only being a finisher at the rim and spot-up shooter. He has no midrange game whatsoever at this stage, and that’s going to cause him some issues in the NBA when he can’t get to the rim like he could in college. His touch around the rim would seem to indicate that there’s some untapped potential there for a runner/floater game, but it’s something that he’s going to need to work on very hard to add to his repertoire.
Advanced Ball Handling?
This was alluded to earlier, but Hutchison is going to need to continue to work on his ball handling. He too often gets high and loose with his dribble, and is very prone to turning the ball over when dribbling because of it (especially when dribbling in traffic). He also doesn’t have a large array of advanced ball handling moves that will allow him to beat NBA caliber defenders off the dribble in isolation or create space (not that creating space would matter much for him since he can’t shoot off the dribble). But again, there’s a foundation there to work with, and overall for collegiate level wing, he’s probably an above average as a ball handler. But it’s certainly a limiting factor on what he’ll be able to do at the next level, especially if it limits his ability to get to the rim.
Turnover Prone
As just mentioned, Hutchison is really prone to dribble turnovers, especially in traffic. A lot of this has to do with the sheer focus of opposing defenses on him, but there have been stretches in games where he just can’t hold onto the ball, even when dribbling against one defender under minimal duress. He’s also prone to making poor passes at times in traffic, often finding himself getting caught in the paint with nowhere to go and several defenders around him. Some of that should resolve in the NBA where there will be much more space and less double, triple or quadruple teams on him like there was in college, but it’s something that he’ll need to work on if he wants to have the ball in his hands more as a playmaking or tertiary ball handling wing.
Defense?
Similarly to his shooting, while there’s a lot of promising signs, there’s also some concerning aspects. One of which is his off ball defense. It’s not terrible, but he’s sometimes caught ball watching and allows for easy back door cuts. This normally isn’t a huge concern nor is it that uncommon for most young players, but as someone who’s been in college for 4 seasons, you’d like to see less of those little mental mistakes on defense. He’s also prone to closing out on shooters too aggressively, which allows easy blow-by opportunities for the shooter. He gets away with it often at the collegiate level because he’s so long and athletic that he can make up for it, but that won’t work nearly as effectively in the NBA. He’ll need to prove that he can play at least average defense against NBA athletes in space and clean up some of the mental mistakes he’s prone to make.
Shot Selection?
Lastly, Hutchison can force the issue a bit too much on offense at times. This is predominantly due to his role as the primary creator, playmaker and shot maker on Boise State the past couple seasons, but it’s something he’ll need to improve upon at the NBA level, especially as a projected role player wing. He won’t be able to barrel into 2 or 3 defenders and rely on his length and athleticism to bail him out like he does at times in college.
NBA Fit: Coming soon!
Draft Range:
Hutchison will be a very intriguing player to essentially every NBA team due to his unique and highly coveted combination of length, athleticism and versatile skill-set. Every team in the NBA could use a wing like Hutchison; it’s just a matter of how much teams believe in his shooting, defense and ball handling and his ability to improve upon those at his age. If Hutchison can convince a team of those things in private workouts, he could go soon after the lottery. But if he doesn’t have good showings in the workouts or at the combine, teams could sour on him quickly. But at the end of the day, with skilled wings in such high demand, it’s hard to see teams letting him fall into the 2nd round.
Projected Draft Range: 15-30
- 22 year old (senior), 6'7" wing from Boise State University
- 3-year letter winner at Mission Viejo High School
- Rank coming out of high school: 80th
Strengths:
Physical Tools & Athleticism
Hutchison has great size and length for a modern NBA wing, standing a reported 6’7” with a 7’1” wingspan. He’s a little on the light side right now, weighing a reported 190 pounds. But still, his size is very comparable to current NBA wings such as Kelly Oubre Jr. (6’7” with a 7’2” wingspan, 200 pounds) and Klay Thompson (6’7” with a 6’9” wingspan, 215 pounds). He’s also a very fluid athlete, being able to change directions smoothly (not necessarily quickly) and play above the rim comfortably in space.
Finishing at the Rim
Arguably his biggest strength as a prospect, Hutchison is an elite finisher at the rim, scoring 1.344 Points Per Possession (PPP) on shots around the basket (not post-ups), which puts him into the 85th percentile (on 131 field goal attempt’s (FGA’s) at the rim this past season). Combining with his above average length and athleticism is his excellent touch around the rim (with either hand), which makes him one of the best finishers in this draft class. He’s also shown an ability to finish through or around contact and length at the rim, often opting to go around (or over the top of) rim protectors’ outstretched arms. He’s also an aggressive rim attacker, especially in transition when he has more space to work with. But even in half court sets with less space on the floor, he’s not afraid to drive into traffic or make contract with rim protecting bigs on his way to the rim.
Ability to Draw Fouls
Because of his aggressive attacks to the rim, Hutchison is very good at drawing fouls. This past season, Hutchison averaged 7.2 free-throw attempts (FTA’s) per game, and a 0.519 free-throw attempt rate (FTR). In comparison, Trae Young, who shot more free throws than any other NBA prospect in this draft class by a wide margin (next closest is Collin Sexton at 7.6 FTA’s per game), averaged 8.6 FTA’s per game and a FTR of 0.433. Hutchison is especially dangerous in transition and when scoring in the pick and roll. Out of all of his scoring attempts in transition, Hutchison gets to the free-throw line 27.2% of the time, and when scoring in the pick & roll, he gets there 20.3% of the time. This is pretty impressive especially when considering how packed the paint was for him when driving into the lane. Boise State had some shooters to try and space the floor, but most teams caught onto the fact that Hutchisons’ drives were the most important thing to try and take away, and would often pack the paint with zones to try and slow him down (he scored 0.942 PPP against man to man defense, but only 0.796 PPP against zone defenses). Regardless, Hutchison would find ways to force the issue with defenders and rim protectors to get to the free throw line.
Shooting Upside
One of the most important aspects of Hutchisons’ game as he makes the jump to the NBA will be his shooting. He’s still not an elite shooter after 4 years of college, but he has made significant progress, going from 36% FG%, 27% 3P% and 65% FT% his freshman season to 48% FG%, 36% 3P% and 73% FT% this past year as a senior (all while tripling his shot attempts). This past year, Hutchison scored 1.011 PPP on all spot-up attempts, putting him into the 69th percentile. On unguarded catch & shoot shots in the half court, he scored 1.545 PPP (33 FGA’s, 91stpercentile) and on guarded catch & shoot shots, he scored 1.096 PPP (52 FGA’s, 67th percentile). Additionally, he scored 1.125 PPP on all 3 point shot attempts (112 FGA’s, 71st percentile). And while there are still some legitimate concerns about his overall shooting ability (more on this later), these are all very promising numbers to see on his current shooting capabilities and future potential. These numbers combined with his solid shooting mechanics, and history of improvement, bode well for his long-term shooting potential in the NBA. Especially as a spot-up shooter that will get open looks playing next to high-level shot creators.
Self-Shot Creation Upside
Not an overly advanced ball handler or shot creator, Hutchison will need to continue to improve on his ability to create for himself as he enters the NBA. However, there’s plenty of upside in this department of his game. When looking at his isolation scoring from this past season, Hutchison scored 0.911 PPP (31 FGA’s, 71st percentile). He was particularly good in isolation when driving to the middle, where he scored 1.1 PPP (82nd percentile). He’s an adequate enough ball handler and a good enough athlete that he should be able to attack switches in the NBA with some effectiveness, but it remains to be seen whether or not he can create for himself in isolation against the more athletic and talented guards and wings of the NBA. He’s also primarily a straight line driver at this point, even though he shows some ability to slip around defenders on the move, so he’ll want to continue to work on more advanced ball handling moves such as crossovers, hesitations, etc. He likes to go to a between the legs cross over dribble or a simple one cross over dribble often, but it’s too slow and high to be effective in the NBA. But the foundation is there for further improvement. Perhaps his greatest strength in creating for himself off the dribble is by attacking closeouts. He LOVES to use a pump-fake on closing defenders and then attack them off the dribble. And he’s really good at it. However, if his shooting isn’t a viable threat in the NBA, his ability to attack closeouts will greatly diminish.
Playmaking Upside
In conjunction with his self-shot creation upside, Hutchison has nice playmaking upside in regards to creating shots for his teammates. His vision and passing skills are above average for a wing, showing a nice understanding of defensive switches in a variety of situations (out of the P&R, when breaking the D down in isolation, etc.). He averaged 3.5 assist’s per game (APG) this past season, while scoring 0.842 PPP in isolation when including passes (52nd percentile) and 0.852 PPP in overall P&R offense when including passes (50th percentile). Those are fairly pedestrian numbers, especially when accounting for his own scoring numbers in those situations, but keep in mind that he also didn’t have very much talent around him at Boise State. He would often make the correct passes but not get the correct results (a basket). This was especially true on his drives to the basket, where often times the lanes would be clogged with not only the opposing teams defenders, but incorrectly positioned Boise State teammates. The spacing and improved talent of his teammates in the NBA should open up more passing lanes for Hutchison if he’s able to break the paint and take defenders off the dribble. This will also be partly tied into his shooting abilities, as he’s pretty good at attacking closeout defenders. If his shooting is a legitimate threat in the NBA, he’ll be able to continue to draw hard closes from defenders that he can attack off the dribble to get into the paint, causing the defense to rotate and open up passing lanes. Overall, Hutchison is an above average passer for a wing, and possess the tools and basketball IQ foundation that should allow him to become (at least) a tertiary playmaker in the NBA in the right situation.
Pick & Roll Offense Upside
Going along with his shot creation and playmaking upside, Hutchison is a slightly above average scorer out of the pick & roll. This past season, he scored 0.805 PPP as the ball handler in pick & rolls (59th percentile, 79 FGA’s). He’s about the same when including passes, scoring 0.852 PPP (50th percentile, 163 FGA’s). As of right now, he’s much more prone to attacking off the pick and roll than taking a jump shot or hitting the roll man, but the potential is there for him to become a more dynamic scorer and playmaker out of the P&R if he can develop the weak parts of his offensive game (more on this later). But for now, he’s more than capable of attacking the big off the dribble, and his length and athleticism make it a difficult task for his defender to catch back up once Hutchison is heading down hill off the pick. And as mentioned previously, while he’s not the best at hitting the roll man, he’s a capable passer to perimeter shooters once the D collapses on his drives to the basket (0.948 PPP when passing to spot-up shooters out of the pick & roll, 56th percentile).
Defensive Upside
Hutchisons’ length and athleticism make him intriguing from a defensive standpoint, and the numbers seem to back that up to an extent. When defending the pick & roll ball handler this past season, Hutchison only allowed 0.537 PPP, putting him into the 89th percentile in that category. Additionally, when defending shots around the basket (not post-ups), he only allowed 0.718 PPP (87th percentile) and when defending runners (or floater shots), he only allowed 0.562 PPP (71st percentile). These numbers seem to indicate that he’s able to bother opposing players with his length, especially in the pick & roll when he’s able to trail the offensive player from behind and use his length to bother shots. He’s also pretty good at keeping his arms straight up when contesting shots on drives, again using his length to bother opponents rather than committing silly fouls or giving up on plays. And while his defense against players in isolation is only average (allowed 0.783 PPP, 50th percentile), the tools are there for him to become at least an average one on one defender in the NBA. It also helps that he’s a solid team defender that’s usually active and engaged. But teams will want to see how he defends in workouts, and proving that can he can handle staying in front of NBA caliber wings will be important to his draft stock.
Positional Rebounding
One of the more unique aspects about Hutchisons’ profile as a wing is his elite positional rebounding numbers. Last season, he averaged 7.7 total rebounds per game (TRB), and is a career 5.5 TRB player (averages went from 2.0 to 4.1, 7.8 and 7.7). He’s not always great at boxing out, but shows great hustle and tenacity when going after rebounds. And while this will certainly decrease in the NBA with longer, bigger and more athletic players on the court, his rebounding instincts are an underrated part of his profile. Especially if he’s utilized as a point forward who can “grab and go” in an up-tempo offense (this will also better harness his abilities in the open-court in getting to the rim and drawing fouls).
Versatility
Coalescing the previously mentioned points, one of Hutchisons’ most intriguing aspects as an NBA prospect is his versatility. Depending on how his game develops, especially his shooting, P&R offense and defense, Hutchison could play a number of roles for NBA teams as a long, athletic wing with a well rounded skill-set. He could potentially play the part of a 3 & D wing, secondary or tertiary ball handler, secondary or tertiary shot creator and playmaker or any combination of those. And with every NBA team salivating to get more versatile wings on their team, Hutchison will surely be a hard player to pass up on late in the 1st round of this year’s draft.
NBA Ready & Intangibles
The simple point here is that Hutchison is mature, both in mentality, attitude and approach to the game on and off the court. He went through the pre-draft process last year, but decided to go back to school for his senior year to continue to work on his game. The effectiveness of that decision is debatable for some, but it shows that Hutchison was mature enough to understand that he wasn’t quite there yet from a skills perspective and could use more development time. And as mentioned previously, there are some parts of his game that have undeniably improved over the years, showing a strong and consistent work ethic. He’s not someone that you’ll have to worry about in the locker-room, or about working hard in the offseason to improve. That in of itself brings a lot of value to his NBA stock, and it shouldn’t be underrated. Additionally, his overall skill-set seems to suggest that Hutchison is a guy a team could draft and plug into the rotation right away. He’s likely not a starter his rookie year, but he should be a rotational wing on many NBA teams (especially considering the lack of wing depth in the league right now) his rookie or 2nd season. Lastly, he’s a fairly relentless player on the court that constantly attacks the rim, goes for rebounds and cheers on his teammates. All good signs for a player teams will invest significant time and money into.
Weaknesses & Concerns:
Age
While the negativity of being an older NBA prospect is often overstated, it’s still worth mentioning that Hutchison is a decent bit older than many of the projected 1st round prospects in this year’s class. He’s already 22 years old, and will be turning 23 next April, meaning that by the time his first rookie contract is up (standard 3 year rookie contract for a 1st round pick), he’ll be 25. And while that doesn’t sound so bad, it means that you’ll only get another contract or two out of him before he starts to head down the backside of his prime (assuming each of the next couple contracts are 3+ year deals).
Shooting Off The Dribble
One of the most concerning aspects of Hutchisons’ game is his complete inability and/or unwillingness to shoot off the dribble. This past season, Hutchison only took 64 shots off the dribble and only scored 0.438 PPP on those shots (8th percentile). That’s a huge problem. Additionally, he only took 2 medium range (17’ to <3 point line) jump shots in the half court all season long (missed them both) and 44 short-range shots (<17’), scoring only 0.409 PPP on those (8th percentile). This inability to shoot and make shots off the dribble severely limits his offensive upside, especially when it comes to isolation scoring as a primary, secondary and even tertiary offensive option, or scoring out of the pick and roll (if the defenders drop on the pick and roll, he’ll have to be able to hit a dribble pull-up jumper at some point in order to be effective). However, it should be noted that pull-up jumpers (especially in the mid-range) are quickly fading out in popularity in the NBA, so this may not be as big of a concern to some teams. But at this stage, and for the foreseeable future, Hutchison is limited to finishing shots at the rim and spot-up jump shots. If teams are looking at Hutchison as someone who can shoot off the dribble, they’ll be sorely disappointed.
Shooting?
Despite having talked about his overall shooting upside as a strong point, there are still legitimate concerns about it. As mentioned above, his shooting off the dribble is non-existent, and even though his mechanics are good, they’re not great. He often starts too low with the ball and can get a little sideways or off balance at times (especially off the dribble, which is where a lot of his problems come from). Starting low with the ball also lengthens the amount of time it takes for him to get his shot off, and while it’s not considered to be a slow release, it’s probably safe to call it slower. These are pretty fundamental things that can be worked on, but it’s still something that teams will want to see him prove in workouts before they commit a 1st round pick to him.
Floater Game?
Not nearly as bad as his dribble jump shots, but not a whole lot better, Hutchison possess an ineffective runner & floater game. This past season, he only took 40 runners (or floaters), scoring 0.575 PPP on those shots (25th percentile). Again, this shows that Hutchison is fairly limited in his scoring abilities right now, only being a finisher at the rim and spot-up shooter. He has no midrange game whatsoever at this stage, and that’s going to cause him some issues in the NBA when he can’t get to the rim like he could in college. His touch around the rim would seem to indicate that there’s some untapped potential there for a runner/floater game, but it’s something that he’s going to need to work on very hard to add to his repertoire.
Advanced Ball Handling?
This was alluded to earlier, but Hutchison is going to need to continue to work on his ball handling. He too often gets high and loose with his dribble, and is very prone to turning the ball over when dribbling because of it (especially when dribbling in traffic). He also doesn’t have a large array of advanced ball handling moves that will allow him to beat NBA caliber defenders off the dribble in isolation or create space (not that creating space would matter much for him since he can’t shoot off the dribble). But again, there’s a foundation there to work with, and overall for collegiate level wing, he’s probably an above average as a ball handler. But it’s certainly a limiting factor on what he’ll be able to do at the next level, especially if it limits his ability to get to the rim.
Turnover Prone
As just mentioned, Hutchison is really prone to dribble turnovers, especially in traffic. A lot of this has to do with the sheer focus of opposing defenses on him, but there have been stretches in games where he just can’t hold onto the ball, even when dribbling against one defender under minimal duress. He’s also prone to making poor passes at times in traffic, often finding himself getting caught in the paint with nowhere to go and several defenders around him. Some of that should resolve in the NBA where there will be much more space and less double, triple or quadruple teams on him like there was in college, but it’s something that he’ll need to work on if he wants to have the ball in his hands more as a playmaking or tertiary ball handling wing.
Defense?
Similarly to his shooting, while there’s a lot of promising signs, there’s also some concerning aspects. One of which is his off ball defense. It’s not terrible, but he’s sometimes caught ball watching and allows for easy back door cuts. This normally isn’t a huge concern nor is it that uncommon for most young players, but as someone who’s been in college for 4 seasons, you’d like to see less of those little mental mistakes on defense. He’s also prone to closing out on shooters too aggressively, which allows easy blow-by opportunities for the shooter. He gets away with it often at the collegiate level because he’s so long and athletic that he can make up for it, but that won’t work nearly as effectively in the NBA. He’ll need to prove that he can play at least average defense against NBA athletes in space and clean up some of the mental mistakes he’s prone to make.
Shot Selection?
Lastly, Hutchison can force the issue a bit too much on offense at times. This is predominantly due to his role as the primary creator, playmaker and shot maker on Boise State the past couple seasons, but it’s something he’ll need to improve upon at the NBA level, especially as a projected role player wing. He won’t be able to barrel into 2 or 3 defenders and rely on his length and athleticism to bail him out like he does at times in college.
NBA Fit: Coming soon!
Draft Range:
Hutchison will be a very intriguing player to essentially every NBA team due to his unique and highly coveted combination of length, athleticism and versatile skill-set. Every team in the NBA could use a wing like Hutchison; it’s just a matter of how much teams believe in his shooting, defense and ball handling and his ability to improve upon those at his age. If Hutchison can convince a team of those things in private workouts, he could go soon after the lottery. But if he doesn’t have good showings in the workouts or at the combine, teams could sour on him quickly. But at the end of the day, with skilled wings in such high demand, it’s hard to see teams letting him fall into the 2nd round.
Projected Draft Range: 15-30
