Reece Beekman Scouting Report
Experience will be a crucial factor in this year's draft. The Virginia senior offers reliable playmaking and NBA-ready defense. But what else is there to like? Find out more below.
Low-usage leading guards who consistently show they can carry a team on the defensive end are feasible investments to make. Beekman averaged under 20% usage in his three seasons at Virginia and has been the main player on Virginia’s gritty defensive-minded team.
With 27.6% usage as a senior, it’s his team to run now, and the production will be a crucial factor for how high he can go on draft night. The intangibles are his unique selling point. The combination of feel for the game, awareness, and defensive activity make him the plug-and-play point guard who’ll have NBA decision-makers interested in him.
Physical Profile
At 6’2”, Beekman filled out his frame measuring 194 pounds, twenty more than when he started his college career. With a 6’7” wingspan his length is good enough to comfortably guard the one and two positions at the next level.
Beekman is a solid athlete who knows how to use his body to gain advantages. While he isn’t explosive, his ability to accelerate and decelerate makes him a scoring threat on top of his playmaking duties.
Defense
The first thing that stood out in Beekman’s profile is that he’s consistently making his rotations. That’s an area that’ll serve him well early on in his career in terms of earning NBA minutes. Even when he’s late to his assignment, as seen in the second play below, his awareness comes into play as he forces the spot-up shooter to take the three.
What makes Beekman’s defense unique is that his goal is to eliminate the opportunity to allow his assignment to exploit his closeout. Taking away a straight driving lane to the basket is something that’ll continue to work for him at the next level.
When defending against ball movement Beekman is showing consistent decision-making. However, one of the things that consistently came back as an area of improvement was his lack of forcing his opponents to the strong side.
While he’s strong in limiting a straight driving lane against spot-up shooters, he’s struggling to make up for the distance when he’s late in his rotation. The first play is an example where he steps to the high post to complete the hedge of the pick-and-roll. This led to the pass to the corner out of the short roll, opening a driving lane near the baseline.
Beekman did well in avoiding the foul with his shot contest, but on an NBA floor with better spacing, he must position himself better when he’s the third person after switches in the pick-and-roll coverage.
At 6’2” it’s crucial to be a good screen navigator to mitigate the risk of being targeted by opponents. Beekman shows a combination of defensive footwork and awareness to locate incoming ball screens in a timely matter.
As Virginia’s leader, he consistently shows the ability to coach his big men on how to cover the pick-and-roll action, with the first play being an example. That’s something he’ll bring over to the NBA. Another area that's earning him Coach Bennett’s trust is his disrupting passing lanes, especially against handoffs.
In the second play, Beekman does a smart thing by tagging his opponent, who already had the separation, confusing the big man who doesn’t handoff the ball with Beekman deflecting it in a split-second decision. His feel for the game on the defensive end is something that’ll translate to maintaining a team’s defensive rating early on.
As an NBA point guard, Beekman must be able to guard the point of attack. In terms of the scalability of his defensive presence that’s an important measurement to determine which types of minutes he’ll be able to handle.
Beekman shows that he slides his feet very well. An improvement in the last two seasons is his keeping the same aggressiveness without fouling. At 1.3 personal fouls in almost 32 minutes per game, that’s a good sign of him being able to guard at the NBA level while maintaining his team’s pace.
The three plays below show how well Beekman’s decision-making in the pick-and-roll is. As of late, he’s continuing to make life tough for opposing guards who struggle to create separation against him.
In the first play of three below, Beekman gets beat by the stepback from the midrange, which shows an area of development. This is nitpicking due to how solid he has been on that end but against quicker NBA guards, Beekman has to continue to fill his frame out to be able to handle contact much better.
At the NBA level, the P&R ball handler is the most common play type, making it important for him to be able to physically neutralize the danger near the rim. While turning 23 just before the start of the regular season, Beekman already added twenty pounds in his college career. NBA decision-makers have to add that to his developmental plan.
Offense
Earning usage starts with showing that you can consistently knock down shots. Beekman has a consistent shooting stroke and the first thing that stood out is that he’s continuously on the move to the spots where passes will land.
While we commonly see prospects being passive and waiting for the ball, Beekman shows initiative and stays on the move. Especially on plays where the ball already has been in his hands.
One of the areas of development for him is that he can also be passive if he doesn’t get the ball touches in the half-court. The second play is an example. With Virginia grabbing the offensive rebound, Beekman is waiting near the elbow which he follows up with a jumper that was a tad too slow. At the NBA level, he has to execute these shots more quickly.
Playing in a point guard role is almost always a guarantee to have more than 20% usage in a game. Therefore, an NBA decision-maker will pay attention to isolation scoring to determine how scalable an offensive game of a prospect is.
Beekman is scoring 1 point-per-possession on 1.8 attempts per game. This shows that Coach Bennett is comfortable putting the ball in his point guard’s hands when his team needs a bucket. He stands out with his good handles combined with his fluid hips.
He is not an explosive athlete but uses his ability to accelerate and decelerate to create separation. Being able to dribble with both hands he’s able to use his footwork to deceive his defenders in what he’ll do.
When closely looking at these isolation possessions it was clear that Beekman uses off-ball cutters to activate help defense, whereafter he turns to the weak side to make his play. With the lack of spacing in college basketball, his 61% scoring rate at the rim makes that a solid number to work with. Mainly due to it being a result of most of his plays in isolation.
An NBA franchise won’t be able to give Beekman many ball touches at the beginning of his career. Therefore his off-ball movement is crucial for him to get the production he has to have to neutralize a team’s offensive rating.
Whether it’s coming off double stagger screens, or utilizing off-ball screens that are set for him near the free-throw line, Beekman is keen on attacking the rim to break down the defense.
When the driving opportunity isn’t there, he shows a reliable midrange jumper if he isn’t passing out of the possession. This makes it more feasible that Beekman will be able to be a scorer on a team even when his ball touches are reduced to him having to earn it with his off-ball plays to get open.
In time Beekman will earn more ball touches to show that he can create for himself as a pick-and-roll ball handler. The thing that makes Beekman a crucial factor in Virginia’s offense is that he’s able to get to the rim thanks to his craft.
He’s able to dribble or pass out of most pick-and-roll coverages teams throw at him. Despite it being halfcourt-heavy which doesn’t help his team’s pace, Beekman is one of the top guards in the country when it comes to playing out of the coverages which he lures defenses to use against him.
The first and third plays below are prime examples of forcing a team to go over while using his passing threat as a tool to create a driving lane for himself. At the NBA level that’s exactly what a team is looking for. Whether he’ll pass or drive to the cup, he’s breaking down defenses and forcing rotations that open up spot-up shooters. An NBA team with a lack of efficiency in the pick-and-roll should consider valuing this part of his profile.
With 6.0 assists per game, Beekman is currently leading the ACC. Just like he’s creating driving lanes with his plays out of the pick-and-roll, Beekman does the same when he’s creating for others.
His early role is important when testing the feasibility of his NBA game. Therefore, making plays as the secondary creator was the focus of evaluating his pick-and-roll playmaking. The first two plays below show he’s solid in finding his teammates while utilizing a ball screen or doing it off the dribble.
Coach Bennett’s style of play at Virginia focuses on utilizing tight lanes with motion and in his four years there Beekman has mastered this type of play. The only concern an NBA decision-maker could have is that he’s too half-court-focused and hasn’t shown that he can do the same things at a higher pace. That’s something he’ll have to show during summer workouts.
NBA Draft Projection
Beekman is one of the top point guards in college basketball due to him being a consistent factor for Virginia in each of his four seasons there. With the first three ones being on less than 20% usage, he had to show that he could carry the load for the Cavaliers to add more value to his profile.
He succeeds in proving that he can maintain the same level of play while having to be his team’s leader, which increases his draft value. An NBA decision-maker will value his ability to make plays with and without the ball in his hands. The lack of pace is a concern in terms of fully translating his game to the NBA level.
However, a defender of his caliber shouldn’t cause any long-term issues to deal with for an NBA team. Especially considering that he mastered using his physical tools to gain advantages, with the ability to accelerate and decelerate combined with his footwork being the most crucial one.
The ACC’s leader in assists is doing so coming off screens and with the ball in his hands. He’s able to consistently knock down jumpers and has a clear path to play early NBA minutes. He’ll be 23 years old near the start of next season and therefore he has to be able to contribute on day one.
The focus on long-term value is less important in his profile, and considering how deep this class is in terms of depth, that’s an area not working in his favor. With the above-mentioned arguments in mind, I project that Beekman will be an early second-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.