Colin Castleton, Adama Sanogo, & Azuolas Tubelis: 2023 NBA Draft Scouting Reports
Three high-major big men with second round hopes, each brings a different combination of offensive and defensive impact to the table
Now that we’re in the late part of the draft cycle, I’m going to start to transition to shorter scouting report videos. Every player in this draft who is in my top 40 already has a video done in full length. With these prospects who I have outside of my top 40 (and therefore project more as G-League guys, even if they get drafted), I’ll do shorter videos — and hopefully more of them!
To keep up with the rest of the prospects (and to try to not clutter your inbox with multiple posts a day), I’m going to be sending out some combo platters: two prospects at the same time with less depth but some to-the-point analysis on each. The idea is to group these prospects together based on some overlap or comparison point.
Today’s group is pretty simple. We have three high-major big men who have enjoyed varying degrees of success in college basketball. All have been household names in the sport for multiple seasons and have entered the 2023 NBA Draft more with hopes of going in the second round. While some of the higher-profile names like Drew Timme, Oscar Tshiebwe, and Hunter Dickinson have been prolific performers and received all the accolades in college at the big man positions, these three have games that are better suited for impact in the modern NBA.
Castleton has been a two-time All-SEC performer and has been on the All-Defensive team in the conference. That’s no small feat in a league with big men like Tshiebwe, Liam Robbins, Walker Kessler, and Jaylin Williams in the last few seasons. Sanogo is coming off a national championship run at Connecticut where he was able to keep his starting spot in front of a dominant freshman in Donovan Clingan and showed moments of dominance and versatility in his own right. Tubelis is an incredibly skilled Lithuanian big who has been jammed into the two-big system under Tommy Lloyd at Arizona, both finding a ton of success due to his perimeter feel and leaving us wondering if his best days are ahead when he can play with more skill and speed around him.
Colin Castleton - P, Florida
For a player most likely found in the second round, Florida’s Colin Castleton is a really well-rounded and somewhat complete player. He’s also incredibly fun with flashes of unique offensive impact that is reserved only for the most skilled big men in the world. At 6’11” with a true 7’3” wingspan, Castleton is only a 5-man without much positional versatility. But the ways in which he impacts a game on offense and the glimpses of mobility guarding the perimeter make him one of the more versatile centers in the class.
Let’s actually start on defense with Castleton, where he’s racked up several impressive seasons as a rim protector. This year he averaged 3.0 BLK and had a block rate over 9%. He’s one of only six players all-time in the Barttorvik database to boast a BLK rate above 9% and an assist rate above 19% in the same season.
He also had four games with 5+ blocked shots on the season, including seven in a half against Georgia in one of the better defensive performances any individual put together during this draft cycle. The manner in which Castleton gets to these blocks is pretty important as well. He’s a space-eater near the rim and has been really good in Drop coverage. He angles and shades the ball well to areas where he can get it. He’s a smart player who, when playing in center field in a deep drop, can play the cat-and-mouse game with ball handlers to make them guess wrong on what type of shot will be open.
There’s also a little bit of either switchability or comfort when switching-by-necessity onto guards. He’s huge and uses that to his advantage, but he’s more mobile and nimble than he gets credit for. As the NBA trends a little bit more toward aggressive pick-and-roll defensive tactics (especially during the playoffs) that mobility can be a huge asset to him and an NBA team.
Offensively, things start to get really fun. Castleton can push the ball in the open floor and make live dribble passing reads. He’s a supremely smart passer from atop the key or in the post. He has this knack to make you watch a possession and go “wait, can he really do what he just did?”
Castleton doesn’t have a proven jump shot right now, a part of his game that would make him a more lethal offensive threat outside of 15 feet and pair so nicely with his passing touch. Teams tend to sag off him on the perimeter a bit, and while he’s shown some comfort in taking jumpers (and a little bit of workable mechanics), it’s not an ideal shot within a team construct. He got some latitude to take them at Florida this year, but that won’t happen in the NBA until he shows he can consistently knock them down.
In the more traditional senses, Castleton is a fine offensive talent. He has touch in that interior area, was used more as a roll man than a post-up threat early on, and then became a high post creator in high volume late in the season. That probably speaks to his passing feel and how helpful it was to the Gators more than his flaws as a finisher near the rim — in which he does have some.
I am worried about how slow and deliberate he needs to be off the roll. Because he’s a below-the-rim finisher, he can be a tad slower and more deliberate. The short roll opportunities may go away if he spins and pivots so much. I worry about others creating advantages for him to sustain as a finisher — he’s probably only a middling finisher for a big man. He’s all right-hand on the inside and is reliant on his touch to score.
With his overall skill set, there’s like… a nonzero chance that Colin Castleton turns into Nikola Jokic or some shit like that. It’s probably closer to 1% than anything, but it’s not zero. He’s so fun and skilled on offense with the way he makes plays for others, can handle in the open floor, and has crafty maneuvers to be able to score. And he’s good on defense in a show-and-recover scheme. The more I think about it, the more I love the fit of Castleton playing in Denver behind the Joker and learning from the MVP.
Unlike Jokic, Castleton is really thin, doesn’t have a proven jump shot, and isn’t as pristine of a decision-maker while driving to the hoop. I’m intrigued by the tools, but until he puts all of them together, he’s still too much of a risk to go in the top portion of the first round. I’d consider the mid-second to be the right time to gamble on him.
Adama Sanogo - P, Connecticut
At 6’8”, Adama Sanogo sounds undersized to play the 5 in the NBA. But his broad shoulders, massive physical stature, and 7’3” wingspan all allow him to play the big man position without much issue. At the 5, Sanogo was the top offensive option for the National Champion Connecticut Huskies, operating out of post-ups for the majority of the game but showing enough skill in other areas to be intriguing for NBA teams.