Tyson Degenhart Scouting Report

Tweeners are seen as a negative. But in Degenhart's case, it gives his NBA profile more body. His skill set of a floor-stretching, physical ready-forward with good touch is wanted. Here's why:

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Tyson Degenhart (#2), Academic All-American, via Mountain West

Introduction

Degenhart enters his fourth year at Boise State, while being a back-to-back Mountain West All-First Team member. That led to him being the preseason favorite to land Mountain West Player of the Year. His upperclassman status adds more value to production while showing a role he can play in the NBA. That’s the emphasis of this scouting report.

The Spokane, WA-born also stands out with his full focus on his academics, as he’s a CSC First Team Academic All-American. That, combined with his loyalty to the program should give NBA decision-makers a good feel of how well he’s focused on his future and how dedicated he is to his craft. Intangibles such as these add value to a draft profile before it becomes all about what he does on the court.

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Physical Profile

At 6-foot-8, Degenhart has a well-filled frame and broad shoulders. He’s listed at 235 pounds. His game stands out with a combination of physical strength and toughness. His footwork is the main advantage creator on both ends, as it's greatly developed in the last few years. Degenhart is a good athlete, specifically with his core strength and fluid hips.

That adds versatility on both ends, where he’s comfortable playing as both a four and five as a scorer. He's also a reliable defender who closes out the perimeter while showing good screen navigation in pick-and-roll sets. Degenhart is a scorer at heart, and his entire physical package helps his style of play. He’s attacking opponents to ensure they lose balance.

However, at times he can be overwhelmed by better vertical athletes. That’s the other side of the coin which doesn’t take away that Degenhart can target a niche skill. His current status as the team’s leader puts him in enough situations where he needs his physicality.

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Offense

Catch-and-shoot

The first thing that immediately stood out is Degenhart not leveraging his closeout attacks after the catch. He’s utilized as a spot-up shooter in the four plays below. Despite setting his feet well, there’s rarely body movement or even hesitation to where Degenhart uses the dribble penetration to find his way to the basket. He’s a good athlete, and driving to attack closeouts is an area he can improve to add more value to being a recipient of catch-and-shoot options.

However, when evaluating his shot process, Degenhart does well to quickly set his feet and enter his shooting motion. At times, he’s a tad too slow to power up for his shot, although bringing the ball quickly to his chest after the catch. He’s fluid in elevating for his shot, where he has a decently high arcing release. Regardless, after shooting 31.6% last year, the numbers haven’t caught up. At the same time, there’s more value in his shot process, especially considering the role of being the leader of this Boise State squad. Despite air-balling the shot, the first play shows a good process.

In the second possession, Degenhart is wide open and corrects his stance after the catch before the jump. This time, the release and elevation were more fluid. That’s something he’ll show throughout the season. Therefore, it gives more feasibility to the returns being much better than the 20% from three he’s averaging this season. In the third play, he’s catching the ball on his right side and quickly corrects the ball, bringing it to 180 degrees, while keeping it close to his chest before the release.

For his NBA career, the fourth play is an interesting one. Degenhart has the strength to experiment with no-dip threes. Especially since he’s setting his feet so quickly, that’s a value adder to his role as the four-man. This helps him to eliminate quick closeouts, as the process in itself is fluid, and the only time-loser is his tendency to bring the ball down first before elevating up for his shot.

Catch-and-drive

When attacking closeouts, Degenhart does well to sell the defense that he’s pulling up for the jumper. He has good footwork, where he pivots his right foot well in the first play below, which helps to elevate his burst. With the lack of true speed, he compensates for it with proper footwork and effectively getting downhill for the layup finish on the play. Despite the miss, the returns are there for him, as Degenhart finishes on 71.6% of his rim attempts. That continues when he’s making plays from inside the interior on entry passes. In the second play, he pivots his foot well to use his spin move before ducking in to finish the lay-in from underneath the basket.

Degenhart has a great feel for angles, recognizing them promptly. That’s the part that makes him an effective interior finisher. In the third possession below, he does show an area of development. At times, mainly due to his role as the team’s leading scorer, Degenhart has some tunnel vision where he’s forcing his layups against defenders that already collapse on him. Therefore, making the extra pass and improving his court vision in live-play situations will be a game-changer for his NBA role.

In the fourth play below, he shows another example of pivoting strongly with his foot before elevating for his burst. He creates his finishing angle by using his big body to sell the defense he’s going one way before spinning the other. The fluid hips are on display. Despite the finish being off, that was a good possession on his part. For the NBA, his handles on closeout attacks while he’s exploiting the baseline are the most essential. He shows good process on that end, having a good feel for when to duck in before the finish. That’s a signature move on his interior finishes. Despite the miss, his physicality and toughness helps him to get to the charity stripe. He’s averaging close to 7 free-throw attempts, converting them at an efficient 84.0% clip.

Passing

At 1.5 assists to 1.2 turnovers, the ball-heavy duty shows he’s taking good care of the ball while offering some connective passing. Due to his role as Boise State’s main scorer, Degenhart isn’t in a position to fully show his playmaking skillset. In the NBA, the four-man is becoming the most essential player on the floor to make sets with more ball movement work. Degenhart is a good ball mover, but he has to show that he can execute his passing reads more consistently. With his tunnel vision as a scorer costing him some passing opportunities, that’s what NBA decision-makers must focus on when evaluating his profile.

In the first two plays below, Degenhart shows his ability to quickly recognize motion around him before finding the open three-point shooters. Those are basic ball-mover skills to manage. But that’s the same in the NBA. Not every assist has to be a flashy play or high-level read. Degenhart showing the basis of quickly getting the ball out of his hands to the right man at the right time gives the base for his value as a playmaker at the next level.

In the third play, things get interesting. He’s showing the same quickness of passing in the interior. That gives comfort in his potential as a short-roll passer. He’s coming through the middle very well, with basically no time needed to find the cutter for the easy two. In the fourth play below, Degenhart gets the pass to the elbow, using his height advantage well to see over the defense and keeping the ball high to find the option in the mid-post effectively. After the pass, he passively stays near the elbow to where the extra motion to potentially be the recipient for a bailout pass against tight defense is the next thing to add to his game.

Motion after passes is vital in the NBA. That’s because the game is so quick, the passing player should always aim to serve as the option to get the ball back as a bailout option potentially. However, NBA decision-makers will like Degenhart keeping the ball high with his feet set to attack potential closeouts. The last play is another example. There’s potential for Degenhart to increase his passing responsibilities at the next level, mostly due to his ability to make the correct play, where he’s not backing away from more risky passes.

Cutting

One reason Degenhart is an effective rim finisher is his active cutting and the gravity his physicality and strength hold when he’s near the basket. That forces defenders to commit more to him. Despite him attempting some tougher finishes, that’s a good habit that serves him well in the NBA. However, at times, he’s too passive around the rim, putting some risk on potential offensive three-second calls, as shown in the first play below. He waited a bit too long, where a step back could have made it easier for the passer to find him and where he, at the same moment, would have had a better finishing angle for the layup.

Degenhart shows good hands in the second play below after his team crashes the offensive glass. It was a tough pass to save the play, but he kept his composure and corrected the ball well between two defenders before showing the no-dip finishing attempt. That’s a value adder to his profile as a cutter, mainly for the quickness without wasting time and using his strength to keep the ball high.

In the third possession, he recognizes the space in the lane very well, cutting through the middle before showing his fluid hips and footwork before drawing the foul, almost getting the and-one on the play. He’s also good at recognizing help defenders around him. In the fourth play, the opposing defense focused on the dribble penetration, and Degenhart ensured he ducked in a timely without again wasting any time or motion by keeping the ball high before finishing the dropoff pass. Cutting-wise, he has everything NBA teams look for in forwards who can serve as play-finishers. That’s another area for him to hang his hat on as a four-man in the NBA.