Examining options Michigan has following Jaelin Llewellyn's injury
Michigan and Juwan Howard once again reached into the transfer portal and to acquire another grad transfer in a former-Princeton point guard, Jaelin Llewellyn, prior to the 2022 season. A decision that was deemed questionable in the eyes of some fans, who saw sophomore point guard, Frankie Collins, leave the program just two days following the acquisition of Llewellyn.
Collins moved on to Arizona State, playing for his sixth school in as many years, and Llewellyn took the mantle in Ann Arbor, with very limited depth behind him in 5-foot-10 true freshman, Dug McDaniel.
Michigan nor Llewellyn have had the start to the season, they were hoping for. Llewellyn is averaging just 7.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists on 30.9% shooting in 26.4 minutes of game time, as the Wolverines have started just 5-3, with two close losses to ranked opponents.
One of those losses came 73-69 by the hands of the Kentucky Wildcats in London. The same game which saw Llewellyn suffer a brutal non-contact to his left knee. News broke Wednesday afternoon that he would be ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
Michigan seemingly pushed their chips in on Llewellyn being that guy for this team and with him no longer in the equation, Coach Howard will be looking for answers.
Let's discuss some of the possibilities:
Option 1: The most reasonable and most likely
By far, the most reasonable assumption is true freshman, Dug McDaniel will assume the role of starting point guard for the remainder of the season. Fans would be excited to see a young underclassman guard see extended minutes in the backcourt as Coach Howard can silence the critics who say he can't develop guards.
McDaniel on the year is averaging 4.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists, despite playing less than 15 minutes per game, while also shooting better across the board than Llewellyn is. The 5-foot-10 guard has a claim to be the fastest player in the country and showcases his elite quickness regularly.
Quite frankly, the game needs to slow down for McDaniel, but don't get it twisted, he won't slow down for anyone. He has a different level of confidence that fuels him and one would say, "he has that dawg in him". If McDaniel can play with a touch more pace and control, you could see him turn into a Tyler Ulis-esque talent. The staff has full faith in what he brings to the game and will likely see close to 30 minutes per game going forward.
As for the other 10 minutes, it seems quite clear what the staff will do. Sophomore guard, Kobe Bufkin, will absorb that time in the point guard position. Bufkin was graded out as a combo guard out of high school and was a McDonalds All-American as well. His ability to create on the ball has made him one of the go-to scorers late in the game for the Wolverines.
Last season, on limited attempts, Bufkin averaged 1.4 points per possession in ball screen situations as the ball handler. Anything above 1.0 is in the upper echelon of college basketball offense.
Bufkin might see a slight uptick in minutes overall, but it should be noted he leads the team with 31.3 minutes per game. The surrounding wings will battle it out for minutes split at the two and the three. If there is the biggest beneficiary of the opportunity, other than McDaniel, it would have to be Isaiah Barnes, who has played sparingly up to this point in his career.
Averaging 6.0 minutes per game, Barnes is set to grab at least a handful more. I would expect somewhere between 12 to 14 minutes for the 6-foot-6 wing. At this point in the season, Barnes is shooting 50% from both the field and from three-point range. That would be expected to drop slightly with extended playing time, but his shooting and scoring ability is of major value to this Wolverines team.
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Option 2: The one scouts might be interested in
True freshman wing, Jett Howard, has been one of Michigan's brightest spots this season, averaging 15.3 points per game while shooting a ridiculous 42.6% from three on almost 7 attempts per game. Howard was a tantalizing recruit and his play has shown that even as a top-50 recruit, he was underrated.
Howard has shown an innate ability to put points on the board in a variety of ways. He is most dangerous off the catch but also shines when having to put the ball on the floor. His ball skills at 6-foot-8 make him one of the most enticing NBA prospects in the country but also have led fans to believe he could solve some of Michigan's woes at point guard.
His playmaking is good enough, and his ability to handle the ball is good enough, so why shouldn't he play point guard? Howard is the best perimeter scorer on this team and putting him on the ball likely neutralizes some of that ability. Currently, he is being defended by bigger, but slower wings, however, that's not the biggest issue with the idea.
By far, the biggest issue would be Howard's ability or inability, therefore, to defend point guards for extended periods of time. While Howard might be the best perimeter scorer on the team, he is far from the best perimeter defender, right now. He possesses all the requisite tools to defend at a high level, but it's just not all there quite yet like it will be in the next three to five years.
Some twitter scouts, including myself, would love to see Howard play the one, but in all reality, it doesn't fit Michigan's pro system and doesn't fit his playing style either.
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Option 3: The wildcard
The last proposition goes to transitioning Kobe Bufkin to point guard by giving all 26.4 of Llewellyn's minutes to Bufkin and continuing to let McDaniel develop off the bench.
Bufkin would still play some minutes at the two, but players like Isaiah Barnes and Joey Baker would see somewhere in the ballpark of 15 to 20 minutes in much-expanded roles. Baker would likely start at the three but I'm not sure this idea would be all that beneficial for Michigan.
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At the end of the day, Llewellyn's injury puts Michigan in a major bind due to minimal depth at the guard spots. What was previously three scholarship players is now down to two, with both being inexperienced and underclassmen.
This is make-or-break time for the Wolverines and it will be heavily relied on freshman guard, Dug McDaniel, who is likely to assume the role of point guard for this team. It is time for Coach Howard to show once again why he is among the elite coaches in college basketball.
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