NBA Draft Analysis: Bobi Klintman

On the optionality of Wake Forest's freshman forward and how it applies to the Pacers 

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper  

With the Pacers owning two additional first round picks in this year's draft, it makes sense to shift gears momentarily from No. 7 and focus for a bit on what prospects might be available in range at No. 26 and No. 29 -- especially since a certain promise was reportedly made to a certain freshman forward who may or may not be covered in the column you are about to read, who knows? Whatever the case, it's time for a fresh edition of Stock Up, Stock Down, wherein I cram study a player and then breakdown my findings, identifying reasons to be both bearish and bullish with frame of reference from a few specific games as well as for the Pacers.

This week, Wake Forest's Bobi Klintman stars as the subject, with the following games being viewed as a representation of both ends of the spectrum as far as playing time and production, with a heavier emphasis on the second-half of the season, when he started logging more consistent minutes: 

• Miami (FL): 31 MP, 7 PTS, 2-7 FG, 2-4 3P, 11 REB, 1 AST, 1 TOV, 4 BLK
• Syracuse: 31 MP, 17 PTS, 6-11 FG, 2-6 3P, 11 REB, 2 STL, 3 TOV, 1 BLK
• Notre Dame: 34 MP, 10 PTS, 4-12 FG, 2-6 3P, 12 REB, 2 AST, 1 TOV, 2 BLK
• NC State: 20 MP, 3 PTS, 1-4 FG, 1-3 3P, 1 REB, 1 AST, 3 TOV
• UNC: 21 MP, 5 PTS, 2-3 FG, 1-1 3P, 4 REB, 2 BLK
• Notre Dame: 21 MP, 10 PTS, 4-4 FG. 2-2 3P, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 TOV, 2 BLK 
• Duke: 32 MP, 8 PTS, 3-4 FG, 2-2 3P, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1 TOV
• Louisville: 15 MP, 3 PTS, 1-3 FG, 1 AST, 1 TOV

Let's get ready to deep dive. 

Stock Up: 5-out optionality 

Watching Bobi Klintman can be like thinking in the dark, when the power of imagination takes over, creating more from less. As a 6-foot-10 wing, who can dribble, pass, and shoot, he recorded more than 10 field goals only twice during his freshman season at Wake Forest while striving to earn minutes and operating mainly on the periphery of a clever offensive system that tends to empower guards as primary creators. With the majority of possessions beginning with all five players standing outside the arc, Tyree Appleby had plenty of room to wheel-and-deal, as the transfer guard made leaps in both usage (27.5 percent up from 23.2 percent) and assist rate (34.6 percent up from 27.1 percent) after coming over from Florida. Klintman, meanwhile, attempted 49 percent of his shots as catch-and-shoot jumpers, tantalizing every so often with glimmers of what the combination of his size, smooth shooting, and passing feel might eventually coalesce to be in the light of a sturdier, more diverse role.

In that way, there's plenty of overlays that can be envisioned from what he did in flashes with Wake Forest that could be expanded upon with the Pacers in a comparable 5-out scheme, which also empowers star guards. For example, think of this like the blurry, blocky rectangle that reveals itself to be an antique nightstand as dusk transitions to dawn. To combat aggressive pick-and-roll coverages, Klintman would routinely cut underneath ball-screens as a means to toy with the defense in terms of who the tag defender should be. Look closer though and imagine the impact he could have if, instead of cutting, he was a stack-screener. At the NBA-level, most teams defend that action by dropping the big and switching the guards. 

That means, when Klintman leaks out to the wing, he would be defended by a guard, who likely wouldn't be able to bother the height of his release, while also creating a mismatch for the ball-handler. Notre Dame is showing on ball-screens here, but the confusion created by Klintman as the stack-screener, with the big being unsure of where to recover, is palpable.

Plus, what if Andrew Nembhard or Buddy Hield was the first screener? Then, in combination with the guard-to-guard screen, the action would also be inverted. For a better idea of what that would look like, Miami experimented a bit with inverse screening order out of stack action during the regular season, only with Bam Adebayo slipping out early to the rim. 

If Nembhard was playing the part of Lowry, he could move toward the basket, as he often does after releasing from touch screens, and Klintman could still spot-up from the perimeter. Either way, there's the possibility of him playing both sides of the pick-and-roll, screening as the stack-screener while also occasionally showing off some passing chops as the ball-handler.

This is a similar alignment to that which the Pacers ran for Jordan Nwora at the end of last season, wherein the four-man dribbles off a screen toward the side of the floor with two players, creating a single-side tag. While not exactly the same action, Klintman differentiates himself with his manipulation, shifting the low-man by looking at the corner shooter before throwing the ball to the roll-man instead. 

As currently constructed, Nwora is the only player taller than 6-foot-9 on the roster who can run pick-and-roll, and although he's capable of finding the open man, he isn't going to play the cat-and-mouse game with tertiary defenders. Meanwhile, it's nothing particularly fancy, but Klintman can also read the help after zooming into a hand-off, spraying the ball out to the corner.

As it applies to the Pacers, these lineups featuring multiple forwards at the end of the season were incredibly wonky and likely born only out of necessity; however, part of the reason why those lineups were incredibly wonky and likely born only out of necessity is because none of those multiple forwards, whether independently or together, had much of a chance at coming off a hand-off and driving the ball, let alone making a pass. The coverage isn't identical here, given that Jalen Duren switches the hand-off portion of the action, but notice how Oshae Brissett gets curtailed and then is slow to identify and feed the mismatch on target. 

By comparison, Klintman offers more in the way of intrigue as a live-dribble passer, while also providing a stronger source of gravity away from the ball. Notably, he has a tendency to hop into shots after the catch, which might slow down his release at the next level, but he converted 36.8 percent of his attempts from deep and defenses had a tendency to respect him -- even when he wasn't shooting. Just look at this possession against Notre Dame, wherein his defender starts to tag the roll-man but then gets spooked and jumps back out toward him at the three-point line.

Alternatively, there were also some play-types where he was used to sacrifice spacing in one area of the floor in order to improve the spacing in another. Here, with two shooters, including Klintman, spaced below the break, there's more room at the nail for the screener on the short-roll. Or, at least there would be, if the ball-handler was someone who could punish drop coverage, such as Tyrese Haliburton.

Klintman isn't going to get a quick shot out of this, but his gravity is enough to flatten the defense. On top of that, he also eventually moves as the ball moves, rotating out of the corner to create spacing for the roll, as well as other options. 

See how the tagger follows him as he lifts? 

That's smart, continuous spacing, which isn't as likely to be squandered with Haliburton or Nembhard steering the ship. Likewise, another way that Klintman could plug right into what the Pacers do is with his timely cutting behind the pick-and-pop, where he has the potential to either punish or remove the stunt, as Nembhard can be seen doing in the accompanying clip. 

All of which is to say that, despite his low-production, Klintman isn't a complete unknown. For a team like the Pacers, he has a lot to offer as far as optionality within a similar approach to offense; the question is, to what degree each of those options, as they take on more defined shape in NBA lineups and against NBA defenses, would validate readily seeing the light. 

Stock Down: Veiled versatility 

There's a picturesque quality to Klintman's game on both ends of the floor. He's big, he moves fluidly, and he's relatively coordinated. When all systems are go at the rim, it isn't uncommon for him to drive as though he's doing a series of pirouettes, spinning right, keeping his dribble, and then turning back to finish with his left.

Of course, that's against a cross-match in semi-transition, when the only big on the floor for Notre Dame is occupied above the break. His touch isn't always that pure, particularly when picking on someone his own size from a standstill.

According to Synergy, Klintman shot 38.5 percent on layups in the half-court, and he only attempted a total of eight jump-shots off the dribble. That will complicate his ability to pilot the pick-and-roll. Here, for example, the screener's man basically has a free pass to be in no-man's land because Klintman doesn't force him to commit, nor does he provide much mystery as to whether he's going to shoot. 

Meanwhile, there's also some spots in the half-court where he just doesn't quite have the burst to shake his defender without a screen, and he also isn't particularly quick to recognize and punish mismatches from the inside. He pops in the open floor, grabbing his own block and making the simple pass to shooters in transition, but it's reasonable to wonder how much rope he would have to lead the charge. 

Haliburton practically jumps out of his skin for outlet passes, preferring to get the ball so he can advance it and then run after it. Moreover, assuming that Klintman plays with the bench, which seems more than likely, there's also the possibility of diminishing returns if the player catching those passes is T.J. McConnell, who hoisted fewer than 10 threes in transition last season. 

That said, regardless of how often he is unleashed as a grab-and-go big, it's notable how competitive he is on the glass. When the shot goes up, he doesn't just find a body, he practically puts that body in the stanchion.

One small area of interest, though: He almost always face-guards on the block out, rather than turning his body. If that's what technique he was instructed to use, then good on him for executing it, but it can be more difficult to jump and spot the ball on the ricochet when going chest-to-chest. 

Still, despite giving up the offensive rebound, look at how easily he moves from sideline-to-sideline for the remainder of that possession, closing out to the shooter in the opposite corner before sliding in to stop the drive and sliding back out to contest yet another shot. His responsiveness, as far as reacting positively in help situations, also improved modestly as the season progressed. Here, he goes from helping the helper and rotating to cover for the pass out of the double-team to sinking into the gap and then recovering to his man and cutting off the drive. 

He isn't the quickest, which suggests he wouldn't be fully switchable, and he can be prone to digging in his heals and relying on his length. This is from one of his final five games, after he had ascended to regularly playing more minutes, and in addition to taking a bad angle that results in him giving up middle penetration, he also never gets back in the play.

Overall, while he doesn't necessarily seem poised to resolve what issues the Pacers have in terms of "guarding their yard," there's still enough to like from Klintman on both ends of the floor -- be it what he could offer in optionality with his size while screening, cutting, and spacing with small doses of ball-handling or growing in his positioning as a help-side defender -- to think that the Pacers aren't thinking in the dark when seeing enough promise, with the safeguard of multiple picks, to reportedly make him a promise.