Melo Trimble Scouting Report: February 2016

Melo Trimble is Mark Jackson’s worst nightmare. While their difference in age means Trimble wasn’t likely influenced by Stephen Curry’s NBA career from the onset, he is the embodiment of Jackson’s vision of the future hellscape the league might become: a playmaker with enough of a facilitating streak to stay at point guard but a trigger-happy offensive style that begs to set a game on fire.

Trimble won’t look right — he’ll throw a too-strong bomb in the midst of an offensive set — and then become the primary catalyst in a game-defining run. Unfortunately, it’s often his poor first-half shooting that causes the deficit or allows the opponent to keep the score close. The fact that coach Mark Turgeon is already hiding Trimble on spot-up shooters and offensive non-factors in the NCAA regular season shouldn’t be overlooked, either.

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at his game now and how it might eventually translate to the pros.

OFFENSE

While his scoring and usage are actually slightly down from last season, Trimble has improved his 2-point shooting tremendously (from 47 percent to 59 percent). He has also improved his distribution, notching 5.3 assists per game compared to only 3.0 per game last year. Unfortunately, he has shot almost an entire 3-pointer more despite converting them at a 34.1 percent clip and almost three free throws less per game this season.

What’s impressive about his play this year has been his ability to finish in traffic on drives to the hoop. Notice how he is able to immediately read the defense in fluctuation, make the decision to drive through a small crevice, and draw contact in a way that still allows him to get a good attempt off in this play:

Trimble is light years ahead of most college point guards running the pick and roll, exhibiting a patience that pays off for Maryland’s hungry big men prowling the paint:

He has a Russell Westbrook-like basketball ESP that allows his strong, accurate passing to breathe. Feeding his big men has been his biggest improvement in college. His pick and pop game with Robert Carter, Jr. has flourished this season as well.

However, it isn’t terribly difficult to make him uncomfortable as a pick and roll ball-handler. A pesky on-ball defender or physical big man hedging the screen are usually enough to rattle Trimble, often causing a turnover. Iowa rendered him darn near ineffective by having its guards fight through picks to get up on Trimble as he attempted to read the defense. North Carolina sent help and double teams almost every time he had possession at the top of the key early on, and he was frequently unable to make reads quickly to enough to zip a pass across the discombobulated defense.

Lastly, Trimble struggles with placement in a very detrimental way. It is probably the No. 1 thing currently holding him back as a lead guard. Maryland’s system can get too comfortable with its stars taking turns, and Trimble can check out of plays after giving the ball up to his teammates. He has developed a bad habit of drifting backward to reset the offense after the initial action fails, like Russell Wilson getting scramble-happy in the pocket. When he decides to shoot from this distance, it’s already an inefficient shot.

This transition opportunity is a microcosm of the kinds of positioning decisions he makes on offense all the time:

DEFENSE

Against Michigan State, Trimble was stationed away from star ball-handler Denzel Valentine. Against Iowa, he defended point guard Mike Gessell. Coach Mark Turgeon can afford to be conservative in how he uses Trimble considering the defensive talent around him, and Trimble can hold his own when engaged. However, he already has the star player habit of gambling for steals out of position. Here, he sticks on Gessell as he connects the dots off-ball before straying away after the ball-handler begins to drive:

It is successful, as the shot clock runs down, but the steals will never be worth giving up sound ball denial and on-ball pressure. Trimble clearly understands the sets being run around him, but his occasionally overestimates his own physical abilities on defense. He’s not balanced or strong enough to dilute his own court vision for the sake of forcing an extra few turnovers per game.

Maryland has allowed the fewest points per game in college basketball this year, which is helpful when imagining Trimble’s fit on any number of teams. He can exist on a good defensive team, and his gambles are not overtly detrimental. A decent eye for rebounds and a killer transition game would help teams with a faster pace as well, and make up for disadvantages defensively.

Trimble often makes up for his underwhelming physical attributes with vision of passing and driving lanes, but can hurt the team by fishing for steals. He is more effective off-ball, where he can rebound, play safety, and leak out on the break more effectively.

Overall

It is interesting to see where fringe guys like Trimble stack up in the first round. Another year at Maryland would help his development tremendously — he is on the cusp of polishing his scoring and playmaking to the point where he could be a difference maker as a third guard.

Chris and Austin had Trimble 24th on their latest Big Board. Time will tell if he can take advantage of Maryland’s cream puff schedule early on as a top seed in March.