2016 NBA Draft Scouting Report: Tyler Ulis

Back in March, Kentucky point guard Tyler Ulis was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, joining Anthony Davis as the second player in conference history to earn both top honors. And while the 12-inch height difference between the two will likely ensure that Ulis doesn’t quite go as high in the 2016 NBA Draft as the former No. 1 overall pick, it’s worth noting the kind of rarified air in which Ulis’s sophomore season belongs in order to understand the intrigue surrounding the pint-sized point guard with regards to this year’s draft.

By most estimations, Ulis stands as one of the most complete point guards in this year’s draft. Unfortunately, he also only stands at a scant 5-feet-10-inches (in shoes), making his transition to the land of veritable giants that is the NBA a somewhat dicey proposition. As is, the only player currently employed by an NBA team who is even within an inch of Ulis’s height is Isaiah Thomas, who is both stronger and more explosive than Ulis will likely ever be.

So exists this tug-of-war between tremendous production at the college level by a kid who can clearly just play the game vs. an overwhelming amount of uncertainty surrounding how long he can keep this tightrope act up as his opponents get bigger, stronger and faster. The concerns are certainly warranted, but if anyone is going to succeed in spite of these limitations, it’s hard to bet against it being Ulis.

Offense

Despite averaging nearly 19 points per game in conference play, Ulis is first and foremost a floor general. The SEC’s leading assist man served as the nexus for Kentucky’s three-guard offense, amassing an impressive 3.5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio despite never actually being able to see over any of the players defending him. Ulis uses his quickness to bend opposing defenses, and he is razor sharp when it comes to pouncing on any openings created therein.

Ulis’s exceptional spatial awareness and quick-twitch immediacy are not only useful when it comes to distributing the ball, they’re downright essential to his ability to fill up the score sheet.

As evidenced by his shot chart, Ulis does not bode well when he ventures into the restricted area — and understandably so, given his small stature. Instead of trying to get to the rim on every possession, Ulis has to create shots for himself without venturing too close to the basket. It’s paradoxical, but Ulis makes it work thanks to a steady diet of floaters and an array of on-a-dime pull-up jumpers.

What helps tremendously is that Ulis plays bigger than his size. His movements are broad without ever being lumbering, allowing him to take up more space than one would expect. Combined with his quickness, this enables him to create the kind of space he needs to get off his shot. And while having to deal with better athletes is an obstacle that every player faces as they transition to the next level, one thing that Ulis has working in his favor is that despite his size, college defenders rarely seemed to bother him on his pull-up attempts and floaters.

As a shooter, Ulis was accurate enough to keep defenses honest. He showed off NBA range on occasion, and while he only shot 34.4 percent from 3-point range as a sophomore, he knocked down 43 percent of his 3-pointers as a freshman. On the rare occasion that Kentucky ran pin-down screens or floppy sets for Ulis, he seemed to struggle from deep while moving away from the basket. However, in general, he seemed comfortable spotting up above the break. The more Ulis is able to expand his range, the easier he’ll make things on himself, as the closer he’s forced to play to the rim, the more likely he is to find himself lost among the trees.

In all, though, Ulis appears to have the necessary skills to continue defying the odds — at least on offense. He faced several larger, athletic point guards throughout his sophomore season and acquitted himself well. With his shortcomings, it’s unlikely that he will be a primary scoring option, but he should be able to knock down enough shots to hold serve as the leader of a team’s second unit. If he’s able to expand his range — or doesn’t find NBA length to be as stifling as expected — he may have some upside as a starter in the right system.

Defense

It seems strange to say this about a player who was named the best defender in one of the toughest conferences in college basketball, but defense is likely to be an issue for Ulis at the next level. He has excellent instincts, extremely active hands and uses his quickness to pester the heck out of ball-handlers — but at the end of the day, he’s 5-10 and weighs 150 pounds; after a heavy lunch. There’s just not enough there (literally) for him to be a defensive asset at the NBA level.

There weren’t many occasions where Ulis was exposed in man-to-man defense the way he stands to be squaring off against players like Russell Westbrook and John Wall, but the second-round NCAA Tournament matchup provided a taste, as Indiana’s explosive guard Yogi Ferrell zipped by Ulis on several occasions without so much as a reprimand.

The best analogue for what teams can hope for out of Ulis on that end is probably former journeyman and similarly diminutive point guard Brevin Knight. Over the course of his 12-year career, Knight faced an uphill battle just as Ulis does, but he managed to survive on defense by scrapping away and using his quickness and anticipation to consistently rank among the league leaders in steals. Considering those are the areas in which Ulis thrived on defense at Kentucky, that could serve as a realistic blueprint.

Outlook

Ulis is 20-year-old point guard prospect who is significantly undersized for the position but plays a brand of basketball that minimizes the exposure of his weaknesses. He is an extremely quick player who sees the floor well, is a pinpoint passer and utilizes an array of floaters and pull-up jumpers to get relatively clean looks. Ulis won SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors for good reason, as he is a savvy, skilled player who competes extremely hard on both ends and demonstrates strong leadership qualities. However, his diminutive size likely places a firm ceiling on his NBA career.

If his size does not prove too much of a hindrance, he should be able to carve out a role as a reliable backup point guard with some minor upside as a starter. However, that is a 5-foot-10 IF.