Dylan Cardwell Scouting Report
As one of the best team defenders in college basketball, Cardwell has a case for the NBA despite being a non-shooter. Here are 2.5K+ words on his role and why he'll earn a roster spot after the draft:
Dylan Cardwell (#44, Auburn): Senior, 6'11"
Center — Born: Dec 16, 2001 (23 years old)
Introduction
As a fifth-year senior, Cardwell is Auburn’s ultimate connecting piece. His difference-making as a rebounder and play-finisher made the Tigers one of the better offenses in college basketball. His role is simple yet difficult due to the small margin of error Cardwell played with. At five points and five rebounds, the numbers will never put him in NBA contention. But that’s where context comes into play. NBA scouts seek players who make teammates around them better and have a feasible role.
The league’s trend toward four- or even five-out makes the center position essential. Role versatility matters, and Cardwell’s role as a pure screening and rebounder interior deterrent is good value to add to the depth chart. Especially in the playoffs, where games are won by the margins. Despite being a non-shooter, the SEC leader in offensive rebounding percentage adds multiple possessions to his team with his dominance inside the arc, especially on the board.
This scouting report emphasizes a feasible role for Cardwell to play in his rookie season, whereas we grade how sustainable that role is and how long he can play in the league.
Physical Profile
At 6-foot-11, Cardwell is one of the most physical centers in college basketball. While weighing 255 pounds, Cardwell has great length and broad shoulders. He has a well-filled, NBA-ready frame and has the core strength to move his hips fluidly and add mobility to the frontcourt. He’s surprisingly well vertically, but the heavy frame makes it challenging to keep up laterally.
There is no official measurement available, but his wingspan should be around 7’4”. Cardwell makes a difference with his decision-making and footwork on the defensive end, where he’s making a difference with his rebounding due to excellent positioning. His physical readiness makes him one of the differentiators among his younger peers.
Offense
Putbacks
Cardwell’s positioning is a vital part of his self-created putback opportunities. He’s playing in a tight end-esque role, focusing on blocking opponents in the interior. He’s establishing dominance and is in a good position to box out for offensive rebounds. Whether it’s a gentle push like in the first play below or laterally move behind the transition scorer in the second possession, Cardwell moves to position himself to grab the potential miss. While most NBA teams won’t gamble on too many offensive rebounds, Cardwell’s consistent reads and execution could change that. This part of his game adds much-needed versatility to any roster, aiming to maximize its offensive rating.
However, there are areas to work on. Cardwell has a habit of bringing the ball down too much. The first play below shows an example. That makes it easier for defenders to hack him and make him earn the two points via the charity stripe. That’s where he’s finishing under 40% of his attempts. Therefore, Cardwell has to aim to counter hacks by keeping the ball high and forcing and-ones if defenders still want to gamble on putting him out of balance. Those odds are slim because of the strength and physicality he plays with.
Cardwell is tough and has close to two made dunks per game. He’s aiming for the most efficient finishes, which explains why he’s averaging over 70% of his field goals made. His toughness is consistent, with the third play showing the anger he adds to his dunks. Despite being blocked twice in the fourth play below, the most vital detail is how composed he stays and how quick and good his hands are in grabbing those offensive boards. NBA scouts value good hands and reliable touch around the rim, and that’s where Cardwell makes the difference.
Play-finishing out of the pick-and-roll
With eleven threes in five seasons, that’s nowhere near a sample size to consider. On top of that, Cardwell’s best with his physicality and strength inside the arc. Therefore, his play-finishing out of ball screens is vital to sustaining the offensive rating with him on the floor, especially considering his struggles from the free-throw line. What stood out in Cardwell’s roll game is that he’s always diving to the rim after screens, whether he gets the ball or not. His unselfish style of play and consistent motors are good assets for his draft profile.
But there are some areas to work on. In the first play below, he sees a hedge and banks on his roll to the rim. However, on an NBA floor in a faster-paced game, he has to move his hips much faster when catching the pass out of the pick-and-roll. However, his aggressiveness goes a long way. Cardwell sets a good screen at the elbow before rolling smoothly to the rim. His toughness in trying to dunk everything home explains the free-throw rate hovering around 60% in the last two seasons. As a play-finisher who's not good from the line, he has no other choice.
The potential for the next few years is visible in the third possession. Cardwell opens the angle with his screen closer to the three-point line to open the gap for the ball handler who felt the defense’s pressure. Hereafter, he puts the ball on the deck and relentlessly attacks the rim to draw the foul. Despite the miss in the fourth play below, Cardwell shows composure on his finishes as well, as he waited for the correct angle before the baby hook.
Ball-moving, passing, and playmaking
At an assist-to-turnover ratio of over two, Cardwell shows good promise as a ball-mover and short-roll passer. The combination of taking good care of the ball in limited touches on top of his quick execution makes it feasible that he can keep motion offenses running as a ball-mover. On top of that, the gravity of his physical tools and strength helps him punish incoming help defenders by taking advantage of teams having to rotate around him. Auburn didn’t use him much as a passer, but his presence kept the flow in one of college basketball’s most effective offenses this past season.
Cardwell takes advantage of his separation-creation from screens in the first play with the handoff. As shown earlier, he has some capabilities to put the ball on the ground. Therefore, pivoting his foot far out with his right helps to keep leverage against drop coverage defenders. In the second play, Cardwell grabs the offensive board, but instead of feeding the corner, he stays composed and executes the read, with the elbow shooter being much more open. That’s a mature and good play. Keeping the ball high after rebounds helps, as shown in the fourth play with the quick kick-out pass.
The best asset for Cardwell to grow as a passer can be utilized with his composure and good footwork. His signature far right pivot foot helps Cardwell to keep his head down and hit cutters effectively, with the last play showing an example.
Cutting
As a cutter, Cardwell plays easily and makes timely decisions based on the motion around him. He’s mostly used as a weakside option where he’s ducking in when help defense responds to dribble penetration. His aggressiveness leads to him utilizing these dropoff passes to quick dunks. Therefore, his leverage as a play-finisher forces defenders to think twice before rotating, considering his high dunk rate. The translatable part comes through the NBA’s dribble-penetration-heavy game. Advantage creation comes with paint touches, and when this happens, play-finishers or kick-out passes are often the options teams defer to. Therefore, Cardwell will continue to find these opportunities at the next level.
Are you enjoying this scouting report? Picture getting detailed breakdowns like this in your inbox twice, sometimes three times per week!
For just $50/year, you’ll stay updated on the less-coveted prospects. It’s a simple way to support me while getting more of what you like.
Defense
Pick-and-roll
Despite his strong frame and big body, Cardwell moves his feet well. He’s not light-footed but has strong footwork to establish balance at all times. This makes him less vulnerable to being shaken out of balance when a capable ball handler forces switches against him to create the mismatch. Cardwell is drop coverage-oriented. Therefore, he’ll struggle against pull-up shooters off the dribble. Knowing he’s best when defending the painted area, Cardwell has no issue hedging his chances by allowing a tad more room on the perimeter, considering pull-up shooting is one of the toughest play types.
Regardless of the threes in the first two plays, Cardwell shows he can move his feet while keeping his balance. His strong hips are an advantage. In the first play, he gave up separation but strongly kept his balance, with his last step being the reverse pivot. In the second play, we see a similar sequence where Cardwell challenges the ball handler to beat him off the dribble. Against dribble penetration, Cardwell struggles to react at times.The main issue here is the positioning. The opposing screener drew Cardwell further into the strong side, opening the weak side as a driving lane. Hereafter, Cardwell couldn’t react timely due to simply not having the burst to compensate for this mistake. Therefore, NBA scouts need to focus more on his positioning in ball screen actions when taking him into workouts.
Catch-and-drive
The strong last step makes Cardwell a good closeout defender at the next level. No doubt. He’s not afraid to close out and give away space behind him, knowing he doesn’t have the burst to respond to quicker ball handlers. But Cardwell has his physicality and composure. He plays in control. Playing at 2.6 personal fouls per game shows that.
In the first play below, Cardwell rotates after the dribble penetration on the weak side. He had to cover a lot of space, and with 8 seconds left, Cardwell knew he was in the advantage. That gave him comfort in sliding his feet and trying to take away any form of separation creation. However, with dribble penetration, Cardwell pivoted strongly with his left, elevating his burst to keep up laterally. The foul was a bad call on this play, but regardless, a showing of good defense. In the second play, Cardwell shows a good habit of forcing ball handlers to beat him off the dribble. That’s the right approach, as creative guards must be forced to get their advantages, not bailed out, which is often an issue with younger prospects, where Cardwell shows maturity in his game.
The change of directions and pace in the third play caught Cardwell off guard. However, he corrected his stance well, with strong footwork being the main reason for keeping his balance. Regardless, his decision-making needs context at times. In the fourth play, Cardwell was open to keep space on the perimeter, focusing on denying entry to the paint instead. That’s to hedge the lack of great lateral quickness to keep up with guards in longer distances to the rim, which is understandable.
Catch-and-shoot
We see a similar outing when defending against spot-up shooters. The best part of Cardwell’s defense is his great understanding of positioning and angles. He’s not guarding players. He’s guarding angles and limiting open ones. He’s the first who’ll relocate to close a gap for rollers or cutters, but also good at playing passing lanes. At close to a steal per game, that’s where he improved his game in his fifth year at Auburn.
In the first play, he’s good at helping against the post-up while keeping his left pivot positioned to dive into the shooter at the elbow. In the second play, Cardwell sees the backdoor cutting and closes the passing gap. These small details are the difference between two points given up or not. These habits and understanding of the game are the vital parts NBA scouts seek when they want to present a feasible case of a five protecting a team’s defense rating. When a prospect makes such decisions, defending and deciding when to dive into spot-up shooters becomes much easier.
NBA Draft Projection
Based on the strengths and areas of development mentioned in this scouting report, I project Dylan Cardwell to find himself a roster spot for a winning NBA team as an undrafted free agent. His archetype fits the need of every winning team to add to their depth chart. Cardwell’s excellent understanding of positioning and intangibles of good decision-making in pick-and-roll and closeout defense adds value to a defensive rating. Offensively, he can’t close games due to that low free-throw percentage. Regardless, the non-shooting character of his game is compensated by his great screening, aggressive play-finishing, and value as one of college basketball’s best offensive rebounders.
Finally got around to this post - he caught my eye during the tournament and I’m glad you put him back on my radar. I agree w/ your conclusion and think he could carve out a long-lasting career as a serviceable big man. Thanks Ersin!