Washington Wizards: Drafting Corey Kispert at #15 was a reach

Corey Kispert won’t add much besides shooting

The offense
Shooting ability positively impacts other facets of the game. Corey Kispert is always going to be respected from downtown — he’ll carry that from Day 1. But what if his “superpower” is actually a bit ordinary? Then, Kispert will need to offer more to justify the investment at #15.

There isn’t much there with Kispert on-ball. He’s solely a one-cut driver and doesn’t look for teammates once he puts it on the floor. He ranked last among Gonzaga’s rotation players in AST% in 2019-20 and 2020-21. On closeouts, Kispert tends to venture into trouble towards the teeth of the defense. This decision-making rears its ugly head in pick-and-roll situations, where he’ll often misread the tagger or choose an odd driving lane. Instead of keeping the defender on his hip here, Kispert crosses back towards the middle, thus ceding any advantage. Without much burst, Kispert is prone to opponents disrupting his dribble and has a habit of killing it early. Even against mismatches, Kispert struggled to gain consistent separation.

Off the ball is a completely different story. Corey Kispert is a tireless cutter and screener with a gifted sense of spatial awareness. Simple maneuvers like this one open up teammates. Kispert was a menace in transition as well (1.55 PPP, or 97th percentile per Synergy) — sprinting the floor for leak-outs or filling the corner Garrison Mathews-style. As a finisher, Kispert has solid touch with both hands and can elevate off one or two feet if he has momentum. He’s also comfortable using his big body to ward off the help defense, though it’s fair to wonder how he’ll transition from WCC rim-protectors to the behemoths in the NBA. Good luck getting this move to work at the next level.

If Corey Kispert derives all of his value on offense from off-ball play, what does that mean for his career? For one, he better shoot a lot. The situation at Gonzaga was as close to basketball nirvana as you’re ever going to see: Kispert got spoon-fed open looks from all over the court and was rarely forced to overextend himself. All the dominoes were aligned for him to succeed.

But you can find capable stand-still bombers anywhere. Will Kispert be a versatile NBA shooter?  I’m not convinced he will.

The defense
The Washington Wizards supposedly drafted Kispert to compete for minutes behind Beal and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on the wing. However, I’m not sold on his footspeed in guarding those positions. While Kispert is solid at containing his man through strength and angles, he can get mixed pretty badly on the perimeter. We saw it in the NCAA title game versus Baylor. That’s why I’m of the mindset that his eventual destiny is as a combo forward.

As a team defender, Kispert is generally in the right spot. He’s an intuitive helper with active hands and held his own in the Bulldogs’ switch-heavy scheme. However, he falls behind the play at times. Here he sticks in the paint too long and doesn’t possess the quickness to chew up ground on closeouts.

To sum it up
Overall, I’d be shocked if Corey Kispert ever turns into an on-ball shot creator. He’s also likely never to be anything more than an average defender. Will he have to hide on the opposing team’s least-threatening forward? The Wizards already have this problem with both Davis Bertans. In my eyes, the redundancy with Bertans makes the selection inexplicable, especially when Kispert is viewed as “NBA ready.”