Christian Anderson might be a sneaky player that NBA teams are valuing more highly than the Internet draftniks. The NBA has sent out 20 green room invitations for next week’s NBA draft. They were sent out in two waves. The first wave of 14 players included all of the consensus top prospects and didn’t include guys like Morez Johnson, Hannes Steinbach, and Yaxel Lendeborg. Those players have since received invites. But maybe one of the more surprising players to get an invite before that growd was Christian Anderson, guard out of Texas Tech.
Measurements
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 180.4 pounds
Wingspan: 6’6.25″
Standing reach: 8’0.5″
Standing vertical: 31″
Max vertical: 40.5″
Strengths
Shot making, feel for the game, competitiveness
Anderson has a case as the best shooter in his draft class. He shot 41.5% from three as a sophomore on very high volume despite a huge number of his attempts coming off the dribble. His form is picturesque. He shoots smoothly and confidently, and he does a tremendous job staying on balance even when on the move. He likes to stride into 3-point attempts both off the catch and off the dribble. He creates space off screens or with side steps and has range well past NBA range. If he gets run off the line, he can dribble into pull-up jumpers inside the arc, and he has very soft touch on his floaters.
The gravity that Anderson creates with his shooting opens up his passing ability, which is also very, very good. He’s a creative and aggressive passer; he’s not relegated to simple pocket passes to rollers or one-away kickouts to shooters. He manipulates defenders with his eyes to open up passing angles and has a good feel for when players are going to come open. He’ll old the ball for an extra tick to let a defender clear out or to let a teammate to find space before zipping a pass for an easy bucket. He largely facilitates from the perimeter since he isn’t all that great at getting into the paint, but the fact that defenses are so concerned with him getting shots off creates space for him to make plays over or through the scrambling defenses.
Anderson was not blessed with great physical attributes for a basketball player. He’s small and doesn’t have any elite physical attributes besides a good wingspan for his height. He has to make up for that with competitiveness and effort, and he does that. He played nearly 39 minutes per game and played the entire game 13 times as a sophomore, including all 45 minutes in a win over number one ranked Arizona in February. He battles on defense despite his small frame and gives full effort at all times.
Question Marks
Size/strength, defense, rim pressure
The question marks surrounding Anderson’s game center almost entirely on his size. He’s 6’1″ without shoes which is okay, but he weighed in at just 180 pounds. He just looks small on the floor against other NCAA competition, and that’s going to be even more prevalent when he gets to the NBA. He’s going to need to get on the Steph Curry workout plan to add some muscle to give himself a better chance of succeeding as a shorter guard at the next level.
Anderson tries hard on defense, so it wouldn’t feel fair to call him a bad defender. He moves his feet well and can generate some steals with his long arms. That said, the hardest player to cover for on defense is a guy that can get pushed around. Anderson will be smaller than most players he guards, and any switch situation is going to immediately require help. While he makes up for that with his effort, it’s never ideal to have to account for undersized guards on the defensive end of the floor.
While Anderson was a very efficient finisher around the basket, he did so on low volume. His size limits him here too, as he can get bumped off his line and struggles to get through contact to generate paint touches. He doesn’t have elite quickness or shiftiness to make him for his size, so he’s largely relegated to doing his damage on the perimeter.
Overview
Christian Anderson isn’t the best fit for the Hornets right now given the depth they have at the guard spot and Coby White’s presence as a scoring guard off the bench. But as a prospect, I think Anderson is being undervalued. He has a case at being the best player in his class at a particular skill, and it happens to be one of if not the most sought after skill in the NBA right now. He’s also on a rapid improvement trajectory, wining Big 12 Most Improved Player for his significant improvements in his overall efficiency while taking on massively more usage. He’s also a late bloomer physically, growing a couple of inches and adding nearly 30 pounds and six inches to his vertical leap between a Basketball Without Borders camp he attended when he was 18 and the draft combine he participated in last month at age 20. It’s feasible that there’s room for him to add mass to his frame and there’s more athleticism to be unlocked.
Anderson will likely provide a big boost to a team’s offense in some capacity before too long. He’s too good a shooter with high level ancillary skills to not find a role somewhere. His size will hold him back from being a plus defender and will complicate his path to being a heavy minute contributor, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility. He has a very similar physical and shot making profile to Darius Garland and CJ McCollum, and they’ve both done alright for themselves. And Anderson is a significantly better passer at this stage of his development than either of him. He’s a really good player.
