Welcome to Charlotte - Christian Anderson

[MPM]

Posted this in the draft thread, but worth reposting here.

https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/2026-nba-draft-christian-anderson

That was the write up that first got me into him

Yeah, it definitely helped assuage some of my initial doubt.

[EmpireFalls]

I thought EmpireFalls said he couldn’t drive to the paint

He can’t… at least, he doesn’t very often.

He averages <2 rim attempts per game which is an extremely low number for a PG with the ball-handling load he has. His isolations and drives results in a jumper approximately 78% of the time according to a stat I saw, meaning he gets into the paint maybe 1 out of every 5 times. He has an extremely low free throw rate too, rarely draws fouls and shoots just 3.5 FTA a game which again is a very low number for his usage.

As a PG you should be breaking down the defense and touching paint, that’s not his game whatsoever.

And it shows up on tape too, he’s not very athletic, contact averse, doesn’t blow by defenders, doesn’t really have a way to get around them.

To be clear I like Anderson the prospect. On the Pistons or Rockets he’d have been a great fit. He is one of the best pull-up 3 point shooters I’ve ever seen at the college level. He’s Devonte Graham-esque. But on our team, he basically is just more of the same.

[MPM]

On the Pistons or Rockets he’d have been a great fit. He is one of the best pull-up 3 point shooters I’ve ever seen at the college level. He’s Devonte Graham-esque. But on our team, he basically is just more of the same.

Agree he would've been a homerun for the Pistons.

Remain concerned about our lack of dribble-drive guys. Intrigued by his passing but when everyone is camped along the perimeter, no one's cutting, defenses don't collapse, the dribble-drive threat is low, and you don't have PNR guys who can finish, the value of that passing is devalued.

[Stun704]

I thought EmpireFalls said he couldn’t drive to the paint

He can’t… at least, he doesn’t very often.

He averages <2 rim attempts per game which is an extremely low number for a PG with the ball-handling load he has. His isolations and drives results in a jumper approximately 78% of the time according to a stat I saw, meaning he gets into the paint maybe 1 out of every 5 times. He has an extremely low free throw rate too, rarely draws fouls and shoots just 3.5 FTA a game which again is a very low number for his usage.

As a PG you should be breaking down the defense and touching paint, that’s not his game whatsoever.

And it shows up on tape too, he’s not very athletic, contact averse, doesn’t blow by defenders, doesn’t really have a way to get around them.

To be clear I like Anderson the prospect. On the Pistons or Rockets he’d have been a great fit. He is one of the best pull-up 3 point shooters I’ve ever seen at the college level. He’s Devonte Graham-esque. But on our team, he basically is just more of the same.

Is it easier to develop a 3 pt shot or an inside game?

[vexco]

The more I watch of him after the pick, the happier I am with the pick. Hes not Curry but dude can get his shot off anytime.

[EmpireFalls]

I thought EmpireFalls said he couldn’t drive to the paint

He can’t… at least, he doesn’t very often.

He averages <2 rim attempts per game which is an extremely low number for a PG with the ball-handling load he has. His isolations and drives results in a jumper approximately 78% of the time according to a stat I saw, meaning he gets into the paint maybe 1 out of every 5 times. He has an extremely low free throw rate too, rarely draws fouls and shoots just 3.5 FTA a game which again is a very low number for his usage.

As a PG you should be breaking down the defense and touching paint, that’s not his game whatsoever.

And it shows up on tape too, he’s not very athletic, contact averse, doesn’t blow by defenders, doesn’t really have a way to get around them.

To be clear I like Anderson the prospect. On the Pistons or Rockets he’d have been a great fit. He is one of the best pull-up 3 point shooters I’ve ever seen at the college level. He’s Devonte Graham-esque. But on our team, he basically is just more of the same.

Is it easier to develop a 3 pt shot or an inside game?

3 point shot.

[JDR720]

Think this means Coby will be traded. Anderson is probably Collin Sexton-like, so hopefully he turns out better than that.

[Diop]

Think this means Coby will be traded. Anderson is probably Collin Sexton-like, so hopefully he turns out better than that.

He’s more pg than white, but also unproven, I don’t think this changes the Coby situation

[amcoolio]

Yeah, Coby is staying - but only for a year or two, I don't think the plan ever was to lock up Coby long term. I think Coby is about to start his Sexton/Crawford arc of playing for half the league over the second half of his career.

Christian Anderson would have been a top 8 pick if he was bigger. He's a certified bucket getter, with a lot more talent than KJ Simpson or Devonte Graham - but he does have is work cut out for him becuase of his size.

He'll eat up Summer League, we should be favorites to repeat

[JDR720]

An interesting comp I've seen for him is CJ McCollum.

[Chapelchilla]

I am still feeling mid about this pick and would have doubled down on another big like Cenac/Peat/Jayden at that spot but we do need a back up PG and pretty much always have so there’s that.

[amcoolio]

I am still feeling mid about this pick and would have doubled down on another big like Cenac/Peat/Jayden at that spot but we do need a back up PG and pretty much always have so there’s that.

I think Salaun and Liam being on the team clogs the forward situation. 18 is pretty much a complete shot in the dark anyway. We also have 4 first round picks in the next two draft as well, plus its a given the team is bringing in a veteran forward or center in the next week

[JMAC3]

Comparing Draft Prospects- Guards

Mikel-6-3.5 barefoot, 6-7.5 wingspan and 8-4.5 standing reach
190 lbs, 8.25 x 9.5 hands. 33.5 standing vert. 39.5 max vert.
Ranks among Listed Guards- Lane Agility 1st, 3/4 sprint 6th. Shuttle 3rd
2.4% steal. 30.3 Assist Rate and 44.7 FTR
55 made threes, 5 midrange makes. 84.5% FT%
10 Dunks and 59.3% finishing at rim.

Wagler- 6-5 barefoot, 6-6.25 wingspan and 8-4 standing reach
188 lbs, 8 x 9.25 hands. 33 standing vert. 36 max vert.
Ranks among Listed Guards- Lane Agility 6th, 3/4 sprint 8th. Shuttle 7th
1.7% steal. 23.2 Assist Rate and 47.6 FTR
87 made threes, 11 midrange makes. 80% FT%
0 Dunks and 62.3% finishing at rim.

Okorie- 6-1.25 barefoot, 6-7.75 wingspan, 8-2 standing reach.
186 lbs, 9 x 9.25 hands. 31.5 standing vert. 37.5 max vert.
Ranks among Listed Guards- Lane Agility 3rd, 3/4 sprint 7th. Shuttle 6th
2.7% steal. 23.9 Assist Rate and 44.9 FTR
63 made threes, 24 midrange makes. 83% FT%
8 Dunks and 53.5% finishing at rim.

Stirtz- 6-2.5 barefoot, 6-6 wingspan and 8-2.5 standing reach.
186 lbs, 8.5 x 9.75 hands. 30.5 standing vert. 37.5 max vert.
Ranks among Listed Guards- Lane Agility 7th, 3/4 sprint 4th. Shuttle 4th
2.3% steal. 24.9 Assist Rate and 31.4 FTR
92 made threes, 46 midrange makes. 85% FT%
11 Dunks and 64.2% finishing at rim.

Acuff- 6-2 barefoot, 6-6.5 wingspan, 8-2.5 standing reach.
185 lbs. 8.5 x 9.25 hands. 31.5 standing vert. 36.5 max vert.
Ranks among Listed Guards- Lane Agility 5th, 3/4 sprint 1st. Shuttle 5th
1.3% steal. 32.2 Assist Rate and 37 FTR
91 made threes, 51 midrange makes. 81% FT%
7 Dunks and 56.6% finishing at rim.

Flemings- 6-2.5 barefoot, 6-3.5 wingspan and 8-2.5 standing reach.
183 lbs. 8.5 x 9.5 hands. 33.5 standing vert. 40.5 max vert.
Ranks among Listed Guards- Lane Agility 2nd, 3/4 sprint 2nd. Shuttle 1st
3% steal. 32.6 Assist Rate and 27.7 FTR
41 made threes, 76 midrange makes. 84.5% FT%
11 Dunks and 54.2% finishing at rim.

Philon- 6-2.5 barefoot, 6-6.25 wingspan and 8-3.5 standing reach.
176 lbs, 8.5 x 9 hands. 30.5 standing vert. 35 max vert.
Ranks among Listed Guards- Lane Agility 8th, 3/4 sprint 3rd. Shuttle 8th
2% steal. 31.9 Assist Rate and 40.8 FTR
81 made threes, 10 midrange makes. 80% FT%
5 Dunks and 61.9% finishing at rim.

Anderson- 6-1 barefoot, 6-6.25 wingspan and 8-0.5 standing reach.
180 lbs, 8.5 x 8.25 hands. 31 standing vert. 40.5 max vert.
Ranks among Listed Guards- Lane Agility 4th, 3/4 sprint 5th. Shuttle 2nd
2.2% steal. 35.2 Assist Rate and 27.3 FTR
108 made threes, 25 midrange makes. 80.5% FT%
8 Dunks and 62.3% finishing at rim.

Notable things here to me.
- Decent gap in assist rate between Acuff, Anderson, Philon, Fleming, Brown over Stirtz, Okorie, Wagler.
- Anderson smallest height, standing reach and hands.
- Philon a tier below this group athletically.
- Stirtz, Fleming and Anderson worst of the group at drawing fouls.
- Wagler, Philon and Brown no midrange game at all.
- Okorie and Fleming most suspect from three.
- Okorie, Fleming and Acuff three worst finishers.

Overall still not sure how to rank the tier 2 guards of Stirtz, Anderson, Philon and Okorie.
All are about same size, all productive, all have flaws.

Philon is probably my favorite of that group tho.

Here is my writeup and comparison of the point guards in this class from earlier in draft thread.

[Braggins]

Anderson having 8 dunks at 6'1" is pretty interesting. Shows some functionality of the 40" vert.

[JMAC3]

As far as Anderson is concerned, he wouldn't have been my pick at 18 but the guy does have positive traits. I worry about the defense with his smaller frame- mentioned above he is the smallest of the guards. He did test quite well with 40 inch vert and 2nd best shuttle. The biggest takeaway for me though is he is a true point guard- his assist rate and vision is absolutely the real deal to play the 1 in the NBA- even more so than Coby White.

My guess is this spells the end for Tre Mann more than it does for Coby. Anderson and Coby aren't a glove fit off the bench but to be honest you can get away with poor defenders on the 2nd unit a lot more than with starters. Mann played almost 700 minutes last year so there are minutes available for Anderson even if we keep Coby- who played 1250 minutes between Cha/Chi so clearly the plan shouldn't be to have Anderson try to soak up all those minutes as mid first in his rookie year.

Other negatives mentioned, he doesn't draw fouls too often and he doesn't have an elite midrange game. I think he will settle in somewhere between Marcus Sasser and Payton Pritchard.

[fatlever]

one thing i think is true is the anderson pick most likely proves the hornets had very real interest in stirtz. my guess is, at 14 they wanted one of mo/hannes and at 18 wanted one of stirtz/anderson
im curious how closely they had stirtz/anderson ranked

[Chapelchilla]

one thing i think is true is the anderson pick most likely proves the hornets had very real interest in stirtz. my guess is, at 14 they wanted one of mo/hannes and at 18 wanted one of stirtz/anderson
im curious how closely they had stirtz/anderson ranked

The probably wanted Stirtz but clearly he was in more demand (taller) around the league so we lost out. He seems like a decent choice to fill the backup spot at point at least. Maybe he is better than that?

[fatlever]

anderson vs philon Is definitely going to be a hot debate for several years. Gonna be a lot of I told you so comments if philon blows up. From what I could read through the thread last night it seemed like the majority of the board was wanting carr

[EmpireFalls]

anderson vs philon Is definitely going to be a hot debate for several years. Gonna be a lot of I told you so comments if philon blows up. From what I could read through the thread last night it seemed like the majority of the board was wanting carr

They're close enough in talent that it's probably going to come down to opportunity.

Philon's 2 point scoring and diversity of play is a bit more intriguing than Anderson's. CA also had a lot more turnovers and a lot more issues scoring in the paint. So all else equal I think Philon would've been better here. I think he has a real chance to be unguardable in that midrange area. But he has similar drawbacks to CA so, can't lose my mind over it.

[Braggins]

anderson vs philon Is definitely going to be a hot debate for several years. Gonna be a lot of I told you so comments if philon blows up. From what I could read through the thread last night it seemed like the majority of the board was wanting carr

Anderson and Philon both seem similarly good as prospects to me. I do think Philon was a better fit since he has a few inches of extra standing reach, has shown more defensive potential, and is really good at pressuring the rim (and can still shoot), but I could totally see an argument for Anderson as the better player in general.

I last second flip flopped to Carr last night because he just seemed like the most seamless fit. A super athletic guard with a 7' wingspan that can block shots from the weak side and has a legit 3pt shot sounds so nice on this roster. No idea if he would really be BPA in that spot, so its not necessarily a problem they passed on him.