Tyler Kolek Scouting Report
How will one of the best college point guards translate to the NBA?
Name: Tyler Kolek
Birth date: March 27, 2001
Height/Weight: 6’1/197
Wingspan/ standing reach: 6’2 ¾/7’11
Hand size: 9 ½
Position: PG
Pre-Draft team: Marquette
Tools: Playmaking, floor general abilities
Background: Consensus All-American that thrived as a freshman at George Mason, then continued to improve and succeed at Marquette. 2023 Big East Player of the Year.
Pros:
Has good movement and burst out of his between the legs move with change of direction
Smooth finger roll and soft touch at the rim
Outstanding playmaker for others; obvious floor general
Has an effective push shot/floater
Extremely competitive with a strong motor
Has a good spin move to counter teams forcing his right hand
Smart in how he shields defenders with his body on drives
Controls the game well; patient and doesn’t force plays, but can also be mistake-free in fast tempo. Can be a primary scorer and primary playmaker
On court coach that clearly and correctly runs sets and minimizes mistakes
Jump shot is highly projectable
Intelligent defender that plays hard; knows where to be, which makes him a potentially good team defender
Has a great Nash dribble to deceive defenses
Cons:
Unorthodox shooting form; push shot
Almost exclusively finishes with his left and hunts his left hand
Likely to struggle on defense due to underwhelming recovery ability and being prone to getting blown by
Not a great athlete
Short arms may limit his defensive ability
Swing Skills:
How fast can his shooting scale up?
Teams went under his screens on high P&Rs often; how will he counter by either stepping up his P&R shooting (27% from 3 in P&R as a senior), or by making the defense pay by going under
How good is his right hand? He isn’t usually forced right. Can the scouting report of forcing him right take away his game?
Summary:
Tyler Kolek is one of the smartest players in the draft, being able to lead an offense by being an on-court coach.
As a slasher, Kolek’s ability to land high finishes off the glass to beat giants at the rim is an impressive skill that makes his strong finishing (60.7% at the rim, per Synergy Sports) likely to translate. Kolek is extremely left hand dominant, taking 2 right handed layups in the NCAA Tournament across 3 games in 26 rim attempts, and will need to become more comfortable at quickly taking what the defense gives him going right. Teams will scout him and shift the entire defense to take away his left side, which can limit his scoring effectiveness at the rim. However, his soft touch is evident in nearly every drive, and he is crafty with finding angles to finish at where he cannot get blocked. Beyond finding angles at the rim, Kolek also does a good job of finding the holes in the defense, especially on the left side. He achieves this often by using counter spins to go back to his left, but his ability to make quick and accurate reads of the second line of defense help him map out the proper route to the rim. From there, he separates well from defenders by changing pace, primarily by decelerating well, and is comfortable absorbing contact because of defenders’ timing being thrown off. Kolek’s intelligence as a scorer is most easily noticeable through his driving, which also often results in assists from under the rim.
Speaking of his playmaking, Kolek’s Nash dribble opens up the floor for the offense, both for him to get to his spot and utilize his push shot, shoot a reverse layup, or find open teammates. The way he can manipulate defenses as a ball-handler can earn him playoff minutes right away. Some of the ways he does this is by baiting multiple defenders at once into him, leaving teammates open. His ability to read every option out of screens is outstanding, and how he both processes and capitalizes on lapses that defenders make allows for him to give his teammates open shot attempts. With an even more dynamic roll-man and shooters than he had at Marquette (particularly if his roller has strong roll gravity) his playmaking will both translate and develop further.
While he doesn’t lock ball-handlers up, and is likely to be exploited more than teams would like on defense, Kolek is intelligent and can read plays before they happen. The shortcomings are based on athletic and size limitations, with short arms and limited burst to stop ball-handlers from getting to their spots. With a good defense around him, his intelligence can be maximized so that he won’t get played off the floor.
Kolek’s shooting upside is high, and his soft and high touch off the rim allows him to finish well over shot-blockers. As a shooter, he uses jab steps well, and he scores well out of screens by timing when defenders are unable to get a clean contest against him. Kolek is one of three high major players to shoot 55% from 2 (minimum 100 attempts), 38% from 3 (minimum 100 attempts), and 85% or better from the free throw line. While a bit obviously cherrypicked, this stat filters just how good his combination of scoring was this season, without factoring into his playmaking. Taking it one step further, Kolek is the only player in the Bart Torvik database to do these things in addition to a 40% or better assist percentage. Even bringing the assist percentage down to 30%, Kolek still is the only player to fit this query. For shooting, this also fits bringing the 3P% to 35%, and if you bring down the 2P% the next closest comes in at 52%. Needless to say, Kolek’s ability to efficiently score and possess high-level playmaking is both translatable and an historic combination.
Overall, Kolek’s ability to build chemistry with his P&R partners should translate up, making him a day-one point guard that can take advantage of even the most minor advantages, both through playmaking and self-creation. While there are some defensive concerns, these should quickly be negated by his likely draft range near current playoff teams. If he were to end up on a lottery team, his ability to make others better would greatly help a team get through a rebuild and develop the young players on-court. As an on-court coach, Kolek will be liked by the coaching staff he joins, and can keep growing to fully develop and master his skillset.
Projected draft range: 13-27
Expected role: Floor general with hidden scoring upside
Unplayable if: Frame makes him a massive defensive liability, and if his left hand can be taken away, how effective is he?
Exceeds expectations if: His ability to go right as well as he does left quickly improves in the NBA, and he doesn’t get hunted on defense.
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