Bobi Klintman: 2023 NBA Draft Scouting Report
Did Klintman get to show his best NBA role this year with the Demon Deacons, or just a small portion of what he can do? The answer to that question matters a lot in his long-term evaluation
As a freshman for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, Bobi Klintman showed off his impressive and smooth 3-point stroke. 49% of his shot attempts were catch-and-shoot jumpers as he spaced the floor and tried to find an immediate role. Klintman had some struggles to start the season, particularly on defense, before coming on strong down the stretch run. Over his final 11 games, Klintman was playing 29 minutes a night and averaging 8.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and shooting 41% from 3 with 1.3 blocks per game.
While those don’t sound like major numbers, it was the aesthetics of his jumper combined with real size that caught attention. Klintman’s game was simple in that he spotted up and waited for open looks, rarely forced bad shots, and started to show some intrigue as a defender. It felt fair, after watching his games with the Deacons, to call him more of a 3-and-D wing specialist.
Klintman was a discernibly different player for Sweden during the U20 games last summer, though. While it was just a seven-game stretch, Klintman averaged 5.1 assists per game and was a frequent rebound-and-run wing who pushed in transition. Those skills pop off the page and, at first glance, give Klintman a great deal of intrigue in comparison to other prospects to show more in the NBA than he was allowed to in college.
A 6’10” wing (who could still be growing) that shoots a smooth ball and handles to initiate the offense? It sounds too good to be true if he’s available outside the top 20 on draft night.
Well, it could be too good to be true. After watching a lot of Klintman and doing some background work these last few weeks, I’m unsure of what to make of his role with that Swedish National Team. It feels almost like when I play in our Faculty vs. Students basketball game at work. As the basketball coach and best basketball player at the school, I’m asked to bring the ball up, initiate offense, and play a role like our best player. When I play with talented guys in a competitive pickup game, I’m quickly jettisoned to the corner and told to be a catch-and-shoot guy. Essentially, what I struggle to figure out with Klintman is whether he played that role with Sweden because he legitimately has a great deal of impact as a mismatch handler or simply due to being the most talented guy on the floor.
While Klintman feels like a long-term upside play and developmental prospect, he really isn’t that young relative to the rest of the class. Bobi is six months older than Kobe Bufkin, nine months older than Leonard Miller, and sixteen months older than Cam Whitmore. The intersection of size, shooting, and skill is always valuable to NBA teams, and Bobi provides that regardless of his age. But it does feel like a late groundswell of support for him as a first-round prospect is influenced by the idea that he’s young and raw when, in reality, there are plenty of prospects who are more deserving that moniker.
In key areas off the bounce, Klintman still scares me a lot as a prospect. There’s a baseline level of finishing near the rim I look for in prospects to be drivers that Klintman just doesn’t meet (43.9% on layups overall, 38.5% in the half-court). He looks a tad slow athletically, does not have anything resembling a pull-up game, and isn’t fully switchable on the perimeter.
But the flashes from different versions of Klintman, if all combined, make for a really fascinating player in the modern NBA. To rebound-and-run in transition, make decisions for others off the bounce, and shoot at a 40% rate as a 6’10” catch-and-shoot threat is too fascinating to ignore. I, for one, am incredibly curious to see how NBA teams value what he brings.