Terrence Shannon Jr. Scouting Report
Wing-sized ball handlers who play different roles are what NBA teams are looking for. What's more to like about the fifth-year senior's game? Find out below.
After testing the waters multiple times, Shannon Jr. stayed in college to diversify his game. In his fifth year, he’s seeing his efforts paying dividends. The Third-Team All-American has been the leader of Illinois whom he won the Big Ten Tournament, crowning him MVP whereafter he’s ready to face Duquesne in the NCAA Tournament’s Second Round at the time this report is written.
For the NBA, Shannon Jr.’s scalability is the most intriguing part. He has shown to be able to take over games in terms of production on the offensive end and guarding the toughest assignment. The reason why Coach Underwood was keen on giving him the keys to lead his squad is Shannon Jr. knows when it’s time to play a smaller role in a game if others are having a better night—maturing his game has been an area of development for him in recent years.
Physical Profile
At 6’6”, Shannon Jr. has a well-filled frame. While being at 225 pounds, he has bulked up compared to the 190 pounds he weighed during his freshman year. While adding strength and muscle, he kept his athletic traits being his fluidity, vertical pop, and burst.
As an upperclassman, Shannon Jr. diversified his style to use his strength more often compared to relying on his athletic tools too much. Finding a healthy balance opened the game up for him on both ends, as he’s able to guard one to four at the collegiate level combined with being able to play bully ball against mismatches.
Defense
What immediately stood out is Shannon Jr.’s hesitation to not fully contest every shot, which isn’t helping his team in terms of their defensive rating. In the last play below, Shannon Jr. gets blown by after he’s preparing to slide between the ball handler and the screener, while his assignment made it clear with his hesitation move he was ready to reject the screen.
Losing his balance due to his decision-making is commonly seen during his play in the latter stages of the season. In the first play, Shannon Jr. gets lured into preparing to navigate through the screen, but he doesn’t count on the fake hand-off opening the driving lane at the side of the baseline for the ball handler. At times he’s too locked in on defense, making him more vulnerable against fakes as well, with the second play below being an example.
When guarding the perimeter as an off-ball defender, Shannon Jr. shows that his feel for the game on that end translates very well to a low-usage role at the NBA level. His combination of focus on his assignment while keeping track of the offense makes his experience as a fifth-year senior valuable for NBA teams to monitor.
In the second play, he doesn’t allow the backdoor cutter to find a gap, and his excellent positioning combined with his aggressive use of his pivot foot, forced his assignment to take the contested shot. In the first play below, Shannon Jr. offers timely help defense, while adjusting timely to rotate back to the elbow.
Again, his pivot foot is a crucial factor in his contesting the shot. He’s placing it in a way that he’s keeping driving lanes closed, forcing his assignments to either shoot or keep the ball moving.
The above-mentioned translates very well to his ability to defend against cutters as well. In the first play below, Shannon Jr. dodges three screens to end up with the steal and give his team a look in transition. However, his screen navigation is still an area of development.
He can slide between ball handlers and screeners when he’s expecting the screener. But in cases where he doesn’t see the ball screen coming, he’s more vulnerable to losing his assignment leading to his defense collapsing. In the second play below, the action ran near the high post opening up the driving lane for the cutter. Shannon Jr. not seeing the screener coming is a combination of a lack of communication on defense and his screen navigation not being consistent, which is an area of development an NBA team has to consider when evaluating his profile.
In a switch-heavy NBA, wing defenders are often challenged by incoming ball screens and face screening actions as off-ball defenders. For Shannon Jr., that’s the most crucial factor in his game in terms of staying on an NBA floor consistently. His screen navigation could make him a target for opposing teams in terms of using him as an opening to collapse his team’s defense.
We see handoff plays being run more consistently in the last few years, making his defense at this play type a good feasibility test in terms of what to expect in the future. In the first play below, Shannon Jr. does well to keep up with his assignment by getting through the double stagger but biting on the pump-fake led to his assignment nailing the midrange jumper. His will to make winning plays on defense often gets the best of him in these scenarios.
However, in the second and third plays, we see how well Shannon Jr. can navigate through screens if he’s fully aware of the incoming ball screens. At 2.2 personal fouls per 34 minutes, he’s able to push himself aggressively through screens without fouling. That physical aspect of the game will matter at the next level. In the third play below, Shannon Jr. keeps his balance while his assignment tries to push him off to create separation, however, it leads to Shannon Jr. contesting the shot strongly.
Being able to serve as a pick-and-roll defender is a crucial factor in succeeding as an NBA wing. With Shannon Jr., the ability to get through screens is there. However, at the NBA level, he’ll face more physical and higher-quality screens compared to the Big Ten.
In the three plays below Morehead State utilized Shannon Jr.’s non-consistent screen navigation in their offensive playbook. In the first two plays, the ball handler gets the separation he looked for after the ball screen was placed closer to the ball handler, leading to Shannon Jr. getting stuck and the Illinois defense having to rotate quickly. This was good execution on the opponent’s part.
However, the last play shows the potential Shannon Jr. has at the next level. After adjusting in the halftime break, he came back on the floor more prepared for the ball screens being placed closer to the ball handler, which resulted in Shannon Jr. adjusting his positioning to slide easier between the screener and his assignment, leading to the chase down the block, showing his physical tools helping him on the defensive end.
Offense
While being at 8.7 free-throw attempts per game and converting them at an 81% clip, Shannon Jr. is one of the best foul-drawers in the country. This serves him well in terms of his offensive role at the next level. The importance of diversifying his offensive game and relying less on ball touches makes him an NBA-ready prospect, especially as a slasher.
At the NBA level, Shannon Jr. can be a productive scorer with way fewer ball touches compared to what he gets at Illinois. This is due to him being effective while playing out of closeouts. In the three plays below we see him using his strength to play through contact and drawing the fouls near the rim.
Another thing that stood out is his using his body very well before the catch, making the directions of his drives less predictable, with the first and last play below being examples. Getting downhill is what Shannon Jr. is good at, utilizing his value as a floor-spacer as well at the next level.
Another area an NBA team will use Shannon Jr. for is his ability to shoot off the catch. Effective spot-up shooters are mostly known for setting their feet quickly and not needing much time to get their shot up. In Shannon Jr’s case, he’s showing important details such as moving toward the ball instead of waiting for the ball, with the first play being an example.
He’s also a willing shooter from NBA range, making the adjustment to the NBA three-point line easier for him. In the second play, there’s a detail that consistently came back in earlier games as well, being his lack of utilizing the time after he launches his shot to relocate to a better position to either box out for the potential miss or prepare to get back on defense quickly in case his three misses. An NBA decision-maker should take this into account in his evaluation in terms of the substance becoming more important than the flash.
Although we see fewer midrange jumpers at the NBA level, that’s an area where Shannon Jr. is comfortable in getting his production. Especially when running off screens. Illinois runs a fair share of double staggers or pin-downs to utilize Shannon Jr.’s willing trigger for the midrange area.
Considering how dangerous he is at the rim where he finishes at a 65.5% mark, it’s an area for Shannon Jr. to break down defenses and use his strength near the run, or his sudden pull-up jumper, mostly from the area around the free-throw line.
On a better-spaced NBA floor, he’ll likely make the transition quickly to expand his range to the three-point line in these particular playstyles involving him running off screens.
In time, Shannon Jr. will earn more reps to utilize his value as a pick-and-roll ball handler. At 2.2 assists versus 14.3 field-goal attempts per game, he’s mostly asked to carry Illinois’ scoring load. However, at the NBA level, he’ll likely average more assists due to his value as a rim-attacker that’ll open up the perimeter for spot-up shooters.
In a physical Big Ten, Shannon Jr. is already good at creating advantages using his strength near the rim, which explains his solid finishing rate of 65.5%. What stood out is the combination of his fluidity and his handles, leading to him being able to dribble out of most pick-and-roll coverages teams throw at him. If he’s creating separation via screens, he’ll likely attack big men hard. Against his assignment, he’ll use his strength to force his way into the paint.
Isolation basketball is a good measurement to project long-term scoring potential. Despite Shannon Jr. being 23 years old on draft night, there’s still untapped scoring potential for the next level an NBA decision-maker should keep in mind while evaluating his profile.
Whether it’s him using hesitation moves combined with defenders knowing they can’t get too close to Shannon Jr. due to his burst and handles helping him blow by them. What stood out is that he has a healthy balance between pull-up threes and attacking the rim. Shannon Jr. is very well aware of what defenses are willing to give him and what he can take. In most cases we see prospects relying on pull-up threes more often than not, where they are bailing out defenses by shooting them.
In Shannon Jr.’s case, he’ll attack the rim if his assignments get too close, or launch the three with his fairly quick release if the defenders drop enough to be late to contest the shot. The untapped potential comes with Shannon Jr.’s footwork combined with his ability to sell fakes to defenses to lure them into fouling him, with the second play below being an example.
At the NBA level, the most prolific shooters are known for their ability to continue to draw fouls anyway, despite opposing scouting reports prepared for it. That’s an area where Shannon Jr. can offer an NBA team untapped scoring potential in upcoming years, despite him entering the league as a fifth-year college senior.
NBA Draft Projection
While coming off an All-American season, his production led to Illinois winning the Big Ten while having their eyes set on the big prizes as a 3rd seed in the NCAA Tournament. For Shannon Jr., the production matches the expectation of his last year playing college basketball.
The most crucial takeaway compared to his first four seasons is Shannon Jr. embraced the fact he had to diversify his game to play in the NBA. He’s a lot better because he can carry his team one night, lower his usage, and play a more off-ball-heavy game the next night to complement his team.
Another area of improvement is Shannon Jr.’s NBA-ready frame which will lead to guard against wings and guards due to his physical tools, quickness, and strength. The league actively looks for wing-sized defenders to better prepare their team construction for the league’s transition to playing a more positionless brand of basketball.
An area of development is Shannon Jr’s screen navigation when he’s guarding in the pick-and-roll or the point of attack. The feasibility of him improving is present due to him being way better when he’s guarding in off-ball situations. Nevertheless, it’s an area of development an NBA decision-maker should consider when evaluating his profile.
Based on the above-mentioned areas and taking the NBA readiness of his profile in mind, I project Shannon Jr. to be a late first-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, with teams that are in win-now mode being the likely ones to target him.