Welcome to Charlotte - Christian Anderson

[Braggins]

I like that hes kind of young for a sophomore. His draft age is similar to Kons.

[JDR720]

He's 1 month older than Hannes.

[fatlever]

How does Anderson compare to Reed Shepphard both similarities and differences?

[JDR720]

From the athletic: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7382887/2026/06/23/nba-draft-grades-analysis-2026-vecenie-hollinger/

Spoiler:

I want to bet on Anderson’s upside as a shooter, as there is a legitimate chance that we look up in three years and see him as one of the best shooters on Earth. He’s that good. His shot is that balanced and versatile, and he can drill it in so many different types of situations.

I just can’t get there with Anderson on defense. If I’m going to bet on a smaller guard, I want him to have some strength or physicality to his game. Anderson isn’t afraid of getting bumped, but I don’t see how he’ll be strong enough to hold his lines and pressure anyone outside of lead guards on defense. In today’s NBA, where teams are much better at attacking smaller players and isolating them into the matchups they want, Anderson is going to have a tough time.

He projects as either a low-end starter or a high-end backup guard, which is still a player worth taking in the first round. If the shooting translates at the elite level it has potential to be, he could have some latent high-quality starter impact in the right situation offensively. If I thought he could create rim pressure or defend, I would have him much higher and bet on his upside.

Hollinger’s analysis: I was a bit lower on Anderson than some of my other draftniks, but his long-range shooting ability should fit nicely on a Charlotte team that bombed away freely last year. He also checks the backup point guard box that went mostly unfilled a year ago. The question for the Hornets likely came down to Anderson versus Labaron Philon, and I had them one after the other on my board. Grade: B

Pre-Draft strength:

Spoiler:

Anderson is about as productive a player as you’ll find in this draft class. Averaged 18.5 points and 7.4 assists while shooting 47 percent from the field, 41.5 percent from 3 and 80.5 percent from the line this season. Possesses a terrific blend of shooting and passing, two of the most important skills you can have for success in the NBA.

I love Anderson most as a jump shooter. He has a case as the best shooter in the draft class. Beyond the 41.5 percent mark from 3, Anderson is a highly versatile shooter with elite mechanics who can make them out of any situation. This is going to be an easy shooting translation in the NBA. Be it off pull-ups, off the catch or off movement into shots off the catch, Anderson will thrive.

It all starts with Anderson’s pull-up game, where the numbers are absurd. He drilled 41.7 percent of his pull-up 3s this year on about five attempts per game. Those numbers are elite, and the tape somehow looks even better. Has as balanced and beautiful a shot as you’ll see. Everything is in a straight line, and he’s seemingly never off-balance. I’m not sure I’ve evaluated better footwork going into a pull-up shot. It’s unbelievably clean. His release is pure, with great rotation on the ball and a consistent arc. Makes them going to his left and right. Can sidestep into them on either side. Tends not to have to realign himself in midair because of how good his footwork is but has shown the ability to do so. Can also knock them down from NBA distance. Made 42.3 percent of his shots from beyond 26 feet, so it’s very easy to buy into him translating immediately as a shooter.

Everything Anderson does is pure off the catch. Drilled 39.7 percent of these shots. Takes them perfectly off the hop with great speed and rhythm. That tends to be his preference. Shot prep is elite with his alignment. Always ready to fire from distance. He can also make them with left-right or right-left footwork, depending on the situation. Also tends to take abnormally longer strides into his footwork off the catch into his shot, but everything comes up pure. An incredibly versatile shooter.

Texas Tech didn’t use him in screening actions off the ball, but he has the type of shot that would translate to it well because of those long strides. He also moves exceedingly well when relocating off offensive rebounds or when his man has to play in help situations. Drifts into open areas intelligently and seems to have a great sense of where the dead space in the defense is.

Lethal pick-and-roll player, largely because of the shot. If a defender goes under a screen within 30 feet, there’s a good chance that Anderson is letting it fly with a high-percentage 3-point look. But he can also snake his way into the midrange, where he hit 43 percent of his jumpers. He has a nice, natural fadeaway to get separation from defenders and to get air under the ball.

Also does a nice job in ball screens of maintaining his advantage once he gets it. Does a good job staying low to keep defenders on his hip. Can bend and stay low to keep leverage on his man. Can beat you in drop coverage. Can beat you at the level by timing when you show and recover. Can also beat switches against bigs with quick sidesteps and stepbacks. Very comfortable when he has a screen. Knows all the reads. He’s patient and sharp in how he attacks in these circumstances, letting the play develop in front of him before making his choices. Plays with sharp hesitations that keep defenders guessing because of the threat of that shot. Has a nice inside-out move. He’s small, but he’s unafraid of contact.

Makes his shots at the rim when he gets there and has sharp gathers with Euro steps and quick finishes with touch. Made 58.1 percent of his attempts at the rim, a solid number given how undersized he is. I’m skeptical this will hold up in the NBA, but he was effective as a finisher this season.

Anderson’s passing out of ball screens took a huge leap this season. Dished out 7.4 assists per game this year, which was fifth nationally. Does a good job reading the defensive rotations, going through his progressions and finding the right play. Terrific at reading the low man tagging on the weak side. Hits cross-corner kickouts to shooters with ease. Hits lobs with solid touch to rollers. Can throw them off a live dribble with his right hand, quickly gathering into a pass with velocity.

The gravity of his shooting plays a role in his passing ability. He can manipulate back-line defenders with his eyes. shows ability to move defenders and confuse them. Also throws bounce passes to his teammates and is slick with how he finds angles for them. His vision might not be elite, but he can find the reads. Should be a capable ball-screen playmaker for his teammates in the NBA.

Defensively, there are major questions about Anderson, but at least he plays hard on that end. He can stay in front of his man, even though he can’t stop him from getting to the lane. Tries to be disruptive with his length. He averaged 1.5 steals this season, and his instincts aren’t bad. He ran around off-ball screens well and got skinny through them.

Typically, guys who work hard on defense can be at least somewhat functional in the NBA on that end. I’m skeptical of Anderson being even an average defender, but he might not hemorrhage points the way you might think.

Weaknesses:

Spoiler:

Anderson’s frame is concerning. Measured 6 feet 1 with a 6-foot-6 wingspan at the combine. He was listed at just 175 pounds this season at Texas Tech and came in at 180 at the combine.

That lack of strength is a major issue. Anderson will be at a significant disadvantage defensively in the NBA, and you could see some of those issues pop up in college this season on both ends.

Anderson isn’t a great athlete by NBA standards. Can get up for a dunk here or there, but he’s not overly vertical, and his first step doesn’t jump off the page. Any sort of explosiveness that Anderson can add to make up for his size will be critical.

Struggles to hold his line defensively. He can’t stop anyone from powering through his chest and getting to the rim. Guys got paint touches by going through his body. He’s not strong enough through his lower half. When someone put his shoulder or hip into Anderson, he moved backward. NBA players will drive through him even if he can stay in front of them. Or they’ll just shoot over him.

Anderson won’t have any switchability at the next level, and opposing teams will hunt him in mismatch situations because of this. It feels like Anderson often has to guess where his man is going because of his lack of ability to cover ground. He has to overcommit one way or another, and he gets pushed out of position.

I also don’t love Anderson’s closeout technique. It felt as if he overpursued on his closeouts off the ball and got driven more than you would have expected. I worry about teams putting him as the low man in weakside situations while making him cover in one-on-two situations, where his lack of relative length will be a problem — especially if he can’t close out effectively to his first responsibility.

I also worry about Anderson beating non-big defenders in isolation situations, given how important the shotmaking is to his profile. Tends to need a screen to get loose. Has to take wide driving angles. Even when he has a mismatch, it’s rare to see him go in a straight line to the rim. His handle isn’t overly tight for a player this small. His crossovers can be looping and rounded. Can string together moves, but they’re not lightning quick by NBA standards. Anderson’s success will depend on him becoming a stronger, better ballhandler with tighter, quicker moves.

He doesn’t seem to get many paint touches. A low percentage of his assists seemed to come after he touched the paint. Most of them came when he read the back line early from around the college 3-point line. Also tends to pick the ball up there early and end his dribble. I didn’t see many live-dribble left-handed passes this season that led to assists. He was much more right-hand dominant. I also didn’t see many assists, compared with other lead guards, that came in the general run of play as opposed to out of ball screens.

His tendency to pick up his dribble early leads to turnover issues, too. Averaged 3.3 turnovers per game, a high number even though he handles the ball as much as he does. Can get blitzed too easily and get sped up. When he did drive, he would occasionally overdrive and put himself in trouble spots that led to turnovers, too.

Anderson does not create any rim pressure as a lead guard. Yes, he made 58.1 percent of his shots at the rim. But he took under two shots at the rim per game, which is a wildly low number for someone who handles the ball so much. It makes sense that he doesn’t get into the lane that often because of his size, but it’s a major issue he’ll need to figure out. I’m skeptical that a largely below-the-rim finisher with questionable explosiveness will have a great time as a finisher in the NBA unless he really works toward picking his spots.

That also trickles into his ability to get to the foul line. Given how much Anderson holds on to the ball, he doesn’t draw free throws that often. Attempted just 3.6 free-throw attempts per game this season. He leans away from contact at the rim and doesn’t possess the tricks of the trade that many of the best guards in this class do, such as throwing his hands into opposing players to draw fouls. Anderson might end up as a very perimeter-centric player.

[JDR720]

TLDR: He's a very good passer and elite 3pt shooter, yet has all the usual issues smaller guards have.

I think he's basically Pritchard, due to 3pt volume + PnR skills.

[Snidely FC]

I still can't believe the team passed on guys like Karim, Carr, Koa and even Quaintance in favor of an undersized guard

[EmpireFalls]

How does Anderson compare to Reed Shepphard both similarities and differences?

Better ball handler and passer definitely. Part of it is getting more PNR reps but he is an actual PG whereas Reed is arguably a tiny wing in terms of funcional basketball profile. So he has real PG traits, although has the issues getting to the rim as noted. Reed was a slightly better driver and 2 point scorer.

Reed a better defender, not only as a playmaker (ridiculous steal rate and hands) but he's better navigating screens, keeping the ball in front, rebounding, all the off-ball stuff Reed is better at pretty clearly.

Shooting is similar. Reed shot a crazy percentage in college but CA shot more of them and most were pull-ups which are tougher than spotups.

I'd say Reed was the better overall prospect in terms of the defense and shooting being unique, but there are definitely similarities. CA will be asked to do more on ball than Reed would have been is the biggest one, and CA will struggle more defensively is my guess.

[vexco]

TLDR: He's a very good passer and elite 3pt shooter, yet has all the usual issues smaller guards have.

I think he's basically Pritchard, due to 3pt volume + PnR skills.

Id take that all day. I think hes better at getting his shot off tho

[Braggins]

Read on Twitter

[Braggins]

I'm excited for summer league. CA/Siam/Liam/Salaun/Hannes is a helluva sl squad. Wouldn't be shocked if Kon played some games even though he has no reason to.

Read on Twitter

?s=20

[KingCat]

Floor: Dillingham
Middle: Devontae Graham
Ceiling: at first I wanted to say a none stacked Fred Van Fleet, but i like the Payton Pritchard comparison I saw above.

Goes without saying that the kid will need to be pretty elite from 3 to have an impact in the league

[Stun704]

Floor: Dillingham
Middle: Devontae Graham
Ceiling: after first I wanted to say a none stacked Fred Van Fleet, but i like the Payton Pritchard comparison I saw above.

Goes without saying that the kid will need to be pretty elite from 3 to have an impact in the league

The ceiling is Brunson

[wilson115]

Ceiling: mini-LaMelo

Pulls up from three at will, draws double-teams on the regular, and somehow gets people wide open for dunks and threes while rarely getting into the paint. Really needs to get stronger to get past defenders and keep from getting bullied on D himself. Unlike LaMelo, an iron man on staying available (2nd in the nation in minutes at >38 per).

Watch on YouTube

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter