Owen Freeman Scouting Report
Defensive qualities and mobility define the most-wanted qualifications for today's NBA big man. The Big Ten's Freshman of the Year has both, but is it enough to make it to the NBA? Find out below.
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Introduction
Traditionally, the Big Ten has always been a big man’s conference. Therefore, Owen Freeman winning Freshman of the Year is a big deal, especially considering he’s the first Hawkeye to do so in over 30 years. In a continuously changing NBA game, the same happens to the underlying draft philosophy. Despite ‘versatility’ becoming a buzzword in today’s basketball coverage, Freeman is the true definition of that phrase for what he already does for Iowa on the floor.
After putting up double-digit scoring numbers while averaging over six rebounds, Freeman looks to take on a bigger role with vital frontcourt pieces like Ben Krikke and Patrick McCaffery leaving the program. They are partially replaced by incoming Manhattan transfer Seydou Traore, who will serve in a complementary role to Freeman, who’s now a surefire starting center for the Hawkeyes. This scouting report solely focuses on Freeman’s NBA role and potential.
Physical Profile
At 6-foot-10, Freeman has a strong upper body and a well-filled frame. While weighing 230 pounds he has broad shoulders and handles physical contact very well. The unique selling point that sets him apart from his peers is his mobility. He has incredibly fluid hips and moves very well. While he’s improving his defensive footwork, Freeman can potentially guard both in the interior and on the perimeter.
While averaging close to three personal fouls in 22 minutes per game, Freeman has to learn how to use his physical tools to his advantage. At times he’s initiating too much contact, where it’s likely that NBA referees will still call these fouls at the same pace as their colleagues in the Big Ten.
Freeman doesn’t have above-average vertical pop, but that isn’t necessary due to him timing his jumps very well. He has a good habit of using physical contact to create discomfort before his opponents can finish near the rim. Playing in the style of an old-school rim deterrent is what the NBA needs while looking to expand that to the perimeter.
With good lateral quickness, Freeman wants to keep opponents in front of him at all costs. Usually, college big men build up a habit of wanting to block players from behind. That’s not feasible to maintain in the NBA, especially considering a team’s defensive rating. Therefore, his continuing to use his lateral quickness while improving his defensive footwork remains the area of focus for his sophomore season.
Offense
While Freeman hasn’t expanded his range to three-point territory, that doesn’t mean he cannot play in the NBA. Looking at his shooting touch, it’s clear his jumper is what he’s working on. Despite a limited sample size of 39 shots outside the paint and 4 three-pointers, the process of his shot is the promising part for his sophomore year.
Shooting is important. Very important. But it’s not true that every NBA player has to shoot the ball to stay on the floor. In Freeman’s case, it’s a good addition to his arsenal, while his mobility and rim presence are his main qualities. When looking at the process of Freeman's preparation for his jumper off the catch, many positives can contribute to him evolving into an average shooter in the future. First, he doesn’t lower the ball after the catch.
In all four plays below, Freeman keeps the ball at the same spot after receiving the pass while being fairly quick to set his feet. With shooting being something out of his comfort zone, there’s a subtle hesitation visible before his release. In the first possession below we see a late release after his jump. In terms of fluidity, he needs more reps to build up a consistent shooting form.
His footwork is the second area of development. In the second play, he pivots his left leg too far out, struggling to find balance before his jumper. The defense was keen on leaving him open, with a forced jumper as a result. It’s a good process that he’s expanding his scoring arsenal, but attacking the defender in isolation on the face-up play was the better decision here.
The third possession is an interesting one. That will likely be a play he’ll be used in more this upcoming season. The active cutting while he’s inside the painted area around two defenders was a smart move. This time he pivots his foot better, leading to a more comfortable stance to shoot. Despite being too slow in setting his feet, that was a good shot.
We see a similar outcome in the fourth play, where Freeman uses a double screen to open angles for the cutter, making himself the forgotten man in the pick-and-pop. Another quick release from his part, making it feasible that the process to increase his shooting volume off the catch will improve. For the evaluation, the percentages aren’t relevant yet, due to a very limited sample size of one shot per game outside the paint.
An NBA decision-maker wants to see what Freeman can do outside the paint. Given his excellent mobility and the trend of the league moving toward positionless basketball, decision-making with the ball in his hands is a vital part of his evaluation. Despite a limited sample size, Freeman has shown that he can be an effective weapon as a closeout attacker.
The first value-riser of his profile is his two-handed finishing around the rim. In the first possession, we see a left-handed finish followed by a scoring play with his right hand via a well-timed hook shot. With a decent arsenal of scoring moves, he keeps a factor of unpredictability. Freeman doesn’t have tight handles, and that’s okay.
We see him flirt with some offensive creativity in the third play below, going from east to west while immediately scanning the floor for passing options, which weren’t there. He instead went for the contested finish, which was a logical decision. His ability to make correct reads will potentially make him a good floor spacer in the NBA, especially if he adds a jumper to his arsenal. However, even without a jumper, he shows face-up scoring ability, leveraging his excellent mobility to beat his assignments off the dribble, as shown in the fourth play below.
After a strong pivot foot placement, Freeman unbalanced his opponent following it up with a spin move, trying to dunk it home. Overall, he’s a solid finisher at the rim, converting about 67% of his attempts there, not counting the 44 dunks he has made throughout his freshman year.
At 41 assists to 39 turnovers, the numbers show signs of positive decision-making as a passer. That’s been the case with Freeman, who has to show in the NBA that he can serve as a ball-mover at worst. However, he can evolve into more than that. When closely looking at all of his assists, there’s a trend of him continuously making the right reads with the ball in his hands. He also shows flashes of quick decision-making, adding more value to the element of ball movement and playing fast, both things the NBA is heavily recruiting for via the draft.
In the first possession below, he fakes two hand-offs, while using his body and left arm to signal the backdoor cut to the rim. The defense respected his teammate potentially coming off Freeman’s hand-off and screen to attack the rim. With two fakes, Freeman completely collapsed the opposing defense, executing his read with a pass that ended up with a wide-open lay-up with no defender to be seen.
The second play shows Freeman immediately going to work after the entry pass. His smooth spin to the left using his hips followed up by keeping the ball low to not go into the timely rotating big man. Instead, his dropoff to the cutter was a natural outcome of the play, where it’s clear that Freeman had that execution in his mind the whole possession with the way he kept the ball tight around his body and had his eyes directed to the elbow, seeing the backdoor cutter.
It’s vital to see if quick decision-making can be shown consistently. With Freeman, he doesn't look for bailout passes but tries to keep the ball moving in a way that benefits the offense, always looking to create an angle for a teammate. In the third play that’s the pass fake to derail the defense followed up by hitting the cutter under the basket, all in one second.
While he struggles to create a passing angle in the fourth play, Freeman shows the right decision-making by keeping the ball moving instead of forcing the shot. An important detail here is that he’s playing like a tight end in football, blocking his assignment to create a driving lane after his pass to the elbow. That’s what an NBA decision-maker must take into account as well; Freeman uses his physicality and upper-body strength very well in his battles in the paint, especially when he has to create angles for teammates.
At 81 offensive boards, Freeman ranked 7th in the Big Ten. Playing with toughness is a part of who he is on the floor. That benefits Iowa in generating second-chance scoring opportunities. In the last play below, Freeman times his run to the basket very well, collecting the board with two defenders boxing out. His ability to immediately flip his hips and position himself in a way he could see the whole floor was the base for his quick execution to the cutter.
That’s what he will continue to do in the NBA. In an NBA game where four and five-out offenses are slowly becoming the norm, rebounding becomes more crucial for big men to solidify themselves. Freeman is an excellent rebounder who boxes out hard on each play and has a good feel for timing his rebounding efforts.
That’s the base for his success. Crashing the offensive glass is acceptable when big men have the motor and lateral quickness to get back on defense timely. Throughout the last ten years, we see fewer teams crashing the offensive glass, fearing transition offense after an increasing three-point shooting diet most NBA teams have.
Even if Freeman doesn’t evolve into a shooter, he can keep himself on an NBA floor without a team having to sacrifice their offensive rating. His rebounding is the big reason why. But for that to happen, there’s one crucial area of development for Freeman to work on: keeping the ball high after collecting the rebound.
At 3.2 free-throw attempts per game, Freeman converts those at 66.1%. That’s a decent number. Not good, but decent. But there’s a difference between getting good free throws, and the ones you want to avoid. In the first and third plays below, Freeman brings the ball down to power back up for the finish. This leads to him bailing the defense out, as they simply hack him and make him earn the two points via the charity stripe. Whereas in the second play, Freeman keeps the ball high and has a much easier look for the putback.
That’s something we saw the Gasol brothers make a famous way of generating second-chance points. Whenever Pau or Marc got an offensive rebound, they never dipped the ball or brought it under their waist, keeping the ball high helped them average a few more points per game, which can be the difference between winning or losing a basketball game.
I expect Freeman to improve, albeit slowly as he’s not consistent yet with keeping the ball high after the offensive rebound. He’s aggressively trying to finish in the fourth and fifth plays below, right after grabbing the ball. That’s a good entry point to hold onto for this sophomore season.
Defense
Freeman will mostly be asked to serve as a pick-and-roll defender. His mobility and lateral quickness could lead him to play in a variety of schemes, rather than relying on playing drop coverage. Nevertheless, he didn’t look convincing at Iowa in his freshman year. At times, he was too reactionary in moments where the possessions evolved to a surefire two points being given up. It’s not that he’s giving up on the play, but the consistency of the toughness and fire he plays with looked to go away when conceding high-quality looks. The first play below is a good example, where Freeman didn’t show his good second jump to try and block the one-foot finish from behind.
However, his hip mobility and feeling to rotate quickly is something that will translate on an NBA floor. In the second possession, he doesn’t hesitate to go over the screen to immediately pick up the ball handler. Freeman uses his lateral quickness to keep the ball handler in front of him and disturbs him by using his body and remaining physical around the baseline. After the dropoff pass, Freeman turns quickly, using his hip mobility to immediately put up a wall against the play-finisher from about 8 feet from the basket.
Tagging is another good habit Freeman has built up throughout the years. His tag on the roller by the push before the switch was a smart move, as it forced the big man to stick with Freeman, rather than allowing the ball handler to utilize the incoming ball screen. Hereafter, the drop coverage forced the ball handler to beat Iowa off the dribble while not being able to execute the set they had in mind. His sudden pop to contest the shot was a good way for Freeman to finish off this good defensive play as the pick-and-roll defender.
The last possession below is an example of Freeman’s defensive footwork, which has been decent to good. Not great, but he has the chance to improve that to eventually become great with his footwork. Freeman goes over the screen and forces the ball handler to beat him off the dribble. Despite his good positioning against the quicker guard, he reacted very well to the sudden step back. By actively pivoting before the ball handler launched for the drive, Freeman kept his balance on his last step before the shot contest by keeping both feet close to each other. That’s a good technique to ensure his balance but with the disadvantage of needing half a second more to dive into the shooter. That’s okay in this case, as you don’t want the big man to collapse on the ankle breaker, and potentially end up on someone’s highlight tape.
When defending against cutters, Freeman is mostly being used as a de facto rim protector who has to respond to dribble drives to the rim, by stopping the play and not allowing the play-finisher to get an easy two from underneath the basket. On top of that, Freeman is used to responding to cutters, defending against them from underneath the basket. As an off-ball defender, Iowa did a good job at using him as a traditional under-the-basket type of big. Not the way that’s being played in the NBA, especially with struggles to not get calls with the defensive three-second rule.
Regardless, it says a lot about Freeman’s ability to defend against motion around him. To avoid getting into bad positioning when drop-off passes occur or to get easily sealed if cutting ends up in post-up play underneath the basket, Freeman actively tags his assignment. That’s a good way for him to ensure control in the positioning battle if he has to make rotations when Iowa’s defense collapses. The first play below is an example.
Another positive in his profile is that Freeman has a good second jump. He’s quick to launch after biting on pump-fakes the first time, as shown in the second possession. He plays with toughness underneath the basket but manages to stay out of foul trouble. While averaging close to three fouls per 23 minutes, the context around the fouls is that he’s often put in a situation where he has to be physically near the basket. He fouled out only two times this season, whereas he has nine games with four fouls.
However, an NBA decision-maker shouldn't weigh in heavily on the amount of fouls, but more focus on the context behind them. Considering the physical battles he’s putting up, the fouls are acceptable, and a given when having to defend against cutters via rotations, and thus risking to be in a tougher spot positioning-wise when rotating back to your assignment underneath the basket.
An area of focus is, as mentioned earlier, Freeman not keeping the same amount of intensity at times. In the third play, he quickly rotates to the play-finisher, coming up with a big-time block on the dunk attempt. But there’s a difference between night and day with the fourth play, where Freeman doesn’t even contest the shot after the drop-off pass to the play-finisher. Consistency motor-wise is what he has to focus on in his sophomore season.
On the NBA level, Freeman has to show that he can defend against closeout attackers as well. We often see guards and wings force multiple switches so they can initiate favorable matchups against opposing bigs. But for Freeman, that won’t be much of a hurdle to overcome. As mentioned earlier, his defensive footwork is improving, thus promising value for the future. Purely looking back at his freshman year, his ability to slide his feet while maintaining balance is something that stood out consistently.
In the first play below, the opposing big man is asking for the entry pass, to which Freeman blocks the angle by lifting his arms. Hereafter, he forces the ball handler to beat him off the dribble. An important detail is that he’s not too closely attached to his assignment, winning him some space to compensate for a potential difference in speed. He does well in sliding his feet, and eventually put his last step solidly to cleanly contest the midrange jumper. Small, but important details as not allowing entry passes led to the opponent ending up with a bad shot they likely wanted to avoid.
Maintaining balance is crucial when defending in space against closeout attackers. In the second possession, Freeman looked to lose his balance after the ball handler changed dribbling hands and shifted gears. Yet again, an excellent last step to elevate and block the runner. However, there’s one area of development for Freeman to focus on.
When the offense freezes, and it turns into an isolation play, as shown in the third play below, the pace that Freeman is accustomed to suddenly shifts. He’s then playing much more reactive defense, totally giving the reigns to the scorer. This ended in the play where the ball handler went to the rim without any effort, having a wide-open finishing lane on its left hand, with Freeman not able to stop the scorer.
When guarding against spot-up shooters, Freeman shows quick reactionary speed in his rotations. Whether it’s him closing out, or to clean up a lack of rotations by teammates, he shows a good habit of keeping track of the play and following his instincts when seeing that his defense struggles to keep up. We see an example of this in the first play below. Freeman looks to his left and doesn’t see a closeout from his teammate, thus immediately dives into the shooter with some impressive reactionary speed.
An area of development to respond to shooters leveraging their shooting gravity is to improve their decision-making against pump-fakes and jab steps. In the second play below, the shooter won at least two feet of separation with one simple jab step, where Freeman immediately reacted and moved back to prepare for a potential dribble-drive. That’s okay for this stage of his career as he plays on a less-spaced college floor. But on a longer and wider NBA floor, that can give lethal shooters just the amount of separation they need to find the three-point shot they look for.
A good habit that will serve Freeman well in the NBA is his style of diving into shooters when they are located in the corner. He usually finds himself with two feet in the paint, thus having to cover more ground when the ball ends up at his assignment standing in the corner. The third and fourth plays are examples. He follows up his closeouts by immediately moving in transition, the first step to playing at a higher pace. I like that he doesn’t chase the rebound, but rather trusts the team's play and structure, making sure he’s again useful in the next possession.
NBA Draft Projection
For an NBA decision-maker, here are the above-mentioned areas summarized:
Strengths
Excellent combination of a strong upper body and mobility. That’s the base for Freeman to serve as a multipositional and versatile NBA defender.
He’s a two-handed finisher around the rim with good touch. While he possesses a variety of scoring options, his long-term potential in the NBA will determine his development of a jump shot.
A quick decision-maker with the ball in his hands. That’s a good ingredient for teams wanting to play at a higher pace involving more ball movement. Executing his passing reads quickly opens up his potential as a playmaker.
Areas of development
At times, Freeman looks to give up on plays. Especially underneath the basket when the opponent finds themselves a surefire two points. Despite the toughness and active approach he plays with, that’s a potential red flag if he cannot improve in his sophomore season.
He brings the ball down after collecting an offensive rebound. This bails out the defense and allows them to hack Freeman to the free-throw line, where he’s an average shooter at best. Therefore, practicing a no-dip putback to add to his arsenal is crucial to not negatively influence a team’s offensive rating in the NBA too much.
Based on the above-mentioned strengths and areas of development alongside the details in this scouting report, I project Owen Freeman to potentially be a first-round selection in the 2025 NBA Draft.
If the production improves while showing to get better at the above-mentioned areas of development, he’ll likely be picked between selections 21-35.