Gonzaga Basketball: NBA Draft profile on Bulldog big man Brandon Clarke

Needs Improvement: Frame, Shot Mechanics

Brandon Clarke’s lesser attributes are unpleasant, but they’re not enough to doom his as a prospect, although some evaluators would certainly argue that they should.

His Combine measurements — 6-foot-8 in shoes with a +0 wingspan, 8-foot-6 standing reach, and 207-pound frame — were unspectacular yet expected, but nonetheless served as alarm bells for evaluators that already doubted his size as an NBA power forward and small-ball center.

Strength and mass must be added in order for him to truly hang against legitimate NBA-sized big men, since he occasionally struggled against some of the larger players that college basketball had to offer, which can be seen in his so-so post defense that ranked in the 57th percentile (0.786 PPP allowed on 70 possessions) this past season.

Larger bigs can take advantage of him, which is why he can’t be a full-time small-ball center, although he’s certainly not a lost cause defending bigs given his aforementioned defensive prowess and otherworldly leaping ability. His length can be limiting on both ends of the floor, as the extra inches could help him out-reach contests when laying it in at the rim or help him swat shots that he may be unable to reach.

But I’m not worried about his frame or length.

He’s but on weight in the past without losing any of his mobility or bounce, so I’m comfortable with believing that he’ll be able to add another 10-20 pounds of raw muscle in order to handle the upper echelon of basketball physicality.

I’m not worried that much about his length, either, and neither is he. When interviewed by ESPN at the Draft Combine, he noted himself that what separates him from other players is his timing — that’s why he blocks the shots he blocks and grabs the boards that he grabs. He outjumps you, outfights you, and understands when and where he needs to be on any given possession.

His ball-handling could use some polishing, although he’s at a pretty good place with it right now as a ‘4’. He’s probably one of the better dribblers at his position, but he could tighten it and improve his bag — he loves going left with a nasty (and perhaps elite!) spin move to get to the rim, and while that’s a legitimate NBA move that he’ll be able to use since it creates so much separation (because he’s so dang quick), it would be good for him to diversify his moves on offense so he can become less predictable.

Perhaps the most talked about element of Clarke’s game, other than being older at 22, is his shooting. He only hit four three-pointers (on 15 attempts) at Gonzaga, and some fans and evaluators decry him as a non-shooter with zero range.

This is wrong, although it’s an understandable thing to worry about.

I’m not concerned about his shooting, not really, anyway. I don’t think he has to shoot it to be a very, very good NBA player, although his shot would open up his offense immensely and would elevate his game to another level. Regardless, I do think he has the potential to shoot it given everything we’ve seen from him. He has elite touch, is a good mid-range shooter, improved from the free throw line, and completely tore apart his shot mechanics from San Jose State and shows off an improved (yet still imperfect) form that resembles an actual jump shot now.

This was his shooting form before he came to Gonzaga:

Just … man.

"Brandon Clarke OG Form"

Seriously. Look at this. What is this. That’s more of a shotput form than a basketball-shooting-form.

Due to a laudable level of hard work and determination, he’s completely scrapped that form, and the overhaul is encouraging:

He does need to continue tweaking his mechanics, since his current shooting pocket and release point are both dreadfully low and the shot as a whole is still a bit rigid and robotic. A low push-shot helps him shoot it from distance, but it also necessitates a quicker release; he likely won’t be defended with much respect when on the perimeter, so he’ll probably receive decent amounts of space to shoot it, but nonetheless.

He’ll need to gradually work on it before it’ll be viable in an NBA setting, but given how quickly he re-worked what had previously been the worst mechanics I’ve ever seen in a player (OK, Michael Kidd-Gilchrest’s may be worse), there’s plenty of room for optimism that the form can get to where it needs to be. He’s clearly searching for a comfortable pocket/release and whatnot, so he’ll keep working on it, and NBA-caliber shot doctors should really help him.

Even if the form stays funky and doesn’t really come along, his elite touch around the rim and on floaters, plus his steadily improving free throw numbers are enough to convince me that he’ll still be OK as a shooter in the future.