Tyrese Proctor

Offense

Tyrese Proctor is a fee,, fundamentally sound combo guard who thrived playing as a secondary or arguably tertiary ball handler in Duke’s offensive system. Proctor’s movement without the ball is constant and savvy, as he relocates along the perimeter, cuts into space or to the hole, and runs the floor in transition. He’s remains consistently engaged even when the ball isn’t in his hands.

Proctor is an extremely confident shooter (arguably more than he should be), who likes to shoot, shoot, and then shoot some more. He’s very efficient as a catch-and-shoot player, especially when he can step into his shot in rhythm. He’s good shooting off the dribble at the midrange, where he is able to stop roughly on a dime after driving in hard, but it’s not always clear to me that he fully has his balance when he does pull up.  While his off-the-dribble midrange game is effective, he hasn’t fully extended it to the three-point line yet. There are also glimpses of potential movement shooting, but it remains inconsistent and not something I would rely on him executing at the NBA level yet.

Proctor’s ball-handling is solid, featuring a wide array of moves, such as crossovers, hesitations, hostage dribbles, and spins. But ultimately, while Proctor is a bit craft, he just  doesn’t have the physical gifts to create any type of even mildly consistent separation.  However, if he is allowed to pick his spots and drive opportunistically like at Duke, he can be effective.

Once Proctor gets close to the hoop, Proctor was a mixed bag with average athleticism, limited hops, and only modest hangtime.  However, he can  compensate somewhat with footwork, a bit of fluidity, and good touch.  He does his best to create angles to score, but he doesn’t have an overly broad frame or great functional strength and therefore is limited in how well he can create those angles and shied the ball.  Proctor can struggle to finish in congestion or over length, especially without a head start. The two ways he compensated at Duke was first, because of their immense talent, he was able to pick his spots and did not need to force bad shots inside.  And second, he’s developed a solid runner and midrange game that helps minimize his need to rely on a great inside scoring game.

Proctor’s was a solid passer. He generally made good reads and delivered passes all over with accuracy.  His passing was done much more in flow of offense than him breaking down the defense and finding the open man.  However, he pushed on break, hit cutters, rotated the ball, and tossed lobs to Maluach after the pick and roll.  But this is part of why it’s a bit hard to evaluate versus some other college guards, as Duke had a giant big man and three high end shooters on the court to give perfect spacing and make assists easier to come by.  If we flipped Proctor with Dylan Harper at Rutgers, we may have seen him face some additional challenges.

While not a prolific rebounder, he has the size and anticipation to chip in, especially on long boards.  Once he does, he’s a grab-and-go threat, rebounding the ball and immediately initiating transition opportunities.

Proctor’s main turnover issue stems from ball pressure. He definitely needs to clean that up, as he never had to force much and most of those turnovers were around the half court line or up top. His passing turnovers were less concerning as there were not many and they rarely come from poor decision-making.

Defense

On the defensive end, Proctor projects as a reliable and versatile perimeter defender with the tools and discipline to guard both guard spots and many wings up to a point.  Proctor has good (though not great) lateral quickness and changes direction well both north-south and east-west. He plays physically, slides his feet well, takes good angles, and shows strong technique contesting shots at the rim and on the perimeter. Proctor has the functional strength to absorb contact and it was fun watching guards and wings drive into him and get nowhere.  He’s like a brick wall.  He’s not a lockdown defender, but he shows good anticipation and quick processing and gives good effort.

Proctor’s screen navigation is a strength. He fights to go over screens, but also has the speed to duck under and he generally takes good angles to get back to his man and rarely gets taken out of the play. However, he can sometimes anticipate the screen and start hedging or leaning, which opens him up to getting beaten directly to the hoop if the ball handler rejects the screen.

He does a great job contesting jumpers, with long arms, good anticipation, and enough springiness to challenge shots effectively both guarding his own man and in rotation.

Proctor is also a savvy help defender, showing the ability to rotate smartly and recover quickly. His feel for team defense is excellent, as he reads actions and teammate rotations instinctively and doesn’t  robotically run to a spot or player, but if he sees a teammate scrambling to a shooter, he doesn’t chase the same shooter, but will start to rotate to their teammate’s man.. Proctor knows when to tag, when to recover, when to hedge, and when to fully rotate or run out at a shooter.

While Proctor will try to rotate and help down low, he’s limited in his overall impact.  He can break up some passes and cause some extra traffic inside, but there’s not too much he can do. He’s not much of a shot blocker and doesn’t have the size or strength to stop a big man with deep position or strong momentum towards the hoop.