The Good
The ball handling and passing in a power forward’s body is what jumps off the screen with Vanderbilt. He has the skill, handle, technical proficiency and offensive feel of a guard but the strength, frame, athleticism and height of a prototypical modern big man. That is a rare combination.
His passing feel off the dribble and in dynamic offensive situations combined with his vertical athleticism gives him an easy translation as a pick-and-roll dive man who can make advanced contextual reads.
Becoming a volume pick-and-roll ball handler even in secondary or angle situations is within his reach as a higher-end outcome. But he has more room to fail there than he does as a dive man, where he almost certainly can provide utility.
That vertical athleticism and wingspan makes him a viable lob target, opening up additional passing angles for his point guards (upwards) and sucking in corner help, then exploiting it by passing to corner shooters. His versatility catching either at the rim or away from it before driving helps his projection here.
He can also provide considerable value as a rebounder. He posted an absurd 23.1 percent offensive rebounding rate at Kentucky. For context, no player in the Sports-Reference database (since 2009 for that specific statistic) accomplished that with more than 150 minutes played — Vanderbilt played 238. He also averaged more than 18 rebounds per 40 minutes.
Even considering the small sample size, those numbers are eye-popping especially for a player with a relatively light lower body. But more than anything those numbers speak to his nonstop motor and how quickly he gets off the ground.
While a strong base is useful for boxing out effectively, a strong upper body, hustle and the physical tools to reach over guys make Vanderbilt an absolute force on the glass.
His coordination and explosiveness as a driver is also an important point for consideration, as it could somewhat mitigate his lack of shooting gravity. As Ben Simmons and Giannis Antetokounmpo have demonstrated, defenses will still have to play up on you if you have enough physical driving power with a head of steam to bulldoze or step around smaller stationary defenders.
That said, even considering Vanderbilt’s strength and athleticism, he is simply not nearly in the same class as those two in terms of coordination and fluidity with the ball.
Orlando Magic
Lastly, his defensive potential is possibly his strongest selling point. He has the instincts and vertical pop to be an effective weakside shot-blocker and transition force, the quickness in every direction to consistently stay in front of guards and the strength to hold up in the post against similarly sized players.
Vanderbilt is also a sound team defender who can shift momentum going north-to-south more quickly than most big men. That helps him close out to the perimeter and stick with drivers. His motor is another key here, as he regularly makes multiple efforts and rotations to prevent team-level breakdowns and open shots for the opponent.
His lateral burst is worth mentioning as well, as he is able to force many drivers from the perimeter to their weak hand via positioning but slide with them laterally on straight-line drives.
He will have to drastically improve his base to be a viable defender of NBA 5s but it is not hard to imagine him being an effective defender of four positions.
A standing reach of 8-foot-10 is good enough to envision him as a good defensive small-ball 5, but not as a legitimate every-down back, so to speak. He tends to be a little jumpy when rotating for potential blocks, so that will need to be reigned in. But you would rather a player his age be overly eager to play defense than be not eager enough.
There is a lot you can say about Vanderbilt. But you cannot say he is wholly reliant on any one skill for a pathway to contract-worthiness.
If he is on the court, he can find a way to be productive. The questions about him lie in whether he can stay on the court and if so, whether he will be used in the NBA in a way that accentuates his strengths and ameliorates his weaknesses.