Basics

Height: 6’4”
Weight: 188.6 lbs
Wingspan: 6’6.75″
Age: 21
School: Wichita State
DraftExpress Rank: 42
Season stats:  31.7 minutes, 14.9 points, 5.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 48.9%FG, 44.2% 3-point.

Overview

Shooters.  The Lakers need them.  Landry Shamet is one of the best shooters in the NCAA.  We’ve seen Marco Belinelli, Kyle Korver, and J.J. Redick make a bunch of shots in the halfcourt during the playoffs and the Lakers need a guy just like that, except, Shamet can actually handle the ball a bit too.

Also, don’t let the wingspan fool you.  While it seems relatively average, he has a very narrow frame. He still has tremendously long arms. Here’s a quick comparison:

Lonnie Walker:  6’3.75″ w/o shoes, 6’10.25″ wingspan, 8’3.5″ standing reach.

Landry Shamet: 6’4″ w/o shoes, 6’6.75″ wingspan, 8’4″ standing reach.

Despite the considerable difference in wingspan, both Walker and Shamet are right in line with lengthy point guards or average shooting guards in terms of standing reach.  They’ll get their shots off.

Offense:

Attacking – Shamet’s very comfortable shooting behind screens in pick and roll situations. He attacks, usually with a change of direction into a straight-line drive, where he uses his shot credibility to pull defenses towards him up high. Once the second defender meets him, instead of changing directions or running into him to draw contact, he uses his wingspan to extend past him and get good shots.

Shooting – He’s arguably the best dynamic shooter in NCAA. Off-ball, pull-ups and catch-and-shoot shot volume indicate shot diversity. He’s incredibly accurate given his shot diversity. He showed a relatively flat shot during the NCAA season, but there are signs of raised arc on recent workout footage. The past two seasons, he averaged 44 percent shooting behind the arc, most recently at six 3-point attempts per game.

Up close, he converts at a surprisingly high 71 percent shots at the rim. However, 55.9 percent of those shots are assisted, which also indicate his level of comfort off-ball.  While he’s not an explosive finisher at the rim, he’s capable of showing some craft.

If there are concerns, it is related to his unusually long arms. When he gets into his shot form, the arms are outward much more than usual. This makes it tougher to get quality shots off in pressure situations and was evident during the NBA Draft Combine scrimmages.

Playmaking – He has surprising ability to get to the rim, especially out of the pick and roll. As a passer out of the pick and roll, he’s able to make solid reads out of drive-and-kick situations or hit the dive man but isn’t an advanced passer yet. That being said, he has a 28.8 percent assist rate with a 16.4 percent turnover rate.

This video of his 20-point, 11-assist performance against SMU highlights his passing and playmaking ability.

Defense

Defensively, he has low level event creation. While he makes a solid effort, he may get screened out easily due to his thin frame and lack of advanced defensive footwork (e.g. leading with the shoulder, beating the player to the spot). At the next level, he’s best as a wing-defender, but off-ball.

Fit With Lakers

On the Lakers, he’s plug-and-play. Not only do the Lakers run the offensive sets that he would succeed in, but Shamet wouldn’t carry the offensive load early on. Instead, he’ll be drawing defenders with shot gravity, or just get easy, open looks out to NBA range, where he is comfortable.

The Lakers need shooters, or even just someone that resembles what Bryce Alford showed at UCLA. Landry Shamet can do that in spades and attack closeouts with mid-range shooting altogether. With that kind of ability, it’s a natural fit for Lonzo Ball in the backcourt.

For a complete list of the draft profiles done by our staff for the 2018 NBA Draft, visit our profile tracker.