Age

22.1

Height

6'9

Weight

230

Workload

MIN%

USG%

15.5

TS%

59.8

Per 70 Possession Stats

PTS

13.7

REB

7.8

AST

1.5

STL

1.3

BLK

0.7

TOV

0.8

Efficiency

RIM FG%

59.2

MID FG%

50.0

3PT FG%

38.2

FT%

76.9

Jump to full report

Report by: Mark Cheung

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

Big Oklahoma City Thunder

An undersized center who has earned multiple defensive identities with his academic technique, but is still searching for one on offense.

Age

22.1

Height

6'9

Weight

230

Per 70 Possession Stats

PTS

13.7

REB

7.8

AST

1.5

STL

1.3

BLK

0.7

Positions Defended

Offensive Role

 

Defensive Role

   

Meet Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl did it all on both ends for Villanova in his 16-8-2 campaign that got his name called two Junes ago. But with a set of measurements and an on-ball package that both lose some of their punch in the pros, finding a role in the NBA has been largely up to his versatility and intelligence.

Defense

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl’s biggest defensive strengths are adaptations around his physical shortcomings – starting with his attentiveness. Standing at just 6’9” with a neutral wingspan and a 32-inch max vert, a second too late could mean an inch too short. Spend any defensive possession just watching JRE and you’ll see how active and instructive his head and hands are – even when he isn’t directly involved in the action.

When he is involved in the play, JRE has to do more with each movement than a normal seven footer would have to. Just as animals have evolved to make themselves artificially bigger in the wake of predators, JRE has learned deimatic bluffs to appear like he’s covering the ball-handler, the roller, the rim, and everything in between. He shrinks the horizontal gap between ball and man with outstretched arms whilst simultaneously moderating the downhill gap by alternating opened and closed stances – tactically luring the ball-handler further or feinting a commitment.

His nimble footwork and balance when backpedaling, zippy (yet vertically limited) load time to leave his feet, and precise hand-eye ball-tracking are the cherries on top of his pristine and purposeful technique. The latter of the two you can also see in more general help defense settings, enabling him to seemingly guard two players are once.

All of this combines to be one of the most impressive drop coverage techniques in the league – with JRE out-punching his size by holding ball-handlers to just 0.743 points per possessions in 144 defended pick and rolls this season, according to Synergy. These successful results have consolidated JRE’s cover-versatile repertoire into primarily a drop for the time being. However, you’ll still catch JRE aggressively switching or hedging-and-recovering on a situational basis – and those same perimeter chops are also on full display when tasked with 1-on-1 matchups vs big wings like Julius or Zion.

But even with this all considered, JRE’s height is ultimately the ceiling for his defense – quite literally. Averaging 0.7 blocks per 70 possessions, the fruits of JRE’s labor play the probability game – similar to the likes of Daniel Theis or Isaiah Stewart – decreasing opponents’ chances of scoring, but never eliminating them entirely.

Offense

Robinson-Earl was a bucket-getting swiss army knife in his final year of college – balancing above-80th percentile efficiency in each of post-ups, spot-ups, cuts, isos, and finishing as a screener. But without the hops to rim-run or the height to post-up against NBA athletes, that multi-bladed arsenal has dampened to a dulled set of butter knives. JRE has traded the majority of his on-ball usage for spot-up shooting, where he’s spent 44.8% of his non-putback opportunities in the halfcourt. Growing in confidence, he’s been hot and unhesitant from beyond the arc to start the year, nailing 38.2% of 68 attempts – although is likely closer to his career average of 36.1%.

As much as I hate how the “Will-He-Shoot?” question reduces talented players to a single dimension, reviving the vestiges of JRE’s collegiate on-ball game will rely almost entirely on his shot becoming respectable. As we’ve seen from late-bloomers Wendell Carter Jr. and Grant Williams, convincing hard closeouts creates driving lanes, and driving lanes create chances to reopen latent ball skills. Intriguing driving flashes do exist, but shooting is still JRE’s clear primary tendency off the catch – not to mention, he’s already been called on 3 traveling violations trying to put the ball on the ground. If not a shooter long-term, he’d likely be better off upping his dive/cut frequency on these chances like his teammates Wiggins, Giddey, and Kenrich.

A viable off-catch game would paint JRE more as a wing than a big on offense, which I think is worth exploring with him not offering a ton as a screener. Without a bulky-enough frame to set high-contact screens, or above-the-rim rolling pop, JRE struggles to create advantages in the two-man game. But as a smart decision-maker, he’s been able to reclaim some value slipping screens, quick pitching, or reversing the ball to the second side – which all interest me – but it’s difficult to make a living on those skills alone unless the offense is committed to putting the ball in your hands a lot, which I don’t think see a SGA-Giddey-led team doing.

But smart players find a way more often than not, and JRE has discovered transition as a new way to add value. His most recent development has been upping his transition frequency from 11.5% to 20.7% of his total scoring chances this year – a great compliment to fast-break wizard Giddey. And with his ball skills still somewhere in his bag, eventually JRE may be the one sparking the break.

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