Joe Wieskamp
Profile:
Position: Small Forward
Role: Sharpshooter
Age: 21
Nation: USA
Year: Junior
College: Iowa
Height: 6’7
Wingspan: 6’11
Weight: 205 lbs
Stats:
Positives:
- Elite shooter off the catch. He has a smooth release that he can fire off if given even an inch of space. He is constantly relocating and is fantastic at knocking down shots off of movement. Defenders are forced to guard him incredibly tightly as his range extends a good distance beyond the 3-point line.
- Decent shooter off the dribble. His handle isn’t advanced enough for consistent isolation 3-point shooting but he is pretty good at shooting off a couple of dribbles to generate extra space.
- Solid finisher. He isn’t an elite, above-the-rim athlete but he attacks the rim with strength and can throw it down if given the space to take off. He is solid at straight-line drives and while his handle isn’t advanced, it is good enough to get him to the inside.
- Solid rebounder. He racked up a good number of rebounds in college and his ability to do so should bode well for playing up a position for certain lineups.
Negatives:
- Not a great shot creator. He lacks an advanced handle and struggles when trying to create separation.
- Streaky shooter. His overall splits are good but he is prone to hot streaks as well as dry spells. His free throw shooting percentage is 67% which is much lower than what would be expected of a knockdown shooter and could be an indicator of future inconsistency.
- Not a great decision-maker. He struggles when forced to make decisions as a handler. He struggles in traffic and ends up taking a fair number of ill-advised shots. His playmaking is suboptimal as he doesn’t always make great reads and his passes can be picked off.
- Poor perimeter defender. He has the length and size to be a solid positional defender but his lateral quickness is not very good and he struggles to keep up with quicker players on the outside.
Upside:
- Duncan Robinson
- Doug McDermott
- Saddiq Bey
Notes:
For role players in the NBA, the question often isn’t how much can you do but how well can you do a few things. Shooting specialists are the best example of this, as oftentimes they don’t have the most well-rounded games but the one skill they focus on is extremely useful. With that in mind, Joe Wieskamp is an excellent candidate for teams looking for shooting with size. Wieskamp is a tremendous off-ball player who is constantly moving around on offense in order to open up catch-and-shoot opportunities. As Duncan Robinson has proven for the Miami Heat, having a guy that can fire off shots if given any space can be incredibly valuable.
The downside of Wieskamp is that outside of shooting, his game leaves a lot to be desired. He isn’t much of a creator or playmaker and he doesn’t have the quickness to be a lockdown defender. His success in the NBA will be almost entirely based around his effectiveness as a shooter, which creates an all the eggs in one basket situation that could go poorly if his shooting doesn’t translate. However, he has enough of a track record as an elite shooter to inspire confidence. Thanks to his shooting, Wieskamp has the potential to be a solid role player and almost certainly will end up on some team’s roster next season.
