Taylor Hendricks: 2023 NBA Draft Scouting Report
A fast-riser over the last several months, Hendricks is closing in on top-ten territory in many circles. Is that warranted, or is he just the flavor of the month?
In modern basketball, teams are in search of positional versatility and fluidity. We see and hear buzzwords all over the place, such as ‘positional size’ and ‘high-feel’. But at the end of the day, teams want rosters that have versatility, where coaches can trot out different lineup combinations and play different styles to counter their opponents.
In pursuit of a roster that does that, teams need to be aware of drafting players who anchor them to a certain style or lineup combination. For example, smaller guards do not have a ton of positional versatility on the defensive end. Big men who cannot shoot require shooting around them on offense to provide proper spacing. Anchoring is what teams look to avoid.
Because of that, Hendricks is rising to become one of the trendier picks to go in the top ten. He’s earned the designation of being a lottery prospect out of nowhere, shooting effectively from 3-point range and becoming one of the best athletes we’ve seen on the defensive end. But Hendricks might be a preferred flavor for many teams than the multitude of guards available in this range (Keyonte George, Cason Wallace, Nick Smith) because of his positional versatility and many non-shooters (Anthony Black, Ausar Thompson) because of his ability to play off-ball.
Before we get into viewing Hendricks as an uber-versatile piece, we need to mention some of the areas he hasn’t quite mastered yet. He’s a one-and-done without proven feel on the offensive end and a gap in his perimeter skill. Versatility on offense is more about how he can be used around other scorers, not becoming a major scorer in his own right.
But on defense… woo, baby! Hendricks is the piece that can unlock so many different styles of play, hide and blanket worse teammates, and be a lockdown threat in one-on-one situations. His defense is among the most impressive in this draft cycle.
As a late-riser through the season, Hendricks is still a little bit of an unknown commodity. He played at UCF and was not often featured on national television. But the more I’ve watched him, the more impressed I’ve been.
If Hendricks ends up going in the top ten, it won’t be because he’s a better fit positionally than other players in that draft range. It’ll be because he’s earned that designation — and he just so happens to have a pretty diverse set of skills.
Offense
Maybe I’ve been on the interwebs too much lately, but I’m really starting to hate the term ‘3-and-D’. It’s not all-encompassing enough for players who can do more than just hit spot-up triples. The game today requires more of players, anyway. It’s a bit of an outdated term.
Hendricks doesn’t necessarily fit neatly into other categories, which is why he so often gets stuck with the 3-and-D label. His playmaking for others is wildly unrefined and his perimeter skill lags behind the rest of his natural talent. He isn’t a high-feel guy, a connective tissue passer, or a secondary playmaker.
From the jump, Hendricks’ best role will be as a spot-up shooter. He’s very consistent from deep with good mechanics, is proficient in the corners, and has the ability to drill shots over the top of any closeout.
In that sense, Hendricks is safely a guy who can play a 3-and-D role. In my opinion, he’s versatile for much more.
First off, Hendricks is an explosive athlete who can slam home plays at the basket. He’s a great leaper, has good instincts as a cutter, and can clean up on the offensive glass. He was the only player in the nation this year with 35 dunks and 60 3-pointers. Four others have reached that threshold as freshmen: Ben Mathurin, RJ Barrett, Lonzo Ball, and Ben McLemore.
Hendricks is the biggest player of that group, a sign of the times in basketball but a great complement to how rare it is what he can do at his size.
That size helps unlock other aspects of his game and helps him be malleable positionally. Hendricks can play the 4 or the 5 in different lineups because he’s got such long arms (I’ve yet to see an official wingspan measurement, but it has to be above 7’0”) and is bursty as an athlete.
As an explosive guy, he can stand in the dunker spot and finish. He’s good off the roll because he can finish. He can also be a pop guy who shoots well and is utilized in late-clock situations as a ghost screener:
That versatility makes Hendricks far more than just a corner spot-up shooter. But versatility can often be confusing. What we haven’t seen a ton of from Hendricks is reliable proof that he’s going to be a creator with the ball in his hands.
There were a few positive signs from Hendricks. He made a few pull-up jumpers and has enough of a handle in space to get some separation off the bounce. But his feel as a passer for others is low, and I’d argue that his feel for when to go for keepers was low too. He’d preordain his reads and end up taking contested mid-range pull-ups as a result.
The biggest complaint I have with Hendricks as a perimeter scorer is that he’s a poor finisher at the bucket when driving to the rim. He gets a surprisingly high amount of shots blocked for a guy his size and burstiness. His touch is hit or miss, and it feels like his big hands are often over the top of the ball instead of underneath it. As a result, he tends to shoot the ball rather flat within five feet of the bucket, resulting in line drives.
Hendricks’ upside as a perimeter driver is notable. There’s enough fluidity with his handle and comfort operating in these situations that it would be a waste to just jettison him to the corner. But he’s really raw with the ball in his hands. If he’s going to have a role as a creator or even a connective, downhill scorer in the future, he’ll need reps and time to gain the polish that helps him avoid committing turnovers.
Defense
When it comes to help defense with Hendricks, everyone wants to start with the rim protection. For good reason, too. Hendricks blocked 1.7 shots per game as a freshman, many of which did not come from the role as a traditional drop big or rim protector. He was alert and insanely active in transition, sprinting back to save baskets frequently. His motor and instincts meet, and he makes his opponents worry about him coming from the weak side.
What UCF did was what many NBA teams will do: put him in a position to guard the corners so that he can be the guy who rotates over to protect the basket when his team sends help to the ball.
I’m not sure if I’ve seen a better prospect at meeting dunk attempts at the rim and stuffing them. Hendricks has huge hands and swallows up the ball, spiking it backward or palming it to snag it in the air. His rotations and timeliness are great, but the physical capability to do this game after game is jaw-dropping.
Hendricks isn’t just effective as a helper. He’s really good and really versatile as an on-ball defender. UCF played him as a small-ball 5 quite frequently, and he held his own in the post against teams who would target him down there frequently, like the Memphis Tigers.
At the NBA level, Hendricks is more of a forward. He can play the 5 in a pinch if the team needs it (and his offensive versatility noted above helps that be an option) but his primary position is going to be against opposing 4s. He was impactful in space against bigger wing drivers, blocking shots and altering their driving lanes. He’s still a tad skinny and can add more to his chest, but he isn’t afraid of using his chest and squaring drivers or banging with mismatch post-ups.
Most impressively, he’s overwhelming against smalls. He looks gargantuan on some of his closeouts but is wildly fluid with his lateral quickness when guarding point guards. He keeps smaller guys in front on switches, stays down and patient against their fakes or hesitation dribbles, and swallows them up pretty quickly when they try to move past him:
These aren’t just a cut-up of highlights of his best individual plays, either. Hendricks does this stuff on a nightly basis. Tune into any of his games (particularly those at the end of the season, where you can see his growth and IQ start to form) and you’ll see countless positive plays. He was great against high-major competition.
One small area that caught my eye a lot on film: Hendricks leaves his feet on closeouts to shooters a lot. There’s merit in the strategy, and it very well could be that Johnny Dawkins instructed his players to run guys off the line to encourage pull-up jumpers. I’m a high school coach and I do it with my team. If it is, good on Hendricks for executing. If it’s not part of the plan, then we’d have some concerns about his discipline on closeouts and how much he chases swatting perimeter jump shooters. If I had access to his coaching staff, that’s one of the first questions I’d be asking.
Overwhelmingly, the film on Hendricks is positive. His defense can be overwhelming and versatile. Many of the smaller areas of discipline and detail that he’ll learn will be scheme-specific. His instincts are off the charts as a helper, and he has the tools to guard any position on the floor for stretches. While I knew he was an impactful defender, it wasn’t until a full second re-watch of his season that I really bought into him as a special defensive prospect. He’s one of the best I’ve evaluated in six years as a draft scout.
Overall Analysis
Hendricks has been the late riser on this draft cycle. He’s skyrocketed through the season after not being on a one-and-done list to start the year. By December, I saw him as a first-round guy with long-term upside, thinking he’d go in the twenties. As the season went on and he kept getting better while consistently producing, he moved into the lottery on my board.
Now I’m wondering if the top ten is the right spot for him. Hendricks shot the ball well late in the season and kept getting better on offense. His defense was great throughout — versatile, impactful on-ball, and great within a team concept off-ball.
Hendricks does have some orange flags; not quite red flags because he still produces, but some areas that show how far away he is from doing anything with the ball in his hands. Feel isn’t overwhelmingly high, and frontcourt guys or wings who play beyond the 3-point line need a decent amount of feel. I worry about the finishing touch just a bit, and the the lack of impactful rebounding he brings on the defensive end is an often overlooked area.
Hendricks is knocking on the door of the top ten for the right team and in the right situation. He fits so many teams drafting in the late lottery because he provides strong defense and only requires minor touches on offense. The Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers, Orlando Magic, Dallas Mavericks, and Oklahoma City Thunder all make sense for him. Because there are so many in that range who he fits well with, his range will likely be as high as the first one drafts (outside of the top five) and as low as the last is on the clock.