Butler Basketball: Previewing Bryce Golden’s impact for 2019-20

On the offensive end…

Bryce Golden has a versatile offensive game. Although he is yet to truly show it on the court, he is an inside/outside scoring forward that projects as a tough matchup for defenders. He has a consistent shot from beyond the arc and should be a viable stretch-big right away during this coming season. Additionally, he attacks the basket well and finishes in the paint at a relatively high rate. These skills were on full display over the course of his high school career and he is also a high-level athlete. Golden is not afraid to finish above the rim consistently and fans will appreciate that after Fowler/Brunk were mostly ground-bound.

Golden’s versatile set of skills will be valuable this season as he can improve Butler’s overall spacing. With his 3-point shooting and athletic finishing, Golden is a prime candidate to excel in the pick-and-roll with Aaron Thompson and Kamar Baldwin. He should be able to knock down trifectas at a ~35% clip this season and is a threat when slashing to the hoop for a big man. With that said, fans should not expect Golden to be a major scorer this season. He will likely be coming off the bench and could provide a couple of buckets in each contest. Averaging >5 points per game as a reserve, though, would have a great and underrated impact.

If Golden is able to emerge as a legitimate offensive threat off the bench, that will take some of the second-unit scoring burden off of some of the other pieces. At this point, it feels as though Sean McDermott and Khalif Battle will be the leaders of that second group and Golden could fit nicely alongside them as a solid bench trio. This is assuming (which could definitely be wrong) that Coach Jordan will start Thompson, Baldwin, Tucker, Nze, and Smits.