For as much attention being paid to floor spacing in today’s NBA, one element of stretching a defense has gone somewhat unnoticed: verticality.
That might not be so, at least, with Steve Kerr, Erik Spoelstra, and surely other coaches, who do not underestimate the effect big men with long arms and impressive verticals have on defense. “I think (Spoelstra) calls it vertical spacing, which was a great term,” Kerr said in Dallas last season. “There’s horizontal spacing with three-point shooting, there’s vertical spacing with lobs at the rim.”
Both morph the defense, and both lead to advantages for the offense. And the newest Maverick, Jeremy Evans, brings the vertical threat back to Dallas, an element the Mavs will need to succeed this season.
Evans, 27, stands at just 6-foot-9, but he’s said to have a 7-foot-2 wingspan and a 41-inch vertical, according to a scouting report from his college days. His standing reach stretches higher than nine feet, meaning when he leaps in the air as high as he can, he reaches nearly 13 feet. That’s vertical spacing: Just like a sharpshooting guard who always demands a defense’s attention, a rolling big man who can fly through the air demands at least one set of eyes on him at all times.
The only problem is there’s not much you can do to stop lobs to a player like Evans, especially in the right system with the proper spacing, because there aren’t many players who can leap as high as he can.
Evans’ athleticism and lanky build are sure to draw comparisons to current Memphis Grizzlies big man Brandan Wright, who spent four seasons in Dallas before being traded to Boston during the 2014-15 season. Wright was considered a power forward/center earlier in his career, but Dallas used him exclusively at the 5-spot for most of his tenure. Similarly, Evans has been considered as small as a power forward during his career, but his true strength lies in his ability to finish at the rim — he’s shot 74.7 percent from inside three feet in his career, according to Basketball-Reference, as opposed to Wright’s 74.6 percent career mark.
During his last two seasons with Utah, Evans has primarily played the power forward spot — Basketball-Reference estimates more than 90 percent of his minutes the last two seasons have come at the 4. However, with players like Dirk Nowitzki and Dwight Powell already on the roster capable of spacing the floor “horizontally,” as Kerr would say, it would make sense that Evans be used at the center spot. The biggest question, of course, would be whether he has the strength to guard centers. That same question was asked of Wright during his days with the Mavericks, but he still performed excellently in his role, particularly in advantageous matchups.
That leads to the exploration of an interesting movement in the sport, which is the trend toward positionless basketball. Conventionally and classically speaking, Evans isn’t a center because he’s neither tall nor big enough to play the position as we know it. However, in the modern NBA, guys who can play and defend multiple positions are more valuable than ever. Theoretically, Evans could play center on offense while guarding small forwards on defense, or vice versa. That’s what we saw from Al-Farouq Aminu last season and it’s what we expect to see from rookie Justin Anderson and even Wes Matthews, two players who can defend two or three positions and play just as many on offense.
How Dallas plans to use Evans is going to be fun to follow. Rick Carlisle is considered maybe the best coach in the NBA at identifying and maximizing players’ strengths, particularly those of veterans who often end up appearing like diamonds in the rough. While it would be unfair to expect Evans to provide 25 wonderful minutes night after night this season, it’s certainly possible that he could prove to be one of the sneakier under-the-radar signings of the summer.
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