Class: Freshman

Height: 6’ 8”

Weight: 205 lbs

Draft Projection: Pick 8-12

NBA Comparison: De’Andre Hunter

Best Fit NBA Team: Cleveland Cavaliers

The media discusses the importance of a 3-and-D role player in the NBA for teams with ball-dominant guards or superstars. In the case of Caleb Houstan, he currently has the skill set and physical frame to fill that role. He has a smooth shooting form with a high and quick release, and he clearly has a strong awareness of his place on the court. Michigan will utilize Houstan’s skillset to create spacing for their experienced and reliable post players. People can measure player IQ and awareness mainly based on the player’s positioning on the court. Spacing on offense, positioning on defense, and situation reading are all important facets of player IQ. Caleb Houstan exhibits this IQ in his highlights from the GEICO High school national championships found here. In this video, Houstan wears the number 22.

Strengths: IQ, Shooting

The highlights mentioned above show how he will be a useful addition to an NBA team. At Montverde, Houstan was not a ball-dominant player and showed the ability to come off of screens and shoot the ball. A lot of the sets in the highlights were what were called pin-down screen plays. While it appears that Houstan was forced to come off a certain side of the screen, he showed the ability to read the defender that was guarding him even when he didn’t have the ball. This image below details how these plays worked.

At the start of these plays, traditionally the ball handler has the ball at the top of the key and two wing players, preferably shooting wings, are on the blocks. The two bigs in the play set down screens for the shooters and the shooter must make a read depending on how the defense guards the play.

Houstan’s read depends on if the defender goes under the screen, trails the shooter, or if they switch the screen entirely. Oak Hill in this scenario decides not to switch because of the potential mismatch between the screener and Houstan’s defender, (Jalen Duren is the screener, and he is a top NBA draft prospect next year as well). The defender trails Houstan, albeit in a poor manner, and Houstan makes the appropriate read which would be to curl around the screen.

Houstan then catches the ball, and since his defender trails him, he has a two-on-one opportunity with Jalen Duren and the big man guarding the screener. The big man now has to make a choice, either step up and contest Houstan’s potential jumpshot, or stay back and guard the rolling big man.

The big man decides to step up and guard Houstan and Caleb makes the correct pass and dumps it off to the big man for an easy basket. This read seems simple, however, it is harder to read a play immediately after catching the pass. Houstan showcases this IQ and shooting threat at a young age which means these skills will translate smoothly into an NBA offense. He has the ability to be a catch and shoot threat, and become a distributor when the defense over helps.

NBA Comparison and Role

NBA teams need high-end shooters to pose this threat and still make the correct decisions when faced with a quick decision. Houstan’s shooting ability will bring more spacing to teams that have strong inside presences or ball-dominant point guards. My NBA comparison to Houstan, De’Andre Hunter, has proven to be an incredibly effective 3 and D player on the Atlanta Hawks. He plays with Trae Young, a ball-dominant point guard, and Clint Capela, an incredibly athletic big man. Hunter provides the Hawks with a scoring option who exhibits lethal shooting and incredible awareness of his positioning on the floor. He often can be found in corners and does not need complicated playsets to get his shots.

Hunter can space the floor and play a catch-and-shoot role for the Hawks, but he also has been able to take pressure off of Young when he is utilized in ball screen situations. This makes Hunter a more lethal scoring threat and an incredibly useful role player for the Hawks. Caleb Houstan’s next step in his development will be his ball screen usage similar to what De’Andre Hunter has exhibited in recent years. He showed flashes of this ability in the U19 FIBA world championships, where he showed an ability to attack downhill and make shots and distribute off a ball screen.

NBA teams often develop plays where players with these abilities will be most successful. Houstan may not need to be a ball-dominant player, and he would thrive with the athleticism of NBA big men. Various screens and constant off-ball movement paired with an athletic core would bring the best out of Caleb’s game at the next level. With the emergence of Evan Mobley on the Cavs, and the need for better wing defenders on the Cavaliers, I believe Houstan would be a great fit alongside Mobley, Colin Sexton, and Darius Garland in Cleveland.

Weaknesses: Athleticism, Strength

A potential weakness of Houstan’s game in the NBA will be his questionable athletic ability to start. Some strong shooters struggle to get their shots because of a lack of athleticism and certain teams will completely take away their ability to score. Strong shooters such as Duncan Robinson, Pat Connaughton, and Doug McDermott have struggled in games when teams decide to completely shut down their three-point shots. Houstan will need to develop into a reliable one dribble scorer, or become more of a threat at the rim to sustain success in the NBA. Furthermore, he will need to develop more strength to be a versatile defender in the NBA. He has the necessary frame to be a strong defender, but sometimes physical frame does not translate into NBA strength defenders.

Summary

Caleb Houstan will be an incredibly effective player this season at Michigan. He will need to prove himself as an efficient shooter at the college level, but he already exhibits the tools necessary to be a devastating offensive weapon. The size and strength of Big Ten defenses might affect him initially, but I believe Coach Howard will make the most of the special talent he has in Ann Arbor. Houstan’s performance in the Big Ten will ultimately determine his draft position but before the season I project he gets picked in the mid to late lottery next year.

---

Not a subscriber to The Maize and Blue Review? Sign up today!

Discuss this article on our premium message boards

Follow our staff on Twitter @MaizeBlueReview, @JoshHenschke, @AESchnepp, @BrandonJustice_, @DanielDash_, @DennisFithian, @TannerWutang, @Baird_CJ, @ZachLibby

Subscribe to The Maize and Blue Review on YouTube!

Like The Maize and Blue Review on Facebook!