Data Tracking: Top Draft Wings Using Off-Ball Screens
The 2022 NBA Draft has a cast of productive NCAA wing players in the mid-late lottery who are capable of being dynamic scorers playing off ball screens. Let's take a look at their usage with their college teams and identify how tendencies played a part in their production, examining the types of screens they used, what spots they liked to get to, and what they did after the catch.
In the latest edition of ‘P.I. Pulse’, Pro Insight contributor Bjorn Zetterberg continues ‘Data Tracking,’ a new series that explores some of the nitty-gritty nuances surrounding different groups of 2022 NBA Draft prospects. Up next: Top Draft Wings Using Off-Ball Screens.
Preface
Screen terminology for this study was very simplified for the sake of data collection. There are so many different names for picks and cuts off screens, I just had to lump them into categories to have this make sense. So ended up with pindowns, baseline screens, rip screens, and flare screens as the basics to examine how players got open off the ball. Also, there are no assists recorded off these, only direct actions (shot/foul/turnover).
AJ Griffin
Most frequent off-ball screen play: wide pindown screen to the wing
9 of 25 total OBS plays, (36%), 14 total points (1.56 points per play)
The smallest sample of off-ball screens ran for a player in this study, but it was a potent output of points produced. Griffin was very good in a low-usage role, almost reminiscent of Gary Trent, Jr. at Duke in 2017-18, a knock-down spot-up shooter, yet also an understated playmaker with the ball in his hands. Griffin has a nice handle off the catch and can create the necessary separation for his own looks. Conversely, he can force some action inside against heavy pressure and end up with a poor shot by trying to propel his body into defenders, resulting in tough looks at the basket.
AJ had the most efficient off-ball screen play at 1.56 points per possession, no doubt inflated by lower volume, but still impressive. 60-percent of his actions came off pindown screens to free him up to the wing, which tended to be his primary location for receptions at 60-percent of the time. He tied for the highest rate of drives off of off-ball screens, attacking the basket on 44-percent of his plays. Probably the most impressive part of his production was that he faced heavy pressure on 40-percent of his plays, by far the highest of the wings in this study, and yet still produced at an astronomical rate.
Jaden Ivey
Most frequent off-ball screen play: staggered baseline screens to the corner/wing
13 of 40 total OBS plays (33%), 15 total points (1.15 points per play)
With how much burst and explosiveness Ivey possesses off his first step, it was surprising to see him fall into being a catch-and-shoot guy when coming off screens. With his footwork and ability to accelerate, I was expecting much more driving than he ended up with, as his numbers resulted in a median rate of attacking on only 35-percent of the time when using off ball screens. He seemed pretty complacent spotting up, and to his credit, he was very good at it (1.2 points per play).
Ivey was the second-most efficient player in this study, recording nearly 1.2 points per play on the second-highest off-ball screen volume. He also had the highest use of baseline screens at 45-percent, and also had the highest use of staggered screens. The most impressive piece of his off-ball screen field goal attempts was the shot selection was relatively clean, as he had by far the highest rate of lightly contested (83-percent) and uncontested shots (8-percent), meaning he routinely was getting good looks. To put that in perspective, the mean rate of ‘lightly’ contested off-ball screen shots in this study was 64-percent, so he had a rate almost 20-percent better.
Bennedict Mathurin
Most frequent off-ball screen play: staggered flare screens to the corner
18 of 47 total OBS plays (38%), 15 total points (0.83 points per play)
Mathurin was the catch-and-shoot king of this study, taking an immediate shot on nearly three-quarters of his shots when utilizing off-ball screens – well above the median rate of 42-percent. To his credit, Mathurin was very good on the looks he got shooting off-the-catch, cashing in at a rate of nearly 1.2 points per possession. He had the highest volum