Corey Kispert is a four-year senior from Edmonds, Washington who has improved every season, thanks to Gonzaga head coach Mark Few and his staff.
Corey Kispert 2021 NBA Draft Profile
College Career
Most people know Kispert as a lights-out shooter. Well, that’s absolutely the case with him. However, he’s been a locked-in starter for the past three seasons with the Zags. His freshman year he started just seven games. After that, he started a combined 101 games, including every single game for the past two seasons.
He was named to the All-WCC team twice and was named Player of the Year for the WCC in 2020-2021.
Strengths
Kispert’s strength is simple: shooting. As mentioned, everybody knows him as a lights-out shooter. He shot a combined 40% from beyond the arc in his college career, including 44% in his senior year.
He’s the perfect guy to add to just about any team in the NBA for that reason alone. He can do so much off the ball, similar to what Klay Thompson does. Just watch this nifty cut and finish at the rim.
FIRST THE CUT.
THEN THE POSTER.Corey Kispert GOT IT 💪 pic.twitter.com/P1cpAmmfvP
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 4, 2021
Of course, his ability to catch and shoot is going to be huge at the next level. As a projected lottery pick, picturing a point guard such as Lonzo Ball next to him would be more than ideal. Plus, his release is lightning quick.
Corey Kispert is heating up down the stretch ♨️@ZagMBB #FinalFour pic.twitter.com/DxhmxzkfaZ
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 4, 2021
Sure, you can use the four-year senior excuse all you want, but players like Kispert don’t come around too often.
Weaknesses
On the flip side, the four-year senior point is why he doesn’t have very many weaknesses. Coach Few and the staff do a tremendous job of improving their players. If you think otherwise, just watch this Gonzaga team and the NBA talent coming out.
Nonetheless, everybody has weaknesses. For Kispert, his weakness is creating his own shot. As said above, he can play off the ball extremely well. However, he doesn’t do a lot with the ball in his hands.
Albeit, he never really had to at Gonzaga. The offense ran through other guys and he could run around and come off screens and that whole deal.
He averaged just over 1.5 assists per game in his senior year with the Zags. Another weakness is his ability on the defensive end. Kispert doesn’t have the speed or strength to guard somebody of his size (6 foot 7, 220 lbs), but that’s fine. At the NBA level, coaches change their rotation and play chess rather than checkers.
At Gonzaga, Coach Few ran a seven-man rotation, especially down the stretch. All in all, don’t worry about the defensive end of things, as you can see defense is quickly fading out of the NBA realms.
NBA Player Comparison
It’s always hard to compare college guys to pro guys, especially in today’s game. However, his comparison is a mixture of Klay Thompson and J.J. Redick.
Now, he doesn’t have the defensive ability of Thompson, who is one of the more underrated defenders in the NBA. Kispert’s ability to catch and shoot and come off screens is exactly what Klay does- and what Ray Allen made a living doing- at the next level.
The reason Redick is here is that Corey Kispert probably thrives in a sixth-man role, much like what Redick has done in the past. Kispert can come off the bench and torch opposing defenses, especially without their top player on the floor.
NBA Draft Projection
Lottery Pick– 8-12th overall
Main Photo:
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