First, in his own words:

A 6’7 shooter from the University of Toledo, JT Shumate is one of the more interesting evaluations in the 2023 draft class. He’s a prime example of a player whose role in college is significantly different than what it projects to be in the NBA.

Offense

Offensively, JT’s game is built around his long range shooting. He shot an extremely impressive 44.4% from 3pt on 284 attempts over his final 2 years at Toledo, backed up by an also excellent 84.6% from the FT line over the same stretch. He showed a solid amount of versatility as a shooter in college as well, primarily operating in pick-and-pop/catch and shoot scenarios but also showing occasional flashes of movement shooting and self-created looks.

If you’re nitpicking you could point to his lack of 3pt volume (career 6.7 3PA/100 possessions at Toledo) being a solid bit lower than most high end shooters (for reference, Gradey Dick, Jett Howard, and Brandon Miller all shot at least 10 3PA/100 possessions or higher this season), but otherwise his profile as a shooter is about as strong as you could ask for in a forward prospect.

JT also has some definite skill inside the arc on offense, although it can be tricky to determine how much it translates given the amount of center Shumate played in college. JT was effective as a post scorer and P&R screener at the college level, but it’s unlikely that JT’s NBA role would feature much usage in either of those playtypes. His ability to attack closeouts and finish at the rim were also strengths for Shumate in college, and could be more translatable NBA skills. In that case he projects primarily as a tall shooting floor spacer rather than a versatile scorer, but potentially a good one at that.

Defense

Defensively, Shumate was also used in a much different fashion than he’ll be asked to play in the NBA. Despite being 6’7” with a 6’9” wingspan, Toledo commonly played JT at center where he held his own for the most part. There were definitely times where Shumate got overpowered by bigger 5’s and he’ll very likely never be a teams primary rim protector in the NBA, but he did manage to average 2.4 blocks/100 possessions in his college career and some of the timing and instincts he showed as a shot blocker could definitely be an asset as more of a secondary rim protector at the next level. 

The toughest area of evaluation for JT by far is his defense in space out on the perimeter. It’s a skill that makes or breaks the NBA chances for a lot of big shooters like Shumate, and he frankly didn’t get a lot of reps as a traditional wing or forward defender at Toledo due to them needing him on the interior. In the rare occasions that he was defending out on the perimeter, he did look pretty comfortable and moved his feet well. There’s a big difference between guarding situationally in the MAC and having to defend NBA wings and forwards full time, but if he’s is able to hold up in that regard there’s a good chance that the rest of JT’s game is enough to carve out a spot at the next level.

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