Buddy's NBA Career

[pnkranger]

I hear a lot of talking heads (and former NBA players) talking about how Buddy's physical "limitations" and his ball handling are going to keep him from being an elite player at the NBA level. I think people are just looking at his height and making a judgment. Here's the thing:

• Buddy has a 6'8.5" wingspan (confirmed). Consider that 6'6" Jimmy Butler has only a 6'7.5" wingspan
• Buddy is 220 pounds and STRONG at 6'4". Consider that Jimmy Butler is 220 pounds at 6'6".
• Buddy has elite speed AND quickness. at 220 pounds.
• Buddy's vertical and, specifically, his ability to finish and rebound in traffic, is underrated.

His ball handling and facilitation need to improve, but I'm not sure you can use size and athleticism as a knock against Buddy. Beyond that ... NBA history is full of guys who excelled by playing above their size because of their intangibles -- passion, leadership, intelligence, hard work, etc. If anyone can do that, it's Buddy.

I think he's going to surprise some people.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

I don't think that Buddy's work ethic is going away after he joins the NBA. He will continue to work on improving the things he can control, like ball-handling.

Buddy is a winner and will help some NBA team. I also think he will surprise to the upside.

 

[MsProudSooner]

Is there any reason that Buddy couldn't improve his ball handling skills if he worked on them as hard as he has worked on his shot? He already improved them some since last year.

 

[CMSOONER]

I wouldn't necessarily say Buddy has elite speed and quickness. But he does have a knack for creating space.

 

[kbsooner]

The NBA has a place for shooters. Watching the Thunder game last night, I saw multiple occasions where an open 3 was shot and missed. Kept thinking to myself, Buddy would've made that!

 

[hoopsaustin]

I wouldn't necessarily say Buddy has elite speed and quickness. But he does have a knack for creating space.

This.

If he improves his dribbling he could be an all star. I don't think it will cuz i think it's the size of his hand or something. Hope he does

 

[OUSKINS]

Buddy is NOT an elite athlete. Perhaps he's better than given credit for, but he is not going to wow on the NBA level because he is bigger, stronger, faster, or quicker than the majority of the guys he will face.

If Buddy makes it big in the NBA it will be because he is an elite shooter--- he should get even more open looks in the NBA than he does now. If he hits them anywhere near his college, he will be in the league for a long, long time. On top of that, as others have mentioned, in addition to shooting prowess, Buddy has a scorer's mentality-- much more so than a guy like say, Anthony Morrow who sticks in the league purely on being able to hit open three's. Buddy is pretty broad and he finishes well at the rim and has some nifty moves.

Without question, he must improve his ball handling skills. It is something he can definitely improve upon realistically. Less realistically, I don't ever see Buddy being much a facilitator-- not due to selfishness, but more so I just don't think that is his skillset. I'm not sure he sees the court all that well in terms of getting other guys set up--- but hopefully he goes somewhere where they want him to be him. Buddy is a scorer- he isn't going to be a triple double guy or a guard like Westrbook that routinely gets you 10 rebounds. He is a scorer. If he improves his ball handling and defense that's when he could vault himself to being an excellent pro.

 

[NickZepp]

Eric Gordon is the guy I've seen Buddy compared to the most. And that's probably a solid comparison. Hopefully he isn't injured a lot though.