Carter Bryant

Carter Bryant is a fascinating prospect to watch in that he is mesmerizing to watch on defense and you can immediately picture him as an NBA disruptor defensively, but his offense seems even more raw than pure numbers would indicate.

Offense

Carter Bryant’s offense is centered around his shooting potential and athleticism, but he’s still very much a work in progress as a scorer and creator. While he has intriguing tools, such as his size, fluidity, and touch, he is currently very inconsistent and lacks polish in some critical (or really most) areas.

Bryant’s best offensive weapon is his jumper, especially from three. He gets into his shooting motion and can get his balance pretty quickly both in-rhythm and off movement. His form is smooth and consistent when he has any spacing and he’s particularly comfortable stepping into threes as a trailer or spotting up in-rhythm. And while he shows some promise shooting off movement, his percentages and mechanics drop off a bit when forced to shoot on the move or off the dribble, even more so when he’s sped up a bit trying to get a shot off over pressure.

However, his shot selection can use some work, as he takes a lot of contested jumpers, some of which are forced pull-ups early or well contested threes. While this type of aggression can be good and create spacing and gravity, it also results in inefficient possessions where Cowboy Carter would be better off driving or working to get his teammates better shots.

Bryant moves well off the ball when engaged, as he flashes some talent for relocating to open pockets, cutting backdoor when defenders lose track of him, and executing designed actions. Bryant also showed some willingness to set screens, something I value in wing prospects wing prospect (sort of the NBA equivalent of some NFL teams loving WRs who can block). However, Bryant can get a bit complacent and stand a bit still when disengaged, but the flashes are encouraging.

As a driver, Bryant has a quick first step and enough movement in his hips to have some potential to be dangerous, but right now his handles are still highly functional and he is mostly a straight-line driver, though he does have some decent footwork if there is room inside for him to operate.  While driving, he also seems to have the ability to stop and get his balance decently fast, but does tend to rush a bit and just doesn’t hit his midrange shots at a high rate.

Inside the paint, Bryant’s effectiveness varies. In space, particularly in transition or as a cutter, Carter is a strong athlete with a quick springy jump and pretty explosive athleticism. But in traffic, his limitations show. He needs time to load up and spring, and when crowded, his jumping ability looks more pedestrian. Bryant struggles to adjust mid-air or finish through contact, as he has a bit of fluidity in his arms, but not a lot of bend as his whole body seems to move together the same direction, which leads to him throwing up some pretty bad layups.  Bryant gets blocked a decent amount, for a couple of reasons.. First, he doesn’t really use his body to shield the ball very effectively. At times, he just turns towards the hoop and tries to put the ball in against traffic.  Additionally, he’s not necessarily afraid of contact, but he doesn’t make a ton and doesn’t yet have the strength, frame, or know-how to use his body to bump defenders and create space.

Additionally, Bryant’s interior scoring touch is inconsistent. Without space, his finishes become rushed and flat, and his limited bend means he often has to shoot from awkward angles. His post-up game is undeveloped and most of his attempts inside are fallaway jumpers with low success rates.  However, Bryant is a springy athlete from the dunker spot.  The couple of times he was there, he was able to take a pass and get up quickly and finish strong.  It definitely feels like he is a bit of a Swiss army knife who teams could utilize in some creative ways.

Bryant rebounds well offensively in spurts. He has the length, bounce, and hands to be a threat on the glass, but spends most of his offensive possessions beyond the arc, so his impact is mostly opportunistic. Still, he has the tools to crash effectively.

As a passer, Bryant shows occasional flashes but is inconsistent. Many of his passes were fairly basic, but he shows some glimpses of nice accuracy and vision. Had a few beautiful strikes inside or across the court. And he had several absolute strikes throwing the ball down court after a rebound.  However, for very beautiful pass, he had several of the same type of pass that he threw very poorly. He had many turnovers on down court strikes and many of this passes inside were either well off target, intercepted, or floated on him and we’re well over his teammate’s head or outstretched hand, resulting in a turnover.  Still, there’s a foundation of passing to work with, especially if his handle and composure develop, it just might take a couple of years.

Bryant has the tools to be a multi-faceted offensive player, but at this stage he’s still best suited as a spot-up shooter, cutter, and transition threat, with secondary creation value in very specific situations. The degree which his shooting, handle, and decision-making improve, will dictate if he can develop into a dynamic offensive player or if he is more of a role player whose value needs to come from his defense.

Defense

Defensively, Bryant plays with tremendous energy, constantly rotating, communicating, and recovering while often guarding multiple players within a single possession. His ability to cover ground quickly makes him valuable as a weakside helper and closeout defender.

He routinely contests shots all over the court; at the rim, on the perimeter, and in transition, using a mix of length, speed, springiness, and effort to run out and get close, effective contests on jump shooters making their lives difficult.  When contesting outside, Bryant does a good job modulating himself and not always just running out and wildly jumping.  Multiple plays he simply closed out and put a hand up and positioned himself for a pump fake or to be ready for a drive.

Bryant’s speed and ability to quickly get out and contest shooters allows Bryant to hedge and play further off his man and provide additional weakside support or be in a position to make a quick rotation. The amount of plays where he seemed to guard or have an impact on 2-3 players was truly amazing. Really stood out on tape from all of the other prospects so far this season. He’s not quite the “middle linebacker” directing the defense, but can be seen communicating with teammates or in confusion tapping a teammate and directing him to a player before running out to another open player.

This ability probably does lead him to overhelp and over rotate at times, which he will need to adjust in the NBA as he can play a bit too much of a free safety or hover around the hoop to provide help, overly relying on his ability to recover. It worked a lot in the NCAA, so hard to blame him for how he played, but will need to adjust at the next level.

Bryant can really reek havoc all over the court.. Bryant has the length, timing, motor, and springiness to block a lot of shots in diverse ways, including blocks on shooters, blocks on weakside help, blocks on players on step backs, blocks on the fastbreak, and blocks in the post. Even when a player gets a step on him, he can reach over and get blocks from behind.

He also gets a ton of steals. Bryant uses his length, speed, quick reaction times, and fast hands to greater turnovers in every way possible.  He jumps passing routes, deflects passes, springs to loose balls, executes hard traps, digs, and just picks the pocket of ball handlers even 1 on 1.

In the paint, Carter is capable of absorbing contact and has the frame to eventually switch onto larger wings or combo forwards. While stronger players can still score over him in the post, he competes and crowds them enough to disrupt their comfort. His quick second jump also allows him to contest shots even after biting on fakes.

Still, there are technical concerns to iron out. His footwork and angles on closeouts can be sloppy, allowing ball-handlers to beat him off the bounce. He sometimes opens up too much and allows more ball handlers to turn the corner on him than you would like to see from a shut down defender.  Though his recovery tools help mask this at the college level, NBA players will punish these lapses. His on-ball defense is good, but not elite yet, as he can press too close and be vulnerable to quick drives. Finally, his screen navigation is inconsistent. Sometimes he fights through well; other times, he gets wiped out by a basic pick.

Overall, Bryant really shows the potential to be a strong defensive player.  If he can refine some of his technique and decision making, he has the relentless motor and physical tools to be a two-level defender who can guard wings, help at the rim, and offer resistance in the post.